1989 Week 14 - San Diego at Washington

being a big guy at 250 craig mcewan a former at h-back anthony miller there's a legitimate star in the charger offense wayne walker a rookie he was a texas tech receiver with toliver got plenty of speed arthur cox the tight end and when they go to their pass set darren nelson the former viking comes in along with howland the man who just returned the kickoff first round 22. the arthur cox the tight end in motion and butts is stuffed two-yard loss fred stokes a former ram leading the charge number 60. the defense for the washington redskins mann charles mann tracy rocker rookie from auburn daryl grant and stokes the man who just spearheaded that charge caldwell okowitz playing in his final home game the veteran from maryland wilbur marshall the ex-bear mayhew and johnson two little cornerbacks vaughn and bowles at safety and again the injuries that have hit this washington team during the year inordinately high taking key players on both sides of the ball and yet joe gibbs keeps him on the winning side and again butts the hand off and it's as if the redskins know what's coming butts can't get a step before he hits three tacklers and again fred stokes charging in from his defensive end position pass defense comes in as you see the extra wide receivers for the chargers mann stensrud grant and stokes now will be the down four caldwell and coleman the linebackers mayhew johnson vaughn bowles and davis the deep backs well so far dick the defensive line of the redskins is dominating they're beating san diego to the punch that's been san diego's problem all year [Applause] anthony allen the man in motion oliver's first throw and he goes deep and the receiver was held and a flag goes down and that may have saved a touchdown anthony miller who is a long bomb threat was breaking clear and wayne davis appeared to grab him miller wanted to run an out and up pro pass pattern davis felt it and just grabbed him he knew he'd lost him and toliver just didn't quite hold the ball long enough they had a big blitz inside the out and up pattern could have been a touchdown howard rowe illegal contact number 26 defense five yard penalty first down [Applause] it's a hook and go straight down the field and there's the hole right there because obviously a big problem was developing the defender coming forward the receiver going by him so that could have been a big play most often that pattern is tough to complete because the receiver is not running quite as fast as a quarterback expects and also of course the defender has to get some contact to save himself so they get the five yards back they lost on the two running plays but also the first down automatically first down at the 22. fake the butts colliver he wins it long for miller and he's got it at the 28 yard line well before the game uh we were told that this is the kind of thing that that would be utilized this week because the the safeties of the redskins are going to come forward this last play they they rotated their safeties putting the strong safety deep and now we had a pure post pattern with nobody inside to help there's our safety inside nobody there to help so vaughn isn't deep enough there's the completion very well executed and this is going to take that kind of thing by the chargers they're going to have to come up with big plays like this and they don't and i'm sure can't expect a run like they did on the first two plays well miller has become a big play man out of tennessee that's his 58th catch he has eight touchdowns to leave the charger receivers first down from the 29th oliver out of the backfield goes to mcewan and he's hit immediately incomplete is the call no fumble martin mayhew number 35 one of those five eight bookends at cornerback for the redskins with that catch by miller he went over the 1 000 yard mark 1003 and we'll be talking in big numbers because all three receivers for the redskins clark sanders and monk conceivably could gain a thousand yards in the year that's been done only twice and the charges claim both [Music] butts has a big hole up the middle and the 250 pound fullback is down to the 25-yard line played at florida state with sammy smith known more for special teams and blocking well just to check on history and put the thousand yards in perspective and 80 charlie joyner kellen winslow and john jefferson all gained a thousand yards in 81 they did it again but chandler got some of his yards at new orleans before he was traded to san diego and the redskins when they get the ball clark monk and sanders they're all flirting with a thousand darren nelson comes in number 20. there's joyner nelson's the key in third down most likely he releases outside and runs into the flat and tries to get the first down sec third down and six and ten goes for it all to miller and it's a touchdown anthony miller wide open as he beats wayne davis and the chargers strike on the rookie arm of toliver and the clever patterns and all-out speed of anthony miller billy joe talliver his second nfl touchdown and now chris parr tries the point after and the chargers quiet this crowd at rfk three and a half minutes into the game they lead seven nothing barr hits it low bounces it down ricky sanders the wide receiver has some blockers on the sidelines and finally runs out of room at the 33. [Applause] a very well executed touchdown darren nelson's gonna break into the flat but more important miller's up straight up the field into the corner and davis is playing inside he's got a free safety he doesn't need to play inside his technique should be outside in so you see him angling inside giving all that room to the corner the ball's thrown up miller with his speed just runs to it that's interesting they set it up by going in the middle and so the safety now had plenty of coverage in the center and this time miller took it outside so wayne davis must have played the wrong technique ripping on play action has a man wide open don warren the tight end and he's into charger territory to the 48-yard line gary plummer and cedric figaro the chargers have a plumber and a barber at linebacker figaro the barber from seville we've got a replay of that that technique now it's a bootleg all the way they completely fool people to the outside no one to cover it in a zone defense don warren who doesn't get the ball off and that's only his 12th catch of the year but such a solid player for many years the throw to monk and art monk adds a few more yards to his march toward a thousand as he's stormed by vincey glenn let's look at the offense at pickup of about seven lashay the x-charger tackle mckenzie bostick the veteran schlereth from alaska and ed simmons ripon finer the running back from cleveland what a trade warren sanders monk and clark the wide receivers when they go to heavy three tight ends warren tyse and orr are the three big guys with sanders the only wide receiver second down four ernest piner struggles across the 40. still no whistle and finally plumber able to rest him down a yard shy of a first down third and one the defense for the chargers and this is one of the top defenses in the league especially against the pass lee williams has a dozen sacks joe phillips in the middle bert grossman the rookie from pittsburgh the number one pick has seven billy ray smith doesn't get the publicity he deserves big gary plummer figaro o'neal leslie o'neill has ten and a half sacks bird sealed bayless and glenn the back four and they are going to pressure the [Music] quarterback third and one viner i don't think he made it cedric figaro the redskins are famous they have a real history of specialized plays to beat specialized defenses san diego's been playing a more specialized kind of defense everybody up front playing for the run defensive ends real wide and you'll see joe gibbs use a number of plays that'll surprise them much as that original bootleg play did and leslie o'neill was completely fooled on it they're going to measure but they really didn't gain anything from the play before but that is the option of ripping or the washington captains just to see how far shy they are of a first down that much and joe gibbs going to go for it bringing in the heavy warren tice and jimmy johnson the third tight end this time well joe gibbs i'm sure has a play he feels very strongly about right here that he saw he's studying tapes he knows just what he wants to do or he would have punted the ball [Applause] [Music] [Applause] it's minor and he has the first down gilbert makes the tackle at the 36. excellent job by binary started inside and just bent out as the pursuit people came up in there to stop him from making that first down finder one of the best all-around backs in the league you could name four or five people and then include byner as a great all-around running back receiving carrying the ball and even blocking joe gibbs it's not been an easy year for him he said last year was brutal that was his term for a 7-9 season and then when they lost to dallas mid-season 13-3 he said that was the lowest point forever he used the word here's miner it was so productive for the browns but surprised everyone including you bill walsh when the browns traded them here to the redskins for mike oliphant what a trade i'm not sure i'm sure the redskins were wise but i'm not sure they realize what they were really getting to the extent of what viner can do they brought him in as an h-back that's the back that plays a semi-tight in position moving in motion along the line primarily a blocker occasionally a receiver but now they're finding biner as an excellent runner one of the better runners in the league and a fine pass receiver and above all a real leader which the redskins have desperately needed in recent years second and nine ripping under some pressure has to dump it off incomplete to bonner unable to pull that one in joe phillips is the man pressuring mark griffin billy ray smith on the coverage and the charges bring in their pass defense the extra defenders against the throw and gerald riggs 37 comes in for the redskins lee williams miller o'neil and grossman now the front four in the prevent smith bird seal lyles glenn bennett and patterson the defenders in the dime package for san diego burden nine ripping on the roll good protection and it's incomplete as elvis patterson comes over to make the hit on art monk well ripon had the protection they did a great job of sealing people off to the inside so he could roll out to his right and he had all the room he needed but the throw was just high way out of bounds way over everybody's head a clean open receiver couldn't get the job done phil mcconkey the next giant is deep he lets it go and it takes a backward bounce and it is nope not down for some reason the redskins let the ball roll after was touched they could have downed it but it trickled to the goal line and the charges with a break will get it at the 20. welcome back to washington midpoint first quarter the chargers have the ball for the second time leading seven nothing marion botz has some running room he's to the 29 it'll be second and one well this is the time when we really find out about this charger offense they surprised the redskins for a couple of big passes but now now the pressure's on with a guy like neil okovitz leading the defense now we'll see what the chargers are really made of as you look at the early scores around the league second down in less than a yard for toliver who sends anthony miller to the left you look at neil oakley woods the veteran number 52 playing in his final season this will be his last home game at a roaring ovation for him as he was introduced his teammates belting him on the helmet congratulating him on his years and wishing him well first down as butts plows to the 34-yard line 148th regular season game for old kiwitz well he's been so instrumental in every all her success and his quiet leadership what a difference his first game uh playing first victory for gibbs chicago okowitz makes a big interception turns the game around redskins win it from that point on his history with now a great football organization old quest is a major role in it gibson's own five at the time and it was got him headed in the right direction toliver looking big and throwing long for walker his college teammate and he has a first down at the 21. and they're picking that deep defense apart bulls and mayhew made the tackle