2010 Washington Redskins season The 2010 Washington Redskins season was the 78th season for the team in the National Football League ( NFL ) , and their first under new head coach Mike Shanahan , who also began his term as the team ' s Vice President of Football Operations . The Redskins obtained the 4th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft as a result of their 4 - 12 record from their previous season , which they used to draft Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams . Finishing the season 6 - 10 , the Redskins improved on their 4 – 12 record from the 2009 season , but were officially eliminated from postseason contention in Week 14 . Of the 16 games of the season , only four ( all losses ) were decided by more than a single possession . With new starting quarterback Donovan McNabb , who replaced Jason Campbell ( traded to Oakland ) , Washington aimed to improve upon their previous failing seasons . However , upon Week 15 and a rating of 77 . 1 ( 25th overall in the league ) , Shanahan would bench McNabb in favor of their second - string Rex Grossman ( who was the quarterback for the 2006 Chicago Bears that went to play in the Super Bowl ) . Players . Movement . The Redskins released RBs Rock Cartwright and Ladell Betts , WR Antwaan Randle El , OG Randy Thomas , DT Cornelius Griffin and CB Fred Smoot on March 4 , 2010 , one day before the start of free agency . On April 4 , the Redskins traded a 2010 2nd round pick and either a 3rd or 4th round pick in 2011 for veteran Eagles QB Donovan McNabb . The conditional 3rd / 4th round pick is reflective on McNabb ' s performance during the season . On April 24 , the Redskins traded QB Jason Campbell to the Oakland Raiders for a 2012 4th round pick . The Jason Campbell trade had been anticipated ever since the Donovan McNabb trade a few weeks before . On June 19 , the Redskins addressed their need for a strong offensive line by trading a third or fourth in 2011 ( reflective on the Donovan McNabb trade ) to the New Orleans Saints for Pro Bowl OT Jammal Brown . Free agents in 2010 . " RFA " : Restricted free - agent , " UFA " : Unrestricted free - agent , " ERFA " : Exclusive rights free agent 2010 NFL Draft . The Redskins finished the 2009 season with a record of 4 - 12 and will be picking 4th overall . Schedule . Preseason . The Redskins preseason schedule was announced on March 31 , 2010 . Standings . - " clinched playoff berth " - " clinched division title " - " clinched division title and first round bye " - " clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs " Regular season results . Week 1 : vs . Dallas Cowboys . The Redskins began their season at home on Sunday night against their NFC East rival , the Dallas Cowboys . In the first quarter , Washington delivered the opening punch as kicker Graham Gano got a 29 - yard field goal . The Redskins would then close out the second quarter with cornerback DeAngelo Hall returning a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown . The Cowboys would get on the board in the third quarter as quarterback Tony Romo found wide receiver Miles Austin on a 4 - yard touchdown pass . Washington would respond in the fourth quarter as Gano nailed a 49 - yard field goal . Afterwards , Dallas appeared to have won the game as Romo completed a 13 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roy Williams , but a holding call on offensive tackle Alex Barron preserved the Redskins victory . With the win , Washington began its season at 1 – 0 . Week 2 : vs . Houston Texans . Coming off their win over the Cowboys the Redskins played on home ground for an interconference duel with the Texans . In the 1st quarter the Redskins scored first as kicker Graham Gano got a 41 and a 27 - yard field goal . In the second quarter the Redskins fell behind with QB Matt Schaub completing a 5 - yard TD pass to WR Jacoby Jones , but got the lead back when RB Clinton Portis got two 1 - yard TD runs to put the Redskins up 20 - 7 . The Texans tried to cut the lead in the third quarter as kicker Neil Rackers nailed a 47 - yard field goal , but the Redskins increased their lead with QB Donovan McNabb completing a 22 - yard TD pass to TE Chris Cooley . The Texans went on a scoring rally to tie the game when QB Matt Schaub made a 6 - yard TD pass to WR Kevin Walter , followed in the 4th quarter by Rackers making a 43 - yard field goal . Then Schaub threw a 34 - yard TD pass to WR Andre Johnson . The decision was made when Rackers booted a 35 - yard field goal in overtime to give the Redskins a loss . With the loss , the Redskins fell to 1 – 1 . Week 3 : at St . Louis Rams . Coming off their heartbreaking overtime loss at home against the Texans , the Redskins