Tom Boswell's thoughts...

[Fitz]

As usual, Boswell is dead-on accurate in his assessment of Sunday's pathetic loss.

Most disturbing revelation in the column: Marty "gave no thought" to giving Davis the ball on the three-yard line -

Fakery Presents A Real Problem

By Thomas Boswell

Monday, December 24, 2001; Page D01

Winning teams make their own luck. And so do losing teams.

All season, the Chicago Bears have been finding unlikely, and sometimes, almost unimaginable ways to win. The Redskins have found just as many ways to drive themselves crazy, turning opportunities and second chances into galling, perplexing defeats.

Both trends continued yesterday. The Redskins' last playoff hopes ended, not with a bang, but with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass by the Bears on a fake field goal.

"When they get you on a trick," said veteran Darrell Green, after the 20-15 defeat, "it always hurts worse."

"This was the second game in a row that we had a chance and we were driving our own car," said tight end Walter Rasby. "We were driving our own car and then we let somebody steal it. Now we're walking and looking for the bus."

Actually, this was the third time in four games that the Redskins, with a chance to be the first team ever to make the playoffs after an 0-5 start, were driving their car at FedEx Field with postseason hopes. And each time they ended up calling the cops to report a Grand Theft Victory.

The Cowboys, Eagles and Bears have all left town with improbable or upset victories in the last month. And each time, several Redskins have said afterward that they thought they were the better team.

"They didn't deserve to win and we were the better team," kicker Bret Conway said yesterday. Added Fred Smoot: "We still feel the best team didn't win -- point blank."

The Redskins have shown solid improvement during Coach Marty Schottenheimer's first season. They've proved they can play on even terms with several of the NFL's better teams. But they've also shown the losing team's knack of sinking to the occasion, rather than rising. The Redskins need to remember that the better team always wins. That's why they have a scoreboard.

Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion, as the Bears demonstrated again. Trailing 13-10 with 10 minutes to play, they called a fake field goal. Brad Maynard, who is normally a punter, threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Brian Urlacher, who is normally a linebacker. That, however, just scratches the surface.

Urlacher even had the courtesy to call attention to himself in full view of 78,884 people by going in motion on the play. Why not just carry a sign: "Gadget play. They're going to throw to me."

In keeping with the Redskins' 6-8 season, Urlacher was open by 10 yards behind the Washington secondary. On the scale of NFL indignities, it was like Dick Butkus or Sam Huff going in motion -- unnoticed -- then catching the game-winning pass -- unguarded.

"We worked against a lot of fake field goal plays. But we haven't practiced against that," said Sam Shade. "We weren't prepared for it."

According to Shade, when the Bears tried another field goal later, the Redskins still hadn't figured out how to defend the Urlacher play and simply hoped that they wouldn't try it again.

"When we got off the field [after the touchdown], everybody looked at each other like, 'What happened? Who did what?' " said Shade.

What made the play unique, and hard to defend, was Urlacher going in motion. "I've never seen a man go in motion on a field goal in my whole career," said Green, a 19-year veteran.

"We were all screaming [on the bench]," said Bruce Smith.

Just as no one had noticed that Urlacher was in the game, no one reacted quickly enough to call "timeout."

"It was a long [45-yard] kick into the wind. [special teams] coach [Mike] Stock was yelling, 'Watch the fake,' " said defensive end Kenard Lang. "I was down in my stance and I saw feet running past me. I thought, 'Is that a referee's feet?' Then I said, 'No, it can't be.' That's when I knew something was fishy."

"It was a gutsy call," said the Bears' Warrick Holdman. "When I saw him go in motion, I was like, 'Oh, man,' because during practice it wasn't quite working right."

"As a matter of fact, Brian dropped it twice in practice last week," said Bears Coach Dick Jauron. And you wonder why George Allen sent spies with binoculars to watch from rooftops as foes practiced in hopes of stealing just one trick play.

That Urlacher score, though it provided the winning points, did not end the game by any means.

However, bodies at rest tend to stay at rest. And, late in close games inside their opponents 20-yard line, the Redskins have no momentum whatsoever. Trailing 20-13 with 1 minute 45 seconds to play, the Redskins faced second and one at the Bears 3-yard line. Give the ball to Stephen Davis, straight ahead, until you score a touchdown, right? Then, play overtime.

Not if you're the Redskins, to whom the Red Zone is a Black Hole. They enter. They are swallowed up. No points appear on the scoreboard. They lose. It's a formula. They're taking it to the Patent Office next week.

Actually, the Redskins gave the ball to Davis just once -- running wide, rather than smash-mouth forward -- for no gain. Then the Redskins lost confidence in their offensive line and turned to The Weakest Link, quarterback Tony Banks, for two incompletions.

