INTERVIEW — TREVOR MATICH — WMAL’S REDSKINS ANALYST
- ‘Faith, bro’: Redskins rally late for 16-13 win over Jags to keep playoff hopes alive. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In the moments before his game-ending 36-yard field goal gave the Washington Redskins an unlikely 16-13 victory Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars and saved his team’s season, Dustin Hopkins refused to consider the weight of what he was about to do. “I’m not thinking of the consequences,” the Redskins kicker said later. And yet on the Washington sideline, his field goal meant everything. As the ball twirled through the northern uprights at TIAA Bank Field, the Redskins erupted with joy. Four weeks of disaster that started with quarterback Alex Smith’s broken leg Nov. 18 and lingered through four losses, three new quarterbacks, an almost daily run of tabloid-like stories and a near tumble from the playoff race ended with that kick. Many of the players threw their arms in the air. Coach Jay Gruden, whose job security has been a constant topic through the slide, smiled. Josh Johnson, the newest quarterback — a man who had not won a game he started in a 10-year NFL career — fell to his knees and pounded the ground.
