Rich Tandler's Real Redskins

Forgotten Classic: Williams Nails Down the Job

This game, the 1987 regular-season finale, had no significance in and of itself for Washington. The Redskins already had wrapped up the division title and their playoff seeding was set.

And, yes, even though both of the teams' records add up to 15 games it was the finale. This was a strike season and one game, the third one of the season, was cancelled. The replacement players started in week four.

Back to this game, the significance of it was the Jay Schroeder started the game and Doug Williams finished it. Based on the fact that Schroeder was ineffective in this game and that Williams rallied the team to an overtime win, Joe Gibbs gave Williams the nod to be the starter for the playoffs.

The rest, as they say, is history, such as the 35 points the Redskins racked up in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII with Williams pulling the trigger.

You have to wonder what might have happened if Schroeder had played well, or even just OK. I don't think that the Redskins win it all with Schroeder behind center, but you never know.

From the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle:

12/26/87	Redskins (11-4) 27, VIKINGS (8-7) 24 (OT)						59,160
Was	0	7	7	10	3	27
Min	7	0	0	17	0	24
Min	Anderson 9 run (C. Nelson kick)
Was	Wilburn 100 interception return (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Was	Sanders 46 pass from Williams (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Min	Anderson 1 run (C. Nelson kick)
Min	Wilson 1 run (C. Nelson kick)
Min	FG C. Nelson 20
Was	FG Haji-Shiekh 37
Was	Sanders 51 pass from Williams (Haji-Shiekh kick)
Was	FG Haji-Shiekh 26

The Metrodome—Doug Williams replaced an ineffective Jay Schroeder at quarterback and, along with Barry Wilburn and Ricky Sanders, sparked a 27-24 overtime win over the Vikings.

Williams entered the game midway through the third quarter with the contest tied at seven. Washington's only score had come courtesy of Wilburn. The Vikings, already leading 7-0, were driving, perched at the Redskin seven. Quarterback Wade Wilson tried to sneak a pass through double coverage, but he found the belly of Wilburn at the goal line. Wilburn headed upfield, broke through the pack and got into the clear. The final obstacle to his team-record 100-yard interception return was removed when Todd Bowles dispatched receiver Anthony Carter with a block around the Minnesota 40.

Williams had an instant impact, throwing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Sanders on his fourth play to put his team up 14-7. After that things cooled for the Redskins and heated up considerably for Minnesota. Starting with the first play of the fourth quarter, the Vikings ran off 17 points in five and a half minutes of play and the Metrodome was rocking as the home team led 24-14.

The Redskins responded quickly, driving to a field goal by Ali Haji-Shiekh to cut the lead to seven. Then, with 2:21 to play, they regained possession at their own 40. On third and one at the 49, Sanders ran a hitch-and-go and was wide open to catch Williams' pass for 51 yards, tying the game at 24. Haji-Shiekh missed a potential game-winning 33-yard field goal attempt in the final minute and the game went into overtime.

The Vikings never saw the ball in the OT. Washington won the toss and Sanders returned the kickoff 36 yards. Sanders then caught two passes for 32 yards to key a foray down inside the Minnesota 10. Joe Gibbs immediately called for Haji-Shiekh, who displayed the kicker's best friend—a short memory—as he ended it by drilling it through from 26 yards.

Forgotten Classic: A Sonny Day

The Sonny Jurgensen era was coming to the end in 1974. In fact, he "retired" at the end of that season (actually, George Allen did not offer him a contract for 1975). But he did have his last hurrah in this game against the two-time defending champion Dolphins at RFK Stadium.

Although it's impossible to say for sure, this game serves as fuel for the argument that the Redskins would have beaten the Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.

From the pages of my upcoming book The Redskins Chronicle.

10/13/74	REDSKINS (3-2) 20, Dolphins (3-2) 17					54,395
Mia	7	0	3	7		17
Was	0	0	3	17		20
Mia	Ginn 6 run (Yepremian kick)
Mia	FG Yepremian 32
Was	FG Moseley 40
Was	Jefferson 33 pass from Jurgensen (Moseley kick)
Was	FG Moseley 41
Mia	Twilley 13 pass from Griese (Yepremian kick)
Was	L. Smith 6 pass from Jurgensen

RFK Stadium—It was a Sonny day.

