Cardinal Sins Lead to Redskins’ 34-0 Victory

Joe Bugel knows you can’t give anything to the Washington Redskins.

Bugel, a former Redskin assistant, saw his Phoenix Cardinals commit four turnovers Sunday in a 34-0 loss to the Redskins.

“For us to match with the ‘Skins, we have to play an error-free game, and we didn’t,” Bugel said. “The Redskins could be one of the best teams in the NFL right now.

“We felt good about ourselves coming into the game. It doesn’t make much sense to dwell on this game and panic. We’re looking forward to playing Dallas next week. We’re finally getting back home (after three road games).”

It was the second shutout for the Redskins, who won their first three games for the first time since 1983.

Washington got 109 yards rushing and 51 receiving from Earnest Byner and dominated throughout, taking a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions on Byner’s one-yard touchdown run and a 10-yard score by Ricky Sanders on a reverse.

“It’s three wins, nothing more than that,” Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said. “We have to see if we can handle prosperity.”

Linebacker Wilber Marshall had two interceptions, returning one 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Redskins a 28-0 lead in the third quarter. Chip Lohmiller added two field goals.

“It’s fun, running with the ball,” said Marshall, who faked a lateral to Darrell Green and then ran to the end zone. Marshall also scored on an interception while playing for the Chicago Bears in 1986.

Washington’s Mark Rypien completed 15 of 23 passes for 181 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Gary Clark.

Phoenix (2-1) lost its 14th consecutive game at Washington dating to 1978. It was Washington’s 27th victory over the Cardinals in the last 31 meetings between the NFC East rivals.

Phoenix quarterback Tom Tupa completed 13 of 24 passes for 120 yards, but threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.

Lohmiller missed a field goal from 44 yards, his first miss in 18 attempts, before making kicks of 29 and 48 yards in the fourth quarter. Last week, Lohmiller made field goals of 53, 52, 46 and 45 yards against Dallas.