Redskins Overcome the Eagles and Injuries to Break Losing Streak

Little things don’t bother Doug Williams. Little things like lining up behind four new linemen, like handing off to a reserve running back, or like four holding calls against free agent Ray Brown.

Those kinds of things don’t bother him.

“Most veteran quarterbacks with four new linemen wouldn’t have enough guts to play the way he did,” Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said. “But Doug showed great poise.”

Williams just went to work with what he had and led the Redskins to a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Redskins (5-5), who began the game without five starters and lost two more. Philadelphia (6-4) lost its second straight as a favorite.

The Eagles’ offense crossed midfield only four times as Washington recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. Randall Cunningham was sacked three times, all by defensive end Dexter Manley.

Williams completed 14 of 24 passes for 161 yards and took a gamble on a fourth-down pass that led to the winning touchdown.

Starting for only the second time since undergoing back surgery 11 weeks ago, Williams contributed the play of the game, which confounded observers who wrote off the Skins after a numbing loss to winless Dallas Monday night.

Washington, leading 3-0 in the second quarter, had a fourth and inches at the Eagles’ 32-yard line. The Philadelphia defense came up tight to choke an expected run for the first down.

But Williams dropped back and passed 24 yards to tight end Jimmie Johnson for a first down at the nine. Johnson was alone but he fell on his back catching the ball.

Running back Jamie Morris carried seven yards to the two, and, on second down, Earnest Byner burst one yard into the end zone to make it 10-0.

“We were working on that play all week,” Williams said. “We knew that as aggressive as the Eagles were in short-yardage situations like that, they would be trying to stop the run.”

Johnson said he was thinking six points the second he left the line. “I was so wide open,” he said. “The ball got caught in the wind. It seemed like it stayed up there forever.”

The touchdown, plus Chip Lohmiller’s 34-yard field goal in the first period, represented all the scoring the Redskins needed. The defense did the rest, holding the Eagles to 204 yards total offense.

The Eagles’ running game managed just 47 yards. Randall Cunningham, ineffective most of the game, connected on 17 of 39 for 177 yards.