traveled to Edward Jones Dome to take on the St . Louis Rams . In the first quarter , the Rams scored first with a 42 yard TD run from Steven Jackson for a 7 - 0 lead . following their next possession the Rams scored again with Sam Bradford connecting with Daniel Fells for a 3 yard TD Pass to go up 14 - 0 . In the second quarter the Redskins were able to get on the board with Graham Gano kicking a 29 yard field goal , followed by them scoring a TD with Donovan McNabb connecting with Santana Moss for a 21 yard TD pass . While Gano was able to kick a 24 yard field goal to make it 14 - 13 at the half , in the third quarter the Redskins were only able to score with Gano kicking a 21 yard FG while Kenneth Darby responded with a 12 yard TD run . In the 4th quarter Josh Brown kicked a 37 , 29 & 41 yard field goals , sealing a Redskins loss . With the loss , Washington fell to 1 – 2 . Week 4 : at Philadelphia Eagles . Trying to snap a two - game losing streak , the Redskins flew to Lincoln Financial Field for a Week 4 NFC East duel with the Philadelphia Eagles , as quarterback Donovan McNabb made his highly anticipated return to Philadelphia . Washington came out strong in the first quarter as running back Ryan Torain got a 12 - yard touchdown run , followed by McNabb ' s 31 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Cooley . The Eagles answered in the second quarter as kicker David Akers made a 49 - yard field goal , yet the Redskins came right back with kicker Graham Gano getting a 26 - yard field goal . Afterwards , Philadelphia closed out the half with Akers ' 23 - yard field goal . After a scoreless third quarter , the Eagles tried to rally in the fourth quarter as quarterback Kevin Kolb completed a 5 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek ( with a failed two - point conversion ) , but Washington ' s defense would prevent any further progress . With the win , the Redskins improved to 2 - 2 . Week 5 : vs . Green Bay Packers . Coming off their win over the Eagles the Redskins played on home ground for an NFC duel with the Packers . In the first quarter the Redskins trailed early as QB Aaron Rodgers completed a 5 - yard TD pass to TE Donald Lee . This was followed in the 2nd quarter by kicker Mason Crosby hitting a 52 - yard field goal . The Redskins replied with kicker Graham Gano getting a 26 - yard field goal . Then in the third quarter Crosby made a 36 - yard field goal to put the Packers up 13 - 3 . The Redskins rallied with QB Donovan McNabb completing a 48 - yard TD pass to WR Anthony Armstrong , followed by Gano making a 45 yard - field goal . At overtime , the decision was made when Gano successfully put away a 33 - yard field goal to win the game for the Redskins . With the win , Washington improved to 3 – 2 . Week 6 : vs . Indianapolis Colts . Coming off their thrilling overtime win over the Packers , the Redskins stayed at home for a Week 6 interconference duel with the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night . Washington trailed early in the first quarter as Colts quarterback Peyton Manning completed a 57 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Garçon . The Redskins answered with a 9 - yard touchdown run from running back Ryan Torain . Indianapolis struck back in the second quarter as Manning threw a 5 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Austin Collie , followed by kicker Adam Vinatieri ' s 43 - yard field goal . Washington began to claw back into the game in the third quarter as Torain got a 1 - yard touchdown run , but the Colts continued to flex their offensive muscle as running back Joseph Addai got a 13 - yard touchdown run . The Redskins continued to stay close as kicker Graham Gano booting a 39 - yard field goal . In the fourth quarter , Indianapolis continued to add onto their lead as Vinatieri made a 33 - yard field goal . Washington tried to rally as quarterback Donovan McNabb hooked up with running back Keiland Williams on an 8 - yard touchdown pass , but the Colts ' defense would prevent any further progress . With the loss , the Redskins fell to 3 – 3 . Week 7 : at Chicago Bears . The Redskins ' seventh game was an NFC duel with the Bears at Soldier Field . In the first quarter , the Redskins had problems as CB D . J . Moore returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown . However , their offense got through after QB Donovan McNabb completed a 24 - yard TD pass to WR Santana Moss . In the second quarter they took the lead after kicker Graham Gano nailed a 46 - yard field goal . The lead didn ' t last long after QB Jay Cutler got a 9 - yard TD pass to WR Johnny Knox , but they did get the lead back in the third quarter as Cutler ' s pass was