THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 28, 1994 TAG: 9411280138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
On a cold, wet, ugly evening 13,070 of their ticket-holders found too uncomfortable for football, the Washington Redskins set what may be their most dubious record ever.
The Redskins dropped a 21-19 decision to the almost equally dismal New York Giants. At 2-10, they sealed their second consecutive season with 10 or more losses - the first time in the 62-year life of the franchise they've had such an extended run of futility.
Also, they are 0-7 this season at RFK Stadium.
``They made some plays against us we just can't give up,'' linebacker Ken Harvey said. ``It was a winnable game. Today, we just weren't at that level.''
This latest loss came against a Giants team that is 5-7, but had been beaten in 7 of its last 8 games, a team the Redskins were favored to beat by 3 points.
It came on a day the Redskins rushed for 152 yards, their second-highest total of the season.
It came on a day when Heath Shuler began a second stint as starting quarterback with a clearly improved performance over his previous outings.
Shuler, who saw 4 of his first 5 passes dropped, completed 11 of 28 for 165 yards. He had one interception, a play on which intended receiver Desmond Howard lost his footing.
What he couldn't do was get Washington into the end zone. The majority of the Redskins' scoring came on four field goals by Chip Lohmiller.
``The important thing was we didn't come away with the win,'' Shuler said.
``We didn't play well - and when you don't play well, you usually don't win.''
This loss - Washington's 14th straight in the NFC East - came on an afternoon on which the Redskins were penalized 9 times for 97 yards; a day on which the Giants were able to play keep-away on an important second-half drive for 10 minutes, 14 seconds.
Overall, New York had the ball for 22:22 of the second half.
Most frustrating of all for coach Norv Turner, this latest loss - the 7th straight at home this season - came after the Redskins' defense made its first momentum-altering play in weeks.
But it needed to stop a Giants offense one more time to put itself in position for a come-from-behind victory.
``We just don't seem to be able to make the plays,'' Turner said, not long after watching helplessly as the Giants whittled all but 10 ticks of the final 4 minutes, 36 seconds off the clock. ``Today we gave up the plays we couldn't afford to give up.''
``We knew what they were doing,'' added linebacker Tyronne Stowe. ``No surprises. We just came up short. We couldn't stop them when we needed to.''
Any chance the Redskins had to win appeared to have ended when Shuler flew a 4th-down pass over the head of Ethan Horton with 5:09 left and the Giants up by 9.
It was 4th and 1 and Turner's call smacked of desperation.
``We were in a situation where we were trying to make something big happen,'' Turner explained. ``Ethan was open, we just didn't connect.''
Then, on the first play of the next possession, linebacker Andre Collins stripped the ball from Chris Calloway on an end-around. Safety Martin Bayless grabbed the ball and rumbled 60 yards for the touchdown that sliced the deficit to 2.
However, typical of the solid performance turned in by Dave Brown (10-for-17 passing, 161 yards, 0 interceptions), the recently reinstated Giants quarterback gained 5 on a vital 3rd-and-4 play by rolling right and sprinting away from defensive end Sterling Palmer.
``Dave played a great game,'' said Giants running back Rodney Hampton, no slouch himself with 34 carries for 104 yards. ``He ran for a score and threw the ball well. He kept control in the rain.''
After Bayless' run, the Redskins said they had reason to feel they were in control. The feeling didn't last long.
``It gave us another opportunity to see if we could stop them,'' Bayless said. ``It gave us an opportunity to see if we could get Chip onto the field for another chance.
``We didn't get it done. We didn't take advantage of it. We can't stop beating ourselves.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color AP Photo
New York Giant defenders gang up to stop Redskins running back Brian
Mitchell. by CNB