THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 6, 1995 TAG: 9511060170
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
The Washington Redskins should have taken the painless way out Sunday, invoked a ``Mike Tyson Rule'' where, if you don't have all of your weapons, you don't have to fight.
They started Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs without injured receivers Henry Ellard and Michael Westbrook, the main reasons they lead the league in plays longer than 25 yards. They finished a boring 24-3 loss to the AFC's best team with four more major injuries and almost nothing about which to cheer.
They also finished their seventh loss in 10 games with one potential major distraction - a quarterback controversy.
After watching starter Gus Frerotte become increasingly frustrated by a 11-of-34, 140-yard passing day in which he overthrew a half-dozen passes and had half-a-dozen more dropped, Redskins coach Norv Turner yanked Frerotte for Heath Shuler halfway through the fourth quarter.
``When the first guy's struggling, you give the second guy a chance to play,'' Turner said, trying to shrug off the switch. ``He wasn't sharp. He was frustrated by the rush and a lot of guys weren't getting open. When his frustration level rose, he started missing some guys that were open.''
Shuler, the former No. 1 pick who hadn't played since separating his shoulder in the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, came in with the Chiefs up 17-3. He hit one of five passes, suffered two freakish interceptions on tipped passes that should have been caught and was sacked once.
Asked who will start when Washington hosts Seattle in two weeks, Turner wouldn't give Frerotte a clear vote of confidence, even though he entered the game trailing only Green Bay's Brett Favre in passing yardage.
``My feeling is that it'll be Gus who starts,'' Turner said. ``But it's a delicate situation. It's hard for me to have thoughts on it right now. Gus has played more; he's going to be more effective.''
Turner was much more definite about when his team's chance of pulling an upset evaporated. The Redskins trailed 14-0 one drive into the second quarter.
``I am extremely proud of how our players competed,'' Turner said, ``because I don't know how as we got through the first quarter that anyone could be sitting there saying there's a hell of a lot of hope that we could win this game.''
The Redskins would have needed just about everything to go their way to beat the 8-1 Chiefs. That goal was dashed on the game's fifth play, when Leslie Shepherd veered left after catching a pass from Frerotte and was tackled one yard short of the first down he would easily have made by running straight. It was the first of many miscues.
The Chiefs turned that mental mistake into a 10-play, 50-yard touchdown drive, Marcus Allen scoring on fourth-and-goal from the one.
Dexter Nottage recovered a fumble by Greg Hill at the Kansas City 45 on the Chiefs' next possession. But the offense couldn't take advantage and when punter Matt Turk shanked a 9-yarder, Kansas City had no trouble moving 61 yards to a 14-0 edge.
One snap after he and Redskins safety James Washington had exchanged punches, Willie Davis outjumped Washington to haul in Steve Bono's 19-yard touchdown pass with 11:52 left in the first half.
Frerotte, who completed his first four passes, then just seven of his next 30, threw for only 140 yards. Although Terry Allen averaged 4.9 yards per carry, he rushed just 14 times. The Redskins had 14 third-down conversion attempts. They made one.
``Defensively, we looked at video of Friday's practices and it's probably been as good as anything we've done,'' Kansas City coach Marty Schottenheimer said. ``Keep in mind that Washington was without its top two receivers. That certainly had an impact because they dropped a number of balls that if you look at past video never happened. Not to take anything from us, but reality is reality.''
Harsh reality for the Redskins is their only points came on Eddie Murray's 29-yard field goal with 5:28 left in the first half.
Their first, and only, pass into the end zone came on Frerotte's last play, a fourth-and-10 from the Kansas City 33. It flew way over Shepherd's head.
Worse, they finished the game minus starting right guard Tre Johnson, cornerback Darrell Green, Shepherd and defensive end Sterling Palmer, all injured seriously enough for their availability to be in question for the Redskins' next game.
``We're a little beat and I think we're a little mentally tired,'' defensive tackle Tim Johnson said. ``It would be different if all of us didn't care. But we're fighting tooth and nail to get something done. When that happens, days like today wear on you.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
[Color Photo]
Neil SMith of the Chiefs, right, sacks Redskins quarterback Gus
Frerotte, who was later replaced by Heath Shuler.
Kansas City 24
Washington 3
by CNB