NFL Recap (San Diego-Washington)
Posted: Sun December 6, 1998 at 6:49 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON 24, SAN DIEGO 20
RALJON, Maryland (Ticker) -- Trent Green threw a
20-yard touchdown pass to Leslie Shepherd with 1:54
remaining to lift the Washington Redskins to a
24-20 victory over the San Diego Padres, spoiling the return of former
General Manager Bobby Beathard.
On 1st-and-10, Green pumped before finding Shepherd all alone down the
right sideline for the winning score. Green completed 18-of-37 passes for
235 yards with two TDs and an interception as Washington (4-9) improved to
6-0 all-time against San Diego.
"The pump route works well against man coverage," Shepherd said. "The
play has a lot to do with the coverage that you get. We ran the pump route
earlier and the safety came over and knocked the ball down, so it doesn't
work all the time. But when you get the right coverage, it will."
"I haven't had a chance to look at the film. It looked like a blown
coverage," said San Diego interim coach June Jones.
The Chargers' chance to come back ended when Craig Whelihan's
2nd-and-17 pass went off tight end Freddie Jones' hands and
was intercepted by safety Leomont Evans at the
Redskins 24. Evans returned his third interception of the season 10 yards
and Green took one snap before time expired.
Whelihan was 20-of-37 for 212 yards and an interception as San Diego
(5-8) lost its fifth straight road game.
Beathard served as Redskins' general manager from 1981-89 and was the
architect of Super Bowl championship teams in 1982 and 1987. Since he took
over in San Diego, the Chargers reached the Super Bowl following the 1994
season, a 49-26 loss to San Francisco.
Chargers running back Terrell Fletcher carried 34 times for a
career-high 122 yards and also threw a 23-yard TD pass.
"The offensive line played great for me," Fletcher said. "It doesn't
feel that good because the pain of the loss overshadows the personal
accomplishment."
Brian Mitchell had
a 101-yard kickoff return, one yard shy of a team record, to give the
Redskins a 14-6 advantage 4:36 into the second quarter.
"Our guys rose to the occasion and kept rising to the occasion," said
Washington coach Norv Turner. "That is as well as we have played in the
second half and competed. It's nice to win a game late in the fourth
quarter."
San Diego scored on the following possession, marching 66 yards in
eight plays with Fletcher finding Jones wide open on the halfback option.
Whelihan completed the two-point conversion to Jones, tying the game at 14
with 5:01 remaining in the period.
"We've been working on it for a while. It's been in the playbook for
the past three weeks," Fletcher said. "This was an opportune time to do
it. I just threw it up there to Freddy and he caught it and made a nice
move and got in the end zone."
The Chargers had a chance to take the lead when defensive end Raylee Johnson sacked
Green and defensive end Marco Coleman recovered a
fumble at the Washington 39. But on the following play, Whelihan fumbled
when he was sacked by Jamal
Duff and Dan
Wilkinson recovered on the Washington 48.
Green threw a 25-yard pass to Chris Thomas and Cary Blanchard kicked a
35-yard field goal six seconds before halftime, giving the Redskins a 17-13
advantage.
"We had our chances to win we just didn't turn opportunities into
points," June Jones said. "Those things come back to kill you if you don't
get them early in the game."
San Diego tied the game, 17-17, on the first possession of the second
half when John Carney
kicked a 41-yard field goal. Carney was lined up for a 49-yard attempt
early in the fourth quarter, but the Chargers were forced to punt after a
delay penalty.
Carney hooked a 20-yard attempt just to the left of the goalpost after
safety Greg Jackson
intercepted Green at the Washington 18. The Chargers moved the ball to the
Washington 2, but safety Stanley Richard -- a
former Charger -- stopped Whelihan as he rolled left on 3rd-and-goal.
"We didn't execute at the critical times, the fourth quarter
especially," Whelihan said. "We had the ball down there inside the 10 a
couple of times and we couldn't score. It just didn't happen and it ended
up hurting us."
The Chargers took a 20-17 lead when Carney kicked a 25-yard field goal
with 4:31 remaining. After stopping Washington, San Diego failed to extend
the lead as Whelihan was stopped for no gain and threw an incompletion
before Fletcher lost four yards on third down.
Carney kicked a 32-yard field goal to stake the Chargers to a 3-0 lead
with 6:20 left in the opening quarter.
Green's 25-yard pass to James Thrash gave the
Redskins a 7-3 advantage with 39 seconds left in the first quarter. Carney
kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-6 just over four minutes into the
second period.
Washington running back Terry Allen returned from
an ankle injury and rushed nine times for 28 yards. It was Allen's first
appearance since a 21-14 win over the New York Giants on
November 1st.
Wide receiver Michael
Westbrook left the game with a strained neck in the second quarter
after catching two passes for 23 yards.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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