From: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro,dc.redskins
Subject: Washington Redskins News - 9/8/92
Date: 8 Sep 92 16:43:40 GMT
Reply-To: swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Steve Williams)
Followup-To: rec.sport.football.pro
Organization: Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center

The Washington Redskins got ripped in its first season game by Dallas 
Cowboys, by score of 23-10.  The Redskins committed all kinds of mistakes, 
even the silly mistakes.  The three All-Pro players (Mark Rypien, Jim 
Lachey, and Darrell Green) really looked bad.

The Dallas Cowboys outplayed, outhustled, outran, outkicked,
"out-everythinged" the Redskins from beginning to end.  The game left 
both teams physically and mentally exhausted, partly because it was 
played with the intensity of a playoff contest and partly because it 
began with temperature still close to 90 degrees on the artifical turf.

The Redskins lost because:
 1) their first drive ended with Issiac Holt rushing around Johnny Thomas
    to block a Kelly Goodburn punt, slapping it out of bound for a safety
    and a Dallas' two-point lead;
 2) Alvin Harper beat Darrell Green for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:02
    left in the first half;
 3) Kelvin Martin broke the game open with a 79-yard punt return for a
    touchdown midway through the third quarter;
 4) Charles Haley bedeviled QB Mark Rypien the entire night;
 5) Emmitt Smith became the first runner ever to have four straight
    100-yard games against a Joe Gibbs Redskins team (139 yards on 26 
    carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run);
 6) QB Troy Aikman threw for 216 yards and a touchdown;
 7) the Redskins opened in a hurry-up, no-huddle offense that caused them
    more problems than it created for the Cowboys;
 8) the Redskins finished the first quarter with minus two yards offense;
 9) QB Mark Rypien was hit harder and more often than at any point last
    season;
10) the Redskins missed blockers; they missed receivers; they missed 
    chances; 
11) the Redskins were flagged for silly personal fouls; and
12) the first quarter ended with the Cowboys gaining 112 yards, the Redskins
    losing 2 yards.

The miracle was that the Redskins trailed only 16-7 at halftime.

Joe Gibbs planned to open in the no-huddle offense and allow Rypien 
to call the plays.  The first problem with this plan was that the crowd 
was so loud that the Redskins looked confused.  They certainly started 
that way.

On the Redskins' first play, Cowboys LB Vinson Smith swarmed Rypien 
for an 11-yard loss.  On the second play and 21 yards to go, Cowboy 
DT Jimmie Johnson dropped Earnest Byner for a 3-yard loss.  On third 
play and 24, Rypien, under pressure from Charles Haley, missed Byner.  
One more mistake still is to come.  Redskins center John Brandes gave 
punter Kelly Goodburn a high snap in the end zone, and Isaac Holt sprinted 
around Johnny Thomas to block the punt out of bound for a 2-point safety.

Other News:
----------
Redskins center Jeff Bostic started his 49th straight game last night.

RB Earnest Byner (2,847 yards) needed 62 yards to move into fifth place
on the Redskins' all-time rushing list.  He trailed John Riggins, Larry
Brown, Mike Thomas, Don Bosseler and George Roger before last night.
Byner has had 16 regular season 100-yard games, 6 for Cleveland Browns
and 10 for the Redskins.

Chip Lohmiller has made 37 of his last 39 field goal attempts from inside
40 yards.


Source:  The Washington Post, September 8, 1992

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 Steve Williams                           swilliam@oasys.dt.navy.mil
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