THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409050138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Sheepishly, Norv Turner admitted he had fallen prey to human nature last week and allowed himself to mentally script his regular season debut as head coach of the Washington Redskins.
There would be an opening touchdown drive, crisp passing and powerful running. The defense would be impregnable and the day would conclude with a satisfying victory that would serve as a springboard to a season of surprises.
Turner's look into the future couldn't have been more wrong. Except for the opening touchdown, the Seattle Seahawks, 1 1/2-point underdogs, lit up Turner's script and his Redskins, 28-7.
It could have been worse. The Seahawks, a 6-10 team last season, had another touchdown called back when the Seahawks defense was offsides.
Seattle outgained the Redskins, 350-258. The Seahawks rushed for 174 yards; Washington 42.
``You walk off the field after losing a football game like this and you think nothing's good,'' Turner said following the Redskins' worst loss in a home opener since the Browns clobbered Otto Graham's first Redskins squad, 38-14, in 1966. ``But I've been around long enough to know when we look at the films, we'll see some positives.''
The Redskins took the opening kickoff and marched 82 yards to a 7-0 lead. RFK Stadium rocked when Desmond Howard beat Robert Blackmon on a down-and-out and cradled John Friesz's 27-yard pass for his first pro scoring reception.
Then came an avalanche of mistakes.
First, Brian Mitchell lost his perspective on Rick Tuten's booming punt and fielded it inside the Redskins' 10.
Then he fumbled when pounded by Jon Vaughn. Terry Wooden recovered at the Redskins' 12.
``I never looked around to see where I was - that was my first mistake,'' Mitchell acknowledged. ``I had started on the 20 and I didn't think I had backed up as much as I had.''
Mitchell did practically as much damage to the Redskins as Seattle did. In addition to the muffed punt, he fumbled another that Washington recovered. He also dropped several passes, agitating the crowd so much they actually applauded when he was removed from the game.
Chris Warren, formerly of the University of Virginia and Ferrum College, then grabbed a pitchout, skirted right end and loped into the end zone for the tying touchdown. Warren finished with 22 rushes, 100 yards, and the first two-touchdown game of his career.
Earlier in the week, Turner said he planned to lift Friesz in the second quarter in favor of rookie Heath Shuler. But Friesz hit enough passes to cause the coach to re-think his strategy, at least until midway through the second quarter.
He had just finished hitting Henry Ellard for 14 yards over the middle and 21 yards down the right sidelines. Friesz then dropped and flipped a quick pass in Mitchell's direction - only it never got there.
Wooden stepped in, grabbed the ball and didn't stop running until he'd covered 69 yards and given the Seahawks a 14-7 edge with 10:07 left before halftime.
``I thought I could stick it in before he could get a hand on it,'' Friesz said. ``It was a bad decision to try and throw it.
``My performance? Average to below average. Any time you turn the ball over twice (he had another pass picked off at the Seattle 14 in the third quarter) and take yourself out of scoring opportunities both times . . . it's not something I've done a lot in my past and I just have to be more patient.''
Turner gave Friesz another series to regain his composure before inserting Shuler with 5:59 left. What followed can charitably be called a comedy of errors.
There was an incompletion to Reggie Brooks, held to 31 yards by a Seattle defense missing two starters on the line. Then Shuler ran what looked like a quarterback draw and was smothered for a 4-yard loss by mountainous defensive end Cortez Kennedy.
The next series, Shuler lost 4 when sacked by Brent Williams, then threw a pass for Mitchell that, appropriately this day, he dropped. There was another incompletion, and an on-the-sidelines lesson from Turner.
Moments after Mirer hit Brian Blades with a 5-yard touchdown pass to finish off a 53-yard drive - one kept alive by a phantom roughing-the-passer penalty against Leonard Marshall on third-and-7 - Shuler knelt to close out the first half.
The next time Shuler emerged, only 6:23 remained in the game. The Redskins were even more hopelessly behind, courtesy of Warren's 4-yard touchdown sweep, a play on which he slowed to a trot. Shuler spent a lot of time avoiding blitzing Seahawks, finishing 3-of-8 for 14 yards.
``If nothing else, I didn't turn the ball over,'' Shuler said with a shrug.
``There's no comparison to winning after what we went through last season,'' Seattle coach Tom Flores said. ``And Washington is going through the same things this year as we did last year.''
Flores was asked what advice he'd give Turner.
``I wish him the best. Obviously, he has to start somewhere.'' by CNB