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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Campbell 'Excited' For First Start vs. Dallas

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Jason Campbell has completed 16 starts in his NFL career, the equivalent of one full season.

There's one thing he hasn't done, though: Play against the Dallas Cowboys.

Campbell gets his first taste of the often-heated Redskins-Cowboys rivalry this Sunday at Texas Stadium.

From the sidelines, he has already watched two memorable games in the series: the 14-13 come-from-behind win at Texas Stadium in 2005 and the miracle 22-19 win at FedExField last year.

In his three years in Washington, Campbell has no doubt heard the stories of classic Redskins-Cowboys games from the 1970s and 1980s.

With an upset victory over the 8-1 Cowboys, Campbell would join the ranks of Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer, Joe Theismann and Mark Brunell as Redskins quarterbacks with memorable victories over Dallas.

"It's a big rivalry game and it has been going on for a long time," Campbell said. "I have yet to play in one--this is my first time, my first appearance in one, and I'm excited about it."

Campbell is coming off perhaps his best game as a pro. In the Redskins' 33-25 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, Campbell completed 23-of-34 passes for 215 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

His 114.2 QB rating was the second highest of his career.

For the season, Campbell has completed 156-of-261 passes, or nearly 60 percent, for 1,735 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Sunday's game is also the first head-to-head matchup of Campbell and Tony Romo.

Romo, who has 19 career starts heading into Sunday, has played one game against Washington. In Week 9 last year, he completed 24-of-36 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns in the 22-19 loss at FedExField.

Romo has led a dynamic Cowboys offense this year. The unit is ranked second overall in the NFL and third in passing yards.

After defeating the New York Giants last Sunday 31-20, the Cowboys have a two-game lead in the NFC East.

"[Romo] is an exciting player," Campbell said. "Last week, he made an exciting play when he ran up into the pocket, started to move around and all of a sudden the receiver is open in the back of the end zone. That was great awareness on his part.

"He has played outstanding this season. A lot of people were critical of him after that playoff loss [at Seattle, where Romo serving as holder mishandled the snap on a late-game field goal attempt], but he showed a lot of heart and character the way he bounced back."

Romo is ranked third in the NFL--and first in the NFC--in passer rating. He has completed 190-of-292 passes, or 65.1 percent, for 2,555 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Campbell declined to compare himself to Romo, even though they both have started roughly the same number of games.

"They run a different-style offense," Campbell said. "They're more of a downfield, open attack offense. We're more of a run-oriented offense. We're two different-style quarterbacks. It's hard to measure quarterbacks like that."

On Sunday, Campbell will also look across the field at Texas Stadium and see another quarterback who is familiar to Redskins fans.

Backup quarterback Brad Johnson played for the Redskins from 1999-2000. He started 27 games in those two seasons. His best year was 1999, when he passed for 4,005 yards, second-most in franchise history, and threw 24 touchdowns.

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