European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 29, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 32 the stars and stripes sports 1 thursday september 29, 1994 is by Rick Morrissey Rocky Mountain news Denver a the football gods have smiled on John Elway so often the Denver Broncos have come to expect Only Good things from the quarterback in difficult. Times a. A . A a the gods  be crazy about Elway anymore. T he Broncos Are 0-4 after a 27-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on monday night. With his team in position to score a touchdown in the final minute Elway Felt a Slick football slip from his hand and Fly High Over the head of a wide open Cedric Tillman in the end zone. Head laugh if he weren to crying. The next time he drops Back for an important pass late in the Elway game Elway fully expects a solar eclipse in three of their four losses the Broncos were in position to win or tie late in the game but did no to. Elway is credited with 32 game saving drives in his career but has had Only one since the beginning of last season. His first instinct is to bang his head against the nearest goalpost. A a in be got to fight against doing that a he said tuesday. A a that a the big thing. I fight against that All the time things 1 can to control. I have to fight to not let those things bother me. But they always have and they always will. A a in a disappointed i did no to make those plays. That s the hardest thing to Swallow that i did no to make those plays when i needed  against san Diego in the opener the Broncos were driving for what could have been the winning touchdown when Elway lost his grip on the football and it spun right into the hands of the chargers Junior seau against the new York jets the next week the Broncos had a Chance to win with a touchdown late but had to Settle for a Field goal. They lost in overtime. At times in the past Elway has been the sole source of the Broncos Confidence. The world could be spinning out of control around them but they knew if they stayed close Elway would give them the Chance to win at the end. Now they just done to know. Its a subject the team has a hard time discussing. What a going on with Elway a i done to know a coach Wade Phillips said. A if i knew wed change it. We be been Down there near the goal line three out of four games and had a Chance to win. A a it a not All John obviously. Other people have to make plays too or we have to protect Elway better a Elway a statistics Are fairly impressive. He has completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 1,121 Yards. But he also has had five interceptions three of which were returned for touchdowns. A a he a going just like we re going a Phillips said. A a it a pretty similar those three games. Nobody a trying any harder. He made some spectacular plays. A i done to think you can say Johns not playing at All. But its pretty much like our team. They re playing Good but they re not playing quite Good  Elway said the Broncos fortunes eventually will turn in 1994. \. A a a  a a when you have the Type of things happen that have happened to us i think subconsciously you re going to have things creep in your mind a he said. A the Only thing to combat that is to go out and play hard and hopefully things will turn around for  Phillips Job Security meanwhile is still the subject of much speculation around the nil. Esp reported that Phillips could be replaced by offensive coordinator Jim Fassel wednesday or thursday. A Broncos spokesman declined to arrange an interview with owner Pat Bowlen saying Bowlen made it Clear nine Days ago he planned no changes on the coaching staff. Bowlen could not be reached for comment tuesday. The Broncos have lost seven consecutive games Over the past two seasons and there Are cries for Phillips head. A -7/. / a i done to talk about that a he said. A a that a for Media people to talk about. In a trying to win the next game. I done to worry about anything  asked what Bowlen said to him after mondays game Phillips said a the Shook his head. We had three of those pretty similar. We be got to keep going Forward. We can to lose our  distributed by Scrippa Howard new service Bronco head coach Wade Phillips solemnly considers a reporters question in Denver  looks Forward to Dallas in 1st Start Rookie Heath Shuler right talks with fellow Washington quarterback John Friesz on sidelines during last sundays 27-20 loss to Atlanta Shuler has been named the starter. By Jonathan Moore Ashburn a. Apr never mind that its probably the toughest game on the schedule Heath Shuler is looking Forward to his first Start for the Washington redskins against the Dallas cowboys on sunday. Shuler the redskins first round draft pick third Overall this year will replace Veteran John Friesz As the starter against the cowboys coach Norv Turner said tuesday. A i think if you re going to play you play against the bests last years world champions a said the Rookie out of Tennessee a this is where the fun starts. Sitting on the sideline a that a not fun a Shuler said. Turner said he based the decision on a combination of Friesz a recent performances and his feeling that Shuler is ready to play. A a we re still making the errors that Are keeping us from getting done what we want to get done a Turner said. A and if we re going to have those errors id just As soon be having those errors with Heath and making Progress that  the redskins Are 1-3 after four games with Friesz As the starter. Friesz a Strong showing in game 2 at new Orleans caused Turner to postpone plans to Start Shuler in the third game. Friesz was 17-for-29 for 230 Yards and a touchdown against the Falcons on sunday but threw three interceptions and fumbled once. Turner replaced him with Shuler for the final two possessions of the game. Shuler was at a disadvantage to compete for the starting Job because he missed 13 Days of training Camp getting a contract worked out. He signed an eight year $19.25 million Deal the biggest in team history on aug. 2. Friesz a five year Veteran who lost his Job in san Diego to Stan Humphries was signed by the redskins before the april draft. Turner said the luxury of having. Friesz kept pressure off Shuler while he Learned the redskins offensive scheme. A a he a four weeks further along than when we had this discussion last time a Turner said. A a that a been a plus. I think he a a lot More focused in and zeroed in on what we re  Friesz said he realized he was playing a kind of caretaker role As quarterback while Shuler got up to Speed. He acknowledged he was More disappointed in his play than with the teams decision to Bench  said he did no to think he was trading Short term Success for the Long term gain of developing his quarterback of the future. A i think we can win games with Heath a playing. And again we re going to continue to improve and four or five weeks Down the Road we re going to be a lot  Shulery a season totals include 13-of-24 passing for 107 Yards and one interception. Turner said he Wasny to worried that Shulery a first Start comes in one of the toughest games of the year. A the cowboys Arentt the Issue to piously they Are on sunday a but during the week its the redskins and us having Good practices and making sure we continue to improve a he said