OAKLAND, Calif. — The Washington Redskins again went into the fourth quarter with a lead. Whether it was playing against JaMarcus Russell and the Oakland Raiders or their own resiliency, the Redskins were able to hold on to this lead and end a string of three consecutive fourth-quarter collapses.
Jason Campbell threw two touchdown passes to give Washington the lead, Quinton Ganther extended it with two fourth-quarter scores and Brian Orakpo helped secure the 34-13 victory Sunday by tying a franchise record with four sacks.
“This seemed like a long time coming,” coach Jim Zorn said.
The Redskins (4-9) had lost three straight, blowing leads of six, eight and 10 points. Those losses came against upper-echelon teams in Dallas, Philadelphia and New Orleans, not the bottom-dwelling Raiders (4-9).
Washington took a 17-13 lead into the fourth quarter this week, but just built on it from there.
Oakland had won two of three, led by fourth-quarter comebacks by Bruce Gradkowski, who replaced an ineffective Russell as the Raiders quarterback last month but injured his left knee while getting sacked in the first quarter and then the right while trying to avoid a pass rusher in the closing minute of the first half.
Gradkowski was diagnosed with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right knee.
The Redskins got six of their eight sacks in the second half. It was the most sacks for Washington since getting eight against Dallas in 1990. It was also the team’s most lopsided win since a 21-point victory over Dallas in Joe Gibbs’ final regular-season game in 2007.
It was a rough day overall for the Raiders, who committed 14 penalties and lost by at least 20 points for the fifth time this season. They also assured themselves of a seventh consecutive losing season and have been outscored 119-23 in four games following a win this season.
