ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
As usual, the Washington Redskins were sweating it - and the heat index that was approaching 100 degrees at RFK Stadium had nothing to do with it.
It seems silly that a game in Week 2 of the NFL season could be a season-turner, but Sunday's visit by the Chicago Bears may have been just that for the Redskins.
In the days after Washington's ho-hum opening loss to Philadelphia, quarterback Gus Frerotte said, ``We need to go out and compete.''
Such a quote approaching a game would have raised more than eyebrows during the years of Joe Gibbs' coaching glory. Only a few years later, the Redskins are struggling to try and keep Norv Turner from becoming the fastest coach in franchise history to 25 defeats.
With Frerotte still trying to cope with maturity behind a rebuilt offensive line and the Redskins trying to find consistency in their running game, they beat the Bears the only way possible.
``It's the best our defense played as a unit in a long, long time,'' said cornerback Darrell Green, who would know. He's played in the nation's capital since Ronald Reagan's first term in the White House.
The Bears have allowed only one touchdown in two games this season, but that was enough for the Redskins to grab a 10-3 victory.
``We'll take it,'' said safety Darrell Morrison, whose fourth-quarter interception was one of several huge plays for the Washington defense.
Yogi Berra would've liked this game: It wasn't over until it was over. Chicago quarterback Erik Kramer completed seven straight passes on a final drive, when the Redskins didn't get any help from referee Gary Lane, either.
In Turner's 34 games as the Redskins' coach, his team has been leading, tied or down by no more than seven points in the fourth quarter 28 times. The 'Skins are 10-24.
Last season, Washington suffered four losses in the final two minutes or overtime. And on the final drive, when Kramer completed a 9-yarder to the Redskins' 13, the last thing the home team needed was Lane putting eight seconds back on the clock - meaning a nine-yard completion officially took only one second.
``To be truthful, I didn't realize that,'' said Green, the 14-year veteran. "We were tired, hyped, excited, thinking about what we needed.''
The Redskins got it - three consecutive Kramer incompletions, which left Terry Allen's 28-yard scoring run 10 minutes into the second half as the difference.
That play, in which tight end Jamie Asher and wideout Leslie Shepherd sealed off the Chicago rush, displayed how the Redskins' fortunes have gone in the Turner years.
``The touchdown was the same play we had called [on Washington's second series of the game] when we had the fumble,'' Turner said of Frerotte leaving a handoff to bounce off Allen's left hip.
``If they stunt one way, we have a gaping hole. If they stunt the other way, we have a 2-yard gain. You have to make the play.''
While the Redskins' running game couldn't do that, the defense did. It was the kind of game that probably got the sport its name. The punters - Matt Turk of the Redskins and Todd Sauerbrun of Chicago - were two of the biggest stars.
Although Turner doesn't want to talk about how this game - or any of the next several, certainly winnable for the 'Skins - might affect his future, he's in the minority in these parts.
``Obviously, that was the conversation during the whole week,'' Turner said. ``We're a team that's going to be a lot better than we played in the first two games, and putting that much emphasis on the second game of the season, I'm not going to do that
``People can talk about it, all they want, what the long-range effect of Game 2 on my career, on this football team or whatever, but I'm not concerned with that.''
Turner said he thought the Redskins ``grew up a little bit'' in the victory over a team coming off an impressive Monday night thumping of Dallas. It was Washington's first victory without allowing a touchdown since 1993.
``This is how you win close games,'' said Turner, whose team hasn't done that much, and certainly not in the fashion it did over the grizzly Bears. ``You keep playing, and you make plays.''
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB