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Redskins Escape With Win

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By JOSEPH WHITE, The Associated Press

Published: October 22, 2007

LANDOVER, Md. - In the final 30 seconds, the Arizona Cardinals used three quarterbacks, scored a touchdown, failed on a 2-point conversion, recovered an onside kick and barely - just barely - missed a 55-yard field goal.

It was only after Neil Rackers' kick sailed wide left that the Washington Redskins could take a deep sigh, digest all that happened and realize that they had not quite found a new way to blow a ballgame.

The Redskins beat the Cardinals 21-19 on a Sunday afternoon that degenerated into a series of unfortunate events. The winning team had 160 total yards and was on the wrong side of nearly every statistic except two of the big ones: turnovers and penalties.

'Any team can come back and beat you at the end of the game if you give them the amount of chances we gave those guys,' Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. 'Put it like this: We're lucky to get out of here with a victory.'

The box score will show Clinton Portis with a pair of short touchdown runs for the Redskins (4-2). The Cardinals are 3-4 heading into their bye.

'A lot of people are going to say, 'Same old Cardinals,'' Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. 'That to me wasn't the same old Cardinals. Those guys didn't quit. We obviously didn't make enough plays to win. We made too many mistakes.'

Three of the game's six touchdowns were the product of interceptions, but the Redskins actually put together a decent drive in the third quarter to take a 21-6 lead. Safety LaRon Landry (late hit) and linebacker London Fletcher (taunting the bench) then let the Cardinals back in by committing fouls on third downs during a long drive that resulted in a touchdown.

Then came the real fun. Kurt Warner, who started despite a torn elbow ligament that made it awkward to hand the ball off, drove the Cardinals from Arizona's 29 to Washington's 1 in the final minutes. Then - surprise - former Buc Tim Rattay entered and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope to make the score 21-19 with 21 seconds to play.

The second surprise came when the shotgun snap on the 2-point conversion went straight to receiver Anquan Boldin, who scrambled to the right, found nowhere to run and threw feebly toward Larry Fitzgerald. Landry caught the ball instead.

Still, the Cardinals recovered the onside kick and marched to the 37 before Rackers nearly ended the game with a winning kick.

Was-Portis 2 run (Suisham kick), 4:12.

Second Quarter

Was-Fletcher 27 interception return (Suisham kick), 7:00.

Ari-Boldin 2 pass from Warner (kick blocked), :00.

Third Quarter

Was-Portis 1 run (Suisham kick), 5:47.

Fourth Quarter

Ari-Boldin 10 pass from Warner (Rackers kick), 14:52.

Ari-Pope 1 pass from Rattay (pass failed), :21.

A-85,640.

RUSHING-Arizona, James 27-83, Arrington 1-2, Warner 1-0, Shipp 1-(minus 1). Washington, Portis 18-43, Betts 3-12, Sellers 5-11, J.Campbell 2-7.

PASSING-Arizona, Warner 27-41-2-282, Rattay 1-1-0-1. Washington, J.Campbell 12-18-1-95.

RECEIVING-Arizona, Boldin 8-29, Fitzgerald 6-97, Arrington 4-47, B.Johnson 3-27, Pope 3-35, Urban 3-41, Shipp 1-7. Washington, Randle El 3-54, Sellers 3-11, Moss 2-8, Portis 2-14, Cooley 1-3, Thrash 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Arizona, Rackers 55 (WL). Washington, Suisham 41 (WL).

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