European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 22 the stars and stripes sunday january 26, 1992super bowl xxvi redskins make a believer of twice mugged Fontes editor s note Wayne Fontes head coach of the Detroit Lions was named 1991 nil coach of the year by the associated press. The Lions played both the Bills and the redskins this season. By Wayne Fontes for the associated press the super bowl is an excellent matchup of two big Strong physical teams. We played each team twice this season with varying Success. The Washington redskins beat us twice a 45-0 in the season opener and 41-10 in the pfc championship game. Against the Buffalo Bills we lost 21-16 during the exhibition season and beat them 17-14 in the regular season finale. Washington is a team that tries to frustrate you offensively. Up front the redskins Are very physical. They have an outstanding running game and their concept is to Pound you until they Force you to take chances defensively to Stop the run. Once you commit defensively with your linebackers to Stop the run they kill you with the pass. They like to use a a a trips formation a putting three receivers on one Side. They like to throw the Short passes Early trying to frustrate your zone coverage. Mark by pics gets tremendous Protection when he throws to his third receiver cutting across the Middle analysis whether its Gary Clark or Art Monk or someone else. They have a tremendous underneath passing game to control the Ball. If you can take that away Stop their Short passing game Clamp Down with Man coverage underneath then Rypien goes Long. And he a Given the time to go deep because of Washington a great offensive line. You have to be patient on defense when you play Washington. In the pfc championship game we turned the Ball Over Early and fell behind 17-10 at halftime. Then they hit us with Long passes. After that things snowballed. When you try to play catch up the game can get out of hand. We tried to win we took chances. They intercepted passes and once they get up on you you re in trouble. They re Well coached Well balanced a very Tough team. Defensively they re Strong up front. They put a lot of pressure on the passer. Their front four comes after you hard on every play. What separate s them from the other teams we played is that their linebackers Are physical and Mobile. When their front four rushes they destroy a lot of your blockers. If you try to attack them with play action passes the linebackers Are Quick enough to step up and make sure its not a running play then Quick enough to get Back for a pass. Against us they were using More zone than Man to Man. They were great dropping Back into zones and taking away what we wanted to do. They rallied to the Ball. They have excellent quickness. Their linebackers took away our draw play with Barry Sanders and dropped Back Quick enough to take away our intermediate passing game. The redskins special teams also Are very Good. We thought we had Good special teams going in but theirs were special. Their coverage teams Are very Good and they returned the Ball very Well. To sum up Washington is a Complete total team. As for the Bills they have an outstanding offensive line. There a a lot of talk about Washington so hogs a but you can put buffaloes line in that class. Its a big physical blocking line. It blocks extremely Well for Thurman Thomas in the running game. The Bills can set up their running game because Jim Kelly passes so Well. You look at them and they have three or four excellent wide receivers. They re a finesse team. Kelly will find a skilled outside receiver to throw the Ball to. James Lofton and Andre Reed can Hurt you deep. But done to underestimate their running game. The redskins linebackers will have to make sure they Stop Thomas. Buffalo has an excellent running game because of its blocking. And Thomas can kill you running or catching the Ball coming out of the Backfield. Defensively the Bills were hurting up front Early in the season but they had lost some people. Now with the return of Bruce Smith things Are different. With Smith Back that helps Cornelius Bennett. If you concentrate on Smith they have Bennett coming from the other Side. People thought they could Block them because with Smith out of there they concentrated More on Cornelius. Now with Smith they re a Good pass Rushing team. Its difficult to get to Washington a passer because of the redskins Strong line but i still think Buffalo will put some pressure on Rypien. The Bills Are a solid group defensively. Without Smith they did no to put much pressure on the quarterback so they gave up More Points than you would expect from a Buffalo team. But with up file Detroit a Wayne Fontes skins a More physical Smith Back he helps the coverage. Coach Marv Levy has done a great Job in getting the team ready to play. Kelly a Knees Are still bothering him and he does no to move around As Well As he used to but he a a very Tough competitor. Buffaloes special teams Are very Good but they have a lot to prove especially in the kicking game. A lot has been said about them missing the Field goal in last years super bowl against the new York giants. But i think if Scott Norwood is Given another Opportunity on a last second Field goal hell make it. The team is behind him the fans Are behind him. People think this