A game of "What ifs?"

REDSKINS 23 - COWBOYS 28

What if, on 3rd and ten at the Dallas 20 with about 4:00 to go, Jason Campbell tucks in the ball and runs instead of throwing and ill advised pass to a VERY covered receiver? What if the Redskins defense actually tries to cover Terrell Owens on any of his wide open touchdown catches? What if the Skins had managed to get their running game on track? A change in any of these three things could've led to a much different, and happier, outcome.

The Redskins managed to stay in this game until the bitter end despite some glaring mistakes on defense. Penalties were kept to a minimum, clock management wasn't a factor for a change, and Jason Campbell had the game of his career. The only real mistake Campbell made in the course of a 344 yard, 2 TD game was that final pass. Had he tucked the ball and ran, he would have made the first down at the Cowboys 10 or at the very least got the Skins close enough to get the first on 4th down. The Skins still had all of their timeouts and momentum on their side. Instead he threw and pass into tight coverage that was picked off. If the Redskins had scored at that point, it would've given them the lead with about 2 minutes left. Not necessarily game over, but pretty close.

Now the defense...well...it was astonishing how open they let T.O. get. On two of his TDs there wasn't a Redskin defender within ten yards of him. As much as I hate him, T.O.'s one of the best receivers in the league, if not of all time. You simply can't let him get that open that often. Sean Taylor was sorely missed today. I certainly hope he heals up pretty quick because the Redskins secondary is not very good without him in. I can't totally rag on te defense because they did make a bunch of key stops throughout the game that helped keep the boys in it.

All in all, it was a great game to watch as are most Dallas/Washington games. I think I was most impressed with Jason Campbell. For a guy who's basically a rookie, he showed incredible poise and maturity especially while running the no-huddle offense. I think we'll see great things in the future from him.