THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 2, 1996 TAG: 9609020137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 89 lines
The Washington Redskins began their season Sunday by losing the kind of game they swore all summer they finally were good enough to win.
The NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles outgained them 310-77 in taking a 10-point halftime lead. The Redskins made defensive adjustments galore - particularly in attitude, coach Norv Turner would say later - but scored just one second-half touchdown and fell 17-14.
``It's a very difficult loss for us,'' said Turner. ``At halftime, I would have said that we had done nothing right, that we weren't ready to play, all those things a coach says when his team doesn't play well.
``But in the second half, we competed. Our defense gave us a chance by getting turnovers.''
Overall, the Redskins forced three, or else the outcome would have been decidedly more lopsided. In the first half, Eagles running back Rickey Watters lost a fumble at the Washington 3. In the second half, after Terry Allen's 49-yard touchdown run cut the Redskins' deficit to 17-14, cornerback Darrell Green intercepted Rodney Peete's pass for Chris T. Jones. On the next series, Green used his left shoulder to jar the ball from Charlie Garner at the Washington 36.
In addition, Mark Ingram dropped two passes, one in the end zone, another that would have given his team a first down deep in Washington territory. Philadelphia settled for a field goal.
But the Redskins offense could not make Philadelphia pay. With 111 yards on 20 carries, plus two touchdowns, Allen was Washington's attack.
``Erratic'' and ``mediocre'' were the two kindest words heard in the Redskins locker room regarding the play of starting quarterback Gus Frerotte.
Under a consistent rush from ends Mike Mamula, who sped past new left tackle Shar Pourdanesh, and veteran William Fuller, Frerotte was forced into some comedic-looking efforts. His only completion of the first quarter was a shovel pass to Brian Mitchell.
He completed his next pass with Fuller draped all over him in the end zone, a two-handed push that tight end Jamie Asher caught on third-and-18. Frerotte finally completed a pass he threw overhanded - a three-yarder to fullback Larry Bowie - with 2:36 left in the first half.
He was only marginally better in the second half, finishing with 12 completions in 25 attempts, for 119 yards.
``I had a lot of throws that I thought I should have made,'' Frerotte said, shrugging off the notion that he was too pressured to have done more. ``You're going to get pressure every game. Rodney Peete got hit I don't know how many times, and he managed to complete the ball. I think I had a mediocre performance at best.''
Even so, Washington had two chances to pull out a victory in the fourth quarter. The first, with just under seven minutes to play, ended at the Eagles 32 when Brian Mitchell was penalized for an illegal forward lateral on a third-and-nine sweep. Newcomer Scott Blanton's 53-yard field goal was tipped at the line of scrimmage on the next play.
Washington's final opportunity came minutes later. After taking them to the Eagles' 46, Frerotte was inundated by Philadelphia blitzers on fourth-and-10 and launched a wild pass that, correctly, was penalized as intentional grounding.
It may have been the only time Philadelphia blitzed the entire game. Although they brought a safety to the line of scrimmage and dared the Redskins to pass by regularly stationing eight men there, they weren't burned because Frerotte didn't have the time to throw and Philadelphia corners Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent blanketed Henry Ellard and Bill Brooks.
``Gus didn't have much time to throw, except when he bootlegged,'' Eagles safety Mike Zordich said. ``We have a lot of defensive linemen and we were able to keep them fresh up front and that took a toll on them.''
Peete, meanwhile, played a first half in which he was never more brilliant. The former Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys castoff, playing despite a sprained knee, threaded pass after pass against Washington's befuddled secondary.
On Philadelphia's opening possession, a 74-yard touchdown drive, Peete hit Irving Fryar for 15 yards on third-and-6. Later, he found Mark Seay for 11 yards on third-and-9. After a 10-yard completion to fullback Kevin Turner, Peete zipped a 14-yarder to Chris T. Jones, then an 18-yarder to Fryar for the touchdown. Tom Carter was victimized on the last two.
Carter also was burned on Peete's second touchdown pass, a nine-yarder to Jones with 3:03 to play in the half.
``Tom had a tough first half,'' Turner understated. ``You can't be a half-step late, can't line up a step farther inside than you should. You've got to compete, every, every down.''
Although Peete faded badly in the second half when the Redskins put some pressure on him - officially, he had 12 yards passing the final 30 minutes - he finished 20 of 34 for 269 yards. That was enough to send Washington to its eighth straight loss to the Eagles.
``We felt that at 17-7 we had them put away,'' Peete said. ``I wouldn't say that they are intimidated by (the losing streak). All of them have been close. They've been in every one.'' by CNB