The Giants spent the early part of this week considering how unstoppable the Redskins were in their last visit to Giants Stadium, when they arrived in town and did not leave until they dropped a tidy 50 points on the home team.
Those days must seem long gone for a Redskin offense that has been the main culprit in the disappointing 1-2 start to this season.
What the struggles have done is put the pressure squarely on two individuals, coach Norv Turner and quarterback Brad Johnson. Continued failure will have dire consequences for both. In the short term and perhaps as soon as Sunday night, Johnson could give way to backup Jeff George. In the long term, Turner will be out of a job if there’s not a reversal of fortunes in Washington.
“If you’re not producing, then there is a lot of speculation on people’s jobs, their careers and whatever may be,” Johnson said yesterday. “If you get caught up in the wrong things, thinking about negative things that could happen, obviously it could carry over to the field.”
This is a strange course for a team renowned for it’s scoring prowess and usually held back by its shoddy defense. The Redskins have been more than solid on defense, but Johnson has been erratic in losses to the Lions and Cowboys. And if not for the running of Stephen Davis (65-283) the offense would be a complete disaster.
With top receiver Michael Westbrook gone the season with torn knee ligaments, the long-distance passing attack of a year ago has been replaced by a dink here, a dump there.
Johnson has thrown more passes (120) than any quarterback in the league, yet his longest completion is a mere 26 yards, and that was to fullback Larry Centers, who probably won’t play on Sunday because of an elbow injury.
With Westbrook out, left to chase Johnson’s tosses are Albert Connell, who is a long-ball threat, and Irving Fryar and Andre Reed. This would be a great thing if it were 1990, but time has passed. Fryar turns 37 next week, Reed is 36 and neither is what he once was.
Known as an accurate passer, Johnson has already tossed five interceptions and is attracting ugly reviews from Redskins fans, who want to see the strong-armed George take control. Johnson starts against the Giants, but if he struggles he won’t necessarily finish.
“If we were playing great in the 10 other positions and the only concern was Brad Johnson they you would be more willing to make a change,” Turner said. “But we’ve played with inconsistencies in all areas.”
The mere presence of George, though, is a factor, considering it was owner Daniel Snyder who pushed for his signing. Asked if he regretted bringing George in, Turner said “No, I don’t feel that, gosh.”
The heat of the moment will be cooled temporarily with a victory over the Giants. Turner said he and Snyder “communicate on a regular basis” and added “when things are not going good he wants to know a lot of the same questions, why it is happening and how are we going to turn it around.”
It would behoove Turner and Johnson if they could start providing answers.
