The Washington Redskins won a football game Sunday. Sometimes you hear people say getting a victory is all that matters -- I don't know if Redskins fans share that sentiment. For the second time this season, they won an incredibly ugly game at home against a winless team. The big story here was the play of the increasingly maligned Jason Campbell, the Redskins' fourth-year signal-caller. Campbell turned the ball over four times. In the first half, he lost a fumble, threw two interceptions and saw three other series end in punts. The Redskins were showered with a cascade of boos from their distraught fans as they headed to halftime trailing the Bucs 10-0 -- the same Bucs who were 0-3 and had been outscored 91-41 on the season heading into the game.
The second half was a different story for the Redskins and their embattled quarterback. Campbell did throw another pick, but he also threw two touchdown passes and led the Redskins to a come-from-behind victory, as they scored 16 points in the third quarter.
One side of the argument will say the Bucs' pass defense has been a sieve all season and it's really hard to ignore the four turnovers, even in a win.
The other will cry that Campbell was actually doing fine heading into the game (he had a 92.5 passer rating and was completing two-thirds of his passes) and he's allowed one bad one -- especially considering the offensive line play was shoddy on Sunday.
The alternative for the Redskins is Todd Collins, a career backup who did lead the Redskins on a playoff surge back in 2007 after Campbell fell injured. Collins turns 38 next month and he hasn't seen game action since that 2007 playoff game. He's less mobile than Campbell and doesn't have as strong an arm, but his recent history (what we have of it) shows he takes good care of the football (he's had 137 regular season attempts since 2001 and hasn't thrown a single interception).
Let the controversy continue, at least among fans. Campbell will be the starter next week when the Redskins visit Carolina. Should the Redskins lose and Campbell turn it over four times again, though, he'll probably start to feel the heat.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-04-2009 @ 6:12PM
A.J. said...
People are going to call for his benching no matter what happens. Before, he was putting up decent numbers and just not getting many wins and people were on his balls. I laugh at everyone who was waiting for this game from Campbell to give them an excuse to call for his benching - Campbell salvaged his own game. Besides the one interception, his second half was almost flawless. I think that a light really turned on for everyone at halftime, and I'll take an ugly win like this if it's a gateway to better things to come.
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10-04-2009 @ 6:29PM
mo19678 said...
Todd collins threw 2 INTs in the playoff game againist the seahawks & both got returned for touchdowns, so how can you say he has`nt thrown a single INT ????
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10-04-2009 @ 8:06PM
samm said...
awful performance?thats pretty harsh considering they won the game because campbell brought them back on offence...he threw 2 tds and the throw to moss cudnt hav been any better...yes...it wasnt even close to great performance but saying he was awful is too harsh...big props to the D for stepping up 2day tho they finally got it done on 3rd down, got some sacks and forced sum turnovers...hopefully this gets us going bcuz the skins finally hav something to build on on offence and defence...HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!!
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10-04-2009 @ 9:20PM
Amanda said...
Jason Campbell had a rough first half, but he came back and led his team to a victory. He played great in the second half and the team showed what kind of heart they actually have which is what they really needed to show this week. A WIN is a WIN, and a WIN is exactly what they needed. I'll take an ugly win over a hard fought loss any day. People need to get off Campbell's back, he's had a good start to the season so far and people need to stop hating! GO REDSKINS :)!!!
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10-05-2009 @ 10:17AM
floridacat2 said...
Amanda, open your eyes! do you see any long passes downtown is what we need, and it aint happening with Campbell. hes had more than a chance to prove himself, my god this is his 4th year. how many years does he need? put Collins in there and we will make the play offs. Campbell will not get us there i promise you...
10-05-2009 @ 12:51PM
samm said...
florida....no passes downtown?remind how they scored ther first td against detroit n ther second td against tb i 4got...they cudnt hav been long passes right?
10-05-2009 @ 7:37AM
Scott said...
A win is a win. Right now, any win is an improvement.
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10-05-2009 @ 12:10PM
Mitzi said...
agreed...I'm not too happy about Campbell. His performance is not off to a good start..and in my opinion it never was. But, I do agree that at least we got a win. Gotta see the positive!!!
10-05-2009 @ 8:23AM
jongetsresults said...
His accuracy is the issue. He was off quite a bit yesterday.
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10-05-2009 @ 11:16AM
gelehu said...
Not to mention, he had two pretty nice runs for critical first downs.Wish the haters would just leave Campbell and Zorn alone
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10-05-2009 @ 11:18AM
gelehu said...
And the cowbabies lost too, so aint that too bad. Poor Romo
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10-05-2009 @ 11:20AM
James said...
I believe that some Quarterbacks can thrive in any offensive system and then you have those who can only thrive in certain systems...look at how bad Chad Pennington looked when he was with the Jets verses have much better he looked down in Miami. I just don't believe Campbell can get it done with the offense that Washington is using and as long as The Skins stay with Campbell is how long The Skins will remain at the bottom of the NFC East...
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10-05-2009 @ 1:39PM
kevin said...
cambell benched
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10-05-2009 @ 3:56PM
Redskin Fan 1 said...
As an avid Redskin Fan for over 52 years I have seen the best of the skins and the worse..However the last two weeks from the offense has been a joke. The skins played the 2 worst teams in football and lost one and barley one one. I don't blame as much the players as much as the organization starting from the GM down..GM needs to be replaced the coach as well. How can an organization hire a coach before a GM..Mr. Snyder needs to let his hand ball buddy go and hire a real GM..I am sure Mike Holmgren is avaiable. As far as Head Coach Mr. Zorn.."NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME"..Knowing how Mr. Snyder likes to spend money and bringing a winner to DC how about Bill Cowar,Mike Shanahan,John Gruen I am sure they are ava. for the right price..Quarterback Mr.Campbell well let's just say after 4 years he hasn't grown as an NFL Quarterback..If there are no good QB's ava. at this time of the season how about the Canadian league there season is over and that league is 95% passing with a longer field..Hence Joe Theisman he played in that league... As ESPN quoted yesterday, instead of "Hail to the Redskins" how about " Fail to the Redskins"....You see an good organization starts from the top down..Shame on Daniel..
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10-06-2009 @ 4:55PM
MR H said...
Hey Everyone, Great comments but remember Jason Campbell has since coming to the NFL not learned to read defenses. He throws the same interceptions that he did his first starts. He has just recently started to "run for 1st downs" vs "running for anywhere". Zorn's offense requires defensive reads and quick decisions. JC doesn't do either very well. Anywhere else he would be back up or back up to the back up. Or raising hogs not protected by them.
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