AP: Bears-Redskins: Football that shouldn't be offensive

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Bears-Redskins: Football that shouldn't be offensive

http://www.chicagodefender.com/page/sports.cfm?ArticleID=2212

by Joseph White

September 9, 2005

LANDOVER, Md. - Harken back to those glorious days of yesteryear, when the Bears and Redskins _ the Boston Redskins, that is _ battled to bone-crunching scores of 7-7, 7-0 and 10-0 in the offensively challenged 1930s.

Seventy years later, the Redskins are in Washington, the Bears are still in Chicago, and the prognosis is the same. Defense should dominate, and a two-digit scoreboard might not be necessary when the teams meet Sunday in their season opener.

"It's going to be two great defenses hitting. It's going be a real physical game," Washington linebacker Warrick Holdman said. "Those are the best games. I know this is an offensive league and everybody wants to see touchdowns. The best games are when they're close and one mistake or one big play is going to win the game."

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How romantically, NFL Films-like fulfilling it would be if these storied franchises were anticipating a low-scoring game solely because both defenses were among the best ever assembled, but, alas, the brutal truth is otherwise.

Yes, these are very good defenses, but these were also the two worst offenses in the NFC last season. Both teams are widely predicted to finish in last place in their respective divisions this year. This could be the only game for a while in which the Redskins are actually favored to win.

Coach Joe Gibbs has opened up his offense to try to rediscover the magic that won three Super Bowls for the Redskins in the 1980s and 1990s, but the results were mixed in preseason. Second-year Bears coach Lovie Smith is already down to his third-string quarterback, rookie Kyle Orton, because Rex Grossman is hurt and Chad Hutchinson didn't play well.

"As a defensive unit, we have to outplay their defense," Chicago safety Mike Brown said. "I think that's a good way to go into this game because they get after it on that side of the ball, so it's not going to be easy for our offense to do some things. We've got to go out there and match it _ whatever they do. If they get an interception, we've got to get two. If they cause a fumble, we've got to cause two."

The X factor is Orton, the fourth-round draft pick from Purdue who is Chicago's seventh opening day quarterback in eight years. Orton played just three series with the first-team offense during the preseason and could expect to get blitzed out of this world by an aggressive, befuddling Redskins defense that features 21 different player packages.

"They do a lot of stuff, and I'm sure they're going to do more stuff since it's going to be my first start," Orton said. "But really it's just like any defense. If you stay out of third-and-longs, they can't do a whole lot."

Orton is a heavy-duty "Seinfeld" fan who named his dog after the character Elaine and said he identifies best with George because "he keeps on getting ragged on all the time." The Redskins have tried to be polite when speaking about him, however, lest they get overeager about the prospect of pummeling a rookie.

"When I was with the Colts, we go to play the Patriots, Drew Bledsoe just got hurt, some guy named Tom Brady gets in there, we don't know who that is," linebacker Marcus Washington, whose team was beaten 44-13 that day in Brady's first career start.

"The word of the day is (Ben) Roethlisberger," added defensive end Renaldo Wynn. "He was a rookie quarterback, and I think a lot of people hung their hat on that and underestimated him, and he took the Pittsburgh Steelers to a playoff game, almost to a Super Bowl."

While the Redskins are wary of running into another Brady or Roethlisberger, the Bears are interested to see just how much Gibbs has redesigned Washington's attack. Will the dean of conservative offense really change his stripes and chunk the ball downfield regularly? And, if he does, will Patrick Ramsey keep his tenuous hold on the quarterback job by actually completing the passes?

If not, think 1930s. Think how exciting defense can be.

"We want to make explosive plays, plays that help our team win, whether that's interceptions, big hits, fumbles," Brown said. "Really, those are game-changing plays and we have a defense that's full of players that can make those plays." AP