Coming off a solid-but-forgettable debut against the Baltimore Ravens last week, Redskins starting QB Jason Campbell had an opportunity against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
A good performance against the defending champions would have gone a long way toward quieting the growing undercurrent of concern among Redskins fans that Jason Campbell may not be The Man for The Job in 2009.
Going 1-for-7 for 10 yards, and engineering just three points, was probably not what he had in mind.
However, since numbers alone rarely tell the whole story, I reviewed his plays and tried to look a little deeper.
On the first play of the game, Campbell got good protection from his offensive line and went deep to a streaking Malcolm Kelly, who had gotten behind Steelers super-safety Troy Polamalu on a deep post. Campbell’s pass was under thrown (as much as a tight spiral that travels 60 yards in the air can be) and off line. It forced Kelly to slow and adjust his route back toward the center of the field and allowed Polamalu to catch up and knock the pass away.
After the game, Campbell admitted being surprised by Kelly’s speed, which was a statement that initially raised my eyebrows. Given time to reflect, perhaps it should better serve as a reminder as to how little actual gametime the two have had working together.
"It was close,” said Kelly. “The crazy thing, though, is that me and Jason never practiced that route all week long. The first time we ran it was in the game. We'll get it done, though—we'll complete it next time."
Time will tell.
Former Redskins QB Joe Theismann, by the way, doing color commentary on Comcast, mentioned the wet ball as a possible factor. Anyone who has ever tried throwing deep with a wet football can understand the sentiment, but I suspect most fans would chalk that up to simple excuse-making. Whether it played a role or not, I’m glad Campbell didn’t go there.
Campbell’s second pass was supposed to be a screen to RB Clinton Portis in the right flat, but the Steelers diagnosed it and Campbell threw the ball away. Should he have tried to make a play anyway, maybe scramble and look downfield for a second option? There's a good chance Brett Favre would have.
Jim Zorn, on the other hand, I have to believe, would say no. Preseason. Rain. The Pittsburgh Steeler defense. The smart, veteran play in that situation was to throw it away.
The subsequent 3rd-and-10 play was a pass over the middle to an open Santana Moss that appeared to get away from Campbell and sailed high. A leaping Moss was unable to make the catch, and it was fourth down.
All in all, not the most auspicious beginning for Jason Campbell…but upon further review, perhaps not as dire as I suspect a whole lot of ramped up fans thought.
Campbell has a history of starting out games too jacked up, missing early passes, then settling down and getting going. The compressed time frame and sample size of a half-dozen passes per preseason "game" forces the issue and leaves us with the temptation to project the raw numbers over an entire game.
Instead of punting the ball after the Moss incompletion, Jim Zorn authorized the fake punt, and RB Rock Cartwright rumbled 15 yards for the first down. I don’t expect to see many gambles like that—fake punts on 3rd-and-10 from his own 35, two minutes into a game—in the regular season...but in this case, Zorn’s gamble worked and provided Campbell and the offense with new life.
Which became evident immediately.
1-10-PIT 45 (14:13) C.Portis up the middle for two yards.
2-8-PIT 43 (13:45) C.Portis left tackle for three yards
3-5-PIT 40 (13:06) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short right to 82-A.Randle El (PENALTY on WAS-60-C.Samuels, Illegal Formation, five yards - No Play.)
3-10-PIT 45 (12:38) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short middle to C.Cooley for 10 yards
1-10-PIT 35 (11:54) C.Portis left tackle for two yards
2-8-PIT 33 (11:16) J.Campbell scrambles up the middle to PIT 29 for four yards
3-4-PIT 29 (10:35) L.Betts left tackle to PIT 22 for seven yards
1-10-PIT 22 (10:01) C.Portis left guard for 11 yards
1-10-PIT 11 (9:23) C.Portis right end for eight yards
2-2-PIT 3 (9:14) L.Betts left tackle for one yard
3-1-PIT 2 (8:34) L.Betts left tackle loss of a yard
4-2-PIT 3 (8:17) S.Suisham 20-yard field goal is GOOD
As reflected in the bolded plays, Jason Campbell had a good series. He stepped up and threw accurately and on rhythm, hitting Randle El on a crisp 3rd-and-6 conversion over the middle that was nullified by the Chris Samuels' formation penalty.
On the subsequent 3rd-and-11, he slid up into the pocket to avoid pressure and drilled Chris Cooley for the first down.
Two plays later, he pulled it down and scrambled—a quick, aggressive decision for positive yards. [The man really does need to learn to slide, though. To borrow a phrase once used to describe former Redskins QB Gus Frerotte’s running style, Jason Campbell slides like an octopus falling out of a tree.]
We're going to send you the most entertaining Washington Redskins articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
2 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete