THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408130424
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The nation's capital greeted Norv Turner and Heath Shuler with a mixture of indifference and contempt in the Redskins' home debut Friday night.
A cozy RFK Stadium crowd of 40,778 - nearly 15,000 shy of the traditional sellout - watched mostly in silence as the Redskins fell to 0-2 in the preseason after a 17-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
They gave lukewarm applause to Turner when he appeared for pregame warm-ups.
They were mildly excited by Shuler's entry into the lineup in the third quarter. But that turned to contempt just 13 plays into his stint.
Shuler's previous pass had almost been intercepted. When his next toss flew wildly over the head of running back Cedric Smith, Shuler was indoctrinated with his first pro chorus of boos.
He redeemed himself and won them back with an 11-yard run around right end on the next play, a third-and-10. But otherwise he showed little that would make him seem worth $19.25 million, even in this age of inflated salaries.
Actually, Shuler's best pass was a fourth-down toss to Stephen that Hobbs dropped mid-way through the fourth quarter.
Shuler did display an ability to absorb a blow from the blind side, which might come in handy this season. On Shuler's second series, Chiefs' defensive tackle Darren Mickell clobbered the rookie in the back as he released the ball. Shuler bounced up unharmed, slapping his hands as he made for the sidelines.
Otherwise, it was a second straight uneventful evening for Shuler. He followed last week's 4-of-10 passing performance against the Buffalo Bills Monday night with a 9-of-22 showing for 61 yards Friday.
He didn't have a completion to a wide receiver until 4:30 remained in the game, when he found Tydus Winans with an 18-yard gain over the middle.
Kansas City, which once trailed by 11, took the lead for good on reserve quarterback Steve Bono's 42-yard pass to rookie Donnell Bennett on the last play of the third quarter.
Bono was on his way down when he flipped the ball to Bennett, who broke from the center of the field to the left sideline, broke a feeble tackle attempt by Johnny Thomas and loped into the end zone on the last play of the third quarter.
By the time Shuler hit the field, Washington led, 14-11, on two scoring drives engineered by starting quarterback John Friesz.
Friesz hit half of his 16 pass attempts during 30 minutes of work. On his second series, Friesz dumped a pass to running back Brian Mitchell. He eluded linebacker Tracy Simien, picked up a block by Desmond Howard that gave him more running room and sped 64 yards to the Chiefs' 6.
Ricky Ervins then beat safety David Whitmore around right end for a touchdown.
After Kansas City cut the margin to 7-3, the moment Redskins fans have awaited for more than 2 years occurred.
Howard, the former Heisman Trophy winner who has 26 pro catches, finally made his first NFL touchdown reception. Howard beat Jay Taylor on a fly pattern down the right sideline and was completely alone when Friesz's pass arrived in his hands 37 yards later.
Upon his arrival in the end zone, Howard merely bobbed his head at the end-zone crowd several times, then flipped the ball over his head towards the official before jumping into the arms of one of his offensive linemen.
Joe Montana played the first half for the Chiefs, completing 11 of 20 attempts for 118 yards.
After Charles Mincy intercepted a Friesz pass that first bounced through the hands of tight end Ron Middleton, Montana led the Chiefs 40 yards in 5 plays to a deficit-cutting score. MEMO: At press time, the game summary for the Redskins-Chiefs exhibition game
was not available. It will appear in Sunday's editions.
ILLUSTRATION: Lukewarm reception
[Color Photo] ASSOCIATED PRESS
Redskins running back Ricky Ervins breaks away from Kansas City
linebacker George Jamison for a short gain.
Kansas City's Joe Montana flips the ball to avoid a sack by the
Redskins' Sterling Palmer.
by CNB