THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Nothing will replace that victory over the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks ago when the Washington Redskins pick their favorite moment of 1995. But Sunday's 35-23 upset of the St. Louis Rams might come close for several reasons:
The Redskins won despite spotting the Rams a 10-0 lead.
They won by overcoming two fumbles by running back Terry Allen - his first in 185 carries.
They won despite losing starting quarterback Heath Shuler, who was playing the finest game of his admittedly mediocre career. After 10 completions in 13 attempts, he went out with a fractured finger on his right hand 39 seconds before halftime and isn't likely to return until next season.
Gus Frerotte returned for the first time in three games. He looked rusty, underthrowing a seemingly sure touchdown pass to Michael Westbrook that the Rams picked off. But he completed half of his 10 pass attempts, including a 21-yard beauty over the middle to Henry Ellard on a third-and-18.
The Redskins, the least-penalized team in the NFL this season, won despite committing nine infractions for 65 yards.
They won even though St. Louis had everything to play for and the Redskins nothing. The Rams desperately needed a victory to stoke their playoff aspirations and received a break when Carolina beat Atlanta. But they didn't take advantage and fell to 7-8.
The Redskins won even though they allowed 441 total yards - 345 through the air to ex-teammate Mark Rypien.
``I am in shock,'' Rams defensive tackle D'Marco Farr said. ``I cannot believe with all the work we put in, with all the talent we have on this team, and all that we've been through since training camp, that we gave away our whole season - everything - to a 4-10 team. . . . They had nothing to play for and we had everything to play for. And we just got beat.''
The Rams were beaten by the Washington defense, which scored two touchdowns.
One was a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Tom Carter with 5:34 remaining in the first half. Carter stepped in front of Isaac Bruce, short-circuited Rypien's pass and wasn't touched until his teammates reached him in the end zone.
That gave the Redskins a 14-10 lead and came two series after Shuler and Brian Mitchell collaborated on a 22-yard shovel pass for a touchdown on the last play of the first quarter.
``We made an adjustment; they had made that pass earlier and we changed the coverage,'' Carter said. ``I rolled up (towards Bruce) instead of making a deep drop.''
The second defensive touchdown came a long while later - with 7:42 to play in the game - and sealed the victory.
Rypien's passing had allowed the Rams to trim a 28-10 deficit to 28-23 four minutes into the final quarter. The Rams' defense held, but Matt Turk's 45-yard punt went out of bounds at the 11, and the Rams were penalized an additional 5 yards.
On the first play from scrimmage, Rypien hit Todd Kinchen for 4 yards. Kinchen was walloped by linebacker Marvcus Patton, whose hit jarred the ball toward the end zone - and Redskins end Tony Woods. Woods accepted the gift on its first bounce and strutted 3 yards for a touchdown.
``Strictly reflex,'' Woods said. ``It was really shocking to have that ball bounce right to me. It feels good, especially at the time of game it happened, because it added a little cushion to our victory.''
It was the kind of play coach Norv Turner has been hoping to see for six weeks.
``We talked about it the last six weeks,'' he said. ``If we're going to be in these type of games, late in the fourth quarter, someone has to step up. Someone did.''
In between the two defensive touchdowns, the Redskins received scoring opportunities from their other two units.
After Allen (24 carries for 76 yards) ran in from the 1 on the first series of the third quarter to give Washington a 21-10 lead, the Redskins' special teams threw their weight around.
Rams returner J.T. Thomas was dumped head-over-heels after William Bell's tackle, and fumbled. Matt Vanderbeek dove onto the ball at the Rams' 27.
Four plays later, from the 8, Frerotte faked to Marc Logan, then handed to Leslie Shepherd on an end-around. He scored to make it 28-10.
``When we were up 28-10, I thought we had the game under control,'' defensive tackle Tim Johnson said. ``But one thing I forgot about Mark Rypien is that he's a fierce competitor. He got that team, and the crowd, convinced in no time that they could win that game.''
Rypien, playing for the first time against the Redskins since being released at the end of the 1993 season, hit 34 of 50 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He was at his best when the Rams went to their two-minute drill down 18 with 5:30 to play in the third quarter.
Robert Bailey ran 5 yards for a touchdown, capping a 92-yard drive.
On the next possession, Rypien found Alexander Wright for a 21-yard touchdown.
Suddenly, it was 28-23 with 11:06 to play.
But Frerotte bought the Redskins some time by hitting Michael Westbrook (five catches for 66 yards) with an 11-yard slant for a first down on third-and-7. Although the drive sputtered, it gave Turk the yardage he needed to punt the Rams into a corner and set up Woods' game-salting play.
The Rams, who started the season 5-1, are 2-7 in their last nine.
``I'm sick because I don't know which team we are,'' coach Rich Brooks said. ``The Redskins are a good football team - they've played close games all year. But they didn't have what we had to play for today, yet they played consistently hard the whole 60 minutes. I don't think we did. It has to change. It has to.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Rams quarterback Mark Rypien hit 34 of 50 passes for 347 yards
against his old team.
by CNB