Saints Game Top Stars

[bulldog]

1. Mike Sellers - he crunched a defender to get Portis into the end zone on one touchdown and picked up an inside rusher to allow Campbell to step up and throw the winning touchdown to Moss.

2. Demetric Evans - the Saints tried to run the ball to the LDE side as the Giants did last week, except this team they got slammed. Bush's yards almost all came up the middle on delays and swing passes out of the backfield. Evans support on run downs allowed Jason Taylor to look fresh for 4 quarters.

3. Chris Horton - people said today that Horton was lucky. but you make your own luck. how many times has Carlos Rogers or Fred Smoot had the chance to have a two interception game and 'save the day' only to fall short? Horton as a rookie did what a veteran player shoud do, make the plays that are in front of him. His second interception sealed the game.

4. Jason Campbell - He could have been placed higher than 4th, but my belief in his raw talent and work ethic is great enough to believe Campbell (with some gameplanning adjustments from Zorn) ought to be able to do what he did yesterday EACH WEEK, especially with a healthy Portis, Moss and Cooley.

5. Clinton Portis & OL - the performances of the two are intertwined. The OL came back from a subpar performance against NY and help the Saints rushers in check. Meanwhile Portis actually got to the line of scrimmage before having to dodge ballcarriers. Portis put the ball in the end zone to punctuate the offensive outburst in the second half and ensure the 'field goal' game from the first half would not be necessary.

Honorable Mention:

Laron Landry - he broke up two or three plays that could have hurt the Redskins chances in this game. but like Campbell he suffers in my rating because I expect Laron to make plays each week. He has that kind of talent.

HB Blades - did anyone really notice that Marcus Washington wasn't playing? As Jason Taylor said after the game, 'the kid can play'..........

Santana Moss - another player great things are expected from each week by most of us. He is finding the end zone in 2008, something the receivers had a devil of a time doing in 2007. Was that really a rookie in Tracy Porter defending Moss in man coverage in the fourth quarter?

[skinzzfan25]

This was by far the best 'pure blocking' game I've seen from Sellers. He may be a big hitter and a big body but a lot of the times he couldn't spring Portis into the second level.

Hopefully Zorn is implementing what he did with Strong/Alexander in terms of blocking schemes from the backfield.

[Mooka]

Don't forget Cornelius.

Had a sack and along with Horton stuffed Thomas on 3rd and 1. 2 big time plays!

[jrockster21]

I swear last year we saw a hundred balls batted up into the air, and we came down with maybe one of them. Some guys just have a knack for getting to the ball - Horton seems to have that knack. You can't argue against 3 turnovers in his NFL debut.

DROY? Probably a longshot at this point, but we can dream, right? At any rate - sorry hog, I think the days of Doughty as a starter may be over.

[skinfan2k]

Top Star of the Game: Jim Zorn.

Made the correct adjustments. He is not about his system. I feel like he will alter his system to the players.

[PennSkinsFanhR]

McIntosh deserves some love as well. After the knee surgery, this was his best game and showed signs of getting back to form.

[BigMike619]

honorable mention for 167 yards and a game winning TD?

but Sellers is number one for leading a block for Portis?

these seem backwards to me. the man streaking down the field and leaving the CB on the ground for a game winner should get more credit then a man who is 275 pounds and should be able to run people over easily.

[BigRedskinDaddy]

bulldog, I didn't see the game, I could only listen to it. From what I heard and what I've been reading, however, it sounds like Iron Mike did pick it up this game from a lead blocking standpoint. Agree on D Evans; I think he needs to rotate in on a regular basis this season. Not only will it keep JT fresh, he's just a bigger body on run downs.

I don't know how you didn't put C Horton at the top of that list, but I won't quibble. I am so pleased with the way he stepped in and flat out got the job done. Now if our other rookies can just follow his lead -

Agree on JC, CP, Tana. They should do what they did yesterday on a weekly basis. The O-line played their asses off, I know they were a bit wounded in the pride area after they got manhandled by the Giants. If they can sustain that kind of effort and we stay injury-free for the season we will do some damage with this offense.

[PennSkinsFanhR]

Oh and a kick ass game from OT Chris samuels.

[bulldog]

Horton did the same thing in the preseason and it was chalked up to it being preseason.

But once again, some guys have a knack for being around the ball and making plays.

Horton reminds me a bit of Alvin Walton, another unheralded Redskins safety, that had a knack of forcing fumbles and blowing up running plays in the backfield in short yardage.

Horton has both size and quickness to the ball. He may not be a leader in 40 times but he plays faster than his 40 time.

[Papabear]

I swear last year we saw a hundred balls batted up into the air, and we came down with maybe one of them. Some guys just have a knack for getting to the ball - Horton seems to have that knack. You can't argue against 3 turnovers in his NFL debut.

DROY? Probably a longshot at this point, but we can dream, right? At any rate - sorry hog, I think the days of Doughty as a starter may be over.

I would still like to see Doughty play a bit more and then compare him to Horton. Hats off to Horton though.

[PCS]

Definitely some mad props for the guys up front for rebounding from last week. And props for Jason, for not only rebounding from a somewhat erratic performance yesterday early on to play a solid game, but for doing so and winning the game. It was put on his shoulders and he responded.

