MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010


KLMNO


EZ SU


D11 HIGH


With 1 minute 20 seconds to go in the first half, Donovan McNabb completed his second 62-yard pass of the game, this one to Fred Davis, right, at Houston’s one-yard line. The highlight of the play was Clinton Portis’s downfield block on EugeneWilson that freed Davis for another 15 yards. Two plays later, Portis scored a one-yard touchdown to increase the Redskins’ lead to 20-7.


LOW


Place kicker Graham Gano missed a 52-yard field goal in overtime that would have won the game. It came just seconds after Gano nailed one from the same distance that was disallowed when Texans Coach Gary Kubiak called timeout an instant before the snap.


NEXTUP


St. Louis Rams Sunday, 4:05 p.m., Edward Jones Dome, WTTG-5 The Rams lost a close one, 17-13, to the Arizona Cardinals inWeek 1, and


dropped another to the Oakland Raiders, 16-14, Sunday in a game that saw former Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell benched at halftime.


The running game never gets going With just 18 yards


on 17 carries, offense is one-dimensional


BY PAUL TENORIO Washington Redskins run-


ning back Larry Johnson took the handoff on the first play of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 30-27 loss totheHoustonTexans andheadedleft. As he ran toward a swarm of


Texans defenders at the 20-yard line,Johnsonturnedandtriedto reverse directions. At the mo- ment, theRedskinsweredesper- ate for a clock-eating drive that might quell the building mo- mentum on the other sideline. Instead, Johnson was dropped for a 10-yard loss as he tried to make a big play, essentially kill- ing any chanceWashington had of putting together the much- neededdrive. The run summed up Wash-


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST


Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson corrals a 34-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown pass over Redskins safety Reed Doughty. The prolific Johnson caught a game-high 12 passes for 158 yards, part of quarterbackMatt Schaub’s 38-for-52, 497-yard effort in the comeback win.


Texans aremore than trendy


Longtime underdog rounding into top offensive threat


BY GENEWANG In the not-so-distant past, the


Houston Texans were the long- shot darlings of the NFL. They had promise by the boatload at several indispensable positions and had become the trendy pick to perhaps dethrone playoff reg- ular Indianapolis from atop the AFC South. After two games this season,


it’s abundantly clear the Texans no longer are a fad. They instead have legitimate aspirations of winning their highly competitive division and could go do some damage in the playoffs, as they showed in their 30-27 overtime victory over theRedskins Sunday at FedEx Field. Quarterback Matt Schaub,


who completed just nine passes in last week’s 34-24 cathartic triumph over the Colts, directed the comeback from a 17-point


deficit late in the third quarter. He carved upWashington for 497 yards and three touchdowns, in completing 38 of 52 passes. In staging one of the most


prolific passing performances in recent memory, Schaub also re- minded the rest of the league that while he may not be in the conversation with the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or DrewBrees, the formerUniversi- ty of Virginia standout certainly could ascend to that level. “Our quarterback had a 500-


yard day throwing the football. That doesn’t happen in the Na- tional Football League very of- ten,” Coach Gary Kubiak said. On the way to the second-big-


gest comeback in franchise histo- ry, Schaub completed a pair of touchdown passes to Kevin Wal- ter and Andre Johnson sand- wiched around a field goal to tie the game at 27.The touchdown to Johnson came on fourth down and 10 from the Redskins 34, with 2minutes 3 seconds to play. In overtime, Schaub converted


third and four with a six-yard completion to wide receiver Ja- coby Jones to theWashington 46


before lofting a 28-yard comple- tion to tight end Joel Dreessen. That play moved Houston to the 18, and Neil Rackers booted a 35-yard field goal to end the game. “We’re on the road today in a


very difficult environment against a very good football team,” said Schaub, who spent most of his time handing off last week to running back Arian Fos- ter. “We got behind in a tough environment, but we battled. It just shows the resolve this team has.” Perhaps the most indomitable


player among all the Texans was Johnson, the physically imposing wide receiver who is making his case as the best at his position. Despite leaving the game briefly in the second half with a sore ankle, Johnson finished with 158 yards on 12 catches a week after he went virtually unnoticed on the stat sheet. In the opener, the Colts were


determined not to allowJohnson to be a difference-maker. The move backfired, though, as Fos- ter rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns.


