NFL: Johnson, Redskins Earn Redemption In The Meadowlands

It’s rainy and dreary again in D.C., but everyone is having a wonderful day. That’s what a Redskin victory will do.

Those fans who called all week for QB Brad Johnson to be benched in favor of Jeff George are eerily silent. Johnson shut them up with several swings of his mighty right arm. For the first time this season, his receivers got open and he put the ball in their hands.

It was ridiculous last week. Johnson vs. George was the number one topic of discussion on every newscast and radio show. What people failed to realize was that there is no quarterback controversy. Johnson is the team’s starting QB, and that’s it. It’s Norv Turner’s decision. This only helped feed talk that Turner would be fired if they lost this game. This outrageous speculation reached its climax when, during a conference call with Washington-area reporters, Tiki Barber said Brad Johnson "may be looking over his shoulder a little bit."

It is hilarious that these reporters were so desperate to feed the so-called controversy that they asked Barber about it. What, exactly, does Tiki Barber know about quarterbacks? He has played in the NFL with Dave Brown, Kent Graham and Kerry Collins, a laundry list of scrap-heap QBs.

The Redskins are lucky to have two quality signal callers, but they only need one to win: Johnson. He’s tough and smart, two qualities that George has rarely displayed. Johnson showed off his toughness when he threw a missile 48 yards downfield to beleaguered wideout Albert Connell. Johnson cocked, threw the ball and took the full force of Jessie Armstead’s helmet on the underside of his exposed arm.

Johnson was smart (and accurate) on the very next play, when he lofted the ball to veteran Andre Reed’s outside shoulder in the end zone. Dave Thomas, the Giant defensive back on the coverage, had no chance. Beautiful. That made the score 16-0. Game over.

Connell also redeemed himself, with four catches for 122 yards, improving his yards-per-catch average and nearly doubling his season reception total. On the most exciting play of the game, he leapt in the air like a frisbee-chasing canine and snared Johnson’s pass along the left sideline, tumbled to the ground and ran another 15 yards.

Johnson’s and Connell’s teammate, Deion Sanders, got a bit of redemption himself, intercepting a pass in the end zone and--would you have expected anything else?--ran it 32 yards up the field. He quieted critics, for at least a week, who had said he’s lost a step. Now he just needs to redeem his punt return skills, because, apparently they have vanished.

Of course, Redskins fans are never 100% happy, so they have a new goat this week: New kicker Michael Husted missed a 30-yard field goal and an extra point. The kicks he made were ugly ducklings. I’ll be very surprised if the team doesn’t bring in some kickers for tryouts. They might even bring back Brett Conway, who was unceremoniously cut last week.

Give the Redskins’ coaching staff a lot of credit for this win Sunday night. The offense completed more deep passes than they had all season, even without the benefit of a big running game. The defense was obviously well prepared, eating up each of the Giants’ screen passes.

Now the team begins the toughest stretch of the season. We’ll see what the offense can do against Tampa Bay’s rabid defense. It will be a low-scoring affair, you can be sure of that. New York’s defense is a powderpuff compared to Warren Sapp and company. If the Skins lose to the Bucs, and Johnson fails to throw for a touchdown, the crescendo may start building again.

It shouldn’t. Johnson should have earned a little respect by his classy performance Sunday night.

A Peak at next week’s game: The Jets’ halfback option pass to win their game against Tampa Bay was a gutsy call, and the right one. It took advantage of the Bucs’ aggressive schemes. Look for the Redskins to try some reverses and misdirection. Bucs QB Shaun King hasn’t faced the kind of pressure he’ll face against the Redskins D, so I look for him to wilt. I also think the Redskins will be able to hit some deep passes. Redskins 14, Buccaneers 9.