BY RICH CAMPBELL

ASHBURN

Instead of securing a comfortable victory by kneeling down to melt the final seconds off the clock, they have kept their fans popping antacids all the way to the final gun.

Four of the Redskins' five games this season have been decided on the final play, and they have won three of those.

The team will take a win any way it can manage one, of course. However, it's an indication that plenty of distance stands between these Redskins and the team they want to be.

"You do want to go out there and dominate a team, but in the NFL, how often does that happen?" linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "Most games are three points or less, seven points or less, and it's going to come down to the last drive of the game. Once we all mature and continue to not beat ourselves, we will be able to eventually close out teams early on."

There's an upside to this, though. Optimists will note that the Redskins are finding ways to eke out wins in tight situations.

Against Green Bay Sunday, they overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Their defense stymied Philadelphia's late rally in a 17-12 win nine days ago after the offense stalled in the second half.

And the defense stopped Dallas' final drive in the season-opening 13-7 victory.

"It's a positive," linebacker Brian Orakpo said. "These are great teams we're battling with. They're not getting chunks of points, and we're not just going whoever has the ball last will win the game.

"These are great defenses going at it, guys hitting and being physical out there. That's just good football."