will be a High scoring game. But in these kinds of games the defences usually Rise to the occasion so ill say Washington 24, Buffalo 17. In be been wrong before. But i think the redskins will win because they Are a More physical team. They humbled us twice so in be got to pick skins abet pfc s dominance by Bob Oates the los Angeles times Minneapolis a for 10 years the super bowl has been dominated by the National football conference although the explanation for that strange fact has always proved elusive. As a super bowl phenomenon it seems to be More widely discussed among nil coaches than any other. But hold on the mystery May have been cleared up this Winter with the arrival of the Washington redskins for their fourth nil championship game in a decade. The redskins Are coached by Joe Gibbs who by sunday night could be a three time super bowl Winner. Only one other nil team has done More lately. The san Francisco 49ers, As organized by their 1980s coach Bill Walsh Are a four time super bowl Winner. And no doubt therein lies most of the explanation the pfc has Domi Joc Gibbs rated the nil since the 1981 season a winning nine of 10 super bowl games from american football conference clubs a for apparently two principal reasons Walsh and Gibbs. The teams these two created won the super bowl in 1982, �?T83, �?T85, �?T88, �?T89 and �?T90 six of the last 10. The Anatomy of the redskins the system the strength of Gibbs team is his system. Unlike the 49ers, who won four times with one quarterback Joe Montana the redskins have been led by three different winners Joe Theismann in super bowl xvii Doug analysis Williams in xxii and Mark Rypien this season. In Redskin football the players Are subordinate to the system a structured balanced entity on both sides of the Ball. The offensive system is based on a lot of pre snap shifting a lot of motion a single running Back three receivers at times three tight ends at times and a careful amalgamation of runs with passes. The redskins never forget to run outside to pass Down the Middle to Call screens and draws or to Call the other Basic plays that can be neglected so easily in big game pressure. As for replacements the parts in their system have All proved interchangeable in trades or the draft. For example this years John Riggins is Earnest byner who alternates with Ricky Ervins to run exactly the same plays though at confusingly different tempos. Each year Gibbs updates Redskin strategy incorporating say elements of the run and shoot or of the Buffalo no huddle. But the system remains. And so the matchup sunday is buffaloes individual stars is. The Washington system. Its because the stars Are so Bright that it has the look of an even the redskins have Only two running plays in their Basic offence a a Power run and a counter play. To the defense these plays look exactly alike at the snap when the single Back makes a Power lunge. An instant later he has either developed it into a full blown Power play or he has countered sharply in the other direction. This offence is hardest on the four linebackers in a defense such As the Bills 3-4. Such linebackers coached to flow to the Ball can Only be guessing if they move with the running backs first step. If the defense brings up a safety to help Rypien can strike deep to a single covered receiver. The primary Redskin receivers Art Monk and Gary Clark rank fourth and fifth this season in pfc passes caught. The tackles in Washington a huge efficient offensive line Jim Lachey and Joe Jacoby rank with the a Fly a Best. And Rypien is the no.2-ranked passer. Rypien has come from nowhere to stardom in the last six months. Some critics still done to believe in him but its All Over for Buffalo if super bowl xxvi is an other of his big games this the Redskin defensive team will fight the Buffalo no huddle offence with substitutes who Are poised like sprinters along the sideline. The instant a whistle ends any Buffalo play the appropriate Redskin situation players will Rush in before Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly can Call the next play. That is one scenario being readied by Redskin defensive coach Richie Petitbon. A we can get our substitutes in a Petitbon promised. In another scenario Petitbon who is a George Allen protege will fight Kelly with the redskins 11 Best combination run pass defensive players including end Charles Mann linebacker Wilber Marshall and cornerback Darrell Green. Washington a eight other defensive starters Are Anonymous plan b refugees who fit the Redskin scheme As if drafted for it. The scheme rests on an intelligent my of coverages and fronts with occasional timely blitzing. The defense like the offence is steady rather than flashy on this solid Complete team. The redskins Are no. 4 on offence no. 3 on defense no. 7 Rushing no 3 in Rushing defense and most significantly no. 1 in average Yards passing and no. 2 in average Yards yielded to teams i he Redskin punter Kelly Goodburn ranks 26th in net average but Gibbs kicking game is otherwise a strength under one of the a Fly a leading special team coaches Wayne Sevier. The clubs no. 4 running Back Brian Mitchell is the Star of the special teams ranking second for average in his specially returning punts Mitchell and Ervins return kickoffs. The Redskin kicker Chip Lohmiller is More reliable than most
