Trailing the Philadelphia Eagles 20-6 at the end of the third quarter, the Redskins made a quarterback change, with head coach Mike Shanahan calling for John Beck to take over for struggling starter Rex Grossman.
Grossman played the first three quarters of the game and completed just 9-of-22 passes for 143 yards and four interceptions.
Beck led the Redskins on two drives in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 8-of-15 pass completions for 117 yards.
With 2:48 left in the game, Beck rushed up the middle on a quarterback draw for a 2-yard touchdown run to make the score 20-13.
After the game, head coach Mike Shanahan spoke about the decision to change quarterbacks.
"Number one, we needed a spark, Shanahan said. "John has been practicing very well the last couple of weeks, and with four turnovers we thought it was time to make a change and give John an opportunity to show what he can do."
Who starts at quarterback moving forward?
"I would never announce that right after a game," Shanahan said. "I would announce that later in the week. We'll make a decision after looking at the film."
Pressed further, Shanahan added: "We'll make a decision Wednesday...I have to take a look at the film in a little bit more detail and figure out what direction we're going to go in at a lot of different positions. That won't occur until Wednesday."
Beck would not speculate on what the quarterback change means long-term. Instead he remained focused on his performance and what he could have done better.
"When I came in we had the whole fourth quarter and that was enough time to potentially win the game," Beck said. "That was the number one thing on my mind. There are obviously some plays that I wish I could have made.
"For me, I tried to go in and do something offensively, try to find a way to score."
He only had two drives so he felt like he did not really establish a rhythm with the offense.
"We were just trying to claw for what we could," he said. "There were a couple of second-down plays where it didn't go the way we wanted and we were really fortunate to make a couple of key third downs and a fourth-down play, but I don't think there was a real rhythm."
The Redskins face off against the Carolina Panthers next Sunday, and it is fair to say that there is now some question as to who will be the starting quarterback.
