There was palpable relief in the air at FedEx Field last night when the clock wound down on the Redskins' first win in five tries. You could’ve hardly imagined a more difficult or unique losing streak either, marked by unspeakable tragedy off the field and bad luck and poor execution on it.

Last night, when things really seemed like they couldn’t get much worse for the Skins – two missed field goals kept the score at 0-0 – starting quarterback (and unofficially anointed Savior) Jason Campbell went down with a dislocated patella. Which, of course, sounds mighty painful. They carted him off, and on came Todd Collins.

You may remember Collins as one of the most expensive third-stringers in the history of the NFL. He’s the guy Danny Boy Snyder flew home from vacation (on his private jet) to negotiate with three years ago. He’s the guy who hadn’t played in a game since 2002, and who hadn’t thrown a touchdown since 1997. Whatever the case, apparently it’s still preferable to Mark Brunell, one of only two quarterbacks to lead the Skins to a playoff victory in the past 15 years.

Collins pretty much obliterated all expectations, playing a startling crisp game (15-20, 224 yards, and 2 touchdowns) and leading the Redskins to one of their better performances of a tough season. With a stagnant running game (31 yards on the night), the Skins offense looked more dynamic than it's been in a while, spreading the field a little bit and making use of a variety of receivers.

Collins’ first touchdown was set up by a great interception and return from Shawn Springs, whose injury status was up in the air before kickoff. He jumped Bears speedster Devin Hester’s route, cleanly picked Bears backup QB Brian Griese’s throw, and brought it back 55 yards to the Chicago 21 yard line. With Chicago sucked up towards the line and expecting a run, the Skins play-actioned to Portis and Collins split the zone with a terrific ball to Todd Yoder who went in for the score.

After halftime, Washington picked up right where they had left off. Two running plays set up a third down screen that Portis took 54 yards – personally escorted by a truckin’ Chris Samuels for the last ten – to the Chicago goal line. Two plays later, Mike Sellars punched it in for a two touchdown lead.

Chicago made a brief run to get it back to 14-10, but a high-pressure defensive gameplan did its job and the offense – normally bumbling when it nears the goal line – showed real efficiency in sticking the ball in the end zone. The teams traded field goals, and the Skins got the ball back with 6:45 left on the clock. It was the exact place the Skins have struggled so badly this season, but in what was surely the drive of the game, Collins led the team down the field, eating up 4 minutes off the clock. It culminated with a brilliant play call, a little dunk over the middle to Ladell Betts who scampered untouched into the end zone from 16 yards out.

The win now leaves the Skins with everything to play for in the last three games. They don’t control their own destiny, but they own the tiebreaker over three of their six main wild card competitors. They will likely need to win out to get a berth (8-8 could do it, but let’s not consider such a thing yet). They’ll be without Campbell, and Collins’ mobility will be tested next week by the Giants’ pass rush. It only gets harder from here, but for the first time in a long while, it was good to see the team celebrating again.