With the game-clock down to 1:10, and the Washington Redskin defensive unit huffing-and-puffing, Donovan McNabb and teh Philadelphia Eagles broke the huddle looking to send their home-crowd into a frenzy. Philadelphia, down by eight points, had a 4th-and-6 upcoming from Washington’s nine-yard-line.

After taking a snap out of the shotgun, McNabb threw a dart to his top possesion-receiver Kevin Curtis in the middle of Washington’s defense. Curtis was able to get his hands on the football, but was simultaneously knocked into the air on a bone-crunching hit by Laron Landry, sending Curtis to the turf and the ball sailing into the air. The catch would have given the Eagles a first-down and another crack at tying the game, but Landry’s hit - in just his second game - cattapulted the Redskins to 2-0 on the young season.

Landry wasn’t the only Redskins-defender making big plays on Monday Night though. Washington’s defense - which hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher yet this season - didn’t allow the Eagles to get into the endzone. Rocky McIntosh, who made 11-tackles in the Redskins’ week-one win over the Dolphins, made a team-leading nine-tackles on Monday. The first-year starting outside linebacker also recorded a sack for the second-straight game.  

The win came at a price though, as for the second-straight week Washington lost a key member of its offensive-line. Starting right-guard, probably the best of the team’s starters up-front, left Monday’s game in the first-quarter with a torn triceps muscle. It’s expected that Thomas well miss a major chunk , if not all, of the season. Like last week though, Washington was still able to move the ball after losing a starter up front.

The team’s offense racked-up 337-yards against a nicked-up Philly defense, and also managed to score on all four of its trips into the red-zone. Kicker Sean Suisham was perfect in the kicking-game for the second-straight week, drilling 35 and 37 yard chip shots in his first Monday Night Football appearance in burgundy and gold.

Jason Campbell, also making his Monday-Night debut, overcame a sluggish start to play well. Campbell completed 66% of his passes, threw for 209-yards, and also threw his first touchdown pass of the season, a 16-yard strike to Chris Cooley. Campebll, a one-time, Auburn-standout, who is still just nine-games into his NFL career, looked both cool and calm in the pocket despite a bevy of blitzes from the Eagles’ front-seven.

Cooley’s touchdown reception came with 14-seconds to go in the half, giving the Redskins a 10-6 lead going into the break. He caught just two balls in the game, and has only hauled in three passes this season, but his clutch catch in-between two Eagle-defenders on a corner-route in the endzone made his lack of touches trivial.

Part of the reason why Cooley hasn’t been incredibly involved in the passing-game this season is because he’s been doing a lot of blocking for his team’s over-powering rushing attack. Even with a line comprised of backups at both right-guard and right-tackle, and a starting left-guard who was signed in the final week of the pre-season, Washington still managed to grind-out 130-yards on the ground.

Clinton Portis rushed for 69-yards on 17-carries, and scored for the second-time this season. Ladell Betts also figured into the rushing-attack, registering six-attempts, but it was Campbell who finished second on the team with 39-yards on six scampers out of the pocket.

“Early on in the game we were hitting them for three and four yards a pop, but then we got away from the run,” said Portis. ”We came back to it in the second half and got it going again, and the lineman did what they were supposed to do.”

Having lost the entire right-side of their offensive line in the season’s first two-weeks, it’s almost amazing that the Redskins are 2-0. With their 20-12 win over the Eagles on Monday night though, that’s where the team sits with a home-tilt against the New York Giants (0-2) looming next weekend.

A win against the hapless Giants this coming Sunday would be monumental for a Redskins team, which won just five-games all of last season.