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Campbell leads Redskins over Cardinals

Sep 21, 2008 - 11:19 PM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LANDOVER, Maryland (Ticker) -- Jason Campbell is quickly rounding into West Coast offensive form for coach Jim Zorn in the nation's capital.

Campbell passed for 193 yards and two touchdowns without an interception to lead the Washington Redskins to a 24-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

"I'm loving Jason," said Santana Moss, who caught the 17-yard, game-winning touchdown pass from Campbell with 12:10 remaining. "He's showing that each week he's in charge with his offense. Regardless of how much we know it, (the offense) is still new. I'm thrilled to see how he's progressed."

So has the Redskins' defensive secondary, which came up with another big play to save the day. Cornerback Carlos Rogers intercepted a pass from Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and returned it 42 yards to set up the winning touchdown.

Leigh Torrence tipped the ball and Rogers, who fell down on the play, sprung to his feet in time to corral the carom with a diving catch.

"I was backpedaling real fast and I had to put my brakes on," Rogers said. "I didn't think I was going to get there but it came into my hands."

Rogers also had the wherewithal to get off the ground and make the big return.

"He didn't lay there and bask in his glory," said Zorn, who brought the West Coast offense to Washington from Seattle during the offseason. "He got up and made a huge play and then that set us up for that screen to Santana Moss. That was really heads up for him."

Warner thought Steve Breaston had Torrence beat and admitted that the ball was underthrown.

"I thought we had a chance on it," said Warner, who completed 16-of-30 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns with the one costly interception. "I thought Steve got over the top of him. Probably a little bit underthrown."

Two plays later, Moss hauled in a 17-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a screen pass from Campbell that gave the Redskins (2-1) a 24-17 lead.

The Cardinals pulled into a 17-17 tie on Warner's 62-yard bomb to Larry Fitzgerald with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

"That's one of those double-move plays that you're probably not going to get it more than once," said Warner, who thought the Cardinals wasted too many scoring opportunities. "I thought we moved the football well today."

Fitzgerald finished with seven receptions for 109 yards for Arizona (2-1). He posted the 15th 100-yard receiving game of his career, which ranks sixth on the Cardinals' franchise list.



Campbell helped the Redskins march 60 yards on their opening possession, completing all six of his passes and rushing for 16 yards. The drive marked the first time in eight games that Washington scored on its first possession.

"They were putting eight in the box trying to stop our run and it really opened up our passing game," Campbell said. "That's what teams are going to do. Anytime they do that, we need to be able to let the ball loose and be able to throw it."

Moss finished with seven receptions for 75 yards for Washington, which has won four straight home games dating to last season. Moss has caught a touchdown pass in six consecutive games, tying a club record set in 1964 by Bobby Mitchell.

Clinton Portis, who rushed for 68 yards on 21 carries, capped Washington's opening march with a 3-yard touchdown run that gave the Redskins a 7-0 lead with 8:28 remaining in the opening quarter.

The rushing touchdown was the 38th of Portis' career with the Redskins, tying him with Terry Allen for third place on the franchise's all-time list, trailing John Riggins (79) and Stephen Davis (45).

"Our running backs got pounded today," Zorn said. "They did a great job running up in there against a stout defense."

Arizona's Edgerrin James rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries. His fumble on the final play of the first quarter, however, led to a 48-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham that gave Washington a 10-0 lead.

Rocky McIntosh forced the fumble and Rogers recovered, making him a two-time defensive hero for Washington.

"I just think we hurt ourselves," Warner said. "A couple turnovers, a couple penalties, just things that hurt us. We maybe didn't get some calls, but at the same time, there were plays that we could've made."

Tight end Todd Yoder gave Washington a 17-10 lead on a 2-yard touchdown reception from Campbell with 3:16 remaining in the third quarter.

"I think we had a mixture of plays and we did a good job keeping the defense on their toes," Yoder said.

The Redskins ended the Cardinals' league-leading streak of scoring at least 20 points in 10 consecutive games and improved to 2-0 at home for the first time since 2005.

Warner second-guessed why Arizona punted the ball on fourth-and-4 at the Cardinals' 48-yard line with 2:46 remaining.

"I was a bit surprised, yeah, in that situation," Warner said. "You know you're going to have to stop them anyway, even if you don't get it on fourth down instead of punting, but that was just kind of spur of the moment."