and little wayne walker they call him bug 5-8 and 162. he could play cornerback for the redskins with those dimensions well neither safety uh strong or weak for the redskins is getting far enough over to make the play we're straight down the field you don't see a safety but you see a corner on the outside so that allows walker to get inside position and make his catch this happened twice now redskins safeties not quick enough to get there and the receiver being a step faster than the defender but more importantly billy joe toliver hitting these people so often a rookie would over under throw these passes here comes butts trying the left side this time gets up ahead of steam he's tough to bring down as they learned last week in the uniform of the jets when he went some 40 yards and ran through five or six tacklers just a solo effort for a touchdown finally johnson and bowles get him to the ground after a pickup of around nine well that was strong running the last five yards of that butts had to travel through two determined tacklers 250 pounds six foot one he was drafted primarily because he was a great special teams player a backup in college but at this point they're finding that that power running late in the year is breaking down a lot of fatigue defenders who've played now going on 14 games second and one three tight ends butts again may have the first down he's playing with a heavy heart today his mother passed away earlier this week on monday he was gone most of the week from practices rejoining the team and playing for the woman that inspired him is marion butts today well at this point the chargers are substituting regularly going with two or three tight ends two or three wide receivers and the speed of their offense is having an impact on the redskins the redskins aren't as quick as the chargers and this surprises me i didn't expect this of course it's very early in the game either third in inches or first down san diego eyeballing it as howard rowe and [Applause] well that's tight he'll reexamine apparently just short as they remark it at the inbounds line dan henning his brother johns a news reporter for nbc up in boston no relation to doug but he'd like to come up with a little magic today against his former boss joe gibbs well he said this game means nothing more than another game because primarily the chargers haven't been able to win so winning anywhere is more important than any personal needs to uh demonstrate in front of joe gibbs or anything else just get us a win somehow well now they need a touchdown a field goal isn't going to hold up so he needs seven points at this position on the field you look for maybe a pass here in third and inches i think he'll go right inside to this pullback and it is butts met sharply as he got to the line of scrimmage and driven back raven caldwell 50 was the man there first well one of the plays that that you really need in a situation like that is a back like darren nelson to go over the top so we're going to have a a tackle right here and it's in the tackle's here but the penetration here is going to make a lot of difference now we're going to come in and clean up on the tackle after the blocking has been taken apart so there's a push push and there isn't anywhere to go and there's 50 sitting outside they re-measure and butts did get well butts got his head there just in time for first down sure didn't look like he made it it must have just been for an instant yeah that's the advantage of the 250. well tracy rocker pushed his man back into the backfield there was nowhere to run so it had to be all on the ball carrier the blocking broke down first down at the 11 yard line of washington 3 21 remaining in the first quarter and the chargers trying to add to a 7-0 lead safety blitz bowls coming well picked up and then they deflect the ball incomplete and he had a man wide open in the end zone well the pattern took too long to develop consequently by the time it was thrown with oliver looking in that direction it was blocked you almost have to time those more quickly especially when you get blitzes here comes the safety blitz right up inside it's blocked but see the push on toliver he can't get the ball off now if the ball the receiver had just broken out quickly he might have had time to do it daryl grant was the man who deflected the ball and look at anthony miller do you think he might have had another seven well maybe not maybe not [Applause] second and ten andy parker was open at the other corner of the end zone no one near him there's the throw to miller well thrown by toliver and miller bounced out of bounds at the five by martin mayhew the first year corner from florida state first darrell greene he could be available if the redskins got into the playoffs a fractured wrist they miss him certainly joe jacoby mark may it's been a tough year what we have is a corner pattern in behind people then a sliding pattern back to the outside short now this was an alternate receiver and what's most important about billy joe toliver now he's showing a lot of poise it's the best football he's probably played in his life and if he can keep it up they're gonna be in the ballgame third down a short four five yards for a touchdown touchdown it is to wayne walker his first nfl score so the texas tech connection toliver to walker it was walker who had not been drafted and tolliver said hey i had a great little receiver at tech you better take a look at him the charger's dead henning signed him up along with steve wartmeyer and he has his first score 13-nothing billy joe toliver great job a lot of boys well it was a 4 10 a 43-yard pass to walker and that led to the score just as miller's long pass led to the first touchdown for san diego here comes joe howard he returned one for the raiders he's at the 40. and johnny thomas gets him out of bounds at the san diego 37-yard line thomas a former joe howard who played a year of basketball at notre dame as well as an all-around football athlete under the dome joe really joe howard really played off his blockers and it's a beautifully executed play oh not too beautifully because there's a flag down so often this happens we keep harping on it i guess there isn't much more we can say illegal block on a return team number 91 first down you know dick we always reminded our players with the 49ers that officials can see every blocker on these kick return teams there's an official assigned to virtually every player and uh there just isn't a way to have a foul and uh and get away with it you have to remind them of that the simplest things the easiest call to make for an official is uh going to be right here on the outside and there's the block to the outside so 59 yard return by joe howard nullified and the redskins start inside their own 15 trailing 14 to nothing with 240 to go in this first quarter mark griffin might be changing his play and leslie o'neil makes the tackle at the 16-yard line o'neill number 91. let's check the other scores boy this has got to be the surprising early count 14 nothing san diego big one kansas city and green bay minnesota has the early lead the bears by a field goal the bengals fighting in the central have a 7-0 lead against seattle tampa bay houston tied pittsburgh leads a jet seven nothing in the first new orleans builds a 13-nothing lead buffalo at two a surprise is the bills uh perhaps having trouble bouncing back from the monday night loss in seattle griffin ooh that into a crowd of blue but a flag goes down now sometimes that flag is for tight end holding well there must have been defensive holding along that line there was so much traffic in one area that somebody was stopped by a defender and that's what it must have been here we are it was against the chargers holding number 25 on the defense five yard penalty first down bency glenn and the skins have a first down out at the 22-yard line well i couldn't really spot exactly where it happened on the field but with all these crossing patterns in close defenders are trying to keep position and i assume at some point they grab now this pass rush hasn't gotten there yet really the famous pass rusher the [Music] it to monk and it's a first down out at the 36-yard line gilbert made the tackle bird number 22. regarded by the chargers as a pro bowl candidate he said quietly he's gone about uh intercepting more than his share has six this year he's not especially fast but he's got excellent mechanics and footwork this shows his ability to come back and make a play on a ball in front of him so without great speed he's what you call it the technician aspect of uh cornerback play monk with a couple of catches now with 68 on the year as he moves toward the number four three spot all time he's currently fourth best here's miner on a quick pop out to the 43-yard line bert grossman angling over from his defensive end the rookie from pittsburgh number one pick eighth man selected in the draft made the tackle he's a colorful guy at pittsburgh he had a one of his roommates was a boa constrictor i asked him if he still had that he's gone to san diego and it just shows what happens to a pittsburgh kid when they go to san diego what's he got now he's a parent he's trying to teach it to talk yeah and there's some concern around san diego that he talks too much himself so the two of them are roommates but he says the next step is a monkey and then we ask him is he married yet but i guess that was kind of unnecessary he was worried about that monkey being a little messy ricky sanders look at him dance around with vincy glenn and it's a first down at the 38 of san diego beautifully executed play with a defender that's not quite as quick as a receiver trying to respond to him so he's going to break up the field and across the field and you see pretty decent coverage but the quickness by ricky sanders just is too much for a glenn you can't can't make a play on it all he can do is sort of keep position and funnel him to the sideline now there should have been a penalty right there you can see on the sideline officials are letting too much of that happen as the season progresses so trailing 14 to nothing griffin another penalty flag goes down thrown by the same back judge well thus far if ripon gets this kind of protection he's going to take apart the san diego defense that does not have quickness in the secondary again they're being forced to hold as people release because they can't stay with them they need heat on the passer and they've got the people to do it defense number 25 five yard penalty first down as monk cuts in he's going to be held right there that's about seven or eight yards down field and of course the minimum or maximum is five yards but they're going to need that to stay with these receivers that are breaking laterally and joe gibbs spots this he had a plan but when he sees the difference in quickness you're going to see all kinds of patterns that break across the field final seconds first quarter first down and the flag goes down leslie o'neill and jim lachey are in quite a battle as well the illegal procedure against the skins will be first and 15. there's o'neill quite a story they thought his career was brilliant as a rookie when he had 12 and a half sacks in the first 13 games and terrible knee injury total reconstruction out almost two years but he worked and worked played a lot of golf he said really has improved his game and now his back has ten and a half sacks this year second in the afc it's just disgusting to hear how he plays golf he's only played about three years and he's already a two or three handicap playing every day but regardless i've played most of my life and can't break the country so this guy's these guys are such fine athletes they pick up the these sports so easily throw underneath incomplete that's gilbert moving in on the intended receiver ricky sanders a bird to give you an idea how highly they think of him san diego whenever you go to the five or six defensive backs he gets the toughest receiver man-to-man and again with a with with deficient speed in a sense he's his technique is so good and he's in such good strength with excellent stamina that he's able to stay with people and just sort of wear them out but he's their key guy not only as a player but as a leader he's got excellent leadership quality number one pick out of san jose state in 83. griffin underneath goes to gary clark he draws a crowd and