Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 31, 1994 TAG: 9411120046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Gus Frerotte proved he was only human, if still a darling. All 315 pounds of Tre Johnson received a kickoff. Guard Ray Brown spent more than a few plays as an eligible receiver. Desmond Howard not only caught three passes, he also threw a downfield block.
There were ghosts of Washington Redskins' seasons past literally moving the old NFL ballyard on Capitol Street, too.
Chip Lohmiller kicked three field goals without a miss, something he hadn't done since a 1992 game. Even new Redskins coach Norv Turner noticed something historical, too.
``The thing that excited me,'' Turner said, ``is that obviously we're playing better and that's going to get people going. That noise from the crowd, that's the RFK I was thinking about when I took this job. That was special.''
And as much as it was a throwback game without the old uniforms, and as much as it was a close encounter of the umpteenth time in the Philadelphia-Washington series, it also reminded the RFK faithful too much of what they've seen this season.
Eddie Murray's 30-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining lifted the Eagles to a 31-29 victory over the Redskins. It was Philadelphia's fifth straight win in the NFC East series, all decided in the final minute.
It also left the Redskins 0-5 at RFK this season, something they haven't been since 1961, the year the place opened as D.C. Stadium. Washington (2-7) now needs to win its last seven games to reach owner Jack Kent Cooke's preseason predicition of a 9-7 finish.
With games against San Francisco and Dallas sandwiching a bye week, the Redskins' chances of reversing their fortunes in the next month appear unlikely. That's why the loss to a 6-2 Philly team - the Redskins' 12th straight NFC East defeat - was so tough to take.
Until the end, it was a contest of improbabilities in many ways.
The struggling Lohmiller was 3-for-3 on field goals, including a crossbar-skimming 54-yarder to end the first half. When he booted a 40-yarder with 3:58 to play, it seemed possible he'd have the ninth game-winning kick of his career and first since he single-footedly outkicked the Vikings 15-12 in Week 7 of the '92 season.
The reliable Murray, 9-for-9 on field goals in his first year with the Eagles after picking up a Super Bowl ring last season in Dallas, missed his first two kicks. Then, he wins the game.
But it was quarterback Randall Cunningham who enabled the Eagles to pass Washington at the finish. Cunningham calmly guided Philadelphia to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on drives of 75 and 62 yards.
``He's just a winner,'' Eagles second-year running back Vaughn Hebron said of Cunningham. ``When we're in a position to win, Randall usually comes through.''
Hebron, the former Virginia Tech star, showed up not knowing if he would do much more than return kickoffs. He rose from the bottom of the depth chart to ground out yards when rookie Charlie Garner couldn't and James Joseph was bruised.
Hebron's first touchdown of the season gave the Eagles an eight-point lead with 10:45 left. The Baltimore native has four touchdowns in his NFL career, half of those against the Redskins, a team he loved to hate as a kid.
``A winning team finds a way to win a game like this,'' Hebron said. ``We have a good mixture of veterans who know how to win, guys like Randall and Herschel [Walker], especially on offense.
``It was a great feeling to get in the end zone. It was a great feeling to get in the game and get the ball as much as I did. I hadn't been in the end zone in a while. I didn't know what to do.''
Cunnigham did. On the final drive, with RFK shaking, he ran a toss sweep to Hebron from the Redskins' 34. Hebron went half the distance to the goal line. Four plays later Murray made the total scoreboard difference 22 points in the last seven Philadelphia-Washington meetings.
Considering the opposition, it was one of the Redskins' best and most frustrating games. The offensive line protected Frerotte and started a solid running game.
Frerotte threw strong while trying to follow Jim Youel as the second Redskins rookie QB to win his first two starts - Youel beat the Boston Yankees and Eagles in 1946. He also was intercepted twice and fumbled, mistakes by the NFL's last-ranked team in turnover margin that became 14 Philadelphia points.
``I think they're on the right track,'' Eagles coach Rich Kotite said of Washington.
The Redskins, however, have no Cunningham to show them the way.
``There's no one better in football, I think, than Randall in two minutes,'' Kotite said. ``The way he took control, kept clear and got everybody on the same page with the plays.
``With the noise and his choice and his decisions and his touch. He did a fantastic job.''
by CNB