Redskins 23, Eagles 17

Redskins 23, Eagles 17

By PennSkinsFan | October 5, 2008

The Washington Redskins dropped behind Philadelphia 14-0 early in the first quarter.  But, the Jim Zorn run Redskins fought back to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia 23-17.

The Redskins offense picked up speed after Philadelphia WR DeSean Jackson return a punt for a TD, a play that marked a mis-call by the referees, mixing up the wrong #50 player on a block from behind,  that led to 3 straight Shaun Shuisham field goals.  Shuisham connected on a 41, 48, and 50 yard field goals to take the Redskins into half time trailing just 14-9.

The Redskins firsts core in the second half came on a reverse to WR Antawaan Randle El, who then threw to a wide open Chris Cooley for an 18 yard strike to give the Redskins their first lead at 16-14.  It was a beautiful move by Cooley, coming off a solid block, breaking open across the middle in front of the goal line for the reception.  Cooley finished the game with 8 catches for 109 yards and a TD.

The second Redskins TD came on a 4 yard TD run by Clinton Portis, set up by a 27 yard Portis gain. Portis’s TD gave the Redskins a 23-14 lead.  Portis ran for 145 yards on 29 carries, averaging 5.0 yards per carry against what was known as a very stingy Eagles run defense.  Portis was the Player of the Game today, getting key first downs on super tough efforts, grabbing two critical receptions, and executing numerous key blocks on Eagle blitz packages.

The Eagles did threaten late after the Eagles drove the ball down to the 2 yard line late in the game.  Andre Carter came up with a tremendous stop on Brian Westbrook to knock the Eagles 34 yards back and force the Eagles to kick a field goal.

Jim Zorn made the call of the game, deciding to go for it on 4th and 1 late in the game to put the dagger in the heart of the Eagles.  Folks, that is a call Joe Gibbs would not have made, and that is precisely what you get with the Zornado.

The Redskins gained 388 total yards compared to 254 for Philadelphia.  The Redskins also gained more first downs than Philadelphia, 22-14.  One of the big telling stats for Washington was the 11 for 19 third down coversion percentage.

DCPSR Player of the Game:  RB Clinton Portis, 29 rushed, 145 yards, 1 TD, 5.0 yards per carry  — 2 reception for 13 yards.

Redskins Stat Leaders:

PASSING:  Jason Campbell:  16/29 for 176 yards, 1 TD, 0 Picks — 6 carries, 14 yards, including a critical 15 yard first down gain.

RUSHING:  Clinton Portis, 29 carries, 145 yards

RECEIVING:  Chris Cooley 8 recpetions, 109 yards, 1 TD

KICKING:  Shaun Shuisham, 3 for 3 FGs (41, 48, 50)

TACKLES:  Chris Horton, 7

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