bird is the first there martin bayless to help out short gain of only a couple to gary clark well the charger switched to his own defense that time i think they had enough of these crossing receivers and that is the end of the opening quarter here at rfk and cool but sunny washington dc the chargers up by tuesday as we open the second quarter third and 12 at the san diego 35. griffin from washington state [Applause] knocked down and almost intercepted by number 99 lee williams who fell back into coverage well we got a great great job of pass protection being done by the redskins that time because the chargers blitzed the pass protector stayed right in front of their people and it took three or four seconds to finally get toward the quarterback so you'll see protection people doing an excellent job fundamentally funneling people see all this room he's got all this room then he throws the ball with a low trajectory mojenko too long for a field goal mcconkey makes the fair catch and then argues that he was bumped and he was indeed brushed by one of the oncoming defenders but uh not enough to catch the eye of the official on the spot joe mcconkey that's not going to bother a guy used to fly helicopter pilots and try to hit aircraft carriers on his landings well it was so insignificant i don't think they would call that but [Applause] we've got a big nfl weekend ahead a bonus saturday game denver broncos will be at phoenix bob costas oj simpson in the gang 3 30 for nfl live and then on sunday a double header there are the games the early games big one houston cincinnati will be out in san francisco the bills and the niners san diego 14. redskins nothing here's marion butts and he's out close to the 15-yard line after they socked him for losses his first two carries butts is finding some room to run now and that's in part due to billy joe toliver opening up the defense with his throwing arm well there's some big guys blocking for the big fullback there is the starting offensive line averaging 6'5 and 297 and that doesn't include a tight end arthur cox who is 277. one of the best is courtney hall with smallish center size wise anyway a great young rookie center probably the best young prospect in the league but runs right into neil oakley the veteran number 52 and that won't be good enough for first down it's right at the 15 yard line let's look at courtney hall number 53 for the chargers courtney hall comes off the line of scrimmage but orkwich has got a little bit of an angle on him he cuts him down but look what's up able to get up quickly being the pro he is and make the play courtney hall what a story he started at rice university at the age of 16 acknowledged as a gifted child of two out in banning california near palm springs he's only 21 and a starter here in the nfl the youngest in the league third and about three oliver a lot of time and he slides out to the 19-yard line i don't know he may have gone down too soon daryl grant there to cover him we'll see where they spotted well he kept he kept his composure during that entire scenario because he had a receiver he was waiting on when he wasn't open he ran the ball now that's seems simple enough but for a rookie under this heat this pressure of a game in this stadium pretty good job that's the longest run of nf in this nfl career for billy joe toliver from boyd texas he'll ring up as folks who have an unlisted number there and boyd 889 people well you know billy joe burst into my room last night if we recall he didn't quite make an uh interview we had he came into my room at 9 30 pounded on the door i didn't know who it could have been came in and sat in front of me one of my questions was what's the difference between college and professional he says well i wouldn't be sitting here in bill walsh's room with his shirt off like that if i was in college in other words what think for a minute coach he though didn't seem worried at all about the redskins says he just ran the same old plays i mean just some plays you just run them every week [Applause] it was a first down by about the length of the ball play action caliber looking for wayne walker and he's got it out near the 30-yard line a walker with his third catch dan henning said we've got to look at this free agent we need somebody to make big plays jamie holland has been getting open has not caught everything thrown to him so here's walker's chance and he's delivering well he's running straight down the field bursting down the field there's a little play pass but i like this i'm starting to be a believer with dan henning on toliver what a shot good throw good timing aj johnson on the coverage it's another first down for the chargers who have moved the ball well through the air wayne walker there you see his numbers and of course anthony miller on the other side gathering uh double and triple coverage and still has a touchdown to add to his total nine for the year there's miller who's from pasadena california he went to san diego state on a track scholarship 400 meter man they only gave him half a scholarship he said i couldn't do it on that alone so i went back home wanted to play football anyway and they trying to talk me out of it went back to pass it in junior college then on to tennessee a number one pick a year ago and he has lived up to his collegiate ratings you know he didn't do that much at tennessee except demonstrate great athletic ability and those combine workouts they have each year he was the fastest receiver and one of the better receivers hands-wise here comes butts trying to get outside but cannot he's cut down raven caldwell from arkansas he played with billy ray smith and gary anderson san diego chargers with a razorbacks of course anderson sitting out the year and that in part explains san diego's offensive woes prior to today you know speaking of courtney hall in the combine workouts they have in indianapolis every year for the first time they had one person who was the strongest he had to jump the highest his alignment but also had the highest intelligence test score of anyone at the combine so the strongest and the brightest in one young man here's little darren nelson trying to find running room there is none and as they do a little push and shove to get that circulation going let's uh check the scores around the country minnesota now with a 10-3 lead and kansas city has scored first at green bay heard your picks uh for the super bowl next year you already got the packers and the chiefs in there well i think the odds makers will move them way up going in uh it was 300 to one against both teams and this next year i think would probably be about three to one third down 11 san diego 10 and a half minutes remain in the first half and the chargers up by 14. billy joe looking for miller great protection now he throws complete to nelson out at the 39-yard line it'll be close but i believe shy by a yard of a first down boy even off balance he just flips it out there what a great job and i keep saying using the word great with this young man and he certainly isn't a great player at this point but the things he's doing are so spontaneous so instinctive i can see what dan henning and ted told her saw on him when they went over there to texas to work him out watch his poise watch his boys now he's done this before instinctively he knows just where to go with the football now this is by far his best game this may make the difference now dick i understand why jim mcmahon's on the bench i couldn't figure it out coming into this game now i can see why ankalissic 41-yard average to kick to joe howard inside the 25 on 4th and 1. canadian football league punter alissic bear catch howard at the 22. all-time nfl leading receivers largent who has a catch today so his string continues consecutive cat string 8-12 then joyner there's charlie joyner assistant coach now with the chargers charlie taylor an assistant on the sidelines of the redskins and art monk now only five away from number three ernest out across the 25. monk who played at syracuse as a running back like charlie taylor running back out of college and then converted to wide receiver and how quietly monk and he's gotten his publicity here in this great football conscious pro city washington dc but around the league when you talk about the all-time great catchers you know you don't think of art monk as the special player that he is well dick as you if you're related about those two people those three people none of the three have depended purely on speed to be great receivers they've had stamina endurance a lot of things that people don't characterize immediately rip into biner to the 30 that'll bring up third down and two and there's byner first running then receiving that was that kind of productivity that he was very proud of in cleveland and and we were puzzled by the trade all the font going to cleveland we asked him uh at park yesterday well why do you think you were traded well the cleveland browns desperately wanted metcalf on their team they had kevin mack a big back byner was somewhere in between someone was expendable it was byner who to be honest with you could very well have been the best of all three third down and two warren in motion griffin well protected and he's going long but well covered is clark and he makes the does not come down with that would have been a remarkable play sam seal number 30 was there for the chargers [Applause] and he's shaken up a bit on the play [Applause] it's a valiant effort it really was and it looked as though he had it it was jarred loose after he he had hit the ground beautiful catch he looks like he has it now it's knocked loose by the defender it actually could have been judged as a reception mojenko and they kick in a hurry to the redskins mcconkey a lot of dance but too many partners and down he goes at the 32 reminder to our viewers we'll be selecting the budweiser most valuable player in today's game at the conclusion apparently uh not a candidate as he puts on the jacket number nine jim mcmahon the eight hundred thousand dollar reserve now for san diego the village oliver gives mcmahon credit for assisting him in with the he's as he says the details of the game and the mechanics of the game because obviously billy joe is new to professional football and those nuances mcmahon has helped him with and they apparently are real good friends off the field and tonight says he has to his wife really likes mcmahon marion butts again into nothing as stacking the play well was daryl grant the redskins have been powerful at home through the years when joe gibbs on the sidelines but not this season they're struggling to break even in their eight games and they've not lost on a season record in 21 years here at rfk but you'll give started with the oldest team in the league and this season started in the league right and he now has one of the very youngest teams he's made that entire transition while holding their own and staying in the playoff race so a lot of credit goes to making that transition during the season that's why that dictated by all the injuries toliver on second and 11 out of the backfield and anthony miller nicely by martin mayhew [Applause] try an nfl live uh bobby beathard said that he doesn't think bo jackson is going to play football next year that must mean that dal davis will make a big trade for trouble number ones bernie kozar merlin olsen reporting in cleveland cincinnati game said the bernie told him that he can't even straighten that elbow that we talked about on thanksgiving day and jerry glanville well nothing new there he says he still doesn't know if he's got a job next year despite being in first place you know i can't believe that uh jackson thing in visiting with him last week he was so positive about football about the raiders about his career and about doubling up redskins forced to call a time out here and just in case you forgot what they look like i think this is important we do this that oj and bob and ralph and bobby and bobby see i got some inside stuff too bobby beathard here's my insiders report i hear will be the charger general manager next year well that's a shocker dick it's only been in uh the public for about six months well you know those telephone wires are long first year cornerbacks for the redskins mayhew and johnson first year quarterback toliver has been the better man for the first half 14 nothing san diego on third