THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 27, 1995 TAG: 9511270140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
Norv Turner was looking for one play to summarize the ever-deteriorating condition of his Washington Redskins after their 14-7 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday.
He chose to ignore Eddie Murray's two missed field goal attempts. He chose to ignore, momentarily at least, the near-perfectly-thrown bomb from quarterback Heath Shuler that wideout Olanda Truitt dropped.
Instead, he declared it Darryl Pounds Day.
Pounds is a rookie safety who plays cornerback in nickel situations. Sunday, he intercepted a pass from Philadelphia quarterback Rodney Peete early in the third quarter. He made a nice read, a nice catch and a nice run. But he fumbled when hit by Peete, and the Eagles recovered.
``Darryl has been playing for a month,'' Turner said. ``A month ago, he probably wouldn't have known where to line up, and if he did, he wouldn't have known who to cover. But today, he did a hell of a job, but. . . .
``Now we get to the point where once he intercepts, he knows they're going to try to rip it out of his hands. Next time, he'll probably grip it so hard the ref will have a hard time getting it out of his hands. That's where we are in a lot of areas.''
It's certainly where they were at quarterback. Shuler's re-debut as starter caused Turner to perform a radical cutback on the Redskins' game plan.
Washington began the day averaging 35 passes a game. Shuler threw just 27, and even that's a little misleading. On its first 24 plays, Washington ran 19 times and passed just five.
``We thought we could run the ball,'' Turner said. ``They had been playing well on offense, so we thought our best chance to win the football game was to make it the type of (low-scoring, conservative) game it was today. Obviously, it didn't work out.''
Shuler completed 12 passes, for 164 yards. Six went to running backs. He was intercepted once.
Shuler was booed occasionally by the RFK Stadium crowd of 50,539. But there wasn't near the rancor displayed by the crowd a week earlier in a loss to Seattle. And at one point, some in the crowd started cheering, ``Let's Go Heath, Let's Go Heath,'' though not with much enthusiasm.
Even so, Turner conceded after the game that he ``felt better'' about the ticket-buyers and their relationship with his $19 million quarterback.
Shuler professed not to care.
``I can't buy muzzles for 55,000 people,'' he said. ``I give 110 percent. If 110 percent isn't good enough, then let 'em boo. We're not trying for incomplete passes.''
As was the case when the teams met in Philadelphia, the Redskins were victimized by their inability to stop the Eagles' running game. Ricky Watters juked and dipped for 124 yards and both Philadelphia touchdowns. Charlie Garner carried just 11 times, but still gained 50 yards for a 4.5-yard average.
``He's a good back, and he ran hard and he ran well,'' Redskins linebacker Ken Harvey, the team's defensive standout with three sacks, said of Watters. ``But at the moment, I can't be cheery-cheery for him. I wish we had another shot at him this season, because I think we're better than we've shown.''
The Redskins at 3-9 tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and New York Giants for the worst record in the NFL.
After Murray missed a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter, the Eagles moved 67 yards in seven plays. Watters scored from 9 yards out when tight end Ed West contained both Dexter Nottage and Darryl Morrison with one block.
But Gary Anderson, forced back 10 yards by a holding penalty, hit the uprights with his extra-point attempt. For the better part of the next two quarters, that miss was about all Washington had to give it hope.
A 20-yard pass from Shuler to Henry Ellard, at that point the only pass Shuler had aimed at a wideout, was called back because of an offensive-interference penalty against the newly signed Jeff Query.
``We've got to be able to finish drives,'' guard Ray Brown said. ``It doesn't matter if we get three or seven points, we've just got to learn to grind it out and get points on the board.''
Late in the third quarter, Shuler finally began guiding his unit downfield. Starting at the Eagles' 47, Shuler hit tight end Jamie Asher with his best pass of the day, a 20-yarder, then followed that with a 13-yard toss to Terry Allen.
Three Allen rushes later, the Redskins had the lead after Brown and Joe Patton opened a hole in the center of the Philadelphia line.
Peete, replaced for two series by Randall Cunningham, came back in, and the Eagles immediately began moving to the game-winning score.
He completed consecutive passes to Watters and Barnett, totaling 65 yards. Five plays later, Watters burrowed into the center and into the end zone. Peete then completed a 2-yard pass to Calvin Williams for the two-point conversion and seven-point lead.
``We got into a situation where we didn't start fast,'' Eagles coach Ray Rhodes said. ``But when Washington went ahead, our team fought back. In the past, I've seen this team die in a situation like that. Not today.''
The Redskins did their part to aid the cause on the next two possessions.
On the first, Shuler threw an off-balance pass that rookie Bobby Taylor intercepted.
On the next, Truitt beat Mark McMillian deep and Shuler laid the ball almost perfectly into his hands. But safety Greg Jackson, late on the play, got to Truitt in time to hit him just as the ball arrived and knock it away at the Eagles' 13.
``It was slightly underthrown, but I should have caught it,'' Truitt said. ``Jackson made a good play, hitting me just as the ball came in. But I still should have made the catch.''
Shuler agreed.
``We've got to catch those balls,'' he said. ``Of course, I'd like to make a better throw to him, too.
``It's frustrating. There's got to be a point where we don't take no for an answer. Where we say we want to win this game and do what it takes to make that happen.'' by CNB