intercepted by DeAngelo Hall and returned 92 yards for a touchdown . With the win , the Redskins improve to 4 – 3 . Week 8 : at Detroit Lions . Coming off their win over the Bears the Redskins flew to Ford Field for an NFC duel with the Lions . In the 2nd quarter the Redskins trailed early as QB Matt Stafford got a 13 - yard TD pass to WR Calvin Johnson . They pulled ahead with QB Donovan McNabb getting a 6 - yard TD pass to RB Ryan Torain , followed by kicker Graham Gano making a 38 and a 46 - yard field goal . The Redskins trailed slightly with Stafford getting a 2 - yard TD pass to TE Brandon Pettigrew . The Redskins got the lead back with RB Keiland Williams getting a 5 - yard TD run ( With a failed 2 - point conversion ) . The Lions replied with Stafford finding Johnson again on a 7 - yard TD pass ( With a failed 2 - point conversion ) . After that , the Redskins took the lead again with WR Brandon Banks returning a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown ( With a failed 2 - point conversion ) to put the Redskins up 25 - 20 . They soon fell behind with Stafford throwing a 10 - yard TD pass to Johnson ( With a successful 2 - point conversion as Stafford passed to WR Bryant Johnson ) . This was followed by kicker Jason Hanson making a 32 - yard field goal , and with DT Ndamukong Suh returning a fumble 17 yards to the endzone for a touchdown ( With a failed 2 - point conversion ) . With the loss , the Redskins went into their bye week at 4 – 4 . Week 10 : vs . Philadelphia Eagles . Coming off their bye week , the Redskins went home for their Week 10 NFC East rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night . Washington immediately trailed in the first quarter as on the very first play from scrimmage , Eagles quarterback Michael Vick completed an 88 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeSean Jackson . Later , Philadelphia added onto their lead with Vick getting a 7 - yard touchdown run , followed by Vick completing an 11 - yard touchdown pass to running back LeSean McCoy and running back Jerome Harrison getting a 50 - yard touchdown run . The Eagles would continue their dominating performance as Vick completed a 48 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin . The Redskins would finally get on the board with quarterback Donovan McNabb finding linebacker Darrel Young on a 3 - yard touchdown pass , followed a 3 - yard touchdown pass to rookie running back Keiland Williams . Philadelphia responded with Vick getting a 6 - yard touchdown run , followed by kicker David Akers getting a 48 - yard field goal . Washington began the third quarter with Williams ' 4 - yard touchdown run , but the Eagles continued to dictate the game as Vick completed a 3 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jason Avant , followed by cornerback Dimitri Patterson returning an interception 40 yards for a touchdown . The Redskins tried to rally in the fourth quarter with Williams ' 32 - yard touchdown run , but Philadelphia ' s defense ( combined with the 31 - point deficit ) was too much to overcome . With the loss , Washington fell to 4 – 5 . Week 11 : at Tennessee Titans . Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Eagles the Redskins flew to LP Field for an inter - conference duel with the Titans . In the first quarter the Redskins had problems with a three - and - out followed by a punt being returned 87 yards for a touchdown by WR Marc Mariani . They replied with QB Donovan McNabb completing a 5 - yard TD pass to WR Santana Moss , followed in the second quarter by kicker Graham Gano nailing a 19 - yard field goal . They lost the lead after kicker Rob Bironas made a 25 and a 32 - yard field goal . However , they replied with Gano hitting a 40 - yard field goal . The Titans scored with Bironas nailing a 40 - yard field goal , but the Redskins replied with Gano making a 42 - yard field goal . The decision was made at Overtime after Gano successfully hit a 48 - yard field goal to give the Redskins the win , settling the records for both teams at 5 – 5 . Week 12 : vs . Minnesota Vikings . Coming off their win over the Titans the Redskins played on home ground for an NFC duel with the Vikings . In the 1st quarter the Redskins took the lead as QB Donovan McNabb completed a 10 - yard TD pass to TE Fred Davis . The Vikings replied as RB Adrian Peterson got a 5 - yard TD run . The Redskins trailed in the third quarter with RB Toby Gerhart getting a 5 - yard TD run , followed by kicker Ryan Longwell nailing a 31 - yard field goal . The Redskins tried to come back , but only came away with a 40 and a 42 - yard field goal from kicker Graham Gano , giving them a loss . With the loss , the Redskins fell to 5 – 6 . Week 13 : at New York Giants . Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Vikings the Redskins flew to New Meadowlands Stadium for an NFC East rivalry match against the Giants . In the first quarter the Redskins trailed early as RB Brandon Jacobs got an 8 - yard TD run , followed by Ahmad Bradshaw getting a 4 and a 10 - yard TD run . Then Jacobs got a 28 - yard TD run to put the Giants up 28 - 0 . They responded with QB Donovan McNabb completing a 33 - yard TD pass to WR Anthony Armstrong , but they struggled further as kicker Lawrence Tynes made a 28 - yard field goal . With the loss , the Redskins fell to 5 – 7 . Week 14 : vs . Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Hoping to break a two game losing streak the Redskins played on home ground for an NFC duel with the Buccaneers . In the second quarter the Redskins took the lead as QB Donovan McNabb completed a 1 - yard TD pass to TE Logan Paulsen . The Buccaneers replied as kicker Connor Barth nailed a 25 - yard field goal , but the Redskins scored again with kicker Graham Gano making a 25 - yard field goal . They fell behind with Barth making a 44 and a 35 - yard field goal , followed by QB Josh Freeman completing a 41 - yard TD pass to TE Kellen Winslow ( With a successful 2 - point conversion as Freeman ran to the endzone ) . The Redskins tried to cut the lead with McNabb throwing a 6 - yard TD pass to WR Santana Moss ( With the PAT aborted giving Tampa Bay the win ) . With the loss , not only did the Redskins guarantee that they would finish with more road wins than home wins for the first time since the 1994 season , but more importantly , they fell to 5 – 8 , and were officially eliminated from postseason contention , with the Eagles ' 30 – 27 win over the Cowboys . Week 15 : at Dallas Cowboys . The Redskins ' fourteenth game was an NFC East rivalry rematch against the Cowboys at Cowboys Stadium . In the first quarter the Redskins trailed early with kicker David Buehler hitting a 42 - yard field goal , followed by QB Jon Kitna throwing a 3 - yard TD pass to WR Miles Austin ; then Buehler made a 20 - yard field goal to put Dallas up 13 - 0 . The lead was narrowed when QB Rex Grossman completed a 19 - yard TD pass to RB Ryan Torain , but fell further behind with Kitna making a 14 - yard TD pass to TE Jason Witten , followed by RB Tashard Choice getting a 3 - yard TD run . The Redskins replied with Grossman getting a 10 - yard TD pass to WR Santana Moss , but the Cowboys scored again when Buehler got a 20 - yard field goal . Washington managed to tie the game with Grossman finding Moss and Cooley on a 5 - yard TD pass ( With two successful 2 - point conversions as Grossman passed to Cooley and Sellers ) . The Redskins couldn ' t get any further after Buehler made a 39 - yard field goal , settling both records at 5 – 9 . Week 16 : at Jacksonville Jaguars . The Redskins ' fifteenth game was an interconference duel with the Jaguars . In the first quarter the Redskins took the lead as kicker Graham Gano hit a 48 - yard field goal , followed by QB Rex Grossman throwing a 1 - yard TD pass to TE Fred Davis . The Jaguars tied the game with QB David Garrard getting a 19 - yard TD pass to Mike Thomas , followed by kicker Josh Scobee nailing a 34 - yard field goal . the Redskins got the lead back in the fourth quarter with RB Ryan Torain getting a 1 - yard TD run , but the Jaguars replied with Garrard scrambling 20 yards for a touchdown . The decision was made in overtime when Gano successfully hit a 31 - yard field goal to give Washington the win , bringing their record up to 6 – 9 . Week 17 : vs . New York Giants . The Redskins entered Week 17 as a spoiler in the New York Giants ' run for the playoffs . In a game full of turnovers , New York gained the early upper hand with a 20 yard field goal from Lawrence Tynes . In the second quarter , the Giants added 7 more points to their score after a 2 yard run from Brandon Jacobs . Washington would put their first points on the board with a 1 yard pass from Rex Grossman to Fred Davis to conclude the scoring for the first half . The Giants went up by another seven points upon Mario Manningham ' s 92 yard reception from Eli Manning . The Redskins would answer with a a 64 yard pass from Grossman to Anthony Armstrong , leaving the differential of the score to a field goal . In Washington ' s final possession , Grossman would lead the team to a turn over on downs ; with no timeouts , the New York Giants would win the game ( although due to Green Bay ' s superior head - to - head tiebreaker advantage , unable to qualify for the playoffs ) and the Redskins would end their season by falling to 6 - 10 but surpassing their previous season ' s record of 4 - 12 .