[caption id="attachment_1884" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Is Campbell becoming the leader?"]
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I'm not trying to make the win over the Bucs to be some kind of moment that propels the Washington Redskins into the playoffs. If the Bucs were a good team it might be but they're not so we'll have to wait and see what happens.
But I do want to bring up what Clinton Portis said after the game. Nobody else has picked up on it but I found it to be quite interesting:
It comes from just staying with it. I think the best thing that happened today was us sticking with [quarterback] Jason [Campbell] following four turnovers. I think, today, Jason really grew to be a leader of this team. It was a great feeling to see him continuously slinging the ball and come off of the field without having an explanation after throwing an interception. He came off of the field and the play was over with; when we get the ball back, we're going to go down the field. For Jason to hold his head up after four turnovers and everybody continuing to fight [was a great thing].I added the emphasis. It was, by Campbell's own account, his worst game ever in terms of interceptions, even going back to pee-wee league. But the Redskins won. It's been theorized that Campbell's low interception numbers—just 2.2% of his career passes have been picked off—have had a downside. He's been so afraid of throwing interceptions that he's reluctant to take a chance that might result in a big play. Instead, he eats the ball or checks down to a safety valve receiver. Campbell has always been respected in the locker room. Because of that his teammates have been willing to elect him to be a team captain and to have him serve as the titular head of the offense. But true leadership is not bestowed it must be earned. It is earned through actions and behavior. It seems that, in Portis' eyes anyway, that Campbell's actions and how he handled the adversity went a long ways towards gaining him that earned leadership position. Campbell was able to accrue this leadership status because the Bucs did not make the Redskins pay for Campbell's miscues. If he goes out gun slinging against, say, the Eagles and turns it over three times in the first half he will be looking at the short end of a 24-3 score. That won't bolster his leadership status and may well endanger his status as the starter. But if he's confident that he and the Redskins can survive an occasional turnover his performance could improve.
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