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Redskins use late rally to top Saints

Sep 15, 2008 - 12:46 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LANDOVER, Maryland (Ticker) -- Santana Moss' late heroics helped the Washington Redskins gain a thrilling win. But more importantly, Moss helped Jason Campbell gain some much-needed confidence.

Moss caught a 67-yard touchdown pass from Campbell with 3:29 remaining Sunday, lifting the Redskins to a stunning 29-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

"That play can do wonders for a guy like Jason and for this team," said Moss, who helped Washington (1-1) rebound from an ugly season-opening loss to the New York Giants.

Saints safety Kevin Kaesviharn had a bird's-eye view of the winning play by Moss, the first Redskins receiver since Charlie Brown (in 1982) to have touchdown receptions in five straight games.

"It shouldn't have happened, but they made the play," Kaesviharn said. "I thought maybe our corner on the backside could fall off to take that, then I could've stayed in the middle. But it happened so fast, it was hard to say."

Saints coach Sean Payton, who received a new five-year contract extension before the game that will keep him with the Saints through 2012, agreed with Kaesviharn.

"We didn't play well enough to win the game," Payton said. "We were fortunate enough, I thought, to be ahead at the half. And I thought we were fortunate to be up by nine going into the fourth quarter. That teased us a little bit."

On the Redskins' prior possession, Campbell completed all five of his passes for 82 yards to set up Clinton Portis' 8-yard touchdown run that pulled Washington within 24-22 with 5:59 left.

Campbell completed 24-of-36 passes for 321 yards and one touchdown without an interception for the third 300-yard game of his career.

The outstanding performance came 10 days after Campbell looked dismal in a 16-7 loss to the Giants, who limited the second-year starter to just 133 passing yards.

"Anytime you play quarterback in the NFL, it is always emotional because it is one of the most scrutinized positions," said Campbell, who admitted hearing boos Sunday from the crowd of 88,246 at FedEx Field. "You can't worry about it. You just have to keep focused and keep fighting."

"I think (Campbell) grew this whole week," Redskins coach Jim Zorn added. "He just continued what he was doing from the first half into the second."

Reggie Bush's 55-yard punt return had the Saints (1-1) headed to an apparent victory with two seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Bush capitalized on a couple blocks, dashed up the left sideline and received a 15-yard taunting penalty for mocking

the Redskins as he coasted into the end zone to give New Orleans a 24-15 lead.

"That gave us the lead, and we felt like we were just going to explode in the second half offensively," said Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who completed 22-of-33 passes for 216 yards with two interceptions. "At that point, we were feeling pretty good - felt like we had at least two touchdowns left in us."

But the Saints' offense was finished scoring on this day.

"You've got to make more plays down the stretch," said Bush, who rushed for only 28 yards on 10 carries and caught seven passes for 63 yards. "I felt like maybe we went into our prevent offense when we could've been attacking more."

With scoring runs of 9 and 8 yards, Portis moved into fourth place on the Redskins' all-time rushing touchdowns list with 36, surpassing Larry Brown.

"Coming into halftime, we knew that we left a lot of points on the field," said Portis, who finished with 96 yards on 21 carries. "During halftime, coach Zorn told us to keep fighting. ... We got the momentum back, the crowd was loud, and Santana Moss made a spectacular play."

Robert Meachem caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brees that gave the Saints a 17-9 lead with 5:13 left in the

third quarter. Meachem's first career touchdown capped the Saints' 11-play, 80-yard drive to begin the second half.

Pierre Thomas' 1-yard plunge gave the Saints a 7-6 lead with 8:34 remaining in the second quarter. New Orleans capitalized on Washington punt returner Antwan Randle El's fumble recovered by Troy Evans on the Redskins' 28-yard line.

Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 22, 36 and 35 yards in the first half for the Redskins, who trailed, 10-9, at halftime.

Redskins rookie safety Chris Horton had a memorable first NFL career start with two interceptions and a fumble recovery in place of Reed Doughty, who missed the game with a stomach virus.

"It was fun," Horton said. "I just went out and played football. I said, 'I'm in the right spot at the right time and I'm going to come up with plays to help this team win.'"