Redskins Ride the Portis Train to Victoryville, Win 31-26 Over Texans
WASHINGTON - NFL teams usually like to establish the tone of a game early. The Washington Redskins did it on the first play. Clinton Portis took a quick pitch 39 yards, using his speed, shiftiness, and strength to elude the Houston Texans. It's a pattern the veteran back repeated all game, propelling Washington to a wild win against the close-but-no-cigar Texans.
The opening run set up a touchdown-scoring drive for the Redskins on their first possession. The drive saw Washington convert a fourth-and-one in Houston territory, with Washington coach Zeppo screaming at his kicking team to stay off the field. The drive ended with quarterback Jason Campbell hitting receiver Devin Thomas for a four-yard strike.
The Texans immediately evened the score:
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Brian "Black Lightning" Weatherspoon returned the kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown, his second touchdown return of the season.
The Texans picked off Campbell on the next drive, with rookie cornerback Rakeem Jordan jumping a curl route.
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The Redskins defense staunched potential bleeding by holding the Texans to a field goal and a 10-7 first quarter lead.
Washington and Houston traded touchdowns on their next possessions, with the Redskins scoring on a 20-yard Portis touchdown run. Houston answered back thanks to a big play by running back Steve Slaton.
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Spinning out of a pack of tacklers, Slaton gained 61 yards before being chased down by safety Leron Landry. Slaton would finish the drive with a three-yard run and give the Texans a 17-14 lead.
The Redskins regained the upper hand before the half, however. Campbell and Portis sliced through the Texans defense with the ease of a hot knife through butter, leading to a five-yard touchdown pass to fullback Mike Sellers just before the two-minute warning. Safety Chris Horton then picked off Matt Schaub as Houston pressed, allowing Washington to kick a field goal and go into the locker room with a 24-17 lead. The frantic first half saw Portis gain 108 yards rushing and the Redskins hold the ball for 16 minutes to the Texans's eight.
The defenses adjusted at halftime, though, and neither team could score in the third quarter. Houston turned it over when Schaub threw his second pick to Horton, a deep attempt to Andre Johnson that Horton intercepted in the endzone and returned 30 yard. The Texans defense held and forced Washington into the only punt of the day.
Houston began to drive near the end of the quarter and into the fourth, but missed two golden opportunities to score a touchdown. Slaton broke into the open for a run and seemed destined to reach the endzone, until the laws of space and time seemingly broke down:
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All 350 pounds of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth not only caught the speedy Slaton from behind, but did so by leaping through the air to land on the back. "It was like watching the Titantic getting shot out of a nuclear-powered cannon," Coach Brando said. On the same drive, facing third-and-18 from the Washington 20, Schaub found a wide open Andre Johnson over the middle. Johnson caught the ball at the four, but instead of continuing straight for a sure touchdown, veered to the outside where the Redskins tackled him to force a fourth-and-two. Houston decided to settle for the field goal and made the game 24-20 with 8:30 left to play.
The Redskins offense returned to its first-half form on their final drive, pushing the Houston defense back again and again. On third-and-goal from the Houston six, the Texans missed a chance to sack Campbell, allowing the mobile quarterback to scramble to the one. Once again, Coach Zeppo yelled for his field goal unit to stay on the sideline. He gave the ball to fullback Mike Sellers. Texans defensive end Antonio Smith got great penetration, standing Sellers up at the one, but the feisty fullback fought forward and scored a touchdown. The Texans, out of timeouts, couldn't challenge, but replays showed Sellers played the football version of "just the tip" by barely nudging the nose of the football over the goal line.
Down 31-20 with just over two minutes left, the game seemed over, but Houston moved the ball rapidly and scored on a four-yard pass to Steve Slaton with 34 seconds left.
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Washington foiled the two-point conversion, making it 31-26. Houston kicker Saverio "The Italian Australian" Rocca gave the Texans a chance by bouncing the onside kick high off the ground and over the Redskins players, but the Texans couldn't snag the kick before it went out of bounds, effectively ending the game.
Schaub was a highly efficient 23-for-27 for 218 yards, but his two interceptions came at critical times. Slaton finished with 95 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Portis tore up the Texans for 149 yards on just 15 carries. After a hot first half, Campbell finished with a pedestrian 15-for-24 for 158 yards, but he made critical plays to keep the Redskins alive and score touchdowns on four of their five redzone attempts.
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Zeppo, that was a hell of a game, with so much back and forth. The difference was you were able to turn your redzone visits into more TDs when I settled for field goals. I also didn't have an answer to Portis, especially when your receivers were blocking my cornerbacks into the stands on outside runs. Great win, and good luck the rest of the way.