On Sunday, with Washington


dedicating major resources to stopping the run, Johnson often had roomdownfield ormade his own space. Safety Reed Doughty was the victim when Johnson used his body to get position and grab the tying touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. “He’s in the Pro Bowl now,”


defensive end Mario Williams (three sacks) said when asked about his teammate’s acrobatic catch. The crowd “got quiet. We got crunk.” Walter added 144 yards on 11


receptions, and Foster, limited to 69 yards on 19 carries, contribut- ed three catches for 69 yards. In all, Houston amassed 526


yards of total offense after gain- ing 198 in the first half. The Texans also had 19 of their 29 first downs in the second half. “You don’t do things like that if


you don’t have character,”Kubiak said. “The character of the team got tested today, and there was no panic at halftime,” when the Texans trailed, 20-7. “Therewas a lot of mad football players and coaches, but there was no panic.” wangg@washpost.com


TRACEE HAMILTON These Redskins are as entertaining as they are unpredictable hamilton from D1


heart, the small of bladder, the fragile of psyche. The Redskins are improved enough to give almost anyone a game, but still have enough holes to be vulnerable. What holes? The passing game


found its feet Sunday but the running game is almost non- existent, as in 17 carries for 18 yards. When Clinton Portis scored the first offensive touchdown of the season on a one-yard run, it was also the Redskins’ first rushing yard of the game—at 12 minutes 33 seconds of the second quarter. Portis had two touchdowns to move into second on the Redskins’ all-time rushing touchdowns list, ahead of Stephen Davis, but finished with just 33 yards. The defense looked impregnable last week but increasingly mortal as Sunday’s game went on. The Redskins held the surprising Arian Foster to just 69 yards but allowed quarterbackMatt Schaub to complete 38 of 52 passes for 497 yards and three touchdowns. The offense’s struggle with the running game led to some short drives, including two of less than two minutes each in the fourth quarter, which gave the defense some short rests near the end of the game. A week ago, in a victorious


locker room, Andre Carter did an


on the coverage teams. Graham Gano is a steadier


hand (or foot) than Shaun Suisham, but last week a fumble on the snap cost him an almost certain field goal; this week a 29- yarder in the fourth quarter was blocked. Gano also got iced byHouston


Coach Gary Kubiak on what could have been the game- winning field goal.Using the stupid rule that allows coaches to call timeout just before the ball is snapped on a field goal attempt, Kubiak negated a 52- yarder by Gano.His second attempt was wide right. “It’s fine, you know, it’s the


way it is,” Gano said of the icing call. “It’s fine.” What was different about the


second attempt? “The operation was good,” he


RICKY CARIOTI/THE WASHINGTON POST


Texans running back Arian Foster slips the grasp Redskins linebacker RockyMcIntosh duringHouston’s overtime victory at FedEx Field. Foster finished with 69 yards on 11 carries and also caught three passes.


impression of his mood swings during the final three seconds against the Cowboys—happy face, frowny face, happy face— as Tony Romo completed a touchdown pass that was called back on a holding penalty. On Sunday night, Carter


wasn’t doing impressions.He walked slowly to his locker,


looking like a head-to-toe charley horse, and gingerly took a seat before trying to explain what it felt like to give up 17 unanswered points. “It was very disappointing,”


