Redskins Remain Perfectly Aimed : Interconference: Rypien passes for 325 yards as Washington beats Steelers and improves to 11-0.

The Washington Redskins are unbeaten, in the playoffs and five victories away from making history.

Mark Rypien threw touchdown passes to Art Monk and Gary Clark as the mistake-free Redskins became the ninth team in NFL history with an 11-0 record, beating the Steelers, 41-14, Sunday.

The Redskins are the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to go 11-0, and clinched a playoff spot sooner than any team since the ’85 Bears.

The Redskins, who have outscored opponents by 222 points while allowing only 139, are trying to become the first NFL team to have an unbeaten 16-game season. Miami went 14-0 in the regular season in 1972.

“To be undefeated is a great feeling,” said Clark, who had three receptions for 95 yards. “Every week we keep adding fuel to the fire, and the flame keeps getting higher. We’re as proud right now as a father who’s just had his first son.”

Rypien completed 21 of 28 passes for 325 yards and the two touchdowns as the Redskins dominated both sides of the ball.

“The receivers are making leaping catches, diving catches--plays you just think are impossible,” said Rypien, who has passed for 767 yards in his last two games and has been sacked only four times all season.

Said Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs: “It’s kind of like a dream. It’s like we’re on a dream ride.”

Gerald Riggs scored two touchdowns and Monk had eight receptions for 130 yards for the Redskins, who did not commit a turnover and did not allow a sack for the fifth consecutive week.

The Steelers (4-7) have lost five of their last six games and have not scored a first-half touchdown in six of their 11 games.

“They just line up and dare you to stop them,” Steeler nose tackle Gerald Williams said of the Redskins. “It’s 11 weeks now and they’ve stared down every dare.”

The NFL’s second-rated defense kept Pittsburgh on its side of the 50 for all but two plays of the first half and sacked Neil O’Donnell five times.

O’Donnell, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 289 yards, threw touchdown passes of five yards to Adrian Cooper and 40 yards to Dwight Stone in the fourth quarter, cutting Washington’s lead to 27-14.

Rypien, the NFL’s second-rated quarterback, came right back to connect with Clark on a 49-yard touchdown pass play--Rypien’s 11th completion of more than 45 yards this season.

He then yielded to Jeff Rutledge, who hooked up with Ricky Sanders on a 40-yard touchdown pass play with 2:05 left.

Rypien, 24-4 as a starter in his last 28 games, set the tone early, connecting with Monk on a 63-yard pass play to the Steeler one three plays into the game.

Riggs scored the first of his two one-yard touchdowns on the next play.