Schroeder (2-0) Goes the Distance as the Redskins Defeat Steelers, 30-23

PITTSBURGH —  It was a special victory for the Washington Redskins.

Washington’s special teams provided two first-quarter touchdowns and Jay Schroeder delivered his second victory in six days as the Redskins ended the Steelers’ three-game winning streak, 30-23.

Schroeder, who rallied the Redskins (7-5) past the New York Giants, 23-21, last Monday after Joe Theismann broke a leg, played his first full game since his days at Palisades High School--outgunning Pittsburgh’s Scott Campbell in a duel of quarterbacks making their first NFL starts.

Schroeder, at UCLA in 1980, shared playing time with starter Tom Ramsey, then gave up football to pursue a baseball career.

On Sunday, Schroeder threw for a touchdown and completed 8 of 10 second-half passes after the Redskins took a 14-3 lead in the first quarter following Ken Jenkins’ 95-yard, game-opening kickoff return and Otis Wonsley’s key block of a Harry Newsome punt.

Wonsley cleanly blocked Harry Newsome’s punt and Schroeder fired an 18-yard scoring pass to Clint Didier with 3:27 left in the first period.

Schroeder wasn’t as spectacular against the Steelers (6-6) as he was in completing 13 of 20 passes for 221 yards against the Giants, but he did deliver a victory.

“He’s big, has a good arm and he’s very smart,” Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs said. “What I like best is he’s very calm. He’s faced two good defenses the past two weeks and has shown great poise.”

Schroeder’s only previous encounter with Pittsburgh was when he worked as a bartender at a Southern California hotel where the Steelers stayed two years ago, but he said he wasn’t overly nervous.

“I felt good going into the game,” he said. “I slept like a baby. Last week, I just had to react. This week I was able to prepare and consequently read the defenses more.”

Campbell became the Steelers’ third quarterback starter this season when David Woodley came down with a stomach virus and couldn’t play. Campbell threw a pair of touchdown passes in a 2:47 span in the second quarter, but also tossed three costly interceptions.

“It’s a tough situation to be thrown in there like that, but you’ve got to be ready to play,” Campbell said.

Campbell briefly rallied the Steelers to a 17-17 tie by throwing touchdown passes of five yards to Louis Lipps and nine yards to Rich Erenberg.

Mark Moseley kicked a 39-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining in the first half to put the Redskins back in the lead. John Riggins’ one-yard scoring run on Washington’s first possession of the second half made it 27-17 and Moseley later added a 42-yard field goal.