PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Redskins trailed by two touchdowns midway through the first quarter of Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field when they gathered in the huddle around Jason Campbell.
The first three passes by the red-hot Redskins quarterback had failed miserably, and the Philadelphia Eagles boasted the NFL’s top run defense.
Rookie coach Jim Zorn, it seemed, had few appetizing options.
Zorn called runs on the next two plays, and No. 1 back Clinton Portis gained 5, then 7 yards to get the offense going. By game’s end, the Redskins had run 44 times for 203 yards - more than three times what the Eagles had allowed on average - with Portis powering for 145 of those yards on 29 carries in a 23-17 victory.
“We had to weather the storm early,” Campbell said. “The run game was big. Playing a team like this, they’re going to apply a lot of pressure with blitzes and different looks. You have to have a sound running game. That gave us an opportunity to stay balanced.”
Left guard Pete Kendall saw it differently on that second series.
“The pass wasn’t working,” he joked. “[Zorn] stuck with the game plan. Kudos to him for not panicking. A lot of people would have wanted us to wing it the rest of the game. He was patient. Our defense came around … held them to a field goal the rest of the day. The biggest key to running the ball is staying in the game.”
But there was more to Washington’s success running the ball against Philadelphia’s fierce defense.
For one, the Redskins, who entered the game with the 11th-ranked ground game, are a better running team with the tandem of guard Randy Thomas and tackle Jon Jansen on the right side than they were last season with converted tackle Jason Fabini and rookie free agent Stephon Heyer in place of the injured Thomas and Jansen.
“We’re a different team,” Kendall said. “We got Randy back. We got Jon back. We’re healthier.”
And smarter.
Amazingly, the Redskins have yet to turn the ball over on offense - the payoff, apparently, for all of Zorn’s goofy Slip ’N Slide and toss-blocking-pads-at-the-quarterback drills in training camp.
It also helps that Portis stuck around during the offseason and came to camp in good shape. After missing the entire preseason last year with a sprained knee, Portis has seldom missed a practice in 2008.
“Clinton’s running real hard,” center Casey Rabach said. “He’s breaking tackles. He’s picking up stuff when it’s not there. He’s falling forward. We were winning our one-on-one matchups, and we kind of wore them out [Sunday].”
Then there’s Zorn’s imaginative playcalling - so creative, in fact, Portis said that not only are defenses kept off-balance but also the Redskins themselves don’t know what’s coming sometimes.
Even when Portis suggests a critical play to Zorn on the sideline.
Leading 23-17 with 2:48 left and the ball at the Philadelphia 38, Zorn called his final timeout. Rather than punt, the swashbuckling former quarterback went for the first down as he had done in the closing minutes of his first victory three weeks earlier against New Orleans.
This time, the coach put the ball in Portis’ hands on a draw, a play the running back had scored on earlier in the quarter.
“I told him, ’I think it’d be a great play,’” Portis said. “We had been setting it up all season [because] we’d been throwing the ball in short yardage. I didn’t know he was going to call it [until] we got in the huddle and Jason called the play.”
Portis gained 3 yards, and Campbell knelt three straight times for the fourth straight week.
“We knew this is a tough team to run against,” Portis said. “I think our offensive line just took it personally. They had an opportunity last week to come out and make a statement, and this week they [did] it again.”
With more than a little help from Portis, who extended his team record with his 22nd 100-yard day and moved into third place in franchise history in rushing touchdowns.
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