Repeating Won’t Be Easy for ‘Skins

The question has been asked since they won the Super Bowl, and nobody on the Washington Redskins has the answer yet.

“Can we repeat? That’s my favorite question. I know all of you want me to say, ‘Yes,’ ” Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs said at a fans’ luncheon Friday. “Can we be hungry again, and can we really go at it again and do what it takes to be the best in the NFL? I don’t know. I hope so.”

The hunger is the key, Gibbs and his players say.

“We have some guys who have two or three rings, and now we’ve got some young guys who have one and want another,” said tight end John Brandes, a self-appointed free spirit on a team full of quiet, purposeful players. “Starting things off with the Cowboys is the first step.”

If recent history is any guide, Gibbs and the rest of the Redskins can plan vacations for the end of January, when the NFL’s top two teams will be battling for the Super Bowl championship in Pasadena. Not since the 1988-89 San Francisco 49ers have teams won consecutive Super Bowls.

And Gibbs is as good a source as any for explaining why. He’s well acquainted with the good and bad fortune that comes with winning the Super Bowl. In 1984, after winning the year before, Washington advanced to the championship before losing to the Los Angeles Raiders. After beating Denver in the 1988 Super Bowl, the Redskins stumbled to a 7-9 mark the following season.

“We’ve had some of our best seasons after winning and some of our worst,” Gibbs said. “But it’s always tough.”

Why? Gibbs says there are four specific downsides to walking away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy--let’s call them Gibbs’ Four Commandments:

--The lengthy postseason makes for a shorter offseason, a time the Redskins devote to rigorous weight room work.

--Winning the Super Bowl guarantees a tough schedule.

--Contract disputes, the nature of which never varies: players think they’re worth more than their employers do.

Quarterback Mark Rypien held out for 23 days before signing a contract, while All-Pros Jim Lachey at tackle and Darrell Green at cornerback are still unsigned. Likewise, first-round draft choice Desmond Howard hasn’t reached an agreement yet.

There are other potential problems as well--with Lachey out for now and all-purpose backup Mark Adickes out with a bulging disc in his back, can the offensive line replicate last year’s NFL-low nine sacks allowed?

Will John Settle and Ricky Ervins be the reliable third-and-short running back as was the just-released Gerald Riggs?

Can the Redskins stay as healthy as they did last year?

And the schedule--Washington opens in Dallas, home of the much-improved, 1991 playoff-surprise Cowboys. Then come Atlanta and Detroit, the Redkins’ NFC playoff victims. After a trip to Phoenix, the Redskins host AFC finalist Denver, NFC East rival Philadelphia, travel to Minnesota, then play host to the Giants.

The second-half schedule gets no easier. Washington travels to Seattle, Kansas City, and New Orleans, hosts Phoenix, travels to New York, hosts the Cowboys, goes to Philadelphia and then celebrates the holidays and finishes the regular season by playing the Raiders the day after Christmas.