From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro,dc.redskins
Subject: Washington Redskins News - 9/9/10
Date: 10 Sep 92 13:38:22 GMT
Reply-To: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)
Followup-To: rec.sport.football.pro
Organization: Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center


Special team coach Wayne Sevier got to his office 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning,
a few minutes after the Washington Redskins returned to Dulles Airport from
Dallas.  He took an hour of nap and then got the first roll of film and went 
to work.  He was the first coach to begin analyzing the Redskins' loss.

Within a couple of hour Joe Gibbs and his entire coaching staff were back at
work reviewing the Redskins' poor performance against the Dallas Cowboys
before pushing forward with preparations for the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday.

Gibbs, Sevier, and other saw unexcusable breakdowns on special teams.  They 
saw a defense that allowed 390 yards, including 12 plays of at least 10 yards.
They saw an interior defense - particularly tackles Tim Johnson and Jason
Buck - get pushed around as Emmitt Smith rushed for 139 yards.  They saw
cornerbacks have a bad night defensing wide receiver Alvin Harper and Michael
Irvin.

They saw an offense that came unnerved by what Gibbs called "as loud a crowd
as I've heard in a stadium."  They saw perhaps the worst performance by a
Redskins offensive line in several years.  QB Mark Rypien was sacked twice 
and hit so often that his statistics became blurred.  He did miss Gary Clark 
and Ricky Sanders on deep routes, but only after Charles Haley and other
Cowboys pass rushers had pounded him into the turf a half-dozen times.

The coaches saw their team so poor in so many areas that it couldn't reflect
the team they have put together.

Gibbs brought the Redskins out in a no-huddle offense that was supposed to
keep the Cowboys from making situational substitutions.  But with the crowd
roaring as it never did in the Tom Landry years, Rypien was unable to 
communicate  audibles.  He tried hand signals and he tried sending signals 
down the line of scrimmage, but nothing worked.

On the first play, RB Earnest Byner and one of the guards didn't hear an 
audible and allowed linebacker Vinson Smith to sprint in untouched and drop
Rypien for an 11-yard loss back to the 9-yard line.  Byner lost three yards
on the next play, and Haley pressured Rypien into a bad throw in third down,
forcing the Redskins to punt on fourth down.  Snapper Brandes snapped the 
ball high to right, forcing punter Kelly Goodburn to right where Holt was
lined up.  Thus, Holt couldn't ask for a better opportunity to block
Goodburn's punt.

Brandes may not have another chance to snap the ball again for the Redskins.
Brandes has been inconsistent since the end of last season, and combined 
with a knee injury that slowed him and a bouncing snap later in the game, 
the Redskins would like another snapper.

The strange thing is, in the following year after the Redskins won the
Super Bowl (1988), the Redskins opened with a 27-20 loss to the Giants
that included a blocked snap (Mike Scully was the long snapper then).  
The Redskins reacted by firing Scully.

The Redskins were still in the game midway through the third quarter, 
trailing 16-7, when the special team had another breakdown.  Cowboys'
Martin fielded Goodburn's punt at his 21 yard and was surrounded by 
Kurt Gouveia, Stephen Hobbs, Brandes, and Thomas.  Seviers thought to
himself, "Perfect."  But none of these Redskins players made the tackle, 
and Martin ran all the way for a touchdown.

Other News:
----------
OT Joe Jacoby and DT Bobby Wilson were found to have minor knee injuries
and are expected to play against the Falcons this Sunday.


Source: The Washington Post, September 9, 1992


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 Steve Williams                           swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro