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Prince Albert Connell's career game leads Redskins to 35-16 win
Updated: Sunday October 22, 2000 9:18 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- With a career game, Albert Connell turned his season around and helped the Washington Redskins push the struggling, injured Jacksonville Jaguars even further toward oblivion. Connell had 211 yards in receptions and three touchdowns, both career highs, to lift the Redskins to a 35-16 victory Sunday. It was the fifth consecutive victory for Washington (6-2) and the fifth consecutive spirit-numbing loss for Jacksonville (2-6). The Redskins expected big things from Connell this season, especially after a season-ending injury to Michael Westbrook in Week 2. But Connell seemed headed toward the disappointment category, without a touchdown catch and with just one 100-yard game this season. "It seems like it's been forced on me," Connell said. "Everybody keeps saying I've got to be the guy." And the Jaguars let him be -- their injured defensive backfield, lack of a pass rush and seeming lack of spirit making the 1997 fourth-round draft pick look like Jerry Rice. Connell scored touchdowns of 11, 49 and 77 yards, scooting unfettered through the middle of a battered, broken defense all three times. "This is the kind of game he has been waiting to have, and the kind we've been waiting for him to have," Redskins head coach Norv Turner said. Brad Johnson threw for 269 yards as the Redskins, playing behind an injured offensive line, left their close-to-the-vest style at home and torched the Jaguars. Stephen Davis ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns, gaining most of his yards once the Jaguars were worn down. "It was a matter of our offense finally getting together," Connell said. "The defense has been coming up for a while. You know the defense is going to make plays." Once again, the Jaguars showed all the signs of a bad, undisciplined team. This time, Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin threw away his calm facade and ripped into them. "This is a very proud franchise, and we've fought our tails off to get where we are," Coughlin said. "Quite frankly, things I saw on this field are unrecognizable. It means that the football is so bad, that on occasion I don't even recognize it. I don't want to recognize it." One of the lowlights came when Jacksonville's highest-paid pass rusher, Tony Brackens, recovered a fumble late in the second quarter, then got flagged for kicking Redskins guard Jay Leeuwenburg while he was down. Brackens was ejected. "If he did kick him, and I don't know if he did, then that's a totally selfish act," Coughlin said. "You've only got seven defensive lineman, and a guy goes off on his own and does something like that? Again, that's an embarrassment to the franchise." Jacksonville also showed its trademark "callous disregard for the ball," as Coughlin likes to call it. The Jaguars fumbled three times and committed two of their four turnovers in the final 20 minutes, when trailing by 12 points but still moving the ball decently. First-round draft pick R. Jay Soward's experience told Jacksonville's story best. He bobbled one pass, allowing Deion Sanders to intercept, which led to Washington's first touchdown. Soward muffed a punt at his 11, leading to Connell's first touchdown and a 14-10 lead -- just when the Jaguars seemed to be gaining some momentum. Later, Soward dropped a pass in the corner of the end zone, and left the field to lusty boos from the crowd. "I tried to get him off the field, but we get people nicked up and he's got to play," Coughlin said. "The guy is undisciplined, he had his hand involved in 21 points today." Soward is trying to cope with his errors. "If you make mistakes, you can't go and mope about it, because that just causes you to make more mistakes," he said. "You can't beat yourself up. You've got to stay confident within yourself. When I grasp that and conquer that, I'm going to be a great player in this league." Indeed, Soward showed signs of greatness, catching his first career touchdown pass, cleanly beating Sanders for a 33-yard score and a 10-7 lead. It was Mark Brunell's first scoring pass in more than 15 quarters. Fred Taylor ran hard and had 124 yards on 22 carries. Brunell finished 21-for-42 for 271 yards and was sacked six times to bring his league-leading total to 38. Besides Brackens, the Jaguars played most of the game without receiver Jimmy Smith, who tried to gut it out with a severely bruised knee, but couldn't. Their fragile offensive line -- the supposed reason for most of their troubles -- took another blow when right tackle Zach Weigert went out with a sprained left knee. Defensive end Gary Walker left early with a sprained right knee. Notes: Before Smith left, he caught one pass, extending his streak with at least one catch to 80 games. ... Former Jaguars linebacker Eddie Mason had two sacks for the Redskins. ... Bruce Smith had one sack to stay within 18 1/2 of the NFL record held by Reggie White, who also recorded a sack in Carolina's game against San Francisco. ... Jaguars tight end Kyle Brady had eight catches for 111 yards, both career highs. ... The Redskins are on their longest winning streak since a seven-game stretch in 1996.
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