PRO FOOTBALL ’92 : NFC PREVIEW : Odds Are Against a Redskin Repeat

Seven months ago, the NFC champion Washington Redskins routed the AFC champion Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI, opening a 37-10 lead and coasting to a 37-24 victory.

In Super Bowl XXVII, at Pasadena on Jan. 31, can the Redskins do something like that again?

They are sure they have the resources to repeat, starting with a respected coach, Joe Gibbs, and a strong-armed quarterback, Mark Rypien.

But their history is against them:

--In January of 1984, the year after the Redskins won their first championship under Gibbs, the Raiders beat them in Super Bowl XVIII, 38-9.

--In 1988, the year after Gibbs’ second Super Bowl championship, his team didn’t make the playoffs, finishing 7-9.

As of 1992, the Redskins have an additional problem: the unusual strength of their division.

Many NFL scouts and coaches say that pro football’s top three teams are the Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, all of the NFC East.

The Cowboys had insufficient defense until the other day, but then they acquired linebacker Charles Haley, one of the league’s finest, from the San Francisco 49ers.

The Eagles are even more powerful defensively.

The Redskins, however, are the best balanced--provided they don’t falter, as they did in the ’83 and ’88 seasons.

Why should 1992 be different?

“Well, we have Mark Rypien now,” Gibbs’ first lieutenant, Richie Petitbon, said recently.

And for the Redskins, that might be the largest difference between the ‘80s and ‘90s. They won their first two titles with quarterbacks who were coming to the end--Joe Theismann and Doug Williams.

By contrast, Rypien is a young 29 with a background of only four NFL seasons. And in each of the last two, he was the NFL’s best long passer.

Former Ram coach John Robinson and Stanford Coach Bill Walsh, who tangled twice a year in the NFL until recently, are confident that the NFC will be won by the Washington-San Francisco playoff winner.

“The 49ers can win even if they don’t have Joe Montana,” Robinson said. “They can win with either Steve Young or Steve Bono.”

Walsh said: “The 49ers might not have the best regular-season record this year--but they’ll have the best pass offense in the playoffs.”

Though not necessarily the best team. Again this season, that’s Washington.

The NFC’s top 10: 1. WASHINGTON REDSKINS 1991 Record: 14-2 Quarterback: Mark Rypien Coach: Joe Gibbs (130-14)

The Redskins will be lucky to avoid an 0-1 start Monday night at Dallas. They have had a ragged look throughout the exhibition season--largely because their prominent holdouts missed so much practice. Two things could beat the Redskins this year: their schedule--possibly the NFL’s toughest--and the loss of linebacker Matt Millen, which leaves run defense their critical weakness. The quality, though, is there: Rypien, Art Monk, Jim Lachey, Darrell Green, Ricky Ervins, Desmond Howard. 2. DALLAS COWBOYS 1991 Record: 11-5 Quarterback: Troy Aikman Coach: Jimmy Johnson (20-30)

The 49ers gave Dallas just enough defense when they sent Haley over in trade. The Cowboys’ other strengths: They have provided Aikman with a good runner, Emmitt Smith, and several fine receivers; they have brought in another quarterback with starting ability, Steve Beuerlein; under Johnson, they are perfecting the ability to avoid upsets; and they know how to beat the Redskins. 3. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 1991 Record: 10-6 Quarterback: Randall Cunningham Coach: Rich Kotite (10-6)

To contend this year, the Eagles can’t have to weather many injuries. When their veteran team is on the field, they are at least second- or third-best to the Redskins. With Cunningham in form, the Eagles have all the offense anybody needs on a team that has that kind of defense. Their defensive leaders include Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Seth Joyner, Andre Waters, Wes Hopkins and Eric Allen. 4. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 1991 Record: 11-5 Quarterback: Bobby Hebert Coach: Jim Mora (57-41)

The opener in Philadelphia on Sunday will lead to an uphill start for either the Saints or Eagles. But San Francisco and Minnesota have to play Philadelphia this year, too, and Washington plays New Orleans. When the Saints can keep a regular in every position, they are one of the NFL’s five best teams. Their erratic season--they started 9-1 last year and finished 2-4--was largely because of the NFL’s thinnest bench for a contender. Hebert is probably the NFL’s most intelligent quarterback. 5. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 1991 Record: 10-6 Quarterback: Steve Young Coach: George Seifert (42-11)

If Joe Montana were available and authorized to call San Francisco’s plays, it would be a 49er title year again in a season when the Redskins will be shot at everywhere. If No. 3 quarterback Steve Bono sits out the year, the question is whether Young can scramble them into the championship. The well-coached 49ers are a team with two other questions: Can they defend against passes? Can they run? 6. MINNESOTA VIKINGS 1991 Record: 8-8 Quarterback: Rich Gannon Coach: Dennis Green (0-0)

Their 5-0 exhibition record isn’t about to help, but Green can. For many years, the Vikings have been very close to No. 1 in NFL talent, and most of it is still there. Whether Green is an NFL coach is a question for the future, but he has started right, putting in the Washington offense with a coordinator from the Redskins, Jack Burns, and reshaping the defense with respected coordinator Tony Dungy. Except for Gannon, the playing personnel is about the same. 7. CHICAGO BEARS 1991 Record: 11-5 Quarterback: Jim Harbaugh Coach: Mike Ditka (107-57)

Ditka has an NFL master’s degree in avoiding upsets. But unhappily for him, the teams he once dominated are biting back. Detroit won the division last year, Minnesota could win this season and Tampa Bay could rise with Sam Wyche, its new coach. Ditka’s biggest problem for years was quarterback uncertainty. Now that Harbaugh has ended that, the ship is beginning to leak everywhere else. Thus, Neal Anderson can’t run behind a line that the Bears killed off when they traded center Jay Hilgenberg. 8. RAMS 1991 Record: 3-13 Quarterback: Jim Everett Coach: Chuck Knox (178-125)

Knox has made a change to one-back football--if he only had that one back. It wasn’t long ago, in John Robinson’s best years, that the Rams attacked in a one-back system with Eric Dickerson. It’s the best way to set up Everett’s passing. As an NFL coach, Robinson was a victim of the Dickerson trade, the turning point in the destiny of the Rams. At the moment, Knox’s ability to turn teams around is the club’s No. 1 asset.

9. ATLANTA FALCONS 1991 Record: 10-6 Quarterback: Chris Miller Coach: Jerry Glanville (51-53)

Falcon fans haven’t yet learned to convert the Georgia Dome into the noise factory Glanville had in Houston. There, the Astrodome helps the Oilers into the playoffs each year. The same could happen when Atlanta’s crowds get the hang of it, for Glanville has built the same sort of run-and-shoot club he had in Houston, with a gifted passer and fast receivers. The difference is a weaker Falcon defense that is minus five starters, including Deion Sanders, who said he will report later. 10. NEW YORK GIANTS 1991 Record: 8-8 Quarterback: Open Coach: Ray Handley (8-8)

With either Jeff Hostetler or Phil Simms at quarterback, the Giant offense hasn’t been as successful as the one Bill Parcells had in 1990, though it’s the same offense, with the same leader, Handley. Three reasons: Opposing defenses are coping better with conservative offenses, such as this one; the Giant defense is weaker; nor is the team as motivated as it was under the emotional Parcells. Worse luck: Lawrence Taylor is nearing the end of his career.