THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509180137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
Darrell Green's mind was racing as fast as his legs as he shadowed Denver's Rod Smith 43 yards down the field and deep into what was supposed to be the Washington Redskins' ``prevent'' defense.
Behind them, the game clock wound down - :06 . . . :05 . . . :04 . . . :03 - on a scoreboard that showed the Broncos and Redskins each with 31 points, and Denver with no timeouts.
Back around midfield, Broncos quarterback John Elway was moving up in the pocket to avoid the rush. Elway's right arm suddenly flicked forward, and a pass that looked like it had been fired from a gun flew forward.
``I'm saying to myself, `We're in good shape,' '' Green admitted later. ``They've got to get into the end zone.''
As the clock hit zero, Smith arrived at the goal line and leaped just as Elway's bullet arrived. Green leaped, too, but an instant too late. Green swiped at the ball, but his arm was too short to make contact.
Smith, who had never caught a pass in the NFL, suddenly was exactly where Green thought it was all but impossible for him to get, and the Broncos had escaped with a stunning victory.
The 38-31 triumph was yet another chapter in the Legend of John Elway. Thirty-four times he has brought the Broncos back in the fourth quarter, achieving 33 wins and a tie.
``But I've never really had one where we scored a touchdown on the last play of a game,'' Elway said. ``Never since I started playing football. It's extra special.''
Indeed. Depite being without tight end Shannon Sharpe, tailback Rod Bernstine and wide receiver Anthony Miller - all injured earlier - Elway willed the Broncos 80 yards in eight plays.
``He's an athlete who decides he's not going to get beat and he's got the arm to make sure it doesn't happen,'' Redskins defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. ``Whoever made that play, I'd say it was a hell of a throw, a hell of a catch, a hell of a play. I thought we'd be in overtime.''
Smith, an undrafted first-year pro from Missouri-Southern, made his first NFL catch one he'll never forget.
``I had a few big catches in college, but nothing like this,'' he said. ``You go to practice every day and you run the routes and you know that if a starter goes out, you've got to do the job.
``I didn't think about going against Darrell Green at the time - but I know now and it makes it more special.''
For all intents and purposes, Elway, who hit 30 of 47 passes for 327 yards, completed the miraculous game-winning pass when he stepped up to buy time against the rush. The Redskins stationed six defensive backs on the field - their ``Pirate'' scheme - and the Broncos countered by sending two receivers to one side, Smith to the other.
Washington double-teamed the two receivers on the right side, and free safety Stanley Richard was supposed to run in whatever direction Elway's pass was thrown. But when Elway stepped up to avoid the rush, coach Norv Turner explained later, Richard had no choice but to freeze and see where Elway would throw.
``It gave him the whole field,'' Turner said. ``You'd like to get some safety help, but . . .''
But, unlike a ``Hail Mary'' pass where the quarterback lobs the ball high, Elway's spiral was so tight and linear that it arrived before Richard had time to react.
For almost all of the second half, it seemed this would be the week the Redskins turned the corner. Instead, they head to Tampa Bay next Sunday with a 1-2 record.
They overcame their own mistakes, like Gus Frerotte bobbling a snap on a 30-yard first-quarter field goal attempt Eddie Murray missed.
They overcame two horrendous officiating errors. The first was a touchdown given the Broncos when head linesman Dale Williams overruled umpire Bob Wagner's ruling that Redskin cornerback Tom Carter had recovered Terrell Davis' fumble in the end zone before Davis had crossed the goal line. That score, with 52 seconds left in the first half, gave Denver a 24-7 lead.
The second blunder took a touchdown away from the Redskins. Gus Frerotte, who completed 16 of 26 passes for 233 yards, lobbed a pass into the end zone that rookie Michael Westbrook caught. Westbrook came down with one foot in bounds, but couldn't get the left foot down in time after appearing to have been pushed by cornerback Ray Crockett.
Instead of a touchdown that would have given Washington a 28-24 lead, the Redskins had to settle for Murray's 21-yard field goal and a 24-24 tie.
``I told the ref, `Nice call,' '' said Westbrook, brilliant with three catches for 91 yards.
Late in the fourth quarter, Elway led the Broncos on a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:02 - precisely the type of time-eating march that has sapped the life out of Turner's teams.
But Brian Mitchell - a one-man offensive machine with 188 yards in kickoff returns, 52 yards on punt returns and a 36-yard touchdown run - returned Jason Elam's kickoff 56 yards, to the Denver 40.
Frerotte hit Mitchell for 14 yards on a screen pass, then tight end Coleman Bell for 6 yards on a fourth-and-5 at the Denver 29.
Westbrook made a lunging 20-yard reception to the Broncos' 9. Three plays later, Frerotte found tight end Scott Galbraith with a 1-yard touchdown pass. That squared the score with 1:09 to play - just enough time for Elway to keep his team from having to work overtime. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Associated Press
Denver's Rod Smith pulls down John Ellway's last-gasp pass despite
Darrell Green's efforts.
Color photo
John Elway
by CNB