The 40-year old quarterback led a fourth quarter rally that was the stuff that Hall of Famers are made of. This was the first meeting between the Washington and Miami since the Fins defeated the Skins in Super Bowl VII. There are many, both Redskins rooters and others, who believe that the outcome in that game at the LA Coliseum would have been different had No. 9 been taking the snaps that day. The reality is, though, that Jurgensen was out with an Achilles tendon injury and Miami completed its perfect 17-0 season with a 14-7 win

The stakes weren't nearly as high for this early-season game, with both teams just jockeying for playoff position rather than gunning for the Lombardi Trophy. Still, it was a chance to see how Jurgensen could do against the Dolphins, at this point the two-time defending NFL champs.

In the first half, the answer was "not very well". The Dolphins took the opening kickoff and drove in for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. After that, Jurgensen threw three interceptions, and the final one killed a promising drive near halftime.

Miami got a field goal in the middle of the third quarter to extend its lead to 10-0. Larry Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 57yards to set up a Mark Moseley field goal. The special teams pitched in again when Dennis Johnson forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Brad Dusek recovered it on the Miami 33. Jurgensen converted immediately, throwing a perfect pass to Roy Jefferson on the next play to knot the score at 10 early in the fourth quarter.

On the next drive, the Redskins took the lead after a 19-yard connection from Jurgensen to Jefferson set up a 41-yard Moseley field goal. Washington had a chance to extend its lead with five minutes left, but Moseley missed from 45 yards and opened the door for Miami. Bob Griese converted a third and 10 with a 48-yard completion to Nat Moore that put the Dolphins in business at the Washington 24. Soon after that, Miami faced third and 11 at the 13. Cornerback Mike Bass blitzed, Griese just got his pass off into the area vacated by Bass and Howard Twilley caught it for the touchdown to make it 17-13.

To call to ensuing drive great just doesn't do it justice. Nor do other adjectives such as heroic or clutch. Here's what happened, and you can come up with your own superlative:

Starting with 1:54 left from the Washington 40 following Herb Mul-Key's 32-yard kickoff return:

Jurgensen to Moses Denson for six yards.

Jurgensen to Jerry Smith for 10.

Jurgensen to Charley Taylor for four

Jurgensen to Taylor for 18

Jurgensen to Jefferson for 16

From the Miami six, Jurgensen pass intended for Larry Smith incomplete

Jurgensen to L. Smith for six yards and a touchdown with 16 seconds left on the clock.

Wow.

Larry Smith was tackled by linebacker Doug Swift, a clear infraction that went unflagged, on the incompletion prior to the touchdown. Jurgensen called for the same pattern, a slant, and this time Smith caught the ball over the middle and battled his way through linebackers Swift and Nick Buoniconti to inch the ball over the goal

Radio Spot in Richmond Wednesday PM

I'll be on the radio this afternoon with a 4:45 appearance on ESPN 750 in Richmond. That's the Red Zebra affiliate here. I'll be talking about the tailgate dustup and about the Redskins' offseason.

I also will do my best to work in a mention of The Redskins Chronicle.

If you're not in Richmond you can listen live at http://www.espn950am.com/

Tailgate-gate settled?

It appears that those who were concerned that a new Redskins policy dealing with tailgating prior to games at FedEx Field have little to worry about.

The relevant portion of the press release that came from Redskins PR a short time ago is below. It appears that the only people who might get their feathers ruffled are those who have been conducting full-bore tailgating with tents, grill, and tables in the middle of a given parking lot. They will need to move to the fringes of the lot in order to allow people who just want to park and walk into the game will have more convenient spaces.

It could lead to a great atmosphere, actually, with all of the activity focused in one area in each lot instead of being spread around.

I fully expect the execution of this to be completely botched during the first few home games with plenty of angry tailgaters being told to move from the spot where they've been since the stadium opened. I'm not sure how they're going to segregate the tailgaters from the non-tailgaters from the single-space tailgaters as they come into the stadium without causing horrendous traffic problems. Maybe they should ask those who will want to park in the tailgating area to take a Sharpie and put a big "T" on their parking passes to help the attendants. But it should all work out eventually.

From Redskins PR:

The most significant new procedure will have parking attendants directing fans who wish to tailgate in more than one space to the back of lots, where they will be allowed to occupy two spaces until required for additional vehicles. Fans who wish to only park, or tailgate within their single parking spot, will be directed to the front of lots, filling the lot from front to back. Tailgating is permitted in all lots, except Platinum. Platinum lot parkers who choose to tailgate will be provided passes for Purple lots.

"Everyone who wants to tailgate should be able to tailgate. We absolutely believe that," Gershman said. "This is designed to improve
the experience for fans who want to tailgate."

