US Sport story by Gareth Bowman, Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:36:01 GMT


PHILADELPHIA - The Washington Redskins' long wait is finally over as they rode into the last spot of the playoffs by beating the Philadelphia Eagles 31-20 in a New Year game last night.

Washington (10-6) thus booked the last playoffs spot for the first time since 1999 and they were aided in no small measure by Clinton Portis ran for 112 yards and notched up two touchdowns to trigger wild celebrations in the Redskins camp. The Eagles were without Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard.

This win for the Redskins means that Dallas Cowboys are out of the competition for the playoffs. The Redskins needed a win in this game to ensure that they made it to the playoffs and they did not disappoint as they won in some style. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs credited his players for the fifth straight win, "Looking back to 5-6, we talked at that time that if we lost another game we'd be out. Trying to win five straight is a tough deal, but our guys seemed to understand what it would take. We went back to the basics," he stressed.

Gibbs celebrated with an uncharacteristic peck on Joe Salave'a's cheek and hollered his heart out on the visiting sidelines in the Philly game. "I'm glad for Joe Gibbs. But I'm really glad for all the players and the people who had to go through the last five or six years wondering when things were going to change. Guess what? They've changed," Salave'a said after the game.

The Redskins now face Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11-5, on Saturday in a National Football Conference wild-card game, something that will surely feel strange for the current breed of players. But they are looking forward to it. As Clinton Portis put it, "As a team at 5-6, everyone wrote us off. I wasn't ready to clean out my locker and I don't think none of the other guys were, either."

More Sporting Stuff