Again, Redskins can’t seal the deal

PHILADELPHIA -- One more play. That's all Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher says his team needs to win games.

"One more stop on third down, one more conversion, something special-teams wise," Fletcher said. "Just something."

One more play would have come in handy against the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday. One more successful play by the Redskins might have prevented a 27-24 loss.

Instead, the Redskins looked for reasons why they can't get that stop on defense, can't make that conversion on offense and can't get the big special-teams play they need to change momentum.

The Eagles (7-4) did plenty to help the Redskins. After winning the toss and deferring their choice until the second half, the Eagles attempted an onside kick to start the game.

Washington not only recovered, Quinton Ganther made a 24-yard return to Philadelphia's 24. An illegal touching penalty against the Eagles gave the Redskins five more yards.

The Redskins scored four plays later.

That was not the end of the Eagles' contributions to the Redskins.

Philadelphia saw a touchdown nullified by offensive pass interference, committed seven penalties for 60 yards and permitted the Redskins to convert 47 percent of their third-down plays (8 for 17).

Normally, such things would be enough for the Redskins (3-8) to win.

But they began the game without defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and cornerback DeAngelo Hall (Virginia Tech), both out with injuries. They were the Redskins' major offseason signees and are critical players for the defense.

During the game, the Redskins lost cornerbacks Fred Smoot to a head injury and Justin Tryon to a hip pointer.

At the end of the game, when the Eagles were driving for the winning field goal, the Redskins' cornerbacks were Carlos Rogers, a veteran, and Byron Westbrook and Kevin Barnes, untested and unproven young players.

They could not stop the Eagles, who were almost willed to win by quarterback Donovan McNabb. The play of the afternoon might have been McNabb's 35-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin with 4:14 left in the game.

The pass, over the head of Rogers, put the Eagles on the Redskins' 28.

"Great catch and throw," said Rogers, who had Maclin well-covered.

Redskins coach Jim Zorn thought he could get his team on the scoreboard late in the first half. The Redskins led 14-13 with 42 seconds left in the second quarter. They had the ball on their 35, but instead of running out the clock, Zorn opted to go for more points.

"My thought was . . . in two or three plays, we could get an opportunity to get a field goal," Zorn said.

Instead, Asante Samuel intercepted a Jason Campbell pass and the Eagles kicked a field goal to take a 16-14 lead.

The Redskins might have been able to do a few more things to help Campbell throughout the day.

He was sacked just once, but he was under constant pressure, forcing him to throw early on a number of occasions.

At other times, Campbell got his passes away just before being pounded to the ground.

Campbell's final play was a microcosm of the Redskins' frustration.

The Redskins needed a game-tying field goal. They had no timeouts and faced a fourth and 1 at their 25 with 1:09 left.

Campbell dropped back to pass. The Eagles brought pressure. Campbell held the ball as long as he could, hoping to find an open receiver. Finally, just before being body-slammed again, he threw to wide receiver Santana Moss.

"Give the Eagles credit," Campbell said. "We have a play we like to run in that situation, and they were all over it."