Redskins left red faced
LANDOVER, Maryland: Byron Leftwich led two touchdown drives after Ben Roethlisberger reinjured his throwing shoulder and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Washington Redskins 23-6 on Monday.
The Steelers' top-rated defense had seven sacks, allowed only 221 yards and became the first team this season to intercept Jason Campbell.
Leftwich went 7-of-10 for 129 yards and a touchdown as the Steelers (6-2) beat an NFC East team for the first time in three attempts this season.
Roethlisberger was 5-of-17 for 50 yards and an interception before leaving the game at halftime, again hindered by the slightly separated shoulder that has bothered him since the second week of the season.
Leftwich's 50-yard completion to Nate Washington set up a 1-yard TD run by Willie Parker, who was back from a four-week layoff with a knee injury. He also had a 5-yard scoring pass to Santonio Holmes, who returned from a one-game benching over a charge for a marijuana-related offense. Roethlisberger celebrated that touchdown on the sideline by high-fiving his teammates - with his left hand.
The Steelers held Clinton Portis to 51 yards rushing, ending his streak of five straight games with at least 120 yards. Washington (6-3) came close to scoring a touchdown only once - when Campbell threw incomplete to eligible lineman Lorenzo Alexander on fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the fourth quarter. Campbell, who finished 24-of-43 for 206 yards, thought he had scored on a scramble on the previous play, but a replay challenge showed he was down just before the goal line.
While the Steelers remain atop the AFC North, the Redskins lost ground in the NFC East to the New York Giants. Washington enters its bye week needing to tweak an offense that has put together promising drives all season but has often struggled to find the end zone.
Neither team managed 100 yards in a first half that included seven sacks and a combined 13-of-32 performance by Roethlisberger and Campbell. The Redskins didn't convert on third down until Campbell hit tight end Chris Cooley for a 12-yard gain late in the third quarter.
Agencies
(China Daily 11/05/2008 page24)
