The article incorrectly said that the Philadelphia Eagles challenged a ruling on the field at the end of the Washington Redskins' 10-3 victory the day before. A team may not challenge a ruling during the last two minutes of an NFL game; the review was initiated by the replay officials.
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Redskins Push Back
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The touchdown was Portis's first since a 14-11 victory over Cleveland on Oct. 19 -- a span of seven games. After the touchdown, many Redskins players playfully pushed Zorn on the sideline as they celebrated the touchdown.
"It was awesome to see him play like that and making plays," Fletcher said of Taylor. "When he came in, obviously, they envisioned him being a difference-maker out there on the field for us. Today, he did it, and him getting back healthy played a part in that. He's been under a lot of scrutiny, so to speak, so I was just proud of his performance. Extremely proud and happy for his performance."
Said Taylor: "Obviously, the [sack] ended up being a big play for us and set us up to get some points. But to get the win in spite of everything that's going on, and being eliminated and all that stuff, was very big for this team."
With Atlanta's victory over Minnesota, the Redskins, all but eliminated from contention for a playoff spot by the loss at Cincinnati, were mathematically finished at 7:11 p.m. It was around that time the Eagles put a scare into the Redskins.
Despite having the league's fifth-ranked defense, the Redskins were not effective in the fourth quarter during their recent rough stretch. Opponents had time-consuming drives that helped them finish victories, but the Eagles' offense was not productive in the final quarter yesterday.
The Eagles went three and out on their first four possessions as Redskins punter Ryan Plackemeier was effective, pinning them inside their 3-, 10- and 9-yard lines on three of his four punts in the quarter. But the Eagles got rolling on their final possession.
Starting at its 9 with 3:48 to play, Philadelphia moved the ball well behind McNabb. With about a minute remaining in the game, it appeared the Eagles would need only an extra point to pull even when standout rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson beat cornerback DeAngelo Hall down the right sideline and into the corner of the end zone, but Jackson dropped McNabb's well-thrown pass.
Philadelphia extended the drive and reached Washington's 18-yard line where McNabb spiked the ball to stop the clock. "It was 12 seconds, they had no timeouts, they had to go to the end zone," Zorn said. "I was thinking maybe they would take at least two or three shots.
"He threw a nice ball in there. LaRon Landry did a nice job of keeping him out. I thought he game was over because I saw it at about three yards short. Then when they wanted to review it, LaRon came by me and said, 'No way. I hit the crud out of him.' He didn't really say crud."
The Redskins finish the season Sunday at San Francisco with Zorn ensured of no worse than a .500 record. The team's sixth head coach under owner Daniel Snyder could finish with a winning record in his rookie season, and that's an accomplishment, many veteran players said.
"We just wanted to go out and play hard for him because he's coaching hard for us," center Casey Rabach said. "This whole team has been going through a tough time with the way we started and the downfall we've had the second half, so this is a great win for this team and a great win for Coach Zorn. Hopefully, this will get some pressure off his back, and you guys will leave him alone for a while."
