MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010


Texans 30, Redskins 27 (OT) NOTABLE


With his second rushing touchdown, running back Clinton Portis moved past Stephen Davis into second place on the Redskins career list with 46. He trails only John Riggins.


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D9 KEYMOMENT


In overtime, Texans Coach Gary Kubiak decided to punt rather than attempt a field goal from beyond midfield. On the next possession, Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan, a mentor of Kubiak’s, chose to try a field goal from the same distance. Place kicker Graham Gano missed, giving the Texans the ball at their 42 for their final drive.


923


Combined yards passing by quarterbacks Matt Schaub (497) and Donovan McNabb ( 426). It was the sixth time in NFL history that opposing quarterbacks and passed for more than 400 yards each and the first time since 1994.


Texans stun Redskins by scoring final 20 points


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST


LaRon Landry is left to sit on the field and contemplate how the Redskins’ defense allowedHouston to rally from a 27-10 deficit in the second half. “It stings, man.We let this one go,” teammate Brian Orakpo said. redskins from D1


158 yards, one touchdown) to beat Shanahan, his longtime friend, former coach, employer andmentor. On fourth and 10 from the


Washington 34-yard line, Schaub and Johnson teamed on a 34- yard touchdown pass with 2 minutes 3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Rackers’s suc- cessful point-after kick tied the score at 27-27. “Obviously, it’s a great athlete


making a play,” Shanahan said. “He [Schaub] threw it up there; had a lot of pressure on him. I thought the quarterback did a good job of just kind of sitting back there, buying for some time, just kind of threwit up in the air. You’ve got a great athlete that has an excellent vertical jump and made a big play when you had to.” Playingwithout injured defen-


sive lineman Albert Haynes- worth (ankle), the Redskins lim- ited running backArian Foster to


REDSKINSNOTEBOOK T. Williams leaves late in game with knee injury


Rookie tackle will have MRI exam to determine severity of injury


BY BARRY SVRLUGA Washington Redskins tackle


Trent Williams left Sunday’s 30- 27 overtime loss to the Houston Texans with a knee injury in the fourth quarter, leaving Washing- ton with a makeshift offensive line for the final possession of regulation and its only set of downs in overtime. Williams, the fourth overall


pick intheAprildraft,wasbeaten by Houston Pro Bowler Mario Williams on a play with roughly 90 seconds remaining in regula- tion. He lay on the field in obvi- ous pain and had to be helped off by twomembers of the Redskins’ training staff. Redskins CoachMike Shanah-


an said Williams would have an MRI exam to determine the ex- tent of the injury. Williams said he was tested for a tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament on the


field and passed. He also left the stadium wearing a walking boot to protect his left toe. “Just got banged-up, that’s all,”


Williams said afterward, when he limped around the locker room, grabbing the sides of his locker stall to lifthimself fromhis chair. Williams said he did not know


when he would find out whether he would miss any time. His mood afterward, though, was glum, and he spoke in short sentences. “It’s very frustrating,”Williams


said. “It is. To be injured and also let the game slip away likewe did, it’s frustrating.” Williams’s injury left the Red-


skins with Stephon Heyer as the left tackle;Heyer had been rotat- ing with Jammal Brown at right tackle. “It’s not easy, but you’ve just


got to come to play,” Heyer said. “You’ve got to be prepared for everything.” Brown has started both regu-


lar season games, with Heyer playing every third series at right tackle.DerrickDockery andKory Lichtensteiger continued to ro-


tate at left guard against the Texans as well. “It’s tough getting a rhythm,


getting the blood flowing or any- thing,” Heyer said. “But that’s what they’re trying to do, trying to get a rotation going.” If Williams is out for next


Sunday’s game at St. Louis, it’s unlikelyHeyerwill be part of any rotation. He could be starting at left tackle. Heyer started 28 games in his first three years in the NFL. “Trent’s a great young talent,


andwe knowthat he’s going to be the best left tackle in the game in a couple years,” right guard Artis Hicks said. “But if he’s out for a while, and I don’t know if he is, then hey, Stephon’s a starter. Stephon Heyer, he’s been out there before. He’s been in the thick of things. He’s proven he can be a starter in this league.”


Haynesworth inactive Defensive tackleAlbertHayne-


sworth was the most prominent member of the roster to be de- claredinactive Sunday, adecision made by the coaching staff after Haynesworth tested his sprained


ankle in pregame warmups. “He tested it andwasn’t able to


go,” Shanahan said. Haynesworth originally suf-


fered the ankle sprain during Wednesday’s practice.His partic- ipation was limited late in the week. Defensive tackle Anthony Bryant,whowas active inHayne- sworth’s place, said he was told late in the week “to be ready.” “When Albert’s not in, we lose


another guy with experience,” Bryant said. “That’s the big thing. He’s played for a while. He’s got more experience. His leadership role and him as a person, just being there, the fact that it’s AlbertHaynesworth, itmakes the other team game plan with him inmind.” Haynesworth, though, has


been a part-time player for Sha- nahan thus far. He did not start and was not on the field for several key plays of the season- opening 13-7 victory over Dallas. In 2009, his first season inWash- ington, he sat out four games with injuries, and the last time he played in all 16 games of a season was 2002 — his rookie year with Tennessee.