down and down goes oliver as the pressure from raven caldwell there are just too many people to be blocked oliver didn't see it quite quickly enough but the one thing he did do was get rid of the ball before the sack was there so he showed his points in visiting with him last night he said i know they'll blitz me i know i'm a rookie but here's an unblocked man coming coming from the outside right here and and uh he'll be unblocked oliver just was able to get rid of the ball just as dump it out in the flat no flag and here's hank gillisek on fourth down and eight he lines one toward joe howard at the 20 waits for his blockers does a good job now he's got some room and finally caught from behind at the charger 40-yard line joe howard well three times now the return team of the redskins has taken apart san diego excellent blocking fine running from the standpoint of making people miss but look at these blocks all over the field it's all designed middle return with people crossing in that ball carrier coming right up the middle great job three different times and that this is really about the only thing san diego isn't handling griffin going long for clark but right into the arms of gil bird who has his seventh interception of the year it's whistle dead back inside the 10-yard line so byrd who had seven thefts last year has seven more this year and that moves him into a tie with kenny graham as the number two pass interceptor in charger history with a total of 25. now that was i don't know what you'd call it bad judgment i guess because there was a zone defender sitting back there and ripping through the ball right to him you're going to see a zone defense back here and uh and we can't the telestrator isn't working so uh we're gonna have to just talk to you about it but we had a defender sitting back in the corner with a ball thrown to a crossing receiver right to him i can't understand that looked like bird did try to lateral to glenn but he was already down so first down billy joe toliver at his nine yard line butts [Applause] he eluded a man in the backfield and drives to the 19-yard line about nine more for marion butts well at this point there's a surprise on my part both lines have not been evident in a sense neither team has been able to demonstrate defensively or offensively their line play is superior consequently the passing game has taken over both quarterbacks with time to throw the ball both quarterbacks with a vision down field because no pass rush push to find their receivers and that is the surprising part because we went into this thinking that big offensive line of either team could could control the game just as he took the handoff lucky that wasn't a fumble he doesn't gain a thing tracy rocker number 99 the first pick of the skins in the last draft although it came in the third round out of auburn well rocker is going to kind of come straight up the field and we they tried to trap from the outside with number 88 tied in coming to the inside and he couldn't couldn't make it so that penetration beat him to the punch and neil okowitz finished the job the veteran linebacker they said they gave him a 500 bonus washington just to gain 10 pounds when he first came here with the redskins playing at 2 30. only six feet tall he said i was too little for penn state that's where i wanted to go colliver to the tight end arthur cox he's 277 pounds you can almost feel the shake when he hit the ground at the 24 yard line that'll be a first down for the san diego chargers it was not let pass to cox as he comes to the outside now cox didn't run like a big man he turned and avoided outside and let a smaller man just take him right down you'd think he'd turn up the field inside of that defender and make it physically tough to deal with him aj johnson's 176 cox is 277. but aj did the job first down at the 24 with four and a half minutes left in this first half and the chargers that's right san diego leading 14-nothing sidearms it out to walker and it's a catch at the 32-yard line that looked like a second baseman starting a double play well he got it off as quickly as he could he threw it actually through his sidearm to try to get it there quickly he's he's the kind of person that would make an impression dan henning uh and ted told her both people went out to watch him look at that sidearm throw to get it off quickly and it just gets there before it hits the ground but in working him out they went into town with him went to restaurants he was so popular in his own hometown that they knew they had sort of a charismatic young leadership type of person to play backup quarterback for a while and take the job which certainly seems to be the thing that's going to work out raven caldwell makes the tackle on marion butts as butts drives close to another san diego first down at the charge of 35 and they're in position are running out the half with a long drive here and a 14 nothing lead clock running to the three-minute mark as rip and hoping east gets another offensive chance in this first 30 minutes triple left play action good protection and wide open is walker oh is he hit and he hangs onto the ball at the 37 little but tough is walker who has another big gainer 28 yards aj johnson with a hit walker knew there's going to be somebody back there when he caught that ball so he knew he had to gear up to get it he's going to go straight up the field and bend out into the corner we see at the bottom of the screen he knew someone was going to be there look at him use his body right there that was clarence vaughn the safety at six feet and 202 put the pop on him at the 38 another san diego first down is there's 225 left in the head again a nice soft touch pass that let walker get underneath it again a fake the butts oliver guns it wide open incomplete and there's the easy one walker makes the tough catch and then dropped the easy one but he was wide open over the middle well he wanted to run before he got the ball it was that simple he knew he was going to be wide open there were no linebackers underneath so we knew we had room to catch it and run and he took his eye off it this kid from waco texas he injured a knee early in the texas tech year last season was on crutches dropped out of school no one drafted him and toliver tipped off san diego well that would have been a half dozen catches for over 100 yards and a half had he pulled that one in 214 now the time remaining first half and they're waiting for darren nelson charging in number 91 greg minuski a linebacker from colgate two minutes to go in the first half the chargers in position to add to a surprising 14-nothing lead san diego charges the don coryell chargers of the early 80s are perennial leaders in passing and then it uh boreal left and while the defense was awful in the early 80s the defense becomes strong and here in 89 27th in the league the charger passing numbers but not today billy joe's done a good job he throws that one away no flag and there wasn't any receiver near that one arthur cox a tight end was well in the ballpark and that was about it [Applause] good pressure from brian davis on the cornerback blitz again colliver showed a lot of poise demonstrated that he's got the his mind and instincts going because he got rid of that ball that the situation where you throw that ball away one situation they'll call it another they won't and that's one of the rules that they're going to have to deal with with the competition committee because as of a couple of weeks ago games we've done that would have been called to actually get rid of getting rid of the ball prematurely at last look that last look of billy joe toliver now i know who he reminds me of illicit howard lets it go and the chargers are going to let it just roll out and the clock goes with it 145 144 donna to the seven yard line with the broad shoulders short red hair why not sunny jurgensen the hall of famer yeah that's who it was solid arm billy joe's guy i think the same basic personality too but watch uh a look-alike a young look-alike mark griffin he needs something in a hurry and he goes out to gary clark who makes a spectacular catch out at the 19-yard line and the redskins with only two time outs and a minute and a half to go they're going to hurry downfield normally i think joe gibbs would most likely run the clock out here but in this case he thinks he can go for it they're down 14 nothing they've got to get three points at least off on that board ernest feiner gets only three yards on that play before billy ray smith puts the tack on him 117 to go in the half time out washington it coupled pretty good as you see doug williams now the backup kerry porter and reuben mays were his running backs at washington state so he passed when they weren't running to the sidelines to monk and he's got another catch but doesn't get out of bounds at the 33-yard line now four catches from the number three all-time spot more importantly washington goes to work with just one minute to go in the half one time out left to the far side lines and it was almost intercepted by elvis patterson but clark steals it away what hands he has he is strong for a man five nine and 173 well that ball was thrown up for two men to go for and one came down with it clark that could have been disastrous if had gone the other way it's just a deep out pattern he plants now watch both men go for a football and he just clings to that thing and gets it to his body and it can't be pulled away can't get out of bounds however and that forces washington to spend its final time out so 49 seconds left 14-0 san diego here in washington green bay has cut kansas city's lead to four minnesota by seven detroit by four over chicago cincinnati now builds a 10-point lead houston by 10. pittsburgh 7-0 it's been that way for a long time in the meadowlands new orleans now leads buffalo 16-9 as the bills come back and philadelphia up by 14 over dallas well dan henning decided a couple of weeks ago to play all of his younger younger people that they've drafted and signed and tried to develop and see where they are i'm not sure that it wasn't conceding something but on the other hand as of today is paying off ernest feiner the lone setback good protection again now ripon scrambles throws and it's the sanders short yardage and the clock continues to run roy bennett an extra defensive back number 23 was there first [Music] clock ticks away an 8-yard gain not quite in field goal range for chip lomeyer whose longest this year 48. now ripon goes a little longer to clark and he can't hang on this time boy every catch that clark has an opportunity to make is in the tough category well again the protection is so solid right now this ball is just thrown a step or two too far and again that great acrobatic ability to go up for something and bring it back down but more importantly at this point the pass protection for the redskins is solid against a pass rush group that's supposed to be one of the best in football those defense there aren't any line stunts being used by the chargers at this point they're just coming straight up the field right into blockers and they're not getting close see les miller digging in defensive line george hinkle not active he's been placed on injured reserve by san diego plenty of time and he's going to go for a big one he's got sanders open [Applause] touchdown well the redskins laid a trap they worked on the short stuff almost as if they were going to settle for a field goal flooded everyone left and then broke sanders back to the right side and he beat gilbert again all the time he needed that kind of pass takes five seconds to get off griffon had all the time he needed to throw an accurate ball all the way across the field low miller adds the extra point and let's look at it from high above a flag down on the extra point they'll mark that off on the ensuing kickoff well you're going to see him sprint this way and then throw all the way back over here chargers funneling this way and there's just no one there when the ball comes down it's going to be thrown and caught at full stride so you see all the way across the field faking lift then up over the top and people just lost their concentration briefly but that's a fine catch running full speed and that ball traveling that far again dick the pass protection allowed him to do it here's sanders moves nods out then again there isn't the speed there to stay with him