There are many things that went wrong for the Washington Redskins in their 19-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this afternoon. But the Redskins will be a legitimate contender for a wild card spot this year thanks to one man.
And its not Joe Gibbs.
Jason Campbell is willing this offense to play close games against solid competition. In today’s loss to Tampa Bay and last week’s loss to the division-leading Dallas Cowboys, Campbell has thrown for more than 300 yards in both contests. The knock against him has been his decision-making in the late stages of games, but a look at the bigger picture reveals a bigger problem for a Joe Gibbs-run offense: lack of run production.
Washington considerably upgraded from last week’s loss in opportunities given to the rushing tandem of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, but the results were similar. Portis and Betts combined for 115 yards on 28 carries today, but it paled in comparison to the 49 passes attempted by Campbell. Last week, Campbell attempted 54 passes, after 14 carries by Portis and Betts yielded only 44 yards.
Important to note is that the team has no rushing touchdowns in the last two games, which points to a lack of production in the red zone for the Redskins. That means longer throws early in drives, which leads to greater opportunities for turnovers.
Campbell is a second year quarterback, but measured against tenured QB’s like Kyle Boller, Phillip Rivers and Eli Manning, Campbell is doing much more to put his team in a position to win. And in an offense with receivers and running backs that aren’t built for the system, he’s the biggest piece to a half-completed puzzle in Washington.
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