NFL Recap (Washington-Philadelphia)
Posted: Sun October 5, 1997 at 7:02 p.m. EDT
PHILADELPHIA 24, WASHINGTON 10
Ricky Watters ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns as the
Philadelphia Eagles used a dominant rushing attack to defeat the
Washington Redskins, 24-10, in a key NFC Eastern Division game.
Ty Detmer completed 17-of-27 passes for 246 yards and also ran
for a score as Philadelphia (2-3) had three rushing touchdowns
for the first time since a 31-13 victory over the Denver Broncos
on November 12th, 1995.
Watters carried 31 times for his second 100-yard rushing game of
the season and Philadelphia outgained Washington, 203-30, on the
ground. Watters, who had a verbal sideline confrontation with
Detmer in last week's 28-19 loss to the Minnesota Vikings,
caught two passes for 36 yards. Detmer initiated the dispute
after he was upset when Watters failed to catch a pass but later
apologized.
"When I heard that I had 99 yards, the first thing I said was
`That was okay'," said Watters. "Then somebody said, `You have
99, you need to get 100' and I said, `You know what, that is
only one more yard.' One hundred-yard games are hard to get in
the NFL and when you have the opportunity to get one, you jump
on the chance."
"After the game I said `Great game' to Ty and he said the same
back to me," Watters said. "It was a good thing to bounce
back."
Charlie Garner added 60 yards on 12 carries as the Eagles moved
within a half-game of the New York Giants for second place in
the NFC East. Philadelphia controlled the ball for 39:22 and
defeated Washington for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings.
Each of the previous nine matchups were decided by seven points
or less.
"It makes it a lot easier for a quarterback when you can turn
around to Charlie and Ricky and let them go," Detmer said. "Our
offensive line played great, they took the pressure off of us.
It was just a great game by them up front. There was pressure on
all of us. When you're 1-3, there will always be a lot of
pressure. And when you're a quarterback you take a lot of the
heat. That's just part of the job. We were playing for our
season today. If we win the football game everything takes care
of itself."
Gus Frerotte was 16-of-37 for 216 yards for the Redskins (3-2),
who allowed more than 14 points for the first time this season.
Terry Allen ran 12 times and had all 30 of Washington's rushing
yards. The Redskins are tied with the Dallas Cowboys for the
NFC East lead.
Philadelphia dominated from the outset holding the ball for all
but 2:56 of the first quarter and recording nine first downs
before allowing Washington's first.
"First of all this was a big win for our football team," said
coach Ray Rhodes. "I felt that we got a solid effort from all
phases. We still had some mistakes during the course of the
game but we had a good overall effort on offense, defense,
special teams. I felt Ty Detmer had a good game. Our receivers
came up with some big catches. Ricky and Charlie ran the ball
extremely well. I felt our offense was very balanced today.
From a defensive standpoint our defensive line had a couple of
sacks in the game, put (on) good pressure overall."
Detmer's three-yard scamper capped a 12-play, 81-yard drive that
took over six minutes, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 5:28
left in the opening quarter. Watters carried six times for 27
yards on the drive and also had a 20-yard reception.
Detmer threw a 22-yard pass to Michael Timpson putting the ball
on the Washington 1-yard line and Watters scored on the next
play for a 14-0 advantage 78 seconds into the second quarter.
Linebacker Derek Smith recovered a fumble by Garner on the
Philadelphia 23 to set up Scott Blanton's 37-yard field goal,
cutting the deficit to 14-3 just over six minutes into the
second.
"It was a very disappointing effort today," Frerotte said.
"Offensively we have to keep the ball, eat up some clock so our
defense doesn't stay on the field that long. They came up with
a big play to get a fumble and we only get three points out of
it."
Philadelphia increased its lead to 17-3 on Chris Boniol's
34-yard field goal with 3:10 left in the first half.
Frerotte used a 38-yard pass to Michael Westbrook to set up a
five-yard scoring pass to Allen, pulling the Redskins within
17-10 just over seven minutes into the third.
Watters had a one-yard plunge for the final score, 1:41 into the
fourth quarter. He carried the ball seven times on the 10-play,
75-yard drive that was keyed by two passes to Irving Fryer for
50 yards.
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