The secondary was supposed to lead the Washington Redskins to their accustomed spot in the top 10 of the defensive rankings of the league this season. Instead, the unit has led the NFL’s most disappointing team only in underperforming.
Yesterday, however, the Redskins’ secondary finally played to a postseason caliber in a 17-13 upset of the Carolina Panthers at FedEx Field.
Cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers controlled the Panthers’ powerful receiver tandem of Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson.
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New strong safety Vernon Fox, starting in place of the injured Troy Vincent, and underachieving free safety Sean Taylor intercepted the first and last passes of Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme.
And the Redskins, who had surrendered 41 receptions of at least 20 yards in their previous 10 games, allowed none of those big plays yesterday.
“Carlos responded very well in the task that he had,” assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams said. “I was very proud of Shawn. He has regained his legs. I didn’t want to put him back on the Autobahn until I wasn’t afraid he wasn’t going to pull something else. We don’t match people up a lot, but we did it this week.”
Rogers, drafted ninth overall last year, wasn’t playing like a first-round pick this season even before he broke his right thumb Oct. 15 against the Tennessee Titans.
He looked like a star yesterday, defensing three passes and tackling crisply.
“It was my best game,” Rogers said. “We were playing with a chip on our shoulder, knowing that [Smith and Johnson] were coming in thinking they would have a big day because we’ve been struggling. We weren’t going to let them beat us.”
Fox hadn’t started a game since he was in the Detroit Lions’ lineup for the last game of the 2003 season. His interception of Delhomme yesterday was just the second of a five-year career spent mostly on special teams.
“It just happened to happen that way,” Fox said. “We’ve been trying to correct a lot of problems, and we were able to do that today. We know that Smith’s their go-to guy, and early in the game I’m going to be leaning his way. They took a shot. I was over the top. We had a double on him, and it worked out.”
Betts gains 104
In his second start in place of Clinton Portis, running back Ladell Betts rushed for 104 yards on 24 attempts. The Buccaneers held Betts to only 18 yards at Tampa Bay last week.
Things didn’t start much better against the Panthers. Betts gained 4 yards on his first four carries. But he ended the first half by gaining 43 yards on his final eight attempts.
“Hopefully, we can build on this and keep the winning formula going,” Betts said. “We tried to get back to what we do best: controlling the line of scrimmage and running downhill.
“I can’t control what the coaches call, but sometimes the run game goes for 1 yard here, 2 yards there and then, all of a sudden, it’s 10 and then 15 yards. The running backs got into a rhythm, and so did the offensive line.”
The Redskins rushed for 143 yards on 37 attempts.
“Ladell wanted to show today that he’s explosive and can run physical,” coach Joe Gibbs said.
T.J. Duckett carried a season-high seven times, including a 19-yard run that set up a touchdown. Despite the positive performance, associate head coach-offense Al Saunders wants more consistency.
“We’re still not getting as much as we need to get,” he said. “We have to convert third-and-shorts running the football. You’ve got to be able to get positive yards in those situations. I expect to average 4.5 yards per carry. We averaged 3.9 today, and that’s not enough.”
Jansen holds off Peppers
Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers entered yesterday’s game with an NFL-high 11 sacks, and his team posted a franchise-record seven last week against the St. Louis Rams.
But Peppers and the Panthers were held in check by the Redskins. Chris Draft sacked Jason Campbell once, which also was the only hit recorded on the Redskins quarterback.
Right tackle Jon Jansen was assigned to block Peppers most of the game.
“I felt pretty good about it,” Jansen said. “Everybody wants to tell me I’m all washed up, but it was a matchup I’d been looking forward to all year. He’s one of the best defensive players in the league, and I enjoyed it.”
McIntosh posts block
The Redskins allowed their second block of a punt this season — the miscue led to a Carolina field goal at the end of the first half — but Rocky McIntosh answered with a punt block of his own in the third quarter.
McIntosh plowed through the left side of the Carolina line and blocked Jason Baker’s punt attempt. The Redskins took over at the Panthers 36 and scored seven plays later to take a 10-6 lead.
McIntosh hasn’t been able to crack the defensive lineup yet, but his 19 special teams tackles rank second on the team.
“He’s been excellent for us,” special teams coach Danny Smith said. “He’s very attentive to doing a good job. We’ve been working for weeks on that rush, and it wasn’t anything they weren’t doing. It was just a solid effort on Rocky’s part.”
Sidelined again
Receiver David Patten, who started the first nine games of last season before undergoing season-ending knee surgery, was declared inactive for the seventh straight game because of an injured hamstring.
Vincent, who strained a hamstring last week at Tampa Bay, also was declared inactive, as were offensive linemen Jim Molinaro and Taylor Whitley, defensive linemen Ryan Boschetti and Anthony Montgomery and cornerback Mike Rumph. Todd Collins was listed as the third quarterback.
Injury report
The Redskins reported three injuries after the game: Jansen (calf), linebacker Khary Campbell (hamstring) and fullback/tight end Mike Sellers (shoulder). Jansen did not miss a play, and Sellers returned to the game in the second half.
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