Yes! Islanders

Despite all the criticism he has received, it was another solid game for QB Jason Campbell, who braved a heavy rush to complete 15 of 22 passes for 196 yards [8.9 yards per attempt] and 1 TD. The interception had nothing to do with Campbell, who put the ball right into TE Fred Davis‘ hands. Davis just let the ball get away from him and it was picked out of the air by a Falcons defender. Campbell so rushed for 40 yards on 5 carries and a bad ankle. I thought it was a solid and courageous performance from Campbell and, for all the hype about Matt Ryan, Campbell was clearly the better quarterback today.

Can we stop hearing about what a great player Clinton Portis is — and how he’s the leader of the offense? Clinton Portis is the leader of the offense only in the sense that his paycheck is bigger than the GDP of Guatemala. I’ve been saying for a while now that the offense wouldn’t miss Portis a bit if he wasn’t in the lineup and we saw it in action today. Portis finished with 4 yards on 4 carries before going out with a mild concussion. Ladell Betts finished with 70 yards and a TD on 15 carries [4.7 ypc] and a 23-yard pass reception. Betts appeared have more explosion into the line of scrimmage than Portis. Of course, Portis has to run behind a poor offensive line, but it is the same line Betts has, too. It’s unclear if Portis will miss more time, but if he does, Redskins fans shouldn’t worry. Clinton Portis, despite the enormity of his salary and cap number, doesn’t make the Redskins better at all.

Kudos to WR Marko Mitchell, who, though long overdue, finally got on the field in limited action. He caught two passes for 22 yards. A quick glance at the stats reveals that Devin Thomas caught nothing and Malcolm Kelly had 1 catch for a whopping 4 yards. Now that team management has gotten over the mental hurdle of having Marko Mitchell in the game on Sunday, let’s move to the next step: Start Marko Mitchell. Thomas and Kelly have had their chances to earn the starting spots that were simply given to both of them and they each failed. It’s time to let Mitchell have a chance. He might do better and he couldn’t possibly do worse.

The offensive line was terrible in the first half, yet again. Campbell was sacked 5 times, and these were not coverage sacks, causing him to come out twice. I’m tired of hearing how C Casey Rabach is an “anchor” in that line. An anchor is something that weighs you down. Rabach is a mistake-prone penalty machine. The offense should be completely revamped during the offseason and a new center should definitely be on the to-do list.

The run defense let the team down today. On a day when Matt Ryan threw for only 135 yards [a measly 5.6 yards per attempt], the rush defense collapsed in an ugly mess of penalties missed tackles.Virtually every big offensive play the Falcons made today was with the ball in the hands of TB Michael Turner. Perhaps Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache should spend more time defending the run and less time defending Daniel Snyder.

Albert Haynesworth made a number of nice plays, but his penalties hurt the team and he lost his head near the end of the first half in that embarrassing sideline melee. I almost put my head through the TV screen when Haynesworth gave the Falcons a touchdown by jumping offsides on 4th and 1. It was obvious the Falcons had no intention of snapping the ball and Haynesworth was standing right over the ball. How he jumps offsides is a complete mystery. An inexcusably bone-headed play.

Laron Landry does make some nice plays, but he’s an incredibly sloppy and inconsistent tackler and DeAngelo Hall, of course, simply wasn’t brought here to tackle — so he doesn’t.

Once again, only one big play was made, the sweet interception by WLB Rocky McIntosh.

Kudos, though, to SLB Brian Orakpo, who netted two sacks, one of them after fighting through a double team. I wonder what Orakpo could accomplish if he was allowed to play his true position, defensive end.

On special teams, the coverage units were below the usual standard, but the punting and kicking was fine. PK Shaun Suisham is now 10-10 on the season after hitting a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Full stats are after the jump…Box Score