Redskins’ reviews mixed following pres-season game

BY PAUL WOODY
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: August 7, 2008

The Washington Redskins’ offense started faster than the cars that were whizzing by on the nearby interstate highway.

Players on the Redskins’ defense began just as fast, except they were backpedaling, trying to keep up with the Indianapolis Colts.

The first preseason game came and went Sunday night. And they left here confident their offense is going to be very good this season.

How could they not? Jason Campbell, playing in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, all but posed for a bust in his only series of the game, a 30-16 Redskins victory.

Not a single Campbell pass touched the ground. He tossed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Antwaan Randle El on the Redskins’ first possession.

He left the game with a near perfect quarterback rating of 157.1.

The Redskins also left confident in their depth at running back, with Rock Cartwright and Marcus Mason, who play behind Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, also inactive Sunday, ripping off big chunks of yards.

The defense left with questions.

That unit was torched in the first quarter by Indianapolis quarterback Jim Sorgi - yes, that Jim Sorgi - on a 73-yard drive. The Colts had to settle for a field goal.

That might have been a touchdown had Peyton Manning, out with a knee injury, been at quarterback.

However, seven Redskins defensive starters did not play. So a ticker-tape parade is not yet in order to celebrate the dawning of the Sorgi era.

While the Redskins can brush off questions about their defense, the point is rapidly approaching when a serious question must be asked about kicker Shaun
Suisham.

He missed a 39-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half. That, combined with less than stellar play by the backup defense, set up a Colts field goal on
the last play of the first half.

No one is concerned about the outcome of a preseason game. But coaches are concerned about kickers who miss field goals in exhibition games. That is not a good sign for the regular season.

Suisham’s final kick of the 2007 season also was a miss, from 30 yards. That field goal would have given the Redskins a four-point lead and momentum in a playoff game.

Special teams take time to round into shape. There is mixing and matching during the preseason, and full-speed, full-contact special teams work can’t be done in practice. The injury list would be too long.

But kickers should be solid from first day of the preseason.

Suisham was adjusting to a new holder Sunday, Durant Brooks, a rookie competing for the punting job.

Nothing serious appeared to be amiss with the snap or hold on the missed field goal try.

Suisham says his confidence has not suffered from the way the 2007 season ended. But he hasn’t kicked well in training camp, and he hung his head in disappointment after the miss Sunday.

With an 80-man roster, NFL teams are loathe to carry extra kickers in the summer. But the Redskins need to evaluate just where they stand with Suisham.

Even the Colts had an extra kicker, Adam Crossett, and their No. 1 kicker, Adam Vinatieri, is one of the great clutch kickers in NFL history.

Suisham is something less than that at the moment. The Redskins can’t afford to go much longer with him as the lone kicker on the roster.

The NFL is a wins-and-losses league. No other measure exists for judging progress or success. Field goals matter in the regular season.

If Suisham is struggling now, he certainly will face a crises of confidence in the regular season.

One kick does not make a career. But one missed kick raised a serious question about Suisham.

Paul Woody is a staff writer at Media General’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.