"Our outside consultant analyzed the flow on roads and in the parking lots at FedEx Field, with cameras recording the traffic patterns. What we found was that when tailgaters spread into multiple spaces, it caused congestion in the lots, and resulted in inconvenience to everyone - the fans tailgating and the fans who were just looking to park in their assigned lots," Gershman said.

The team will no longer maintain game-day, cash parking lots since there are numerous private operators in the stadium vicinity providing the service.

During post-game congestion periods, cars exiting lots will be directed to dedicated traffic lanes, a procedure that has been in effect for pre-game traffic for several years. The team is also in discussions with Prince George's County officials on the possibility of making traffic one-way leading to the Beltway during peak post-game congestion around the stadium, amongst other changes that can improve the game day experience.

Flashback Friday —Revenge of the Body Bags

I put up a Redskins Chronicle excerpt from the 1990 season up on the website and this game has drawn a few comments. About two months before this first-round playoff game the Eagles had physically whipped the Redskins, beating them 28-14 in a game that was not nearly as close as that score would indicate. The loss dropped the Redskins to 5-4 and their playoff prospects were dim.

A 5-2 finish got them in and, as luck would have it, their playoff draw had them returning to the scene of the crime, Veterans Stadium. The Redskins got their revenge.

1/5/91	Redskins 20, EAGLES 6					65,287
Was	0	10	10	0			20
Phil	3	3	0	0			6
Phil	FG Ruzek 37
Phil	FG Ruzek 28
Was	Monk 16 pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick)
Was	FG Lohmiller 20
Was	FG Lohmiller 19
Was	Clark 3 pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick)

In their Monday night game eight weeks earlier, the Redskins got physically crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the "Body Bag" game. That was bad enough, but the Eagles chose to rub it in their faces, taunting and trash talking until the final gun on the field and in the locker room afterwards.

Sometimes, things just fall into place. Washington qualified for the playoffs as a wild card entry, and the seedings called for the Redskins to return to the scene of the crime, Veterans Stadium, for a first-round playoff contest. They would have their shot at revenge.

When facing the press in the days prior to a game, Gibbs was usually overly gracious in his comments about the opposition, making a 2-10 outfit sound like the '60's Packers and their coach the second coming of St. Vincent. Not this week, though. When asked about Ryan, Gibbs stood stone-faced and talked about the challenges ahead.

One reporter caught Gibbs in an unguarded moment. It was January 3, the day before the game. Snow had fallen on New Year's Eve and the journalist noted that the snow still covered Gibbs' car in the parking lot at Redskins Park. In the hallway, the more Gibbs talked about Buddy, the madder he got. "I live to play a game like this one. I live to play this guy," Gibbs said, turning red-faced with rage. While this was hardly headline material or Eagle bulletin board fodder, it was very telling of the mood of the coach and team. They were clearly on a mission as they entered the Vet for the game.

It took them a quarter to get untracked as Philadelphia got two FG's for a 6-0 lead, but the defense stiffened after that, sacking Eagles QB Randall Cunningham five times and forcing three turnovers. Mark Rypien threw two scoring passes and Ernest Byner and Gerald Riggs shared the rushing duties and combined for 94 yards on the ground.

A turnover reversed by replay was the game's turning point. The Redskins had taken a 7-6 lead and were driving for more when the ball popped loose from Byner's grasp when he was tackled at the Philadelphia six. Cornerback Ben Smith scooped the ball up and ran 94 yards for an apparent touchdown. Fortunately for the Redskins, instant replay showed that the ground caused the fumble and the call was reversed, with the Redskins retaining possession. The reversal became a 10-point turnaround as Chip Lohmiller connected on a short field goal and instead of a six-point deficit, the Redskins had a four-point lead. The Eagles' offense never could get untracked and the Redskins won 20-6.

During a players-only meeting in the week before the game, the team had made a pact that they would not sink to the level of Philly and deliver "I told you so's" to the classless Eagles after the game. But the message was delivered to Buddy and his losing team after the game with a certain degree of subtlety.

Clark said, "You'd better not question someone's character unless you're sure of the character you're talking about. This team has character, and hopefully this is just one step."

"People threw dirt on this team all year but they didn't know we had shovels and would keep digging our way out," Coleman added.

Quick hits 06.18.09 —Tickets, training camp and the Chronicle

• I just got an automated phone call from the Redskins offering me Redskins season tickets. It's at least the third, maybe the fourth one I've received in the past couple of months. On top of that I've received two mailings offering the same thing. On top of that I'm not the only person I know that has received such communications. It's evident that the league's most mediocre team playing in the leagues largest stadium is a tough sell these days. It appears that the vaunted waiting list has shrunk from 20 years to the amount of time it takes to make a phone call. Will there be local TV blackouts this fall?
  
