Here’s the good news: Jason Campbell looked good in his first game as, well, anything for the Washington Redskins. The descriptives you’ll hear all week will be “poise” and “command,” traits that he showed in abundance both on the field and, with an easy charm mixed in that’ll only make you want to root for the kid more, in his post game interviews. His stat line isn’t world-changing: 19 of 34 for 192 yards only nets you a 5.8 average. But the two TDs and the zero interceptions? Those we’ll take, even in the wake of a 20-17 loss to Tampa Bay.

For a realistic take on Campbell’s debut, we really can’t do better than the Post‘s Thomas Boswell, who succinctly stated: “Campbell ran the offense as well without Clinton Portis and Santana Moss as Mark Brunell did with them.” Still, at 3-7, it’s hard not wishing that Coach Gibbs hadn’t kept the kid under wraps this long. For his part, Campbell has no regrets about waiting, saying, “Being able to sit for a year and a half, that helped me a lot. I didn’t feel like I was rushed into a situation.” Throughout the game, Campbell seemed unshakeable, and he especially excelled down in the red zone, where he twice breaking down coverage to find a way to get touchdowns.

The Redskins had enough confidence in the quarterback to dial up a long strike from the first offensive snap of the game. And, had Brandon Lloyd actually caught the pass, we might be in a state of outright jubilation. (We’re going to continue extending Lloyd the benefit of the doubt, but it’s starting to become clear why he celebrates like a lunatic whenever he successfully makes even the most routine of plays.)