LANDOVER, Md. — For the fourth time in five weeks, the nerves mounted along the Washington Redskins’ sideline as the game once again came down the final snap. They’re finding all sorts of ways to win — except, that is, by taking a knee.
This time the shouts of exultation had to wait until Graham Gano’s 33-yard field goal sailed through the uprights 6:54 into overtime. It gave the Redskins a 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers and an unexpected 3-2 record for a team that won only four games last season.
It’s almost too much to take.
“You wish you could do something different, man,” wide receiver Santana Moss said, shaking his head. “But I’ll take ’em. As long as they’re W’s out there, I’ll take ’em.”
Washington has had two games go to overtime and two that ended on passes thrown into the end zone by the opposing team at the end of regulation. This one came after the Redskins were thoroughly dominated for much of the afternoon, the defense allowing 427 yards and the offense allowing Donovan McNabb to get sacked five times. They also overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
But the Redskins have come out on top more often than not, a switch universally attributed in the locker room to new coach Mike Shanahan.
“These are the games,” fullback Mike Sellers said, “we didn’t win in the past.”
The Packers (3-2) were coming off a two-point win over Detroit, and that followed a three-point loss to Chicago in which they had a team-record 18 penalties.
The Packers moved the ball well early, but couldn’t convert their yards into points, leaving them with a tenuous 13-3 lead entering the fourth quarter. A 48-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to a leaping Anthony Armstrong got Washington within three points, and Gano tied the game with a 45-yard field goal with 1:07 remaining.
The Packers had time to drive for a winning score in regulation, but kicker Mason Crosby hit the left upright from 53 yards with one second left.
