First Take: Building something?

[caption id="attachment_1879" align="aligncenter" width="394" caption="Campbell turns a rocky start into a good finish"][/caption] The Washington Redskins got off to a slow start against the Bucs on Sunday but they got things rolling after halftime. Does this mean that they can do a similar turnaround after a tough start to their 2009 season? The answer, of course, is not necessarily. There were some positives that the team can build on. For the second week in a row, Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss for a long touchdown pass (and this time the play was successful because it worked as it was drawn up, not because of a broken coverage). He fired a touchdown pass in the red zone. Clinton Portis rumbled for 98 yards. The defense got two takeaways, one of which turned the game's momentum in Washington's favor while the other clinched the game. They sacked Josh Johnson three times and had him harried and on the run for much of the game. The fact that the positives, for the offense at least, came in the wake of a first half that could be charitably described as putrid makes them a bit more impressive. They gained 99 yards of offense. Campbell had a quarterback rating of 18.1 thanks largely to a pair of interceptions. The fumble that set up Johnson's touchdown pass isn't factored in to the rating. Last week against the Lions the Redskins played a horrid first half and then cobbled together a second-half rally to make a game of it. This week against a team that appears to be even worse than the Lions they were able to finish off the rally. That's progress, I suppose. If they gained any small bit of momentum from Sunday's rally the next couple of weeks would be a good time to build up the snowball. If it's possible, the Panthers are in greater disarray than are the Redskins. This was a 12-win team last year that now sits at 0-3. Jake Delhomme is under the microscope every bit as much as is Campbell. After that, they face the 0-4 Chiefs. Casey Rabach said, "We're taking baby steps. I hate to say it because of the way it sounds, but that's the way it is. We took a baby step today, and we've gotta try to take another one next week and just keep going." We all know that babies sometimes take a few steps and then fall down. We'll see if the Redskins maintain the pitter-patter or if the fall down and go boom.