The (1-1) Washington Redskins travel to Ford Field to face the (0-2) Detroit Lions on Sunday; kickoff is at 1 p.m. The Detroit Lions looked like they would get into the win column last week with a 10-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Matthew Stafford threw his first NFL touchdown pass and the running game was productive. The Lions offense, leading 10-7 at halftime, came out in the third quarter and ran five plays, including two sacks and a fumble. Detroit went on to give up 27 consecutive points and lost 27-13. It was Detroit’s 19th consecutive regular-season loss.
Washington produced the following five offensive drives:
Starting at the Redskins’ 14 yard line, they moved 13 plays and consumed more than six minutes of clock. The Redskins only had a 21 yard field goal to show for it,
Starting at their own 26 yard line, they went 13 plays eating up close to six minutes of the play clock and this time they get a 28 yard FG for their efforts,
Starting at their own 22 yard line, in 10 plays they moved the ball 40 plus yards in a little more than 2 minutes before WR Santana Moss fumbled the ball over to the Rams at the Rams 30 yard line,
Starting at their own 21 yard line, 14 plays took 7:28 off the clock to get a Suisham 23 yard field,
Starting at their own 20 yard line, 15 plays chewed up another 7:15 off the clock only to turn the ball over on downs at the Rams four. Clinton Portis lost 2 yards on fourth and 1 from the Rams’ two.
The Washington Redskins moved the ball up and down the field last Sunday. The game would have been a blow out if football were played from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line. Because of two dropped sure touchdown passes, a fumble after the catch, a play call on 4th and one, and the fact that the field is 100 yards long, the Redskins settled for a 9-7 victory over the now 0-2 St. Louis Rams.
The Redskins and the Lions have met 40 times, including three times in the post season, with the Redskins holding a 27-10 lead in the regular season series and a 3-0 lead in the postseason. Sunday’s match up is the only game the Redskins play against the NFC North this season.
Roster Moves:
— The Redskins announced offensive guard Randy Thomas was placed on the injured reserve list with a torn triceps. This is Randy’s seventh season in Washington and he has been in the league eleven years. This is also the second time in three seasons that Thomas has suffered a triceps injury, he missed 13 games in 2007. Thomas suffered the injury in the second quarter of the Rams game. Will Montgomery filled in on Sunday.
— The Redskins have signed running back Anthony Alridge off the Houston Texans’ practice squad. Alridge will take the roster spot vacated by Randy Thomas. Alridge spent training camp and preseason with the Redskins and impressed them with his game-breaking speed. He played in two preseason games with Washington and totaled 10 rushes for 46 yards. He also caught three passes for 34 yards.
— The Redskins have swapped practice-squad linebackers by releasing undrafted free agent Darrel Young and adding Alvin Bowen. Bowen was a fourth-round draft pick by Buffalo out of Iowa State in 2008. He was on the Bills injured reserve list last season and waived from their practice squad on Tuesday.
Quotes of Note:
— “Once I collided with the linebacker Will Witherspoon, I just tried to find a way to get back open, I looked back and there was a real small window where Jason saw me and I saw him. He threw it and I didn’t get both hands on the ball. It hit my arm. I definitely should’ve caught the ball. I was sick about it.”
……..Wide Receiver Devin Thomas on the apparent TD pass he dropped against the St. Louis Rams.
— “If I could see it now, if I could see every play that was going to fail before it failed, I wouldn’t call it, But I felt very confident in the play calls because we work on it. We have to execute it. It’s not a grab-bag situation. I’m going to go back and study it more, and I’m going to be hard on myself as well, which is what I do.”
…….. Head coach Jim Zorn discussing his play calling in the redzone.
— “I understand the weight that my words carried and how I offended some fans, for that again, I apologize. I’ve updated my Twitter and Facebook because it was the right thing to do. I sincerely apologize to all the fans. I hope to have a long, prosperous career here. I don’t want anybody booing me or being negative towards me. You’ve seen me at training camp. I was out there for hours signing autographs because I love to do this and the fans really keep me going.”
…….. Linebacker Robert Henson apologized for referring to unhappy Redskins fans “dim wits” on Twitter for booing the home team.
— “Players think a lot of things; every player’s going to wonder why we didn’t call something or why we did. If you are a team, you don’t sit there and dwell on the fact of, ‘We didn’t call it.’ The coaches give us a chance to make a play, so whatever we call or whatever they dial up, we have to be ready for. We execute it to the best of our ability, whether we score or not. It’s never an issue when it comes to what the coach dials up, because he’s giving somebody a chance to get it done.”
…….. Wide Receiver Santana Moss on the play calling of Head Coach Jim Zorn
Comparing the Team Leaders:
The Lions are lead by QB Matthew Stafford with 357 passing yards and a QB rating of 40.5, he has 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions compared to Redskins’ QB Jason Campbell who has 453 yards passing and a QB rating of 89.0, he has 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
The Lions leading rusher is RB Kevin Smith averaging 2.6 yards per carry with 103 yards on 39 carries and 1 touchdown compared to Redskins RB Clinton Portis who is averaging 4.0 yards per carry with 141 yards on 35 carries and no touchdowns.
WR Calvin Johnson is the Detroit Lions top pass catcher averaging 17.6 yards per catch with 8 receptions and 141 yards, he has 1 touchdown. TE Chris Cooley is the leading receiver for the Redskins averaging 10.8 yards per catch with 14 receptions for 151 yards, he has 1 touchdown.
The Lions defensive leader in tackles is Larry Foote with 19. Jason Hunter, Andre Fluellen and Larry Foote are tied with 1 sack each and Anthony Henry has 1 interception.
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The Redskins defensive leaders are London Fletcher with 27 tackles. Andre Carter and Cornelius Griffin are tied with 1 sack each and Deangelo Hall has 1 interception.
Complete Tale of the Tape:
Total Points Offense: Washington is ranked 31st averaging 13.0 points per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 17th averaging 20.0 points per game
Total Offense: Washington is ranked 19th with 317.0 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 30th with 248.0 ypg.
Rushing Offense: Washington is ranked 18th with 105.0 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 24th with 81.0 ypg.
Passing Offense: Washington is ranked 18th with 212.0 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 24th with 167.0 ypg.
Total Points Defense: Washington is ranked 7th giving up on average 15.0 points per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 32nd giving up on average 36.0 points per game
Total Defense: Washington is ranked 10th, giving up 298.0 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 27th with 390.0 ypg.
Rushing Defense: Washington is ranked17th giving up 114.5 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 22nd with 134.5 ypg.
Passing Defense: Washington is ranked 11th, giving up 183.5 yards per game and The Detroit Lions ranks 24th with 255.5 ypg.
Injury Report:
The Weekly Injury Report can be found in the HogBlogs around mid-day the day before the Game
Injured Reserves:
The following players are out for the 2009 season:
QB Colt Brennan (Hip)
OG Randy Thomas (Triceps)
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Bernie Marshall