Redskin Defenders Are Stopped in Tracks by Flutie Footwork

On fourth and five, little Doug Flutie put a Michael Jordan move on big Dana Stubblefield.

All the 6-foot-2, 315-pound Stubblefield could do was stand helpless with his hands on his hips as the 5-10 Flutie jitterbugged for an eight-yard gain to set up the go-ahead touchdown. The Buffalo Bills had five scoring drives in their first six possessions, and Flutie scrambled for a first down on four of them in Sunday’s 34-17 victory over the Washington Redskins.

“No, I did not ever think of taking Doug out of the game,” joked Buffalo Coach Wade Phillips at the start of his postgame news conference.

Phillips spent the week fending off calls for Flutie--ineffective in his last three games--to be benched in favor of Rob Johnson. Flutie answered the critics by rushing for 40 yards and completing 16 of 22 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

“Now, all of a sudden, the offense is great,” said Flutie, who had thrown eight interceptions in his last three games. “Well, we’re still doing the same thing we did last week, the same thing we did the week before.”

Antowain Smith ran for two touchdowns as the Bills (6-3), who had been living off their defense most of the season, held the ball for 41 minutes and had their highest scoring output of the season.

“I won’t say today was a rarity,” defensive end Bruce Smith said. “But I’ll say today was the best the offense has played in two years. They just did everything that was asked of them and then some more, controlling the ball and putting points on the board.”

The Redskins (5-3), who have the NFL’s most-porous defense, allowed 413 yards by nearly every means possible: They left receivers open, wilted on up-the-middle runs and failed to contain Flutie.

“We just came out and played so lousy,” defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson said.

Linebacker Shawn Barber said the Redskins didn’t have their usual intensity following last week’s 48-22 victory over Chicago.

“We were at the top of our division,” Barber said. “We were looking at it as we don’t have to scratch and crawl. I think that was the attitude some guys had. We’re going to have to put our game face on and come in with the right mentality each week.”

But this time, the Redskins weren’t bailed out by their offense, which was ranked second in the NFC.

Washington took the opening kickoff and drove 66 yards in eight plays, with Stephen Davis running eight yards for his league-leading 12th touchdown. But the Redskins didn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter, after the Bills had taken a 21-point lead. Redskins quarterback Brad Johnson completed his first seven passes, but was 12 for 30 the rest of the way. He finished 19 for 37 for 232 yards, and the 17 points were a season low for Washington.

“Well, for one thing, we were on the bench most of the game,” Redskin guard Tre Johnson said.

The Bills scored on all three of their first-half possessions, with Flutie’s nimble feet keeping each drive alive.

Flutie took a shot in the leg from Tim Denton while diving to convert a third-and-six on the first drive, setting up Steve Christie’s 23-yard field goal.

On the second drive, Flutie scrambled for 13 yards on third and four at the Redskin 49, the biggest gain on a 55-yard drive that was capped by a six-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Bobby Collins.

But the classic Flutie scramble came on fourth-and-5 at the Redskin 23 late in the second quarter. Flutie, scrambling around the right side, looked like a point guard as he put a move on Stubblefield.

Five plays later, Smith’s one-yard touchdown run gave the Bills a 17-10 halftime lead.