There are about 150 plays in an NFL game and all of them are important. But some of them matter to the outcome more than others. Here are five of the key plays in the Redskins’ win over the Packers.

Q1, 13:02—Alex Smith pass deep middle to Paul Richardson for 46 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

During the week, Smith was taking fire from all directions after having thrown mostly check down passes in the Redskins’ first two games. He aired it out early against Green Bay. Three plays into their first possession the Redskins had a first down at the Packers 46. Richardson had a couple of steps on his defenders deep down the middle and Smith launched it. The receiver had to slide on his knees to make the catch at around the five-yard line. He immediately popped up without being touched and lunged into the end zone to give the home team a lead it would never relinquish.

Q2, 7:13—Smith pass deep middle to Jordan Reed to WAS 40 for 34 yards

On the Redskins’ previous possession, Smith had thrown his first interception of the year. It didn’t cost them points but the turnover did flip field position as the Packers’ ensuing punt was downed at the two-yard line. It was third and six at the six. Smith dropped back and fired to Reed down the middle for the first down. Reed got some good yards after the catch with a couple of nice moves and the Redskins were in business. On the next play, Adrian Peterson rolled for 41 yards off the right side and suddenly they were in the red zone. Four plays later Smith threw a laser beam to Jamison Crowder for a touchdown to make it 21-3.

Q2, 2:00—Smith pass deep right to Vernon Davis pushed ob at GB 21 for 50 yards

The Packers responded quickly to the Crowder touchdown as Aaron Rodgers threw a 64-yard TD bomb to close the gap to 21-10. The fans at FedEx Field barely had time to get nervous. On the second play in their ensuing possession, Smith found Davis open deep down the right sideline and the QB dropped a dime. That got the Redskins just outside the red zone. A pass to Jamison Crowder made it first and goal at the three, and two plays later Ryan Anderson was the lead blocker on Peterson’s second two-yard TD plunge of the game.

Q3, 2:33—Rodgers pass short left to Randall Cobb to WAS 40 for 3 yards. Washington challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED.

The offense built the lead and it was up to the defense to make sure it was preserved. The Packers drove to a touchdown on their first possession on the second half, and after a Washington three and out they were on the move again. On fourth and two at the Redskins 43, the Packers went for it. Rodgers’ short pass to Cobb got them just over the line to gain. But Redskins defenders in the vicinity emphatically signaled incomplete and assistant defensive backs coach James Rowe got into Jay Gruden’s ear on the headset and told him to challenge the call. It turned out that the ball squirted out and hit the ground while Cobb was trying to get control. The Redskins took over on downs.

Q4, 5:32—Rodgers pass short right to Cobb to GB 47 for 1 yard. FUMBLES forced by Fabian Moreau RECOVERED by WAS- Josh Norman at GB 46.

It was still a two-score game with enough time left for one of Rodgers’ patented miracle finishes. The Packers were near midfield when Rodgers went to Cobb on the right side near the line. The defense immediately swarmed over the receivers, and as he was going down Moreau pried the ball from Cobb’s grasp. It popped up in the air and Norman grabbed it out of the air. The Redskins killed 3:25 of the clock, forced the Packers to use all of their timeouts, and Dustin Hopkins kicked a field goal to put the Redskins up by 14 with 1:58 left to play.

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