Schroeder Rallies Redskins to Win : Despite Cracked Ribs, He Leads Team to 27-24 Victory

The Washington Redskins, behind a record-breaking performance by Art Monk and a quarterback who refused to come out of the game, are still alive in the playoff derby, having rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-24, Sunday.

Monk caught 13 passes for 230 yards as the Redskins scored 24 consecutive points, the go-ahead touchdown coming midway in the fourth quarter on George Rogers’ 34-yard touchdown run. Rogers rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was the greatest guts job I have ever seen,” Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs said of quarterback Jay Schroeder, playing with a cracked rib suffered last week. Schroeder ignored Gibbs’ order to come to the sidelines, staying on the field to direct two second-half scoring drives.

Finally, after watching Schroeder doubled over in pain after nearly every play, Gibbs told reserve quarterback Babe Laufenberg to get ready to go in on the team’s next possession.

“I was anticipating taking Jay out at any time,” Gibbs said. “After I told Babe he was in, Jay jumped into my face. It was the fastest he moved all day. He said, ‘I want to go!’ ”

Schroeder said that the longer he stayed on the sidelines the worse it got, but when the Redskins got a turnover in the third quarter he felt he could still play.

“Everybody else was in there, fighting their guts out, and I knew I couldn’t let them down,” said Schroeder, who moved into the Redskin starting lineup four weeks ago when Joe Theismann suffered a broken leg. “I had something going, and I just wanted to keep going out there.”

Monk attributed the victory to Schroeder, who completed 18 of 35 pass attempts for 273 yards, including a four-yard touchdown to Monk.

“He was an inspiration to me, to the whole team. He had a lot of pain. He stuck in there, and I think this win goes to him,” Monk said.

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 357 yards and 2 touchdowns, said the Bengals’ fast start may have contributed to their downfall.

“We really thought we had them on the ropes,” Esiason said. “We got 24 so quickly we took it for granted and didn’t twist the knife in.”

The Bengals, shut out since the opening minutes of the second quarter had a chance to tie and send the game into overtime in the waning seconds of play, but were stopped when linebacker Rich Milot sacked Esiason for a 12-yard loss to the Washington 33-yard line, forcing Jim Breech to attempt a 51-yard field goal. The kick faded to the right with seven seconds to play.

The Redskins (9-6) will go into this weekend’s regular-season finale against St. Louis tied with San Francisco and the New York Giants in the race for two NFC wild-card playoff berths.

Cincinnati (7-8) can win the AFC Central Division only if it finishes in a three-way tie with Pittsburgh and Cleveland, based on their 3-1 record against the Steelers and Browns.

The Redskins started the comeback in the second quarter as they drove 59 yards, including passes of 48 and four yards to Monk, the latter for a touchdown as the Redskins pulled to 24-14 with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

The Redskins cut it to 24-17 at the half on Mark Moseley’s 42-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining. The Redskins crept closer in the third quarter on Moseley’s second field goal, a 39-yarder.