Landover, MD- “A 700 page playbook, and not one that runs up the middle?” was one of the many questions heard leaving FedEx Field after the Redskins 24-17 loss to the Giants yesterday.  On a day celebrating 75 years of Redskins history, the Redskins provided an example of what their recent history has been under not only Coach Joe Gibbs, but the previous coaching regimes as well.  After a flawless first half and a 17-3 halftime lead, the Redskins offense sputtered in the second half, unable to get a first down while the defense couldn’t prevent one. That said, the Redskins still put themselves in a position to tie with 30 seconds left in the game.

Jason Campbell, who showed both glimpses of stardom and evidence of his inexperience within that last minute of play, was up and down throughout the afternoon.  Campbell, making the ninth start of his career, showed incredible poise and maturity in leading the Redskins on their potentially game tying drive yet reflected the same clock management issues that have marked Gibbs’ return to coaching.  With just under a minute remaining, WR Atwaan Randle El snagged a bullet from Campbell putting the Redskins mere feet away from the endzone. After stopping the clock, the Campbell just missed short on a play-action pass to FB Mike Sellars.  On both third and fourth downs the Redskins ran the same play, a handoff to RB Ladell Betts to the left side of their formation.  The final play was run with over thirty seconds left on both the play clock and the game clock, which begs the question? Why rush when there is still plenty of time left on the clock?  The Redskins, heading into the bye week, now have two weeks to address their lingering injury issues on both the offensive and defensive lines, find a way to keep Randle El involved throughout the game as opposed to his sporadic use now, and get their secondary playing together. 

UP NEXT: Detroit Lions   Sunday October 7th