NFL Recap (Washington-Philadelphia)
Posted: Sun October 11, 1998 at 7:21 p.m. EDT
PHILADELPHIA 17, WASHINGTON 12
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Rodney Peete, making his
second start of the season, ran for one touchdown and threw for another as
the Philadelphia Eagles
beat the Washington
Redskins, 17-12, in a battle of winless NFC East teams.
Peete completed 15-of-28 passes for 121 yards with one interception as
Philadelphia (1-5) defeated the Redskins for the 10th time in the last 12
meetings. Peete completed 21-of-36 passes for 260 yards in his other
start, a 24-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on
September 27th. Peete was sacked four times for 38 yards, but defensive
tackle Hollis Thomas
had two of Philadelphia's six sacks that totaled 43 yards.
"Right now Rodney's going to get an opportunity to play for us," said
Philadelphia coach Ray Rhodes. "It's a big step from 0-5 to 1-5. There's
nothing to be overjoyed about right now. It's good to have a win that's
true, but again we're still 1-5 and I think the urgency has to he there to
get things done."
After defensive tackle Brandon Whiting returned
Washington quarterback Trent Green's fumble 24
yards, Peete had a 19-yard scamper to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 7:04
left in the opening quarter.
Peete gave the Eagles a 17-6 lead 6:28 into the fourth quarter when he
tossed a three-yard pass to tight end Kaseem Sinceno, who was wide open in
the middle of the end zone. Peete was 5-of-5 for 56 yards on the 15-play,
75-yard drive that lasted more than nine minutes.
"When you get that first win and you go to practice Monday and
Tuesday, you're establishing some momentum that yoyu can carry into the
next game," Sinceno said. "So this is definitely a start for us."
Green, who has been the starting quarterback for Washington (0-6)
since Gus Frerotte
suffered a sprained left shoulder in the season-opening 31-24 loss to the
New York Giants, was
12-of-21 for 115 yards and an interception. Green, failed to complete any
of his four pass attempts in the third quarter before being replaced by
Frerotte. Frerotte was 7-of-16 for 73 yards.
Terry Allen had 87
yards on 20 carries for the Redskins, who are off to their worst start
since beginning the 1961 season with nine losses. With the Eagles leading
7-0 in the first quarter, Allen fumbled at the Philadelphia 1 and safety Brian Dawkins recovered in
the end zone.
"When you're struggling it gets harder and harder to win," said
Washington coach Norv Turner. "It's amazing that one or two plays can give
you back that confidence. We're down there on the 1-yard line, Terry is
either down or whatever the call is, they said he wasn't down, he had
fumbled. That's obviously a big play in the game. Not only don't we get
any points out of it, it adds to that frustration."
Despite outgaining Philadelphia, 273-198, in total offense Washington
converted just 4-of-15 third downs and joins the Carolina Panthers as the
only winless teams in the NFL. The Redskins visit Carolina on December
13th and own the Panthers' first-round pick in the 1999 draft.
Safety Leomont
Evans intercepted Peete and had a 13-yard return to set up Cary Blanchard's 46-yard
field goal that cut Philadelphia's lead to 7-3 with 5:56 left in the second
quarter. The Eagles regained a seven-point lead on the following possession
when Chris Boniol
kicked a 44-yard field goal 67 seconds before halftime.
Frerotte initially gave the Redskins a spark as he completed his first
two passes to Leslie
Shepherd and Jamie
Asher for 15 and 20 yards. But four of his next five attempts were
incomplete and the Redskins settled for a 34-yard field goal from Blanchard
that made it 10-6 with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter.
"I would think Gus would start next week," said Turner, whose team
visits the undefeated Minnesota Vikings next
Sunday. "I thought he came in and gave us a lift. He made some plays."
The Eagles began their final scoring drive on their own 25 after
Blanchard's field goal. All of Philadelphia's yards on the drive came on
passes by Peete or runs by Duce Staley. Staley had
eight of his 12 carries and 34 of his 47 yards on the drive. Two of Peete's
five completions on the drive came on key third downs after Washington
sacks, including a 19-yard pass to Irving Fryar on a
3rd-and-16.
After two incompletions by Frerotte and a sack, Freddie Solomon had a
40-yard punt return to the Washington 24, but the Eagles failed to increase
their lead as Boniol hooked a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Frerotte had a 20-yard run that keyed the final score of the game, a
one-yard plunge by Brian
Mitchell with 2:46 to play. Frerotte tried running for the two-point
conversion from the shotgun, but was stopped just shy of the goaline.
"I thought I was in the end zone," Frerotte said. "I kind of twisted
my body and rolled over the pile. When I'm laying on my back finally, I
landed in the end zone. I don't know how they called that one."
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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