  
• I've ranted about this annually but I can't figure out why the Redskins have only eight training camp sessions open to the public. Most other teams have 20 or 30 that their fans can come to see. Yes, there are some expenses involved but maybe the Redskins could build their fan base if folks could come and see them for free on a few summer afternoons. And then, just maybe, they might not have to send multiple communications to people in order to sell season tickets.
  
  
• I've been on an all-out effort to get my book The Redskins Chronicle done in the next week or so. I'm still putting some polish on the web site but I do have it open to the public. Drop by if you get a chance and let me know what you think. I also have the Facebook page up, please take a look and become a fan. And, as long as I'm dispensing social media information, I'd welcome all of you as friends on Facebook at http://facebook.com/rich.tandler and I always love Twitter followers at @RealRedskins.
  
  
• Just because I haven't been cranking out a lot in the way of new content doesn't mean that some other bloggers out there aren't doing so. Redskins Examiner Mark Newgent has a well-researched story on the integration of the NFL in general and the Redskins in particular. It's a three-parter and a great read. And Ben Folsom at the Curly R has a two-part rant about the Redskins' involvement with the Virginia Lottery. I'm not so sure I follow his logic about a voluntary purchase being a tax of any sort, but I do agree that the team's involvement with a scratch off game, especially one that costs $20 (twenty dollars!) a ticket is unseemly at best.
  

Plenty of jobs available in Ashburn

In contrast to what we're seeing in many businesses, the Washington Redskins will be hiring later this summer.

There is opportunity aplenty in Ashburn. Of the 53 players on the roster for the last game of the 2008 season, 13 of them will not be reporting to training camp on July 30. That means that the Redskins roster will experience at least a 25 per cent turnover.

Actually, in practical terms, it won't be quite that dramatic. Chris Samuels and Phillip Daniels weren't a part of that 53 because they were on injured reserve. They are certain to make the team. And the team already has hired two replacements, handing out a large free agent contract to Derrick Dockery and a monstrous one to Albert Haynesworth. Also, Hunter Smith will be taking the roster spot vacated by punter Ryan Plackemeier.

That still leaves eight jobs, or about one sixth of the roster, up for grabs. The departures of Khary Campbell and Marcus Washington create opportunity for someone like Robert Henson. The sixth-round draft pick was a special teams monster for three years at TCU before becoming the starting linebacker and that was Campbell's job description.

There are a few other plug-ins that seem obvious. Shawn Springs is out, third-round draft pick Kevin Barnes is in. Jason Taylor out, Brian Orakpo in.

There will be fierce competition for the backup spots on the offensive line. With Jon Jansen and Jason Fabini gone and that final 2008 roster carrying players who are not certain to make it in '09, players like Wil Montgomery and Devin Clark, the backup jobs are wide open.

There are 11 wide receivers on the roster. Four of them—Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Devin Thomas, and Malcolm Kelly—are virtually guaranteed roster spots. The Redskins carried five last year and it's not unusual for teams to carry six. Marko Mitchell, Keith Eloi, Marques Hagans, Roydell Williams—get the suit pressed, show up early, and be ready to make a great impression. You each have a big, month-long job interview coming up.

I'll be posting my stab at the final 53-man roster sometime before training camp and I have to say that it's going to be more difficult to figure it out than it has been the past few years.

I suppose that competition is healthy but you can have too much of a good thing. The wide open nature of the O-line, for example, tells me that even thought the starters are aging there is no succession planning going on. You'd like to see at least a few reserves that are considered to be too valuable to even consider letting go. While some players like that may emerge as training camp unfolds as of right now none exist.

Redskins say no to Vick

After considering the possibility of signing Michael Vick, the Redskins quickly decided against making that move.

The news, coming from John Keim at the Washington Examiner, isn't surprising. In fact, I would say that it wasn't exactly man bites dog news, but that would be a bad pun of questionable taste.

Other than the fact that there really isn't a place for Vick, the primary reasons for rejecting him are location, location, location.

The location of Washington, D. C., the political correctness capitol of the world, would make Redskins games a magnet for protests. They're in enough trouble among the PC crowd for the team name. Adding a convicted dog killer to the mix would make it toxic.

The other two location factors in play have to do with the location of Newport News, Vick's home town. First, the further away Vick is from the old crowd, the atmosphere that helped make him think it was a good idea to spend his NFL offseasons playing the dual role of owner and henchman for a dog fighting ring, the better. And on top of that, the headquarters for PETA is in Norfolk, just a few hours by car from the entrance to Redskins Park. This would virtually assure a 24/7 circus in Ashburn.

