DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709080170

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

REDSKIN REPORT CARD

THE GOOD: WR Leslie Shepherd's five catches for 87 yards. Shepherd beat the Steelers short and deep and had the game's longest play, a 36-yard catch from Gus Frerotte. . . Rookie LB Derek Smith. He had 11 tackles, including four on the first seven plays. . . Pittsburgh's Darren Perry, of Chesapeake. He led the Steelers with eight tackles, and intercepted Frerotte's pass for Jamie Asher in the end zone 10 minutes into the first quarter. . . The blocking of Larry Bowie and Marc Logan on Brian Mitchell's 97-yard kickoff return. They cleared a big hole that sprung Mitchell. . . Redskins TE Asher, who looks more and more like the Jay Novacek, drive-maintaining receiver Norv Turner envisioned.

THE BAD: Washington's run defense, which surrendered 134 yards rushing to FB Jerome Bettis, and 222 overall. . . Redskins safety Stanley Richard, credited with a team-high 12 tackles, most of which seemed to come after he shoved Steelers out of bounds. . . Washington's mental mistakes inside the red zone. First, there was a holding penalty against Michael Westbrook, then one against Larry Bowie, and a couple of false starts against Ed Simmons and Asher. . . Dan Turk's only punt snap of the game, which his brother Matt snared an instant before it hit the turf and bounced away from him. He had to rush his kick and instead of booting one high that his defenders could down, he launched a 44-yarder into the end zone, giving Pittsburgh some valuable yardage late in the game.

THE UGLY: Kordell Stewart's pass for RB George Jones late in the first quarter. Jones needed 12 yards and was so wide open down the sidelines that he easily would have made it. But Stewart's pass skipped along the turf about two yards short of Jones' desperately outstretched hands, forcing a Steelers punt.

TURNING POINT: DT Chris Mims and LB Derek Smith combined to stop Bettis on fourth-and-1 from the Washington 38, after which the Redskins drove to the Pittsburgh 11. But Bowie was called for holding on first down and the best Washington could do after that was advance to the 5, forcing a Scott Blanton field goal.

AND DON'T FORGET: Frerotte had Shepherd wide open on a deep bomb from his own end zone on Washington's next-to-last drive of the game, but was forced to throw a split-second early when LB Levon Kirkland broke through the line and was about to sack him. The pass was barely incomplete.

UNSUNG HEROES: K Scott Blanton, who converted two field goals, an extra point and generally boomed his kickoffs. . . Asher, who made a couple of mental mistakes, but had six catches, most of which kept Redskins drives alive. . . Pittsburgh's Perry, who had an interception, eight tackles, one of which kept Stephen Davis from breaking a long run early in the third quarter.

NUMBERS CRUNCHING: 52 - That's the uniform number of center Cory Raymer, the Redskins' second-round pick a couple of years ago, who has been de-activated for each of the first two games. Another high-round bust? . . . 8 for 70 - The number of penalties called against Washington, and the yardage marked off. . . 1 minute, 8 seconds - Pittsburgh's advantage in time of possession, unbelievably small considering they rushed for 222 yards. . . 285 to 82 - Washington's advantage in gross passing yards. . . 19 of 67 - The number of tackles Redskins safeties Jesse Campbell and Richard made out of Washington's total, way too high at 28 percent. . . $358,000 - The amount of money holdout DT Sean Gilbert has forfeited by not playing in Washington's first two games. Sunday, he was in nearby Aliquippa, watching on TV.

INJURIES: DT William Gaines, sprained ankle; OT Ed Simmons, sprained right thumb; LB Marvcus Patton, sprained right thumb. The Redskins' medical staff was unsure how long any of them would be out, if at all.

NEXT OPPONENT: The Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Sept. 14, 1 p.m. at the new Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC

GRADES VS. STEELERS

- JIM DUCIBELLA

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu