Cardinals at Redskins: Horton Hears A Who, And Sits On Bench

Arizona Cardinals (2-0) vs. Washington Redskins (1-1)
1:00 p.m. FedEx Field
I can’t tell you how many games in the past few years the Redskins have handed to teams on a platter. It’s a high number, I’ll tell you that much. So it was nice to see an opponent return the favor.

At the end of three quarters last Sunday against New Orleans, the Redskins were down by nine. They had moved the ball well all day, they were dominating the stat sheet and they looked like the better team. But they were still down two scores and were just seconds removed from allowing a 55-yard punt return touchdown. There weren’t a lot of happy faces at the stadium.

It didn’t get much better in the early 4th quarter and the Redskins found themselves inside their 20 with about nine minutes to go. After a sack on first down, the Skins were actually on their own 7, 93 yards and a second drive away from a comeback. Then the Saints got so vanilla on offense and defense, it took the Redskins only about five minutes to make up the difference. First they went on a long march down the field that was capped off by Clinton Portis’ second touchdown run of the game. Following a predictable 3-and-out by the Saints, the Skins took possession at their own 33, down two and with plenty of time to get into field goal range.

What followed next may be the most important play of the Redskins season and the future of the franchise. Now, I say maybe because it could be just a fluky play that turns out to be no big deal in the grand scheme of things. For the moment, it appears to be a rather important play. It’s a play you want to mark down on paper, keep it filed away and pull it out when this team makes future runs in the playoffs (hopefully). Jason Campbell escaped pressure, threw the ball from his own 26-yard line, on a rope, to Santana Moss who caught the ball on the Saints’ 16 and jogged into the endzone. It was the biggest pass of Campbell’s career. It won the game for the Redskins, prevented them from falling into an 0-2 hole and prevented another long week of media scrutiny which could have caused Campbell to snap and pull a Vince Young. Instead, Campbell showed that flash of brilliance which everyone has been waiting for. It goes down as a 67-yard touchdown in the box score, but the 58 yards the ball traveled in the air was picture perfect. It couldn’t have been placed any better. And with the game on the line! Those were some cojones. That pass could mean more than just a touchdown and a win.

Before we get too excited, let me get back to my original point. The Saints had this game won and simply allowed the Redskins to take it back. Had New Orleans played their brand of football, they win it easily. The loss of Marques Colston from the Saints lineup can’t be understated. Without him the Saints had no deep threat. Without Deuce McAllister, they had no back that they could count on for four or five yards. The Saints basically got the ball in the hands of Reggie Bush all game. And with no one to take the pressure off of him, the Skins were easily able to key in on him. With Colston and McAllister in the lineup, that’s an entirely different offense and an entirely different game. The Saints looked afraid to go more than 10 yards downfield, and it allowed the Redskins to contain the only two weapons they had left: Bush and Jeremy Shockey.

Defensively, the Saints made a huge mistake on the final touchdown to Moss. New Orleans was without cornerback Randall Gay and safety Roman Harper. They had half of their secondary missing. On the touchdown play, for whatever reason, rookie Tracy Porter was left one-on-one with a Pro Bowl receiver. All it took was a standard double-move and Moss was wide open and running free for six. Again, if the Saints are healthy, or if they had at least given Porter some help, that game ends differently. New Orleans offered up a lot of chances to Washington and the Redskins eventually took one of them.

All right, enough with that. As I said, the Redskins have given opponents many games over the last few seasons, so it was a change of pace to see another team commit the same mistakes. All I’m saying is don’t get too excited over a five point win, at home, against a team that was missing seven starters.

One of the best highlights of the game (not including the touchdown) had to be the play of Chris Horton. Horton made a last second start for Reed Doughty. He picked off two passes and recovered a fumble. Both of the picks came on tipped passes, so if you include the fumble that was bouncing around for what seemed like a eternity before Horton got there, there have been several writers/broadcasters saying that Horton was merely lucky to come up with any of the turnovers. He was at the right place at the right time. I’ll agree to a point. He was certainly at the right place at the right time, but that’s half the battle. Half of playing defense is just being in the right position to make a play. The other half is making it. The ability to have a “sixth sense” and to know where the ball is going is a trait that separates average defenders from good to great ones. So whether it was blind luck, or an innate ability, Horton played extremely well and was around the ball all game making plays.