the defenders the entire secondary of the charger isn't very quick they don't have the speed and it demonstrated itself well that's really an emotional turnabout for joe gibbs redskins who have played a very quiet first half to be able to cut the lead in half with a long bomb 45 yards a 93 yard march in seven plays against a defense that has just now allowed its 12th touchdown pass of the season and sanders gets his fourth to cap a very impressive drive engineered by mark griffin well mark rickman dramatized us before the game that uh he's got the receivers can make big plays but ricky saunders said that's the man i want to go to to make the big play because he's got the speed and the ability to run after the catch this is figaro the linebacker who runs pretty well a former notre damer now to the 43-yard line 10 seconds to go jimmy johnson the tight end made the tackle ricky sanders adds another to his touchdown bank you know you come into these games late in the season expecting your defense to play well and to help you control the game and it's your offense as in the chargers case and vice versa for the for the redskins this time of year things are so unpredictable that charger pass rush group uh just haven't gotten there consequently ripons had the time to make the plays miller to the left walker to the right redskins of course playing for a long pass oliver throws underneath to walk check that to uh darren nelson and that's your short yardage in the chargers call time with two seconds to [Music] go [Music] [Applause] caught by miller stays in bounds and out of bounds at the 32 that's a little cosmetics for his uh season totals but no damage done mark reppin giving the fans hope after they trailed the entire half and finally cut it to 14-7 for the first half because their second half i mean because of the uh out of bounds that's 35 yard line that is rarely our kickoffs return that far apparently san diego is concerned about the kickoff return and later the punt return of of the redskins because they uh they've devastated them with them the chargers four and nine their last seven losses have averaged less than four points a game and they're in another one against a top-notch opponent washington well it's 265 yards in the first half as close to the charger total for a game so that shows you that they have gel somewhere hard monk adds another to the list out to the 41-yard line a six-yard gain for monk who needed seven catches at the start today to tie charlie taylor for number three all time he now has four as he keeps moving up the ranks there is the current tally including largest catches for the seahawks in today's game well mark griffin talking about his receivers his quote is he wants to get things rolling with monk because monk's so dependable at this point with his experience and exposure to the game he's solid redskins with only 16 yards rushing the entire first half right back to monk and he's got another and with it a first down at the 46-yard line [Applause] and once again the quickness is showing up monk's quickness and decisiveness on this pass pattern his defender just couldn't respond to it and i'm afraid that's going to be a problem unless the unless the chargers can make yards of their own now monk's going to go in motion start up and then burst in and lose his defender who's coming across with him so you'll see him start up the field burst up hard and then stop and start in and just hook in between people excellent execution bency glenn making the tackle first down at the 46. and here's ernest beiner and he's tripped up in the backfield it was joe phillips the nose tackle number 75 who was submerging got down low tripped him up and secured by leslie o'neill leslie o'neil took that half of the line out that time the way he penetrated watch number 50 gary plummer as he fights off the block of don warren oh gee on the scene they have to eliminate those kind of emotional outbursts because that's going to cost them games second at 11 and in traffic it's ricky sanders the touchdown and he's all the way to the san diego 20-yard 30-yard line chargers gave it all they had with their pass rush and they didn't get there consequently time was on the side of the redskins to hit the receivers well that gives sanders yardage over the 900 mark so all three wide receivers over 900 yards this year sanders is quick look at this just nimble movement excellent running instincts and tough going down that sideline that was another steal for the redskins for a number three pick to new england the sanders out of southwest texas state chargers have to at least slow the redskins down to stay in this game gerald riggs into the game number 37 and he stopped short of any big yardage by cedric figaro 250 pounds he should make things happen the iguero figaro they get things going out there in san diego i want to be the pa announcer oh boy listen i'll get you a free ticket in the next charger game you can tell me who was what opera starred figaro the barber oh you're gonna have me doing christmas carols right second down and six [Applause] earnest finer he's to the 21-yard line that'll be short of a first down what famous operatic barber barbara saville i knew you'd get it right coach walsh i thought you'd say the barber of cincinnati shaving a haircut all right third down and two les miller number 69 in for joe phillips now a little better pass rusher a touchdown here could hurt the chargers state of mind because they've been through this they've been frustrated before for their sake i'm sure that they could just limit this to three points griffin great catch nope clark they rule it a catch in a funnel no now finally someone comes in waving incomplete gil bird 22 was the man who made the hit now we're going to have a conference no one waved incomplete and now finally the official that was way over in the far corner of the end zone was the one man who saw it well it looked as though from our vantage point that he had the ball well thrown up and with it with it oh there he dropped it he did drop it excellent call didn't get both feet down before he'd really pulled it away so chip lomeyer comes in to try the field goal it'll be 38 or 39 yards if the chargers can escape with this they're going to stay in this ball game just inside the 38 and the kick is right down the middle 38-yard field goal by low miller and that cuts the charger lead to 14-10 on the opening possession of the second half 1104 now remaining in the third and it's the chargers 14 the redskins 10. [Music] welcome back to rfk 1410 san diego anthony miller with a kickoff it was his return for a touchdown against the raiders that rallied san diego to an upset 14-12 win earlier in the year other scores kansas city boy you bill walsh picked that early in the year there's a team on the come and they're really racing now toward a possible playoff spot minnesota by only three detroit trying to upset chicago and boyd upset how about ditka cincinnati 10-7 houston with a big lead at the half pittsburgh still seven nothing new orleans by only four buffalo chipping away with a field goal at the saints lead and philadelphia by two touchdowns against the cow folks well this is the most important half of the season for dan henning and his team because they have to demonstrate character at this point four point lead in the game third quarter against a top-notch opponent they're going to have to keep their composure underneath the walker incomplete and he is drilled by okowitz well that was all on walker he he kept drifting in toward a zone defender instead of stopping now there was a tight end was up up the field wide open but walker keeps moving in and again toliver leads him right into his own defender they'll be ironing that out most likely not in this game or this season but those are the kinds of things that a young team will those mistakes they'll make uh two rookies trying to complete a pass in the nfl olfowicz comes out playing in his final home game here at rfk 11 solid years second and ten marion butts to the 30 a pickup of five butts had over 40 yards rushing in the first half manusky and coleman made the tackle third and five and the nickel package comes in for the redskins who have been outstanding in the second half the last four games for washington they have not allowed a point to phoenix the bears denver and philadelphia joel gibbs looking for win number 100. crowd's starting to get into it now incomplete and wayne walker suddenly has had the drops he's dropped three or four balls since starting the game brilliantly that could have been a first down instead the redskins will get the ball well it was just a little off off center the throw itself and those kind of throws have to be right on the mark because if you have to reach and there are defenders on either side of you very difficult catch but these are critical times for san diego very critical times for their season and in the future as i say this setting to develop character as a team they're finding out about themselves right now illicit handles a low snap wobbly kick oh that almost hit one of the redskins and finally it's down near midfield mark griffin and they start with two men in the back build one is don warren you'll be a lead blocker [Music] [Applause] the safety valve is good for about eight yards martin bayless the tackler well bayless waited and waited on the receiver and gave him an extra five yards that's just demonstrating really a lack of of confidence he's going to come up the field and the hit just hit his outlet receiver and uh he wants to go down the field but now he gets his outlet receiver to the outside and you'll see it when the ball's caught here now bayless is settling down right there waiting waiting waiting and he's giving five extra yards by the time a receiver gets to him and he's stationary he gets bowled over a long one on second down miner slipping outside a grossman has a first down and more a flag is down grossman was tackled by jim lachey well grossman was yeah he certainly was dick we saw both saw the same thing lachey one of the great offensive tackles in the game and that time he knew he was in trouble apparently because he reached out and just grabbed grossman and held him that lachey scenario was interesting one how he ended up in the with the redskins and had left san diego holding offense number 79 10 yard penalty second down as you look at lachey 79 we'll kind of give you the background on that he was in san diego of course a top draft pick a number one pick in 85. i watch him here is uh grossman getting away and he just kind of pulls him down from behind well there's a little skill to that you notice he just caught the instep of the foot very lightly and tripped his man cliche then unhappy he wanted to be traded to a midwestern team finally i felt he wasn't building himself up upper body strength even though he was a good player wasn't a great player griffin just gets it away bayless putting the pressure on and it's a catch for a month in a first down at the 40 of san diego and monk is now just two catches away from charlie taylor in the number three spot and then lashay well we'll let you watch monk here first [Applause] again plenty of pass protection so art monk is wide open in his own defense again the disciplines aren't really showing up leslie o'neill natural pass rusher natural defensive lineman is now playing linebacker and part of the time he's in coverage now there's a late hit here right there that should have been called but the pass coverage o'neal wasn't deep enough or sound enough to stop that play should have been five yards deeper in his drop here's monk and he's just picking up a bundle pole another catch for monk and nine more yards and that is his seventh and he now ties that great receiver charlie taylor charlie says i've had the champagne ready hurry up and break my record and the crowd now acknowledges that he is tied taylor 649. well it takes a lot more than just speed to be a receiver monk is a complete player plus that he's been able to handle injuries he's shown the stamina to play week after week those are the things that make a truly great hall of fame athlete i think he's a hall of fame player because he's going to keep going now and move up that ladder as far as receptions are concerned he's only 31. he's got some years later he's got at least two years left and he'll move up and he's a sound player and