*Redskins hold off Eagles in sloppy contest*
By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Last week, it was two muffed punts that cost the Philadelphia Eagles. This week, it was their anemic first-half offense.
The Eagles had just 142 yards of total offense through the first 40 1/2 minutes and were held without a touchdown in a 20-12 defeat to the Washington Redskins in a sloppy matchup of division rivals on Monday night.
Jason Campbell threw for 209 yards and a touchdown and Clinton Portis added 69 yards and a score for Washington (2-0), which beat Miami, 16-13, in overtime in the season opener.
David Akers kicked four field goals for the only points scored by Philadelphia. Quarterback Donovan McNabb completed 28-of-46 passes for 240 yards, but most of the yardage came on short passes and he had trouble with his accuracy at times.
"Today, they were dropping their guys in the zone where you would have to throw over guys," McNabb said. "That's just something we don't do. They forced us to throw a lot balls underneath."
Running back Brian Westbrook was the only other bright spot on offense for Philadelphia with 162 all-purpose yards. He rushed for 96 yards on 17 carries.
"To me, it just didn't seem as if we had that sense of urgency that we needed," Westbrook said. "I think we fought very hard towards the end of the game, but we just didn't have it to start with."
The loss marked the third time that Philadelphia (0-2) lost its first two games of the season during coach Andy Reid's tenure. He dropped to 3-6 in home openers.
"I have to do a better job of putting our guys in position when we're down in the red zone to score touchdowns and not field goals," Reid said.
The only highlight for the Eagles in the first quarter came when Reno Mahe fielded a punt and fell forward three yards, eliciting a derisive standing ovation from the fans.
"You can't complain about them cheering for you," Mahe said laughing.
The fans remembered the two muffed punts that cost the Eagles in their 16-13 loss at Green Bay in the season opener.
After both teams failed to score on their first two possessions, Washington started its third drive from its own 27. On the first play, Campbell hooked up with Moss for a 48-yard pass completion that took it to the Philadelphia 23.
However, the drive stalled and four plays later, Shaun Suisham converted a 35-yard field goal as time expired to give the Redskins a 3-0 lead after one quarter.
Cornerback William James set up Philadelphia's next score when he intercepted Campbell at Washington's 39 that ultimately led to another field goal by Akers - this time from 39 yards out that gave Philadelphia a 6-3 lead.
The Redskins scored the first touchdown of the game in bizarre fashion. Campbell engineered a drive that began at the Washington 27 and reached the Philadelphia 1.
Then it appeared that the Redskins would self-destruct as they had a delay of game penalty and two consecutive false starts that pushed the ball back to the 16.
With 14 seconds on the clock, Washington was out of timeouts, but Philadelphia called a timeout and gave the Redskins a chance to gather themselves.
"On our side, there was a lot of confusion," Gibbs said. "Some field goal guys started going out on the field and I wasn't going to risk anything, so I decided to kick at that point.
"I didn't want to run the risk of a mess at the end of the half. I had a chance to rethink it with the timeout and we decided to take a shot."
Campbell salvaged the drive when he tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley with nine seconds left to give the Redskins a 10-6 edge at halftime.
"Guys did a great job of holding their composure during that time," Campbell said. "It helped that they took the timeout. I thought it was a huge drive, going into halftime."
Campbell and Donovan McNabb were each 10-of-18 passing in the first half, but Campbell threw for 143 yards, while McNabb had only 71.
"I didn't play well at all," McNabb said. "There were plays that I should have made."
Portis had given the Redskins a 20-9 lead on a 6-yard TD run nearly three minutes into the final period. Akers later added his fourth field goal - a 22-yarder - with 6:30 left.
The Eagles had one final chance as McNabb drove them down to the Redskins' 9-yard line, but on 4th-and-6, he threw incomplete to Kevin Curtis over the middle. Washington then ran the clock out.
Redskins coach Joe Gibbs was amazed that his team kept the Eagles out of the end zone.
"I don't think that's going to happen again," Gibbs said. "Our defense played extremely hard. I mentioned that Donovan has done the best job against us of any quarterback."
Campbell's favorite targets were Santana Moss, who led Washington's receivers with six receptions for 89 yards and Antwaan Randle El, who had four catches for 44 yards.
"I thought I did a lot of things tonight to help us win the game," Campbell said. "I just try to get better from game to game. The more I get the opportunity to play, the better feel I get for the NFL game. It's only my ninth start, so I'm still early into this."