For whatever reason, Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache decided to reinsert Doughty into the starting lineup this week. I think this sends a bad message. The NFL, and sports in general, instantly rewards someone who performs better at their job than others around them. The NFL is a cutthroat business, and I’m sure all camp Blache and Zorn told their players that if they perform well, they’ll make the team. If they perform very well, they’ll play and even start. This was evidenced by Stephon Heyer getting the start at right tackle over veteran Jon Jansen. Heyer had a great camp and a great preseason. Jansen didn’t, so he’s on the bench. Well, Doughty has yet to do anything special. Horton looked good in preseason. In his first game action, he’s involved in three turnovers. One turnover led to points and the final pick ended the game. Other than the Campbell to Moss pass, Horton was a participant in the three biggest plays in the game. I think he earned himself another start. I think he earned himself the job until he screws up. It’s not as if he’d be replacing a long-time and established starter. By not starting Horton, Zorn and Blache are playing favorites with Doughty, and that can really mess up team chemistry and lockerroom cohesiveness. Regardless, Horton looks like a steal as a seventh round pick. I’m not sure what the rest of the NFL was looking at, but Horton was a 1st Team All-Pac 10 defender coming out of UCLA. For the Redskins to take what amounts to be a flyer on him in the last round of the draft says something about the scouting that takes place in the NFL. This guy had middle round draft pick written all over him. Guess the NFL’s loss is the Redskins gain.

Now the Arizona Cardinals come to town. It feels like I’ve had to do a Cardinals game writeup every season (edit: 3 out of last 4). So there’s no sense in re-hashing everything I’ve said about the Cards. They always play the Skins tough and close. Last season the Redskins almost blew a game they dominated for three quarters. Arizona could have tied the game with a two-point conversion in the closing minutes, or could have won the game after recovering an onside kick and then watched Neil Rackers miss a 50-yarder by a foot.

The Cardinals, thanks to the usually bad 49ers, the unusually God-awful Rams and injuries to Seattle, are in prime position to win the NFC West. They bring a prolific offense and the league’s best passing attack to FedEx Field. Kurt Warner had a good game last season with torn ligaments in his elbow. He’s fully healthy and so are both of his main receivers. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald both appear to be headed Pro Bowl seasons. Both had six catches last week and both easily eclipsed the century mark in receiving yards. Even better for Arizona is the slight resurgence of Edgerrin James. James hasn’t found the endzone yet this season, but he’s gained 155 yards in the first two games and is averaging 3.5 yards a carry (which is better than the 3 yards a carry he’s been averaging in September for the past couple of seasons). The Cardinals defense, which has long been the team’s achilles heel, is also looking better. They’re seventh in total yards allowed, and Arizona has only surrendered 23 points in two games.

Personally, I’m not taking a whole lot of stock in what the Cardinals have done so far. They’ve played the 49ers and Dolphins so far. Those are easily two of the worst five teams in the NFL. While Arizona may be the new favorite to win the West, that doesn’t make them a real contender. This is a team with a lot of flaws, particularly along the offensive line and defensive backfield. This is also a franchise that has a terrible road record, especially on the East Coast. The Cardinals have not won three road games in a season since their last playoff visit in 1998. They’ve already won at San Francisco, so with seven road games remaining, the odds aren’t good that this is a game they’ll take.

The Redskins did exactly what they needed to do last week from a strategic standpoint. They gave a decent load to Portis and they took their shots downfield against a weak secondary. Eventually, one of those shots paid off. Defensively, the Redskins were more concerned with Bush than they were with Brees. And that was smart…for last week. The Redskins have to pressure Warner. They must go after him. Give him enough time in the pocket to find Boldin and Fitzgerald, and the Cardinals offense will have a field day. This is a game where you are going to have to trust your safeties to be in the right coverage and your corners to tackle. The Redskins must blitz the fragile and non-mobile Warner as often as possible, even if that means leaving corners one-on-one with the dangerous receivers. On offense, the Redskins have to do exactly what they did last week. The Cards have had problems stopping the run, so we need to see another heavy dose of Portis. The longer Warner is on the sideline, the less damage the Cardinals offense can do. Campbell also needs to take his shots, away from Cardinal safety Adrian Wilson, down the field and to his playmakers. I expect this game to be another shootout and another close contest. It will probably come down to the last drive for a second straight season. Hopefully, with Campbell’s new found confidence, that won’t be a problem.