he's generally been injury-free with great stamina he's excellent at the end of the season so i i can't help but think he'd be a hall of fame player the legal procedure was the call against washington so it'll be first down in 15. he's caught passes in 98 consecutive games and uh most certainly will assure himself a place on the washington hall of stars wall charlie taylor's there jack can't cook the owner of the redskins all the famous uh washingtonians who played in this area and all sports are honored here at rfk underneath wide open as clark gilbert on the corner runs him out of bounds at the 25-yard line well established passing game the mechanics are excellent griffin is dropping and taking having good timing you'll see the ball get there just at the right moment pulling away from a defender catching the ball again they're taking advantage of birds in a sense lack of speed because he has to work so hard to save stay with the receiver that he loses him when he changes direction clark needed only 71 yards today to reach a thousand for the charger time charger stick are going to need a real break here to stay in the game breaking into the secondary in a first down at the 14. figaro finally got him to the turf well as a as a young team uh as dan henning has developing you you sort of go into a uh not a stupor but you become mesmerized by the play that develops here and uh as far as the offense is concerned they're they're doing better today but they've given up somewhat uh defensively they're sort of in a shambles right now and not really sure how to deal with it underneath and uh he was looking for binder to go inside and weiner did not fortunately for washington the ball lands at the feet of gary plummer i want to get back to jim lachey the scenario went this way that he wanted to be traded finally they sent him to the raiders to lachey for john clay an offensive tackle that they now fear will never play and napoleon mccallum who's playing for the usf u.s navy and might be available next year then the raiders traded lachey here to washington and that was the jay schrader deal and now he's going into the weight room and they feel he is a great tackle because he's doubled his strength he could be the best in the league hitting indianapolis is great but almost intercepted by figaro oh that would have been that has set us up you were ready for an aria i could just see you getting ready to sing a total aria figaro would have offered one if he had gotten all the way back he was on the way to seville well this is what the chargers need is a play like this to stop the drive to stop the momentum that catch right there could have been the most significant of the season for the chargers it's like trying to hit a fly but lachey back to lachey he is right now most likely the best athlete the smoothest smoothest athlete athlete to play that position at 290 pounds 6-6 and smooth [Applause] third and 10. and he throws it away good pressure from bert grossman okay here comes lowe miller so the first drive of the second half of the skins wound up in a 38-yard field goal by this man and now he comes in for even a shorter chance dan henning knows the book of joe gibbs and he knows that gibbs has a fake in there too they know each other so well actually the charger offense mirrors that used here in washington 31 yards and it's now a one-point game 13. joe gibbs uh said he's given him everything he needs to win and all of their support when things go poorly jack cook is there to support him jamie holland is ripped down at the 28-yard line brian davis 34. the tackler former owner of the los angeles kings and the la lakers jack ken cook one of forbes wealthiest men kansas city still with a sizable laid in packer country minnesota up by 10 the lions trying to stun the bears seattle has moved in front of cincinnati 10-point houston lead pittsburgh 7-0 they've been locked in seven nothing since the opening kickoff and finally buffalo catches new orleans philadelphia well in front of the cowboys here it's 14-13 chargers desperately need a first down with that one possession three in front and oliver throwing down field incomplete as he was being hit no flag and was he in the grass they might have whistled that dead back as the hit was made daryl grant good play fake but you see the tremendous power coming up the field on charles mann one of the best and under not under some but one of the best pass rushers in the league but he's so good that he's almost relentlessly good every play the same effort every play the same kind of performance and he's he's their key defender at this point charles c mann the cement man he puts a load on you he wants to lead the league in sex butts used his power to drive forward for a couple of yards when hit by clarence vaughn flew into that support level he just flew into it to make the play now san diego is a little desperate now i'm sure they're having trouble making their calls because things are sort of coming unraveling on them they need something down the field completed to at least get field position or they'll just get undated by the redskins offense which uh even if it has to score field goals it's not going to be stopped both miller and walker are to the left oliver incomplete through the hands of his tight end arthur cox now in fairness to toliver is the receivers have been a bit unkind since the first quarter a lot of drops and washington cheers three and out again for san diego i'm worried about this punt dick the last time we got a punt from san diego it was a little inadequate so let's see what happens this time joe howard back to return waits for butts to get on the field he moves in at a guard spot to block on this punt team they better hurry they didn't do it i guess so i saw zero on the clock yeah there's the flag down field at the 35 yard line thrown for taking too much time that ball is not coming off his foot right that's for sure that was about a 30-yard punt he's had some great kicks this year illusion he's had a 5-yarder a 12-yarder and a 14-yard kick delay of game five yard penalty fourth down this is the tough part for dan henning and developing a team they can come so close looks so good but it's almost impossible to do it for 60 minutes you know the feeling well the people forget your first year with the 49ers what were you two and fourteen two and four did you go through this i looked just like dan does right this minute everything milling through your mind what can you do to try to bring it back now it's still possible they're ahead but uh the mistakes start to compound themselves at this stage of the game with all that inexperience on the field you wait for a reason to lose spiral low but it does drive howard back to the 27 and he's out to the 38-yard line tonight on nbc a special presentation the conclusion of a mother's courage the mary thomas story she's the mother of the great piston guard isaiah thomas followed by angelian sister kate nbc sunday night at the movies george pipard one of my favorite stars and man against the mob of the chinatown murders that's tonight only on nbc and stay tuned after the game for the budweiser nfl report with bob and oj and all the scores and highlights look alike dick george depart dick hensburg you look alike last week he said i look like jonathan winters wait a minute you got to settle in on one kind of thing though [Music] ripping to the sidelines to clark and he's open again at the charger 49 another first down 13 more yards for clark we're gonna have to update that run toward a thousand yards these receivers for ripping all going for a thousand to become only the second team to sport a uh hat trick in that regard and they're all over 900 and closing in on a thousand mike tice now comes in at tight end griffin's got the big arm to get this ball along the sidelines with some zip on and he's done it any number of times protecting the ball gets about four gary plummer makes the tackle second and six now joe campbell 95 has replaced o'neill finer again breaks a couple of tackles and only gets a yard jerry plummer finishes the job so here it's 14-13 and let's check elsewhere in the nfl all right dick after trailing at one point ten nothing at riverfront seattle is rallied to take the lead david craig steps up into the pocket finds brian blades he goes untouched to complete the play it covers 60 yards and seattle has the lead in the third at riverfront 17-10 back to dick and bill all right bob chuck knox's team trying to be the big spoiler beat up on buffalo and now trying to upset cincinnati here's our monk he's all alone now a first down with his 650th career catch he'll keep that ball eight catches today for art monk more importantly for washington a first down as they're driving into field goal range trailing 14-13 here's gerald riggs on the run first down 14 yards for the former atlanta falcon pro bowler three times chargers need a break right now they need some kind of a break uh they're going to be you know they're working up the field they get a trap play up the middle and uh what they're doing now is breaking tackles all over the field and riggs a load at 232 pounds two pounds less than his quarterback breaks again and they stop him at the 15 billy ray smith from arkansas his dad played in this part of the woods with a baltimore colts for 14 years a great player continues to follow obviously his son closely and root for him and here's a real son when you talk about a solid character on a team talking with him last night i just see you saying boy that's the kind of player i'd like to have had with the 49ers you need some of those kinds of men on a team they're dedicated they're driven to play the game of football conscientious about everything they do and that rubs off as a big part of it going toward the end zone incomplete to clark elvis patterson got a hand in just in time to deny six well-timed pattern third and nine the ball is just under thrown slightly but it was really thrown a little bit late because it really there wasn't the room to maneuver to catch it but that's one of the few passes defended by the chargers since the first quarter patterson former giant toast though parcells gave him that nickname you've got burned so often don't mind the nickname big play third and nine it's like a blitz front looks like they're all gonna come they're gonna take a chance on it here they come the throw hitter oh elvis patterson had it thrown right to him and seemed to jump too soon and instead of an interception to deny a score here comes the field goal unit and low meyer will go for the lead we've seen two situations where the ball should have been caught a blitz right up the middle an unblocked man right down the throat the ball is thrown sort of recklessly and there's the interception now that's going to be the difference if uh you can't get those kind of things down you can't get anything done that was uh 33-yard field goal for the lead and washington is in front 16-14 as low miller hits his third of the third quarter griffin not happy he's lucky they got the three 95 of the nation's top 10 teams on new year's day here on nbc is with a 16-14 lead here comes jamie holland for the san diego chargers and he's corralled at the 27. saturday and sunday nfl action on nbc bob costas and oj simpson on saturday at 3 30. we have the late game of the doubleheader denver broncos and the phoenix cardinals and the broncos depending on this weekend either will be looking ahead to a full home field advantage or fighting for that houston cincinnati most of you will see that as the early game in the doubleheader on sunday the late game buffalo in san francisco the jets and the rams bill and i will be out in the familiar territory candlestick park for the bills and the niners billy joe toliver marion butts the big fullback gets about five in this quarter the redskins have run 23 plays and the chargers six no first downs for dan henning three and out seven total yards and the lead of 14 nothing has now been lost and washington's in front 16-14 just desperately need a first down just for their state of mind their peace of mind the defense the defensive unit from the chargers is going to have to get some break here and some heat off of them because each time in the second half they've had to go in and take the ball defensively around midfield which is a brutal job [Applause] oliver alluding the rush and then throwing incomplete