After ranking last in the NFL during his first seven games with Washington, Ryan Plackemeier pounded kicks 59 and 62 yards two Sundays ago at Cincinnati. And this past Sunday, Plackemeier's punting was pivotal as the Redskins ended a three-game losing streak by beating Philadelphia 10-3.

Plackemeier booted a pair of 50-yard punts and placed five of his eight kicks inside the 20. On Wednesday, Plackemeier was named the NFC's Special Teams Player of the Week for what he agreed was his best game as a Redskin.

"I would say so as far as consistency-wise and helping out the team," said Plackemeier, who was with Seattle for two seasons before getting cut after the 2008 opener. "The guys up front did a great job: James Thrash and Justin Tryon downing balls. Rock (Cartwright) downing balls. (Snapper Ethan Albright) didn't miss his target all night. You put a dime on my chest and he hit it all night. This year has been crazy. I had a (chest) injury two months before camp started. I only got a week of camp, cut after Game 1, come here after five games ... "

Plackemeier, who had been in Seattle with Jim Zorn, is being used as evidence by the Redskins' coach that kicker Shaun Suisham can bounce back from a down year.

"It's the same issue as Ryan Plackemeier," Zorn said. "Here's a guy with great talent. He came in here and was kicking horribly. What are we going to do about it? Do we just move him on and get the next guy in? There's a group of punters and a group of kickers and they all rotate until they find a home. When they do, they get coached and they find their rhythm. They all have strong legs. I feel like we've got a good kicker. When he finds his rhythm and he gains that confidence. ... I'm not really ready to move on from Shaun yet."

A year after posting an .829 percentage in 2007, the best in Redskins history after Mark Moseley's .952 percentage during his NFL MVP season of 1982, Suisham's .714 percentage is the worst of any kicker with more than 10 attempts.

"The only concern that I have is wanting him to start getting into a rhythm," Zorn said. "As soon as (Shaun) finds his rhythm, I think he'll be lights out again."

It didn't help that Zorn had Suisham try a 54-yarder against the Eagles on a windy day at FedEx Field after the third-year kicker had made just only two of six field goal tries beyond 36 yards during the previous five games. Suisham's 54-yarder fell well short.

"If there was no wind, normally we'll (try) a 52- or 53-yard field goal and we had the wind behind us," Zorn said. "I was out there very early pre-game because I wanted to see how the wind was affecting (kicks) and when (Shaun) was kicking with the wind, he was just ripping 'em. And yet on this one, again he got a little underneath the ball."

Suisham is Washington's 12th kicker during the last nine seasons. He'll be a restricted free agent come March. The Redskins have used eight punters during those same nine seasons.

SERIES HISTORY: 24th regular-season meeting. The 49ers lead 13-9-1 and also won three of the four playoff matchups. The most memorable recent game was the penultimate contest of 1999 as Brad Johnson hit Larry Centers in overtime with the touchdown pass that gave the Redskins the victory at San Francisco and their only division title of the last 17 seasons.