There was one other nugget in Keim's piece that I did not realize. Vick and Jason Campbell share the same agent. It would not be a good situation for Joel Segal to have two quarterbacks on the last year of their deals competing for playing time on the same team. It shouldn't matter, but it does.

 

Is the end near for Thrash?

It appears that James Thrash has a decision to make.

According to Dave Elfin of the Washington Times, Thrash has been struggling with a neck injury all offseason. Medication took care of the pain during the offseason down time but once workouts started in March the bulging disc flared up again. He has yet to participate in any of the team's OTA's.

It appears increasingly likely that Thrash will need surgery if he is to play for the Washington Redskins this year. That has the 34-year-old receiver/special teams demon contemplating retirement.

Although the coaches love him because of his work ethic and his eagerness to do whatever they ask of him, Thrash may be very much on the bubble this year when it comes to making the roster. As the third wide receiver last year, he caught nine passes, the same number that he caught the year before.

Four receiver spots are set in stone—Santana Moss, Antwaan Randle El, Malcolm Kelly, and Devin Thomas. A fully healthy James Thrash would have a tough time holding off speedy rookie Marko Mitchell for the fifth and probably final WR roster spot. A wounded Thrash, who has spent 12 seasons in the NFL, certainly would be facing an uphill battle.

His choices seem to be fairly clear cut. He could try to rehab his neck without surgery and give it a go in training camp. Or he could have the surgery and hope that he's ready to return to fight for his job. I'm not sure how long the recovery from his surgery would be—the doctors themselves don't know until they go in and do the procedure—but one would have to think that being ready for the July 30 start of camp would be very difficult.

Or Thrash could retire. He appears to be fighting that but it may be inevitable. He has seen seven specialists about the injury, perhaps hoping that he can find an optimistic prognosis.

For now, the Redskins are not pressuring him to make a decision. However, when they start signing their draft picks they will need to release players in order to stay at the 80-man limit. They will need Thrash to make a commitment by then.

I'm not about to make any recommendations here. Regardless of whether he retires this year or a few years down the road I certainly hope that Thrash will be able to walk away from the game with a decent quality of life rather than needing a cane.

Jansen, Moss salary cap implications

When I wrote about Jon Jansen's release a week ago, I was imprecise in communicating a number that is important when evaluating the move and I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify.

I said that by releasing Jansen "the Redskins took a cap hit of some $6 million." That's true. The Redskins will take a dead cap charge of $6.1 million.

However, unless you are the one writing out the checks that's not the relevant number to look at when judging the move. Jansen would have counted $4.5 million against the cap had he stayed on the roster. So, the net cap hit was $1.6 million. That is the more meaningful number.

This is not to say that the $6.1 million in dead cap that will be on the 2009 books doesn't matter. The Redskins will be tying up 4.7% of their available cap space in one player who no longer is on the roster.

Add to that the $5.3 million (4.1%) they're carrying on the books as a result of the Brandon Lloyd fiasco and the $2.7 (2.1%) million of prorated bonus left on Shawn Springs' deal and you'll see that the Redskins have over a tenth of their entire salary cap tied up in players who will be playing for other teams.

Certainly, all NFL teams carry some dead cap on their books but the Redskins are annually among the league leaders.

The Redskins "paid" for the Jansen move by restructuring Santana Moss' deal. They converted most of Moss' 2009 and 2010 salaries into signing bonus. So he got a check for $6.2 million to help him celebrate his 30^th birthday last weekend and to help the Redskins neutralize the effects of Jansen's release. The move lowered his 2009 cap charge by $1.7 million.

In order to make this work, the Redskins added a year to Moss' deal but that 2011 season voids automatically. All of this means that the Redskins will be facing a 2011 dead cap charge of $5.2 million.

If there is a salary cap in 2011—that is likely but far from certain—the Redskins will redo another player's deal in order to squeeze that dead cap in under the limit.

As long as the cap continues to go up this approach has its advantages. The total cap charge for Moss over the next three years does not go up. You do have to pay the piper but you are repaying him in dollars that are worth less than they were when you spent them. Just two years ago when the cap was $107 million, a $5.2 million dead cap charge would have represented almost 5% of the cap. Should the cap grow at the same rate the next two years as it has in the past two, it will be at $153 million. That same $5.2 million would be just 3.4% of the cap.

Certainly there are drawbacks as well. The Redskins' way of doing things hasn't worked. They have been unable to get out of the NFL's muddled middle.