calibers over five in this third quarter and looks at third down five in the final minute plus of the third period he goes to mcewen the former he's close to a first down at the 37-yard line dan henning's team out like a rocket in the first quarter the touchdown passes toliver to miller and toliver to walker and then joe gibbs steadily eroding at that lead as he searches for his 100th career win in nine seasons here in washington well the play calling now is most difficult for the chargers i assume that ted tallner is handling that part of it so tough because things are starting to fall apart all over the field first down play and butts they're waiting for him charles mann and neil okowitz veteran defenders [Music] 50 seconds remaining in the third henning was a quarterback in his playing days at william and mary this is the first year of a five-year contract not been easy not only the record but he's had some problems with a press out in san diego remember those pictures all the press up on the hill had to peek over he locked them out that's kind of tough to do well the san diego press has conditioned to frustration in recent years since the dan fouts era and they don't have a a lot of patience at this point the flag down oliver may have a free play here back inside goes walker and ducks in under the punch defensively off the coast of canada friday island friday island building a home he left a phone number and he said the phone is is nailed to a tree he said let it ring for as long as you want because i it takes me a while to get there the phone is nailed to a tree so don and his wife or not of the younger set at this point in life are building a home the two of them on this island friday island off canada in the wilderness in the wilderness and that is the end of the third and we don't have to quarter all the way to the tree to call but we'll be with you in a moment first half with a touchdown bomb to ricky sanders three field goals in the third and it's a 16-14 advantage for the skins first down san diego midfield billy joe toliver throwing that one to somebody over there and uh well the heat's on billy joe right now yeah the receiver is tied in open down the middle but he just winged that one out of there he's he's avoiding the interception and the big uh turnaround and that i suppose is helpful but right now that time he just threw the ball away prematurely henning didn't know he was the primary receiver a little stunned by all that mcmahon who's i'm sure having a tough time [Applause] second and ten from the san diego 47. karen nelson in motion the throw is to nelson short yardage to the washington 48 greg minuski made the tackle well nelson's come to the team for as a third down football player darren who i worked with the stanford recruited him out of high school he's a great high school player a top student and he really put stanford on the map when he played for the for the cardinal and at this point in the later stages of his career a play or two or three maybe four a game on third down he can make the difference and that's what they have him at this point for but right now they're just not able to get him the ball don't know what this delay is for third down and five we talked about don coryell they're going to have another outstanding coach out there in san diego former charger head man and the father of the passing game for so many coaches are gonna have an honor after further review play stand third down tonight in uh in february in san diego for sid gilman uh a man that influenced you as well sid was the true master of contemporary football all phases of it but primarily the passing game he's made a big difference to the game third and long five for toliver right through the hands again of a receiver anthony miller maybe he's too strong well suddenly the chargers have the dropsy and it's been contagious everybody having difficulty maybe the weather they're not used to the chill well that's the kind of path that has to be thrown many many times in practice a crossing receiver you see miller right in the middle of the screen now and miller is is sort of running half speed and quarterback doesn't know tolliver doesn't know which side of them to throw the ball so they have to be much more decisive when they see a zone defense by and large you sprint and stop you pivot to a stop and the ball is then thrown to you so that again is the continuity that must be developed with this team and i assume it'll take another year or two illicit another real short kick takes a little bounce for san diego and goes out of bounds near the 20-yard line two touchdowns by san diego and with a lead of 16-14 plenty of time 14 minutes to go ripon gives to biner and now is the time where that running game has to work for you have a lead try to keep possession drive downfield get some more plumber and lee williams in on that tackle joe gibbs is the master at this point in the game itself of managing his ball club during the contest as to what to do strat strategically in this case use the clock run the ball call certain passes that will minimize interception possibilities those kinds of things only come with experience and looking for his 100th win 100th victory joe gibbs now has become the master of managing his team during the game ripping it's a monk another nice catch out to the 26-yard line elvis patterson on the coverage joe gibbs when we told you earlier when he he described the dallas loss 13-3 as the low point forever he didn't just sit on it he made some drastic changes well he just decided to revert back to what they've done previously and that is to work hard in practice at some point with a veteran team you like to ease up mid-season so that they're healthy each week but the redskins definitely lost their edge and were humiliated by dallas at home don warren no flag as uh martin bayless was hogging them hard and the redskins will have to give it up you know dick in in talking with joe gibbs he said we had to go back to hard work and if the player was too old they had to find out if they couldn't work hard in practice maybe they shouldn't be playing but everybody responded as you assume they would with his direction boscianko handled a low snap nicely here's phil mcconkey [Applause] to the 39-yard line with 12-23 remaining in the fourth quarter he's gonna root out something for us for christmas get in the backfield again charles mann zeroing in on marion butts and drops him for a loss of a yard it'll be second at 11. andy parker the tight end tried to handle man and man was just too quick he exploded before the charger offensive line could even get on track the first two drives of the game for dan henning resulted in the two touchdowns and since that time seven more attempts and they haven't even accumulated as many yards as in those first two well they're going to have to get half fortunate here and get a big play down the field they've got good field positions there's a man open miller and a first down at the washington 46. got a flag dick and it's back in san diego territory holding chargers well you almost don't have to say it you look at heading and it's it's part of why some teams have to rebuild four on the offense 10 yard penalty second down brett miller the right tackle i assume miller had charles man to deal with at that point let's go back to when did it turn around for you was there a game or a time or a you know what when does it finally come together and you turn loose into win well late in the second year we won three games against good opposition that made the difference but it takes that long screen as they invited charles mann in and got it to darren nelson and he scoots out to the 46-yard line good play that got the 10 back from the penalty plus about seven more monoski and mayhew made the hit well the chargers are still uh in the ball game if they can just hit a couple plays now here's darren nelson now he's not concerned about the man behind him a lot of people would be looking back but he uses his speed to clear himself up the field critical play in the game right now they're going to have to take the ball without a first down here the clock's going to start really working against him third down two and a half underneath and that'll be the first down just enough miller making the catch right on the 50-yard line yeah just a little softer touch on that ball we've made it catchable because that is in traffic to get those three yards a receiver surrounded has to concentrate anthony miller has a half dozen catches today and 109 yards well i'm looking myself at this point for a play pass to go down the field with the last two or three runs they've attempted on first down have gotten them nothing so at this point you'd assume he's going to go down the field with something miller to the left then they throw back to butts underneath and a good job defensively when it appeared that the blue shirts outnumbered the whites butts gets only a couple fred stokes number 60 in on the stop an attempted screen but the blocking the screen just wasn't quick enough to handle the defense excellent job defensively of getting underneath the blocker joe howard came out as a tackle to make a play but we got underneath it and made the stop it looked like it might go for something but again he's going to have to go down the field pretty quickly see the time remaining in the fourth quarter the skins lead 16-14 that was the first reception for the fullback butts monty coleman coming in on a blitz and oliver got rid of it mcewen the closest san diego player and caliber that rush from the veteran monty coleman who's so outstanding as a linebacker against the pass both in coverage and on the blitz and he unloaded well coleman came right off of this edge the guard trying to come out and get him couldn't get there quickly enough consequently toliver had to just get rid of the ball here it comes people aren't getting outside on it so the ball had to be thrown before anybody was seven for san diego they've made it a game and they pull the upset they're underdogs by 10 points wide open what a catch by nelson 30 25 what a move and he's inside the 20 into the 15-yard line oh my darren nelson welcome back to washington dickenberg with bill walsh first down san diego at the skins 15. marion butts pulling his way for five at the 10-yard line second and five butts breaks a tackle and he has a touchdown marion butts he gets that 250 pounds going and top two stop his ninth score of the year we found somebody in butt so that power especially in the later stages of the game the players don't feel fatigued but they are their their reactions their responses aren't as quick and that power can make a difference much like akoya does it it with the kansas city well you talk about strength up the middle in sports and here in football the middle for san diego's offense rookie center courtney hall rookie quarterback billy joe toliver rookie fullback marion butts and they've got the chargers in the lead and chris barr adds the extra point it's 21-16 and the pressure goes to the redskins here's the kick by bar to the 10. howard who's had some good returns today and the season scores out he's at the 50 and brought down at the 39-yard line what a return by joe howard elvis patterson may have saved a touchdown caught him from behind we can't show the entire blocking pattern but the special team returns for the redskins are devastating the chargers you see the blocking all the way through people are getting out of position because blockers are threatening them and a man like hardware that speed is just going to split people [Applause] ripping and he wisely slides out of bounds at the 33-yard line well it was howard who had a 59-yard kickoff return in the first half call back on a penalty he had a punt return of 45 yards in the second quarter that eventually led to a touchdown field position at least and now a 50-yard kickoff return to spark the redskins at a time where they needed it relinquish the lead and then come right back with a big kick return you know dick the predictions we had made about the super bowl and i mentioned fully dimensional teams denver the 49ers this is a problem with the chargers they're they're playing very well in one phase of the game and very poorly in another and it's basically because of a young team that's just being put together and orchestrated not the depth and there goes ripon long for clark