THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 55 lines
Brian Mitchell's con game did not work on Sunday.
The Redskins' running back and return specialist wanted the ball badly. So eager was Mitchell to return a punt that the Pro Bowler decided to harass Bears punter Todd Sauerbran in Sunday's 10-3 Washington victory at RFK Stadium.
``On film, he's been punting the ball deep - 60 yards - to everybody else so I told him to punt the ball to me,'' Mitchell said of the face-to-face confrontation with Sauerbran in the fourth quarter. ``I wasn't getting many carries and I wanted to touch the football.''
Mitchell only had two carries on the day, running for minus seven yards.
``Sometimes it works,'' Mitchell said. ``The punter will ignore the coach and kick you the ball but it didn't work that way.''
Sauerbran had a good day by staying away from the dangerous Mitchell.
Sauerbran averaged 47.4 yards for his seven punts. Probably most significant is none of the punts were returned.
``He wasn't catching the ball,'' Redskins special teams coach Pete Rodriguez said of Mitchell. ``It's hard to get a return if you don't catch the ball.''
Mitchell's only return of the day was a 29-yard kick return to start the second half.
But punt returns were scarce for both teams.
Redskins punter Matt Turk only had three of his eight punts returned. He averaged 42.5 yards a punt.
The main reason for the lack of returns was the length of the punts. Each punter had at least three punts of more than 50 yards.
And one reason for the superb punts - the weather.
Only two days after Hurricane Fran left the streets of Washington flooded, the punters were enjoying the benefits of 85 degree weather and 59 percent humidity.
``I love a day like this,'' Sauerbran said. ``If it was 20 degrees hotter, you wouldn't hear me complain.''
But Rodriguez was not overwhelmed by the numbers of the punters.
``I didn't think either punter punted the ball as well as they were capable of,'' Rodriguez said. ``Their punter had three punts that weren't great but they rolled.''
One of those being a punt late in the third quarter that landed about 50 yards from the line of scrimmage and rolled. And rolled. And rolled some more until it stopped at Washington's 27 for a 72-yard punt. That was only eight yards longer than the punt he had in the second quarter.
Turk's longest punt was a 57-yarder in the second quarter.
In the second half, Chicago saw itself starting possessions at its own 2, 4 and 11-yard lines following Turk punts. ILLUSTRATION: Brian Mitchell of the Redskins spent a frustrating day
with zero punt returns. by CNB