Redskins Revival

As he sat in his office at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Va., last Friday, coach Norv Turner took a deep breath, then stated the obvious: "We're at a crisis point, especially facing what we face the next three games." Two days later his 7-3 Skins would begin a 12-day stretch—at Philadelphia, San Francisco at home, at Dallas—during which they appeared to be in danger of falling from NFC East co-leaders to wildcard hopefuls. Recent performance prompted the bleak outlook: Washington was coming off consecutive losses to the Bills and the Cardinals in which its defense had given up a total of 75 points and 1,091 yards.

A funny thing happened on the way to the funeral. On Sunday the Skins came alive and beat the Eagles 26-21 at Veterans Stadium. "I told you we'd play like champions!" linebacker Rod Stephens said, exulting after the game. "Champions! That's us, baby!"

Contenders, at least. The Redskins are a mixture of free-agent veterans and raw youth, a concoction that has revitalized the offense yet stunted the defense. Against Philadelphia, third-year quarterback Gus Frerotte found second-year tight end Jamie Asher for two scores, while warhorses Terry Allen (84 yards rushing) and Henry Ellard (three catches for 69 yards) were their usual stellar selves. What was even more gratifying was that the defensive elements also showed signs of coming together. Linebacker Ken Harvey, 31, hadn't had a sack in eight quarters, but he had two against the Eagles. Embattled cornerback Tom Carter and second-year defensive end Rich Owens also played big roles.

With fellow cornerback Darrell Green, 36, playing at the top of his game this season, Carter, a 1993 first-round pick out of Notre Dame, has been the target of opposing offensive coordinators. But with Philly facing fourth-and-10 at the Washington 20 with 10 seconds left, Carter blanketed wideout Freddie Solomon, and quarterback Ty Detmer's pass fell incomplete.

A pass-rushing specialist, Owens was a fifth-round pick out of Lehigh in '95 who missed the first six weeks of his rookie season with a broken arm. He stopped the Eagles' first drive by sacking Detmer, and on the first play of Philadelphia's penultimate drive he dropped running back Ricky Watters for an eight-yard loss. "I got two sacks once against New Hampshire, but I think what I did today was a little more important," Owens said.

Washington still has to play the 49ers this Sunday and the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, but Turner and his staff were reveling in what they hoped was the start of a final playoff push. "This was the longest week of my coaching life," said defensive coordinator Ron Lynn. "But today everybody did something right." And because of that, the Redskins sit alone atop the NFC East.

Worldly Wise

Despite losing an estimated $35 million in the last two seasons, the six-team World League has a new three-year lease on life. Buttressed in part by an ongoing deal with Fox to televise the games to both European and U.S. viewers, NFL owners quietly voted 24-6 last month to continue the European-based spring-summer league through 1999. "I think it's a good idea," says Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard, who sent punter Darren Bennett overseas to get valuable training with the Amsterdam Admirals in 1995, "but I would like to see it used more for player development."

Currently there are 110 former World League players on NFL rosters. The Chiefs, with linebacker Tracy Simien and wide-out Sean LaChapelle, and the Broncos, with tight end Byron Chamberlain, are among the organizations that groomed players abroad. Other teams would be wise to follow their lead, particularly with regard to developing young backup quarterbacks: Danny Kanell of the Giants, Stoney Case of the Cardinals and Heath Shuler of the Redskins, to name three, could pick up valuable experience in the World League.

Dispatches