[skinfan2k]

If you guys watch the game again, just watch how physically horton is off the LOS with the slot receiver, something Reed is not able to do. The coaches will see this

[BigRedskinDaddy]

...Horton reminds me a bit of Alvin Walton, another unheralded Redskins safety, that had a knack of forcing fumbles and blowing up running plays in the backfield in short yardage.

Horton has both size and quickness to the ball. He may not be a leader in 40 times but he plays faster than his 40 time.

Absolutely. Horton is what we used to call football quick, or sneaky fast. 40 x are over-rated anyway in my book. But just like the great AW, he brings it from his head to his toes when he lays a hit on somebody. Both play not only faster but BIGGER than they actually are IMHO.

[Phat Hog]

I swear last year we saw a hundred balls batted up into the air, and we came down with maybe one of them. Some guys just have a knack for getting to the ball - Horton seems to have that knack. You can't argue against 3 turnovers in his NFL debut.

And he was about 2 feet from having another batted ball interception on the Saints first drive...lest we forget!

[Die Hard]

Give some mad props to Heyer. He was lined up on Charles Grant.... and utterly dominated him the entire game. Grant didn't even come close enough to Campbell to see the make of his cleats. Pleasantly surprised.

Overall, the Redskins secondary had a brilliant day. Every single one of them... particularly Horton, Landry and Carlos Rogers.

[mojo]

Horton did the same thing in the preseason and it was chalked up to it being preseason.

But once again, some guys have a knack for being around the ball and making plays.

Horton reminds me a bit of Alvin Walton, another unheralded Redskins safety, that had a knack of forcing fumbles and blowing up running plays in the backfield in short yardage.

Horton has both size and quickness to the ball. He may not be a leader in 40 times but he plays faster than his 40 time.

That's funny. I was about to post the same Alvin Walton comparison. Two completely different styles of play but both with the knack of being in the right place at the right time. You can't teach instinct.

[SkipJackSkin]

Give some mad props to Heyer. He was lined up on Charles Grant.... and utterly dominated him the entire game. Grant didn't even come close enough to Campbell to see the make of his cleats. Pleasantly surprised.

Overall, the Redskins secondary had a brilliant day. Every single one of them... particularly Horton, Landry and Carlos Rogers.

Definitely. The entire o-line played a fantastic game.

[Die Hard]

Definitely. The entire o-line played a fantastic game.

Honestly, so far, I've only keyed in on the both tackles (Heyer/Samuels) and Rabach.

Heyer and Samuels were terrific. Rabach was terrible.

[Morneblade]

Give some mad props to Heyer. He was lined up on Charles Grant.... and utterly dominated him the entire game. Grant didn't even come close enough to Campbell to see the make of his cleats. Pleasantly surprised.

Overall, the Redskins secondary had a brilliant day. Every single one of them... particularly Horton, Landry and Carlos Rogers.

Agree with the assesment on Heyer. He was very solid in pass protection against a good DE. If Jansen had been in, I think he gives up 2 sacks and NO gets alot more pressure overall. Hell of a find in a 1st year UDFA.

[e16bball]

Agree with the assesment on Heyer. He was very solid in pass protection against a good DE. If Jansen had been in, I think he gives up 2 sacks and NO gets alot more pressure overall. Hell of a find in a 1st year UDFA.

I also agree that he did a nice job in pass protection, but let's not get carried away here (not really directed at you). He's a pretty sub-par run blocker at this point, and eventually we're going to need the right side of the line to be able to open up more holes for CP.

Food for thought: CP has 16 carries for 47 yards (2.9 YPC) running to the right. He has 19 carries for 117 yards (6.2 YPC) running to the left. I don't think that's a coincidence...Samuels is a killer run-blocker, and Heyer is pretty soft.

For what it's worth, backing up Die Hard's point, Portis has 9 carries for 16 yards (1.8 YPC) rushing up the middle. That can't say good things about Rabach's performance.

[Die Hard]

I also agree that he did a nice job in pass protection, but let's not get carried away here (not really directed at you). He's a pretty sub-par run blocker at this point, and eventually we're going to need the right side of the line to be able to open up more holes for CP.

Food for thought: CP has 16 carries for 47 yards (2.9 YPC) running to the right. He has 19 carries for 117 yards (6.2 YPC) running to the left. I don't think that's a coincidence...Samuels is a killer run-blocker, and Heyer is pretty soft.

For what it's worth, backing up Die Hard's point, Portis has 9 carries for 16 yards (1.8 YPC) rushing up the middle. That can't say good things about Rabach's performance.

In Heyer's defense... there were a couple of run plays that "must" have been called off-tackle plays.... and it was congested and Portis literally ran into the pile... whereas if he used any vision at all, he just had to bounce it outside a yard and he would have broke a couple of long runs.

But overall, if it's 3rd and short.... I'm running to the left. I'm just not a big fan of this offensive line... more specifically their run blocking. The only consistent run play the Redskins could count on all game was the sweep left.

Rabach was getting manhandled by the interior defensive linemen. He gets absolutely no movement at all... at best it's a stalemate. But typically, he gets pushed into the backfield... the defender sheds him and makes a play. It's pretty frustrating to watch... when you specifically focus on him.