Carter said. “Nothing can be said. You just have to put it away. Houston’s a great team and the momentum shifted on their side


and we just couldn’t finish it. It’s all a learning experience. That’s pretty much it.” Any other holes?Well, the


return game has improved— there were so many fair catches signaled last season, it looked like Antwaan Randle El was perpetually hailing a cab— but there are still too many penalties


said. “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.” He may have been relaxed, but


no one in the crowd was. Last week’s finish brought Redskins fans out of their long coma; Sunday’s game returned them to pre-2009 form. Perhaps that was the purpose


of this loss—to prevent the area- wide tickle fight that would have accompanied a 2-0 start. If the Redskins had held on and won this game, there would have


been nut bags out there mentioning the words “Super” and “Bowl” in the same sentence. Inevitably, someone would have sent a bad “Ode to the Redskins” to the local newspaper, probably rhyming “McNabb” with “taxi cab” or “bar tab.” (NewPost policy:Manifestos only.) Last week’s victory over Dallas


was important for a lot of reasons—as the first Redskins victory for bothMike Shanahan and DonovanMcNabb and as a sorbet to get the taste of last season’s vile 16-course buffet out of everyone’s mouth—but the Cowboys are vastly overrated so far this season, and the Redskins couldn’t manage an offensive touchdown. WhenMcNabb hit Joey


Galloway (combined age of tandem: retirement) for 62 yards in the second quarter Sunday, it was the longest completion of the season for the Redskins, by 38 yards.McNabb wracked up 426 yards and got everyone but AlbertHaynesworth involved in the passing game, so that issue seems to be solved. Now all that remains for the Redskins is a short to-do list for next week’s game at St. Louis: Fix the holes on offense, defense and special teams. Just three items. No worries. Their fans have just one assignment beforeWeek 3: defibrillators. Lots of defibrillators.


hamiltont@washpost.com


ington’s struggles on the ground throughout the afternoon. On a day when quarterback


Donovan McNabb passed for 426 yards, the Redskins were unable to get anything going in therungame, finishingwithjust 18rushingyardson17 carries,an average of 1.1 yards per carry. Last week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Redskins totaled 89 yards rushing. “We have been working on it,


butwe are justnot as good aswe want to be,” Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said. “I can’t tell youandIamnotgoingtotellyou exactlywhy, butwewill keep on working on it and hopefully we will get better.” The lack of production on the


ground clearly hurt theRedskins late in the game, and thoughMc- Nabbwaseffectivefindingreceiv- ers, the lack of balance limited whatWashingtoncoulddo.


ClintonPortiswas theleading


rusher, finishing with 33 yards on 13 carries and two touch- downs. After the 10-yard loss, Johnson, who finished withmi- nus-7 yards, was pulled in favor ofundraftedrookieKeilandWil- liams. The only drive in which the


Redskins ran the ball effectively came afterHouston cut the lead to seven. Portis rushed for gains of two and 12 yards tomove the Redskins to the Texans 14-yard line, and runs of five and four yards setupa third-and-1play at the 5. A false start pushed the Redskinsback,however,andthe drive stalled.GrahamGano’s29- yard field goal attemptwas then blocked. “Right now as an offense we


are throwing the ball around, you just have to be patient,” Por- tis said. “I think formyself,Mike [Sellers],LJandKeilandandthe O-line,we justhave tobepatient andfindaway towingames.” Players said after the game


that the numbers were so un- even at least partly because of the Houston defensive align- ment. McNabb often switched the call froma run to a pass play at the line of scrimmage, guard Artis Hicks said, and the calls were successful so they contin- uedto look to thepass. Still, several players acknowl-


edged how critical it is for the Redskins to fix whatever is plaguing the run game if they want to maximize the offense’s potential. “It comes to being balanced,”


McNabb said. “Whenever we need to run the ball and eat up some clock we have to be very effective in doing that. And that’s one that, obviously we’re going to watch the film and make some corrections and hopefully get it changedfornext week, as well as the rest of the season.”


tenoriop@washpost.com


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST


Larry Johnson lost 10 yards on a carry early in the fourth quarter, whenWashington still had a 10-point advantage.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64