Here is a look at the most interesting numbers from the Washington Redskins 24-9 victory over the St. Louis Rams:
407 – total yards of offense from the Redskins.
254 – yards rushing by Clinton Portis and Rock Cartwright. Washington’s 257 yards on 40 carries gave them a healthy game average of 6.5 yards per carry and was their highest output of 2005. That meant solid efforts from both Portis and Cartwright but it also meant a good day of run blocking from the offensive line.
191 – total yards of offense for the Rams. While rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may have struggled at times on Sunday, it was Washington’s domination against the Rams’ running game that really set the tone for the win (49 yards rushing for St. Louis).
136 – yards rushing for Portis put him over 1000 for the fourth consecutive year. He also had two touchdowns to move to seven on the season.
118 – yards rushing for Cartwright. A vry impressive total for a back who only ran the ball nine times, and by far Cartwright’s best game as a Redskin.
58 – yards receiving by half back Chris Cooley led all Redskin pass catchers. One of those catches was a 4-yard touchdown reception to end a seven week scoring draught, his third touchdown of the season. Cooley now has 629 yards receiving in 2005, twice what he had in 2004 (314 yards).
47 – yard touchdown run by Clinton Portis was both his longest run from scrimmage and longest touchdown run of the 2005 season.
40 – rushes. That’s Joe Gibbs-type football.
33:58 – time of possession for the Redskins. You have to consistently be over 30 minutes in TOP to be successful with a ball control offense.
8 – penalties against the Redskins totaling 76 yards. Comparitively, the Rams had just 4 penalties for 30 yards thus giving up about half a football field less yardage.
8 – straight run plays from the Redskins in the fourth quarter when they were up by just one score at 17-9. The Rams knew it was coming and still couldn’t stop the Redskins as they marched all the way down to the 4-yard line and ate over 5 valuable minutes of 4th quarter clock. Cooley caught the aformentioned touchdown pass to put the Redskins up 24-9, and the game was out of reach for good with just 5 minutes remaining and a two-score lead. It’d be easy to praise Portis and Cartwright again, but why not mention five guys that had just as much to do with it; Jon Jansen, Randy Thomas, Casey Rabach, Derrick Dockery, and Chris Samuels.
4 – catches by Robert Royal. While this may seem insignificant to a non-Redskin fan, Redskin fans will recognize this as a marked improvement from recent performances. It’s four more than zero. The Redskins need Royal as an option and hopefully he can build off of the improvement and re-gain some confidence.
3 – sacks by the Redskins’ defense in the first half. They pressured the rookie Rams quarterback early and made it tough for Fitzpatrick to settle in and find any type of groove.
2 – points for the safety that Mark Brunell ‘gave up’ in the fourth quarter. Rather than possibly concede a touchdown, Brunell ate the safety and the two points, and the Redskins would re-group and then kick to the Rams. On the ensuing drive, the Redskins’ Renaldo Wynn recovered a Steven Jackson fumble and the defense stopped the Rams’ momentum from the safety dead in it’s tracks.
1 – interception by Carlos Rogers and the Redskins’ defense. It was Rogers’ 2nd pick in as many weeks, and it came at a great time as the rookie thwarted a driving Rams’ offense late in the fourth. Despite the pressure of taking the starter’s role, the rookie was physical and had 6 tackles to go along with the interception. He was burnt a few times but all in all it was a very respectable outing considering that he was often matched up against one of the league’s best receivers in Torry Holt (6 receptions, 75 yards).
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Mark Solway