69 yards and a 3.6-yard average. In a Week 1 victory over India- napolis, Foster rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns. For Shanahan and his offen-


sive coordinator, his son Kyle who formerly served as Kubiak’s offensive coordinator and quar- terbacks coach, it was a frustrat- ing outcome, in large part, be- cause the Redskins failed repeat- edly down the stretch—especial- ly on special teams. Late in the fourth quarter, the Texans blocked place kicker Graham Gano’s 29-yard field-goal at- tempt that would have extended the Redskins’ lead to 10 points. And then in overtime, Gano


missed a potential 52-yard game- winner wide after Kubiak called a timeout to ice him. Gano sent the ball through the uprights on an initial kick, but Kubiak called timeout just in time. “I just wanted to make sure we made them line up and do it again,” Kubiak said. Television cameras showed Gano smiling as hewalked to the


sideline after the timeout to speak with special teams coordi- nator Danny Smith. On the first possession of overtime, Kubiak punted instead of permitting Rackers to attempt a 52-yard kick. “It’s fine, you know, it’s the


way it is,” Gano said of Kubiak’s successful decision to call the timeout. “The operation was good. I felt real good about the first one, hit the first one real well. I think maybe I got a little more relaxed on the second one. I thought I was going to make it. Maybe next time not relax as much.” But with McNabb sharp after


struggling in the season-opening victory over Dallas, the Redskins did not envision Gano playing a major role in the outcome. Mc- Nabb completed 28 of 38 passes and for the first time in his 12-year career had at least two passes of 62 yards, teaming with wide receiver Joey Galloway and tight end Fred Davis on 62-yard receptions asWashington built a


20-7 halftime lead. Washington went ahead, 27-


10, late in the third quarterwhen McNabb and tight end Chris Cooley combined on a 22-yard touchdown. McNabb’s statistics through the third quarter: 18 of 23, 340 yards, one touchdown and a 133.2 passer rating. “It doesn’t matter if I pass for


four or five hundred yards or if I pass for 100,” said McNabb, who had his third career 400-yard passing game. “It’s about win- ning and that’s what the bottom line is.” The Redskins failed to deliver


a knockout blow and Schaub kept pushing. He threw a short touchdown pass as time expired in the third quarter, Rackers made a 43-yarder early in the fourth and then the Schaub- Johnson connection helped Houston extend the game to overtime. Safety Reed Doughty was in


coverage against Johnson, who outleaped Doughty and came down with the ball in the end


zone. “Obviously, you want to make that play to win the game, you want to be the hero,” Dough- ty said. “He was instead. It’s one of those plays that’s there’s noth- ing a coach can tell you. “It’s not [being] out of posi-


tion. There’s nothing he [a coach] can tell you except, ‘Make the play.’Getmy hand in between the ball. Ah, jump up. Create havoc.Maybe if he outjumpsme, hit the ball outwhen he’s coming down instead of trying to hit it at the high point, cause he’s obvi- ously going to outjumpme.” Houstonwon the coin toss and


elected to receive the ball to start the overtime. Kubiak decided not to go for


the long field-goal try to win the game “because there was a little breeze coming that way on that end. If youmiss that, they have to go 20 yards to beat us. I just felt good about it.” Following Gano’s miss, the


Texans took possession of the ball on their 42-yard line.Backup safety Chris Horton replaced


strong safety LaRon Landry (bruised hand) on the drive and had a costly offside penalty and also was beaten by tight end Joel Dreessen for a 28-yard gain to the Redskins 18-yard line. “Crucial part of the game,


man, I’ve got to see the ball,” Horton said. “I got put in the game and I’m expected to make those plays. It hurts, giving up two crucial plays. That’s some- thing I’ve got to live with.” Three plays after Dreessen’s


long reception, the game was over on Rackers’s kick. “We knew we had a tough


challenge and we had an oppor- tunity to come in and win the game and we didn’t,” said Portis, who rushed for two touchdowns but had only 33 yards and a 2.5-yard average. “And the same way we had to forget about Dallas after we won, we got to forget about Houston. We can’t come out and change this . . . so tomorrow it’s on to our next game.”


reidj@washpost.com


JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST


Rookie tackle Trent Williams is helped by Redskins personnel after hurting his knee in the fourth quarter. “It’s very frustrating,” he said.


Haynesworth did not watch


the game from the sideline, which team officials said was normal for inactive players. Of- fensive lineman Will Montgom- ery and safety Kareem Moore, however, both joined their team- mates on the bench for the game. The Texans gained only 58


yards rushing against the Red- skins. Veteran Vonnie Holliday led Washington’s interior line-


men by being part of five tackles, including half a sack. Adam Car- riker added four tackles, includ- ing half a sack. The other inactiveRedskins on


Sunday were wide receiver Bran- don Banks, linebacker Perry Ri- ley, tight end Logan Paulsen, defensive end Jeremy Jarmon and John Beck,who served as the third quarterback. svrlugab@washpost.com


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