Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 27, 1995 TAG: 9511280058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
It was about health care.
Or, was that Heath care?
As the Washington Redskins play out their third consecutive losing season, it's all the same.
In a 14-7 loss to Philadelphia, coach Norv Turner made sure the return of second-year quarterback Heath Shuler to the starting lineup wasn't an unnerving experience.
If his intention wasn't a conservative game plan, that's what developed. However, the Redskins didn't wait until kickoff time to try to mute the bad vibes Shuler heard while relief pitching for Gus Frerotte at the stunningly unfriendly confines a week earlier.
Asked by radio analyst and oft-times Redskins quarterback tutor Sonny Jurgensen on the pregame show which unit would get the pregame introduction, Turner said the defense had been playing well.
Right. That's why the Washington defense came into the game ranked 22nd in the league, with only Arizona worse against the run.
However, anything the Redskins did to protect Shuler's mental health shouldn't have been surprising. In the loss to Seattle on Nov.19, many of the quarterback's teammates - even those who felt Frerotte should have kept the starting job - obviously were unnerved by the ugly reaction to Shuler's late entrance.
In this seventh consecutive loss in a 121-game series with the Eagles (8-4), the Redskins' defense did play well enough to win, especially against a playoff-bound club with seven victories in its last eight starts.
Offensively, the Redskins (3-9) simply didn't do enough. Washington led 7-6 with 14 minutes left, but, then, the Redskins haven't won a game by that score since beating the Eagles on Nov.5, 1939. Washington hasn't scored that few points and won since a blanking of San Francisco 40 seasons ago.
Turner said the Eagles ``are a better football team than we are,'' and he's right. But if that's the case, the Redskins did little in the way of gambling in a no-lose situation.
``I think we went in and tried to look at the best way to beat the Philadelphia Eagles,'' Turner said. ``They were not going to give us anything big. They were very conservative.''
So were the Redskins, who now have three consecutive sub-.500 years for the first time since 1963-65. And Shuler, who was a mediocre 12-for-27, now can settle down without being booed by the home folks in consecutive road dates at Dallas, against the Giants and at St.Louis.
Then, if the Redskins lose Christmas Eve at home in the regular-season finale against the expansion Carolina Panthers, the restless RFK rooters might even boo Santa Claus.
``The progress I'm trying to make is on the field,'' Shuler said after the 10th start of his career. ``I can't go out there worrying about what they [the fans] are going to say.''
The Eagles exploited Shuler's inexperience, too. Knowing Redskins receivers Michael Westbrook and Leslie Shepherd were out with injuries, Philadelphia doubled future Hall of Fame catcher Henry Ellard by rolling a safety toward him.
``The Eagles did some things coverage-wise we didn't expect,'' Shuler said.
``When you play [a close] game like this, three or four plays are going to make a difference,'' Turner said. ``You've got to make those plays or you'll have no opportunity to win it.''
In the recent history of this series, however, this was a blowout. The past nine Washington-Philadelphia games have been decided by a total of 31 points. The widest margin in the past eight before Sunday was four points.
``I thought we had chances to win,'' Turner said.
The Redskins did, although they took no chances, and ended up with their 19th loss in 22 games against NFC East Division foes since the Joe Gibbs' sideline success was retired in 1992.
``I thought Heath was very comfortable,'' said Washington's coach. ``I thought he was very much under control.''
In that regard, the Redskins were successful. Shuler was sacked only three times, but he got great protection in other ways, too.
by CNB