Bottoms Up! These Redskins Are Tops

The defense gave Washington another scoring opportunity minutes later. Hippie was separated from the ball on a blind-side blitz by Cornerback Vernon Dean, and Tackle Darryl Grant covered it. The Redskins got a 26-yard field goal from Moseley out of that turnover.

In the second quarter the 5'7" Garrett became a very big man. Garrett had caught only one pass all year, but because Art Monk, the team's best receiver, broke his foot in the last regular-season game, against St. Louis, the Smurf, as Theismann calls Garrett, was pressed into service. On a third-and-19 from the Lion 21, rookie Cornerback Bruce McNorton was playing Garrett tight. Garrett put a move on him and executed what the Redskins call a Fade, running away from McNorton into the left front corner of the end zone. Theismann put the ball over his shoulder, and the Redskins had six.

Two possessions later, Washington was faced with a third-and-six, again on the 21. Darned if Garrett didn't beat McNorton with the same exact move—in fact, he beat him even worse. "I like that one-on-one stuff," said Garrett.

Two teams were once foolish enough to let Garrett go before the Redskins picked him up in November of '81. The Chargers drafted him in the ninth round in '79 out of Angelo State, but made him the last cut in training camp, although he impressed San Diego's offensive coordinator at the time, Joe Gibbs. The Giants picked him up in '80, but waived him last year after he missed a tackle against the Redskins. "The minute I saw him on the waiver wire, I claimed him," says Gibbs. "He does so many things: receive, return punts and kicks, go down on special teams. In fact, he's sometimes captain of our special teams. You should see him fly down the field and make tackles."

Washington put the game out of reach in the first minutes of the third quarter. The offense rode Riggins deep into Lion territory, and on third and eight from the 27, Theismann yet again found Garrett, who had beaten rookie Bobby Watkins on an out pattern on the right side. After the touchdown, a funny thing happened. A group of five of the Redskins' receivers got together in the end zone and performed this little ritual they'd been rehearsing all week. First they formed a circle. Then they crossed their arms in front of their chests. They put their arms down. They crossed them again. Then, in perfectly timed leaps, they slapped hands. They call it the Fun Bunch Five.

"We wanted to come up with a little something extra in the playoffs for the fans and to give us incentive to get in the end zone," said Tight End Rick Walker, founder of the Fun Bunch. "The crossed arms stand for brotherhood. Actually, we wanted to do it after Alvin's first touchdown, but he forgot about it. He forgot after the second touchdown, too. We made sure that he didn't forget after the last one.

"All week long Alvin and I kept each other motivated. This is the truth: I said to him, 'If you don't come up with two or three touchdowns, I'm going to be real disappointed.' Well, I'm not disappointed in him at all."

Said Theismann, "Any word short of 'great' wouldn't do Alvin justice." For the day, Garrett had six catches, equaling his previous career total, for 110 yards.

A slightly larger thorn in the Lions' paw, at least in stature, was the 33-year-old, 6'2", 230-pound Riggins, the Steve Carlton of pro football. "John doesn't usually talk to me, either," said Gibbs. "But on Thursday he came up and said, 'I want the ball on Saturday.' So we gave it to him." Riggins carried 25 times, for 4.8 yards a carry, against the best rushing defense in the league. In the fourth quarter Riggins leveled two unfortunate defensive backs on a 25-yard rumble that helped set up a 42-yard field-goal attempt by Moseley. Moseley missed (gasp!) wide right.

Moseley, an 11-year veteran who dug septic tanks before the Redskins found him, is now the most decorated place-kicker in history. He even won the AP's league MVP award this season, something no kicker had ever done. "I never dreamed this would happen," says Moseley. "I don't even have a bonus clause in my contract for MVP."