TK Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031771894903&path=!sports!redskins&s=1045855935462 Players losing games; coach losing players PAUL WOODY TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Nov 2, 2003 Call Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or e-mail him at pwoody @timesdispatch.com IRVING, Texas Even when the Dallas Cowboys tried to give the game to the Washington Redskins, the Redskins could not take it. Now, with injuries mounting and confidence plummeting, the question will be where yet another loss takes the Redskins. The answer does not appear to be, "Up." The Redskins, with chances galore in the first half, lost their fourth game in a row yesterday, this one to the dreaded, reviled Dallas Cowboys 21-14. For the Redskins, all losses sting. But when the Redskins lose to the Cowboys, as they have done in 11 of the past 12 meetings between the teams, it is like having lemon juice rubbed into a fresh cut. What made yesterday even more frustrating for the Redskins was that this was a game they could have put away in the first quarter. On the Cowboys' first three possessions of the game, the Redskins intercepted two passes and forced and recovered a fumble. The Cowboys lost another fumble in the second quarter. The Cowboys made enough mistakes in the first half to lose two games. But they didn't even lose one. The best the Redskins could do with all those opportunities was score one touchdown. And even when things went right for the Redskins, things went wrong. Following that touchdown, the extra-point attempt was blocked. Redskins coach Steve Spurrier faces a monumental challenge now, and it is not to find a way to get the Redskins into the playoffs - a faint hope at best - or even to win this week's game against Seattle. The concern for Spurrier should be whether he can rally the players and convince them this season is not lost. He must find a way to gain their confidence, but desperately needs a victory to do that. He might not be able to get a victory unless he has the players behind him. No one will say it for the record, but Spurrier is dangerously close to losing the players, if he hasn't lost them already. The players are weary of his threats to bench them if they make mistakes, in part because no one ever gets benched and in part because the threats are at times when the players think encouraging words or no words at all would be more appropriate. The players are weary of being called, "not smart enough" to pick up blitzes, to avoid penalties, to carry out their assignments on offense and defense. Very few NFL coaches can rule by intimidation and fear. Spurrier is not in position to do so now. "Well, I'm not going to get on my players any more this season," Spurrier said immediately after the game yesterday. The players are not blameless in this. Some do miss assignments. Some do make mistakes at the most inopportune times. Yesterday, when the Redskins had the Cowboys stopped on the Washington 3-yard line and had forced the Cowboys to take a field goal, another bizarre mistake in a season growing more bizarre by the day occurred. Backup linebacker Antonio Pierce was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for "jamming the signals." The penalty gave the Cowboys a first down. The Cowboys turned that opportunity into a touchdown. The on-the-record answers are the same from everyone, coach and player alike: "We've got to keep working. All we need to do to change this is win a game." "This is not algebra," said backup wide receiver Patrick Johnson. "It's not hard. Yeah, we've lost four in a row, but luckily we've got another game. As long as we keep playing hard, at some point this thing is going to turn around. "What are we going to do, quit? We can't quit." A Redskins coach on a losing streak faces one question after every loss, not always asked, but always implied. Will he survive the season? Only one man knows the answer to that, Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Yesterday, a request to talk with Snyder, made through Redskins vice president of public relations Karl Swanson, was declined. "He has nothing to say, other than, 'My coach is my coach,'" Swanson said. Whether the players share that sentiment is the question Spurrier now must answer. Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or pwoody@timesdispatch.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 "This is not algebra," said backup wide receiver Patrick Johnson. "It's not hard. Yeah, we've lost four in a row, but luckily we've got another game. As long as we keep playing hard, at some point this thing is going to turn around."What are we going to do, quit? We can't quit." I say we put this guy in charge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhd24 Posted November 3, 2003 Share Posted November 3, 2003 Patrick Johnson has been our best special teams player, and a very solid 4th reciever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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