THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995 TAG: 9512250162
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
With the notable exception of a couple of playoff games, the Washington Redskins got two of everything they needed Sunday for a 20-17 season-ending victory over the Carolina Panthers for a 3-1 finish and a happy holiday season and offseason.
In winning their second consecutive game for the first time since December 1992, the Redskins got two short touchdown runs from Terry Allen.
And two field goals from veteran kicker Eddie Murray.
And two interceptions from their defensive secondary, one each by safety James Washington and rookie cornerback Scott Turner.
Put it all together and it equals six 1995 victories in 16 games - twice as many as last year, coach Norv Turner's first as Redskins coach.
``When you only win six, the temptation is to say you're disappointed,'' Turner conceded. ``But when I look at what this team did, how it stayed together, what they've gone through, I'm proud of what we accomplished.
``We needed to win two games in a row; now we need to win two division games in a row. We need to win six division games in a row, but we're continuing to improve and that's what counts.''
The expansion Panthers ended their first season with a 7-9 mark that was indicative of how remarkably competitive they were. A late touchdown brought the Panthers to within three points and it took an on-side kick recovery by safety Keith Taylor with 35 seconds to play for the Redskins to seal the game.
Washington finished its season with three wins in its last four games, including road games against Dallas and St. Louis.
``Six-and-10 isn't anything to get excited about, but to win three of four at the end makes you feel good,'' general manager Charley Casserly said. ``It's the direction we need to go.''
For the first half and much of the third quarter, a couple of half-frozen teams already frozen out of the playoffs battled with no one having a clear-cut advantage.
Suddenly, however, Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte got hot. With his offense mired at its 7, Frerotte froze rookie cornerback Ty Poole with a pump-fake, then fired a strike to Henry Ellard deep down the right side.
The 59-yard gain gave Washington a first down at the Carolina 34. On the next snap, rookie Michael Westbrook gained 33 yards on an end-around, a frequent call Turner made to counter Carolina's gambling, overpursuing defense.
Westbrook's run set up Allen's second touchdown on the next play and gave the Redskins a 17-10 with 3:53 to go in the third quarter.
``We knew if we could stay even with them for the first half and beyond we'd eventually overwhelm them,'' Frerotte said.
That's exactly what happened, but not without some luck. On the Panthers' next series, receiver Don Beebe was running wide open deep in the Washington secondary after a blown assignment by Tom Carter. But Kerry Collins' pass was too far and a valuable scoring opportunity went awry.
``I wish I could tell you I completed every pass to a receiver who was wide open,'' Collins said. ``Obviously, I'd like to have that one back. Sometimes, you just don't make the play. My gut says I threw it a little quickly and he wasn't ready for it.''
The Redskins made him pay. Brian Mitchell, again one of the team's most valuable players with 68 yards in kickoff returns, returned the Carolina punt 18 yards.
Frerotte found a leaping Westbrook for a 33-yard gain to the Carolina 24. Even though the drive stalled when Allen was stuffed for no gain on third-and-1 from the 15, Murray's 32-yard field goal gave Washington a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter Carolina couldn't overcome.
Not that they didn't try. But rookie Scott Turner, playing after Darrell Green bruised his left hip, leaped to intercept a deep Collins pass intended for Willie Green with 7:54 to go. That enabled the Redskins to erase five minutes from the clock, Allen doing almost all of the work.
Against a defense that entered the game allowing just 90 yards rushing, Allen himself had 92. The reverses by Westbrook and Leslie Shepherd chewed up another 43, and Washington ended with 151.
``I thought we hit some runs and we got to run the ball enough times,'' Turner said. ``If you run the ball over 30 times you've got a chance to gain a lot of yards. And, obviously, we hit two big runs on the reverses.''
Frerotte hit just enough passes, 10 in 24 attempts, for 185 yards, to keep the Redskins ahead of the game. On the drive before Turner's interception, Frerotte stood in his own end zone and found Ellard with a bullet across the middle for 21 yards and a key third-down conversion.
``The play of the game,'' a pleased Turner called it.
``Based on how other quarterbacks played against this defense, he played well,'' Turner said. ``They'll out pressure on you, get some sacks. But they'll give you some big plays and when he got the chance to make them, he did.'' ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press
Panthers wide receiver Mark Carrier finds himself sandwiched between
the Redskins' Rich Owens, left, and Tom Carter.
by CNB