incomplete martin bayless came over to help out vince glenn and their timing was perfect they arrived as the ball did bayless played a beautiful free safety on that play he just timed that ball coming down watch him just time it time it time it now what right on the money helmet right where the ball would have been absorbed beautiful job critical time now this is again the entire season in a sense for san diego riding on this three or four yard play bayless came to san diego from the redskins from buffalo for wayne davis now wayne davis is playing with the redskins third and four monk can't get that one there's a rip and hurrying with pressure from vincey glenn who's coming up the middle on him so it's fourth down and four what does joe gibbs do crowd will help him well the full blitz that time the full blitz forced the pass to be thrown early couldn't have been thrown accurately under those conditions now we're down to a fourth down again so much of the season rise for both of these clubs on this one play all that work in training camp all that preparation fourth and four pressure on ripon going for clark he's open [Applause] touchdown gary clark with his eighth touchdown of the season 33 yards from ripon on fourth down and four and now low miller to try the point after [Applause] [Music] redskins 23. chargers 21. [Applause] [Music] and a lot of fans arrived with the lyrics and with the thought they'd be singing a lot today but the chargers have played washington tough and made this a most interesting game [Applause] gary clark offered the final punctuation mark but it was joe howard's kickoff return that set it up straight up the field to the corner again a blitz great job by ripping throwing that ball to a spot he knew there wouldn't be a free safety back there he threw it up and clark just turned and ran for it now the kickoff anthony miller and jamie holland that kick to holland every time [Music] he gets only to understandably 15-yard line then that should be a penalty coming down late was jimmy johnson he was already down and johnson slammed him we'll see if there's a flag griffin nailed knocked down as he threw the ball but he's got his six points that was a great job sometimes a quarterback all the attention's on a receiver and you look back and see what happens to a quarterback just as the ball is thrown chargers went to the blitz one too many times left that middle open griffin just threw to a spot clark went and got the ball clark is over a thousand monk must be very close and sanders has 900 plus now the crowd going to make a tough on toliver and there is the problem they fumble the ball and washington recovers charles mann and the skins have it at the charger 13-yard line tough to win in washington d.c with a rookie quarterback it looks as though the exchange was bad with oliver pulling out just a little early and they dropped the ball and under that tremendous pressure of the noise from the crowd that can really affect your thought processes ernest byner he's down to the five yard line good yardage you think about the big plays and you go back even to the early field goals in this half on both field goals by washington figaro had an interception right in his midst they got a field goal they dived deep again it was uh this time elvis patterson had a easy interception couldn't handle it they get another field goal and now the big turnover san diego played error-free until this point and now down 23-21 the redskins trying to go up by more than a touchdown and it's minor stopped about at the three-yard line now can start really thinking more positively about uh that hundredth win he is one of the top coaches in the game no question well at this point he's probably the most complete when it comes to all phases of the game along with don schuler i'm sure there are many others right close but joe gibbs has personified the nfl in this last decade griffin backs off takes another look at that charger defense lets the clock run down still 10 seconds on the 45-second clock and gives the rigs and he is hit at about the two-yard line it's so tough when you have part of a team as the as the chargers feel uh at this time part of a team individual players that are up to it you take a billy ray smith that kind of person who's got that great competitive zeal to him and o'neill and some of these others williams some great players but not a complete team so things sooner or later begin to break down in this game basically it's been the kick and punt returns of the redskins that's made the difference paul on the one yard line second and goal four tight ends and rings touchdown a flag is down let's see it's in the backfield of washington and it's holding washington so no score they'll have to go at it again and with 10 yards it'll be second and 11. second and goal from the 11. [Music] offense number 53 second down veteran center jeff bostic he's the last of the hogs with all the injuries he now has mckenzie lachey schlereth and simmons doesn't have the grimms and maze and jacobi's with him with the entry toe mounting early this year that's a tough call down there anything can happen with all those bodies being uh knocked around rarely do you call holling at that point on the field so difficult to find it had to have been the referee looking at bostick and catching him winging someone no second and goal from the 11. it's byner a little draw and he gets it inside the five-yard line billy ray smith down low to make the tackle third and goal from the four the chargers are still in it three points won't destroy them they've got their chance they'll have to score a touchdown a touchdown would make it very difficult as the clock continues to work against san diego now 437 interesting call here what do you think four yards most likely some kind of a bootleg coming back to the outside he's got all three wide receivers lined up on the left sanders monk and far out as clark with miner in the backfield and sanders in motion and lee williams [Applause] or whomever was it jumped up might have been leslie o'neill just pointed right on the shoulder pad of the that moved too soon and that'll be third and goal from the nine glad simmons set back it was obviously a pass five yard penalty third down the redskins have been great at this point on the field to run what you've a so-called pick play in which a man trying to cover will get knocked off his receiver and there'll be someone open now they're famous for this they do a beautiful job of it and let's see if we can find it this time the alignment has worn the tight end right with sanders and monk both to the right clark to the left throw for clark he's got it but he's hit immediately at the five-yard line good defensive play by the chargers low miller hits it anyway right at george allen the folks that used to be the winningest give as far surpassed allen's marks here 28 yards officially and it's now 26-21 [Music] 3 22 left and they have two timeouts and this time miller will get a chance to return oh has he got speed he finished just a hair behind daryl green for the nfl's fastest man that you saw on nbc back in august late looks a final in minnesota has won detroit apparently is going to beat the bears cincinnati has rallied to tie seattle houston by only three now the bucks are rallying pittsburgh wins 13-0 over the jets new orleans back in front of buffalo and philadelphia maintaining 10. late games underway though they are cleveland indy giants set denver phoenix and the raiders here this game's still in doubt with 3 13 to go san diego and oliver begin at the 30. complete to miller who caught that one sitting down 47-yard line of san diego two and a half minutes to go five-point lead washington almost intercepted and a flag goes down todd bowles darting in front of the intended target anthony allen illegal use of hands number 91 defense five yard penalty first down greg miniski linebacker here's here's the holding part of it right here you'll see him come up the field and he's going to attempt to oh he's got a face mix that's what it is just reached over and grabbed the face mask unnecessarily the 48-yard line of washington first down 226 left good protection and the throw to darren nelson he had the big catch on the last touchdown drive and is inside the skins 40-yard line jack trudeau has hit andre rice and 51 yards and indianapolis has the early lead against staggering cleveland 7-0 in the first in that game [Applause] still working on charles mann and he's telling us that he's all muscle and not enough fat he says unlike most of it he wants to put on some pounds he said every year he dwindles down from 270 to 255. he wants to be able to keep his weight up said everything hurts and i only have muscle and bone second and one two minutes to go five point game polliver down the middle and caught there was no one in the world did he catch it he was being interfered with and miller comes up with it anyway that was beautifully thrown ball it just got there an instant late but there was interference no question about it blitz coming and incomplete the throw intended for anthony allen as oliver had to unload quickly they trail by five draw play to nelson that didn't fool the redskins two downs to make a touchdown these are the toughest calls because nothing really has been established other than they've got miller to catch it joe gives defensively now trying to come up with two big plays stop the chargers win this game his 100th career win here in washington and the chargers trying to establish themselves as a viable nfl competitor the throw is to wayne walker tackled inside the 10. fourth down call it two and a half for a first down six yards for what could be a winning touchdown anthony miller to the left walker to the right nelson in the backfield with batman anthony allen incomplete he went for the touchdown and walker couldn't get it broken up by martin mayhew well he went for it all it's been that kind of year right on the doorstep of so many wins that the charges been linebacker gary plummer said it's like playing in a rod sterling twilight zone it feel like him in a cast of 45 a horror show week after week they've been close and haven't done it week after week now that was the logical play to expect for the redskins they were really tight they blitzed up inside tight man-to-man coverage and it was just thrown a little bit high but again they didn't have a physical receiver out there to catch it so consequently when they went for the ball they couldn't really physically handle it and now with all the time out spent by san diego mark griffin has to only kneel down twice and this game is over there's one and they'll chew up 45 seconds with that well a great win for joe gibbs i personally congratulate him what a great job they've done there developing that franchise without a lot of draft choices and bobby beathard making key personnel moves joe gibbs and his staffs and some wonderful coaches working with him putting this together to one of the dynasties in the league today he said it's been like an emotional marathon coaching in this league he said with the success we've had it's actually become tougher since we've won super bowls because the expectations are so high in this city and some have thought well maybe he was running out of emotional fuel and that he might retire but he's uh denied all of those rumors we've heard over the past week and today in just his ninth year in washington the redskins have earned their 100th win against a team that gave them a good goal billy joe toliver and the san diego chargers once again very much in a game only to lose at the end this by just five points [Applause] and setting himself as the number three receiver all time in nfl history history our budweiser mvp is art monk who had a great game today for the redskins big catches when they needed them that's been his story neil oklewitz in his final home game you know he's the kind of player that every team needs undersize doesn't have great speed tough loves that helmet on and it's going to be tough for him to hang it up today [Music] there he is art monk our budweiser mvp budweiser will make a contribution to the united way on behalf of all the most valuable players selected in today's games now the sell out cheers

Channel: Sports !

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Id: xtRXLy5-R4Y

Length: 121min 6sec (7266 seconds)

Published: Thu May 27 2021