This, apparently, was in keeping with a larger plan. Though the Redskins never trailed by more than a touchdown, Banks threw 43 times and Davis ran only 22 times. In the fourth quarter, Davis -- who entered the game leading the NFC in rushing -- ran once, while Banks passed 13 times and was sacked twice.

There an old saying in sports: "Lose the right way."

"We never gave any thought to it," said Schottenheimer of giving the ball to Davis on either of the last two plays from the Bears 3.

Several offensive linemen said the notion had crossed their minds. "We ran the ball well today. Maybe we should have stayed with it," said Rasby. "We need to just become a one-dimensional team if that is what works for us."

Schottenheimer's Redskins are still finding out what they do best and when they can do it. It's a painful learning curve. For the second straight week, they played a conference leader. Both times, they outgained the visitors, dominated time of possession and were even or ahead in turnovers while the game was in doubt. Yet they lost both.

"I'm not accustomed to not being in the playoffs," said Schottenheimer, who was particularly stung by losing three straight crucial late-season home games. "Losing is something we never take with any degree of palatability."

The Redskins' last two games, meaningless as they may be in playoff terms, may actually define whether the team spends the offseason focusing on the progress they've made since 0-5 or the frustration they've endured -- especially the last two weeks.

"This season has been just incredible," said Green. "I wish it were incredibly good. But with all the missed opportunities, it's just been incredibly tough to take."

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

[bulldog]

You can't go 0-3 at home in December and get any pity from fans or the media. The team failed, it is that simple.

The Redskins did not just get beaten by great football teams or juggernauts. The Eagles showed their humanity against the 49ers. The Cowboys are 4-10 and just lost 17-10 to the Cardinals. The Bears are 11-3, but don't blow teams out most weeks.

0-3?

Not even one game salted away for the suffering hometown fans, eh?

Not one fourth quarter rally when the winning points are in your reach inside opposition territory?

This team seems to lack heart. The two Dallas games showed that. Especially the second game, losing at home to a 4-8 team and giving up 200 yards rushing.

[MikeB]

Man, that last quote by Green sums up the season perfectly. We could've done something truly great. It almost seemed like some higher power wanted us to. But instead of something great, it turned into something incredibly, awfully, gut-wrenchingly tough to accept.

------------------

"I'm MikeB and I get respect, your cash and your jewelry are what I expect..."

[wildbill]

I can't agree with the team lacking heart.If that was the case,I don't think Darrel would be returning next year.I think he sees what alot of us fans see. A team that is a few skilled players away from advancing deep into the playoffs.You put a qaulity QB out there yesterday, and not only does he tie the game in the fourth qaurter, but that drive probably wouldn't have been needed.

After the skins game yesterday, they showed the GB game.I couldn't even stomache to watch a leader at QB find ways to win in miserable conditions in a game they needed.Seasons over I think we should play Sage, get him some experience because neither KG or TB are going to lead this team where we need to go.OTH Bulldog, its almost time to switch gears and watch LA win another title.Hail Skins

[bulldog]

yep, hockey and basketball season are just starting to heat up. I never take anything for granted in the NBA because of the effect one injury can have on your team.

After winning the NBA title in 1982 the Lakers were swept in 1983 by the Sixers after James Worthy broke his leg right before the playoffs. The Sixers added Malone and were a better team that year, but not 4-0 better.

It happened again in 1989 when Byron Scott and Magic both got hurt in Game 1 against the Pistons and what should have been a tense, 6 or 7 game series once again turned into a 4-0 sweep as the Lakers were down to Wes Matthews at point guard.

So, yes the Lakers have the best team right now, I just hope it stays in one piece heading into the playoffs.

The Caps at 14-16-6 are a mess. They can't win a road game to save their lives and play down to the opponent in each game. Already they have lost games to Florida and Atlanta, the two worst teams in the Conference. The 0-1-1 home and away mark this week against Pittsburgh was another ugly sequence. Yes, the team came back from 4-1 to post a miraculous 4-4 tie the other night.

But those kind of heroics should not be necessary against a team that is likewise below .500 and is playing without its 2 best players from last season, Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux.

The Penguins no longer have a talent edge on the Caps and this team should be handing Pittsburgh 4-2 or 5-2 defeats instead of allowing them to play even hockey for 60 minutes twice in two nights.

I think the Caps need to acquire another stay at home defenseman to complement Witt and Klee. Gonchar and Cote are more offensive minded and are caught up ice a fair share of the time. Kucera has been a nice addition and he makes up somewhat for the loss of Johansson.

But another blueliner to deliver some hits and clear traffic away from the net would be helpful.

This team also has to replace Trevor Linden. Yes, Linden was not that productive offensively before his trade to Vancouver, but the fact remains the Caps are down a veteran player that could play either center or wing and match up defensively with a John LeClair or Mark Messier in the Eastern Conference. Now Nikolishin is the #2 center and he is a solid player, but lacks the size and scoring punch to be on one of the top two lines.