End of 3rd: Redskins 17, Raiders 13
1st Qtr | 2nd Qtr | 3rd Qtr | 4th Qtr
» Devin Thomas returned the second-half kickoff. Rock Cartwright is officially in his last month with the Redskins.
» The Raiders are doing a good job at times with their blitzes, perhaps taking advantage of inexperienced backs in protection. Quinton Ganther never looked at the defender coming the last time, instead crossing Campbell’s face to go to the other side and pick up another one.
» What a break for the Redskins, with Bruce Gradkowski now out for the game with a knee injury. JaMarcus Russell will get booed at every chance by the fans.
» Orakpo is a stud. Listen, for all the stuff said about the front office, this was a terrific pick. Character guy and supreme talent. Plus the coaches are using him well. He did a good job setting up his second sack but charging hard upfield for a couple steps then shooting to the middle. Nobody could react.
» The Redskins are hitting as hard as they have all year. Carlos Rogers in particular is playing physical. That’s his game, but we haven’t seen it enough this season. He is not an elite cover guy and probably won’t be, but he should play as physical as most corners. Today he is.
» Not sure how anyone can do anything but praise Campbell at this point. The kid has flaws, but he’s standing strong with all the pressure. Good thing he’s so big; otherwise he’d have been knocked out long ago.
» OK, so we write something nice about Chris Wilson and then he misses a tackle. Didn’t hurt them much, but he has to make the play. I also wonder where his attention was on the short out by Zach Miller. He focused heavily on Darren McFadden who was split wide. But Miller is the leading receiver; you can’t let him run free. Two others also were focused on Miller.
» Orakpo has Mario Henderson, the Oakland left tackle, a bit confused. On his third sack, it was clear that Henderson was waiting for Orakpo to come inside, as he had on a few occasions. But Orakpo, setting him up with less of an initial burst, then sped wide.
» The more I see of Ganther, the more I wonder why he wasn’t on someone’s roster before now. Just shows you how hard it is to get a chance in this league – and what can happen when you get one. He runs with some anger and that’s fun to watch. Todd Yoder has helped him with some good lead blocks today filling in for Mike Sellers. But Ganther is getting a lot of yards on his own; that’s the mark of a good back.
