Redskins keep Lions winless in Washington 34-3
07.10.2007 21:00
Sport and Travel
- Source: USA Today
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — The Washington Redskins had no choice but to be creative.
Their No. 1 receiver didn't play, and the No. 2 wideout was gone by halftime. Jason Campbell had to throw to people who hadn't caught anything all season, and fullback Mike Sellers had his most productive game ever. The Redskins held the ball and wore down the Detroit Lions on a hot day, keeping the No. 1 passing offense off the field in a 34-3 rout. A better than 2-to-1 advantage in total yards Sunday kept alive a 70-year hex for the Lions in the nation's capital. BOX SCORE: Redskins 34, Lions 3 Sellers, who has been pleading with coach Joe Gibbs to get the ball more often, caught a pass for one touchdown and ran for another as the Redskins (3-1) made it 21-0 at home against the Lions since moving to Washington in 1937. Detroit (3-2) had been averaging 28.5 points and 387.3 yards per game. But offensive coordinator Mike Martz's unit could only generate a field goal and 149 total yards against a Washington defense that had five sacks by four different players. Chris Cooley caught a touchdown pass, and Andre Carter sacked Jon Kitna for a safety for the Redskins, who led 14-0 at halftime despite playing without top receiver Santana Moss, who missed the game with a groin injury. Antwaan Randle El, expected to carry the load in Moss' absence, had seven catches for 100 yards before leaving with a hamstring injury just before halftime. Running short on manpower, the Redskins were forced to diversify their attack. Campbell relied heavily on screens, dinks and dunks to go 23-for-29 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. James Thrash, Keenan McCardell and Brandon Lloyd each caught a pass for the first time this season. The highlight-reel catch went for 24 yards to Sellers, who bulldozed Kenoy Kennedy in a huge collision before Kennedy managed to bring him down. Sellers, who had touched the ball nine times all season and never more than five times in a game in his eight-year NFL career, ran five times for 24 yards and caught three passes for 36 yards. The Redskins had two first-half drives that lasted more than 7½ minutes each, and another that went 83 yards. That meant the Lions were only able to run 19 plays in the first half, and those plays generated just 41 yards. Detroit finally crossed the 50 late in the third quarter — on a pass interference penalty. Kitna, who entered the game with a 105.6 quarterback rating, completed 16 of 29 passes for 106 yards and two interceptions, one returned 61 yards for a touchdown by Carlos Rogers in the game's final minute. Kitna was so ineffective in the first half that Detroit uncharacteristically tried a run-first attack after halftime. With Kevin Jones taking over for Tatum Bell, the Lions moved the ball effectively until killing their drives with self-inflicted mistakes, including a fumble, a dropped pass and a false start.
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