Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 9, 1995 TAG: 9510090087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Long
Long after Gary Anderson's 35-yard field goal ten minutes into overtime provided the Philadelphia Eagles with what they almost always get when hosting the Washington Redskins - a last-second or last-play victory - the winners' locker room was empty but for one stall.
There sat center Raleigh McKenzie, in his first season as an Eagle after 10 in Washington, and a primary reason Eagles rushers Ricky Watters and Charlie Garner combined for 259 yards. After enduring four consecutive losses by 13 points in the Philadelphia edition of this rivalry, McKenzie was asked how it felt to be on the winning side.
"This one makes the heart a little warmer on the inside," McKenzie said, pulling on trousers over a grey shirt already showing sweat stains despite a shower and toweling off.
Across the hall, Norv Turner's heart may have been a little warmer as well - but not from the thrill of victory. His team's 37-34 loss, one which dropped the Redskins to 2-4 and kept them from their first two-game win streak since 1992, was the stuff of heartburn.
Consider: Eight times Sunday, the Redskins' offense began a series on their 48-yard line or better. Much of that advantageous field position came courtesy of Brian Mitchell. He returned two kickoffs for 44 and 42 yards, and one of his two punt returns went for 59 yards and a touchdown.
But no matter how close Mitchell got the Redskins to the goal line, the offense scored but 17 points.
Worse, one possession became a Philadelphia touchdown when, six plays after quarterback Gus Frerotte's fumble was recovered by Daniel Stubbs, Philly quarterback Rodney Peete hit Fred Barnett with a two-yard TD slant six ticks before the half.
"We had enough opportunities," Turner said after seeing his team's chances to go 3-0 in the NFC East fall. "We weren't as sharp as we have been offensively. We were off on some things early."
Defensively, they were off on some things - most notably, tackling - early and late. Philadelphia backs slipped, slid, stumbled, sneaked, roared, plunged and glided through Washington tacklers as though the Redskins had spent their pregame film session eating buttered popcorn.
"They've got two good running backs," admitted free safety Stanley Richard, one of the main mistackling culprits. "But you look at our team today; that's not our football team."
Richard is right. The Redskins looked more like - gasp! - last year's football team.
Watters, the free-agent acquisition from San Francisco, and Garner, a second-year pro from Tennessee, entered the game with a combined 565 yards rushing. On Sunday, they became the first tandem of Eagles to rush for more than 100 yards since Randall Cunningham and Heath Sherman in 1990.
The last time a pair of Philly running backs beat the century mark was 1978 when Wilbert Montgomery and Mike Hogan did that number on the New York Giants.
Philadelphia gained 524 total yards, its most since a 1981 game against the then-Baltimore Colts. Watters did the bulk of the damage, carrying 25 times for 119 yards, a 5.6-yard average. He also led Eagles receivers with 11 catches for 90 more yards. His 229 yards are 41 more than his previous career-best.
And Philadelphia continually hamstrung itself with silly penalties, 11 in all, for 105 yards.``We made it closer than it should have been," Eagles coach Ray Rhodes said.
Garner blazed for 120 yards in just nine long-distance carries. He became the first Eagle to score three rushing touchdowns since Wilbert Montgomery in December, 1992 and it was hard to distinguish which was the more impressive.
The first was a 55-yard dash around left end, a play brilliantly assisted by Watters, who rubbed out two Redskins would-be tacklers with one block. It gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead.
The second covered just one yard and pulled Philadelphia into a 17-17 tie with three minutes left in the first half. But it came on fourth down, and after the Redskins had successfully stuffed two previous plays from the one and appeared to be headed for a momentum-changing goal-line stand.
Garner's final score was a 17-yard scamper, again around left end, with 4:40 left in the third quarter. It followed Greg Jackson's interception of an ill-fated pass by Gus Frerotte, who had Daniel Stubbs draped over him and still tried to launch a ball 40 yards downfield for Henry Ellard.
"He's so explosive," Peete said. "When Charlie would break to the outside, Ricky was the one blocking for him most of the time."
Peete, making his second start replacing Randall Cunningham, was so effective Philly coach Ray Rhodes was never tempted to make a change. He completed 30-of-45 passes for 256 yards and his only interception was a last-second heave in regulation that Richard pulled in in the end zone.
Washington, meanwhile, gained 293 yards, only 72 in the first half. Frerotte was somber after completing 22-of-45 attempts for 252 yards, one touchdown run and two TD passes that could be considered gifts.
The first was a 40-yard strike to Henry Ellard, who was shut out most of the day by 5-foot-6 corner Mark McMillian. Ellard caught the pass, then had clear sailing to the end zone when safety Derrick Frazier inadvertently bumped teammates McMillian and Greg Jackson off stride.
The second scoring pass, a 12-yarder also to Ellard, drew Washington within three at 34-31 with 7:13 left in regulation. Again, McMillian shadowed Ellard across the field, and got his hand on Frerotte's pass. But the ball fluttered in the air, McMillian fell down and Ellard neatly brought the ball to his chest and got both feet down.
"It'll be good to play them again at RFK," he said. "There's a lot to make up for here."
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB