The Washington Redskins were able to establish themselves within the red zone on both sides of the ball Sunday afternoon in a 30-24 OT victory over the San Diego Chargers. Three touchdowns from fullback Darrel Young, along with a key goal line stand by the Redskins defense late in the fourth quarter, paved the way to the win.
Washington’s offense struggled in the passing game early on, which resulted in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan placing the ball in the hands of Alfred Morris and Darrel Young. Young only had 12 yards on five carries, but three of those carries resulted in touchdowns, the last of which won the game. Morris carried the water most of the day and finished with 25 carries for 121 yards and one touchdown, his first 20-plus carry and 100-yard games of the season.
With the run game working successfully for most of the first half, Washington was able to effectively use the play action passes to shred apart a weak Charger secondary. Robert Griffin III finished with 23-of-32 for 291 yards and one interception. His main targets were Pierre Garcon (7 catches, 172 yards), Leonard Hankerson (5 catches, 55 yards) and Jordan Reed (4 catches, 38 yards).
The key momentum shifts of the game occurred for the Chargers when they were able to intercept Robert Griffin III in the end zone for a pick six-touchdown score, and when the Charger special teams were able to block two of Kai Forbath’s field goal attempts.
On offense for the Chargers, Phillip Rivers threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two costly interceptions. The running game for the Chargers didn’t play a factor in the game at all. Ryan Matthews (who entering this game was the only running back in the NFL to run for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games) didn’t get nearly as many carries as the past weeks, and Danny Woodhead was more of a wideout than a running back in this game for Mike McCoy’s offense.
The Redskins built a 10-point fourth quarter lead but saw the Chargers whittle that down. Rivers hit Keenen Allen for a 16-yard strike with 4:10 left to play, and after the Skins went three-and-out, Rivers again led San Diego into the red zone, and eventually the Skins 1-yard line.
On first down, Woodhead ran into the interior of the line for no gain. Second down saw Rivers try for a fade route to Antonio Gates, but tight coverage by DeAngelo Hall left the pass too high for the big tight end to come down with. Rivers then tried to find Allen on the right side, but the pass fell harmlessly to set up fourth down, and Nick Novak’s 19-yard game-tying field goal.
Washington won the coin toss in OT, giving them first possession, After a long and crafty drive, Young’s third touchdown led to the Washington victory.
Washington moves to (3-5) on the season and will have a short week, as they face the Minnesota Vikings (1-7) Thursday night. San Diego moves to (4-4) and will be back in California next week to take on the Denver Broncos coming off their bye week.
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District Sports Page staff intern Brandon Enroth contributed to this report.