Cornerback Carlos Rogers made his timely play. After Kurt Warner pass was deflected by CB Leigh Torrence.
LANDOVER, Md. — Chalk up the Washington Redskins’ 24-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals yesterday to Carlos Rogers and his excellent adventure.

Early in the fourth quarter, Rogers, a cornerback, made a diving catch of a pass deflected by teammate Leigh Torrence. Rogers’ 42-yard return to the Arizona 15-yard line set up the winning touchdown.

“Here’s what was most excellent about that play,” said Redskins coach Jim Zorn. “He had to dive for that interception, and he didn’t lay there and bask in his glory. He got up and made a huge play.”

The offense took over from there. After a 2-yard loss on a running play, Zorn called a flanker screen for Santana Moss. The play worked so well that Moss practically tip-toed into the end zone.

The Redskins’ defense came up with two turnovers yesterday, forcing a fumble by running back Edgerrin James — linebacker Rocky McIntosh made the hit, Rogers fell on the ball — and the interception.

“That was the real difference for us today,” Zorn said. “Our turnovers resulted in 10 points. That last couple of weeks, when we had a turnover, we’d have to punt the ball back, and I felt just awful to turn around and face our defense after not doing something with that particular issue.

“To do something with it today, we all felt better about it.”

Good feelings abounded in the locker room of the Redskins (2-1).

Quarterback Jason Campbell did not have the biggest day of his career, 22 of 30 for 193 yards and two touchdowns, but he made no mistakes with the ball. He held it when he was hit and didn’t throw it where the Cardinals (2-1) could get their hands on it.

And while 193 yards is not great, it was one more passing yard than Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner could manage.

“They were putting eight in the box, trying to stop our run, and it really opened the passing game,” Campbell said. “That’s what teams are going to do. Any time they do that, we need to be able to let the ball loose.”

The Redskins still ran well enough to grind out a first down when they got the ball with 2:33 left in the game, clinging to that 24-17 lead. That forced the Cardinals to use all their timeouts before the two-minute warning.

Then, Campbell and Zorn caught the Cardinals off guard on a pass to tight end Chris Cooley that was good for 26 yards and the first down that iced the afternoon for the Redskins.

That raised a question for Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt. With 2:46 left in the game, the Cardinals faced a fourth-and-4 at their 48. Whisenhunt opted to punt instead of trying to keep the drive alive.

“With 2:50 on the clock and two timeouts, I thought if we could stop them, we’d have the ball and have a chance to get down the field,” Whisenhunt said. “I didn’t really consider it at that point.”

That lack of consideration was costly. The odds of the Cardinals stopping the Redskins were slim. The Redskins had just one “three-and-out” the entire afternoon.

Part of the reason for that was Campbell’s ability to make the right decisions at the right time. Part of the reason was the ability of Moss and Cooley to catch short, quick passes and turn them into significant yardage.

“They’re dangerous,” Zorn said of Moss and Cooley. “We have other guys who are dangerous as well. Those are the guys we had a chance to get open. We kept pushing, kept trying.”

No one tried harder than Campbell. He had quarterback rating of 112.2 and also gained 26 yards rushing. On one carry, he gained 16 yards to the Arizona 16 to set up the Redskins’ first touchdown.

“I’m loving Jason,” Moss said. “He’s showing each week he’s in charge with his offense. I’m thrilled to see how he’s progressed.”

Zorn, the rookie coach, is loving his defense. He called yesterday’s effort, “Incredible. They did a wonderful job. That is a high-powered offense. . . . We shut down two really good wide receivers, except for one play, most of the day.”

And that made Rogers one, excellent play possible.

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .

Arizona — 0 7 10 0–17Washington — 7 3 7 7–24First Quarter Was–Portis 3 run (Suisham kick), 8:28. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 6:32. Key play: On third and 8 from the Washington 42, QB Jason Campbell threw to RB Clinton Portis for a 10-yard gain.Second Quarter Was–FG Suisham 48, 13:08. Drive: 4 plays, 4 yards, 1:52. Key play: Redskins LB Rocky McIntosh forced Arizona RB Edgerrin James to fumble at the Arizona 34, and Redskins CB Carlos Rogers recovered.

Ari–Boldin 4 pass from Warner (Rackers kick), 2:43. Drive: 11 plays, 84 yards, 6:20. Key play: On third and 10 from the Washington 35, Rogers was called for pass interference, giving Arizona a first down on the Redskins’ 22.Third Quarter Ari–FG Rackers 26, 9:20. Drive: 15 plays, 72 yards, 5:40. Key play: On third-and-9 from the Redskins’ 19, Warner passed to WR Larry Fitzgerald for a 9-yard gain.

Was–Yoder 2 pass from J.Campbell (Suisham kick), 3:16. Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 6:04. Key play: On first and 10 at the Arizona 33, wide receiver Antwaan Randle El took a handoff on what looked like a running play, then pulled up and threw an 11-yard pass to TE Chris Cooley.

Ari–Fitzgerald 62 pass from Warner (Rackers kick), 1:53. Drive: 3 plays, 85 yards, 1:15. Key play: On first-and-10 from the Cardinals’ 15, Warner drilled a pass to TE Ben Patrick for a 19 yard gain to the 34.Fourth Quarter Was–Moss 17 pass from J.Campbell (Suisham kick), 12:10. Drive: 2 plays, 15 yards, :48. Key play: Redskins DB Leigh Torrence deflected a deep pass intended for Cardinals WR Steve Breatson and returned it 42 yards to the Arizona 15.

A–90,060.Ari Was First downs—19 21Total Net Yards—313 323Rushes-yards—23-116 31-136Passing yards—197 187Passes—17-31-1 23-31-0Sacked-yards lost—2-13 2-17Punt returns-yards—2-3 1-6Kickoff ret.-yards—5-103 3-54Interceptions Ret.—0-0 1-42Punts—4-41.8 4-42.8Fumbles-lost—1-1 0-0Penalties-yards—6-42 7-67Time of possession—26:55

33:05INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Arizona, James 18-93, Hightower 5-23. Washington, Portis 21-68, J.Campbell 4-26, Betts 4-23, D.Thomas 1-16, Sellers 1-3.

PASSING — Arizona, Warner 16-30-1-192, Urban 1-1-0-18. Washington, J.Campbell 22-30-0-193, Randle El 1-1-0-11.

RECEIVING — Arizona, Fitzgerald 7-109, Hightower 3-38, Boldin 3-25, James 2-15, Patrick 1-19, Castille 1-4. Washington, Moss 7-75, Cooley 7-72, Randle El 3-23, Portis 2-19, Yoder 2-4, D.Thomas 1-7, Sellers 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — Washington, Suisham 52 (WL).

TACKLES — Arizona, Hayes 13, Dansby 9, Rolle 6, LaBoy 5, Green 5, Wilson 5. Washington, McIntosh 10, Doughty 8, Fletcher 7, Landry 6, Washington 6.

FORCED FUMBLES — Washington, McIntosh.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES — Washington, Rogers.

INTERCEPTIONS — Washington, Rogers.

SACKS — Arizona, Dansby, Berry. Washington, McIntosh 1/2 , Carter 1/2 , Golston.

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: NFL football news