The Washington Post

ASHBURN

With the score tied early in the fourth quarter last Sunday at Seattle , the Washington Redskins turned to kicker Shaun Suisham, whose 22-yard field goal provided the difference in a 20-17 victory . The Redskins have struggled to score touchdowns during Suisham's two-plus seasons with them, and his role could increase in the final five regular-season games.

Despite their problems on offense, the Redskins are among many teams pursuing an NFC wildcard berth, and field goals have been key to their success. Suisham has not been as efficient as he was last season in helping Washington qualify for the postseason, and he often was ineffective on kickoffs in the victory over Seattle.

Confident in his approach, though, he expects to deliver down the stretch for Washington (7-4), which plays host to the NFC East-leading New York Giants (10-1) on Sunday at Fed- Ex Field.

"I don't play scared," Suisham said . "Everybody is different. I can't speak for other guys on how they feel and think, but I tend to try not to overcomplicate things. The reason I'm here is to kick off and to make field goals when I'm called upon. I want to be perfect, even though I know that won't always happen, and that's what I work toward."

On field goals, Suisham has made 21 of 28 attempts with a long of 50 yards. He has not missed a point-after attempt in 18 tries. Against the Seahawks, Suisham also connected on a 26-yard attempt and missed a 43-yarder after the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage.

A 75 percent success rate on field-goal attempts is considered solid for an NFL kicker, but "obviously, I'd like to have back a couple of those misses," Suisham said. "... I'm never satisfied or OK with a miss, but it is part of the job. When it does happen, it happens, and it's my job to come back and make the next kick."

During Week 11 against Dallas , Suis- ham took the field in the third quarter to attempt a 46-yard field goal that would have extended Washington's 10-7 lead. The ball fell a few yards short of the uprights, and the Cowboys rallied in the fourth quarter for a 14-10 victory.

"Field-goal wise, I feel very good with field goals right now, just with how I'm hitting it," Suisham said. "I mean, the last two misses, I wasn't like I hit ' em real bad. Last week, they were able to get a hand on it, which slowed the ball down, and then the week before against Dallas, of course, I probably could have hit it a bit better, but I really didn't hit it bad. "

Suisham's field goal success is especially important because Washington's offense has not scored as many touchdowns as head coach and play-caller Jim Zorn would prefer. The Redskins have failed to score at least 30 points (they had a season-high 29 points in a Week 2 victory over New Orleans ) in any game, average only 18.3 points and rank 27th in the NFL in scoring. Seven of the Redskins' games have been decided by six points or less.

In the second half of the season, several of Suisham's directional kickoffs have come up short. Some have been fielded around the 20-yard line, which has helped opponents gain good field position . Seahawks return specialist Josh Wilson had a 24.8-yard average on five kickoff returns against the Redskins, including one for 55 yards to open the second half.

"In some cases, not to take nothing away from Suisham, we called some of those directional kicks and he didn't get the ball over there," special teams standout Rock Cartwright said. "And sometimes when we don't do that, you get guys crossing and doing the things we have to do, then you leave holes, and that's what happens."

Suisham does not have a "tired leg" or an injury that has adversely affected his kickoffs ("My leg's fine," he said), but his production has dropped.

"They were definitely better early on, and that's something I need to remedy and get back to," Suisham said. "As the year gets later, there's maybe more that goes into (strong kickoffs), but I don't attribute it to any one thing.

"It's just important for me to make solid contact with the ball and get it down the field. I have to have a better week."