Beck Leads Skins to Dominant Win Over Colts

We're halfway through the 2011 pre-season, and the Washington Redskins have two more wins than this writer thought they'd have at this point. Surprisingly, the Skins are 2-0 thus far in their exhibition games leading up to their 2011 campaign. This week, Washington traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts, and left with a 16-3 victory. The score at the half, when the Redskins' starters made their exit, was a very respectable 13-0. As commentator Mike Patrick kept saying throughout the telecast, “I know it's only the pre-season, but...” That sentence had various conclusions to it, but all were positive and in favor of the burgundy and gold.

John Beck, after sitting out the pre-season opener against Pittsburgh, got the nod to start the game. Before Washington had re-signed Rex Grossman and before he was sidelined with an injury during training camp a few weeks ago, head coach Mike Shanahan had stated he has full confidence in using John Beck as his starting quarterback. Having not played in a professional football game since the 2007 season when he was with the Dolphins, Beck looked very good throughout the first half. He led scoring the team to four scoring drives, including a touchdown drive on the first possession of the game in which he was a foot from throwing for a score on his first pass attempt. He finished the half completing 14 of his 17 passes for 140 yards and no turnovers. He looked as efficient as Grossman did last week against the Steelers, and since Grossman didn't necessarily do anything special in his reps with the backups in the second half, there isn't a clear cut answer to the question of: are these quarterbacks actually that good, or is it really the simple fact that the starting offensive line gives whatever quarterback is behind them more time to make plays? I'm leaning towards the latter, which isn't a bad thing at all, as long as that starting stays healthy for the entire season, which is something Skins' lineman have a tough time doing.

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While the passing game was the highlight in game one, it was Washington's ground attack that turned heads in game two. The opening drive saw Tim Hightower break off a 58 yarder and then score from a yard out a couple plays later. He would play another series after the opening drive and finished with six carries for 70 yards and the touchdown. In his two games as a Redskins, Hightower has been making the most of his time with the first team offense with one of last season's featured backs, Ryan Torain, still out with an injury. Hightower has accumulated over 100 yards on the ground and has caught all the passes thrown his way so far this pre-season. The other back the Colts saw a lot of was the rookie speedster, Roy Helu. After seeing limited action in the first game against Pittsburgh, Helu entered the game in the first quarter against the Colts, and played well into the second half. He finished the game with 14 carries for 101 yards, including a 51 yard scamper down the sidelines that showed he has some fancy footwork to go along with his incredible speed.

Granted the Skins were playing a Colts offense with Curtis Painter at the helm as opposed to Peyton Manning, Painter was the only player out there that likely won't be starting week 1 (unless Manning isn't good to go by then). That being said, the Redskins' defensive starters kept the Indy offense, normally a very high powered attack, off the scoreboard, and the second unit kept them out of the endzone as well. The only points given up by Washington at all were to All-Pro kicker Adam Vinatieri 55 yard field goal in the third quarter.

Two games, two different starting quarterbacks, two very efficient outings. Shanahan like's Beck, but Grossman has the experience and has been to a Super Bowl (yeah, the defense got them there, but that's neither here nor there). The Skins go up against another very good defense in their next pre-season contest against the Balitmore Ravens, so we'll see if either Beck, Grossman or both perform for three weeks in a row against some of the league's best.

By Matthew Dagen
ProFootball-fans.com Washington Redskins Correspondent