The Veteran Uses Sleight of Hand; the Rookie Is All Thumbs

ST. LOUIS -- In the fourth quarter here on Sunday, Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell had the ball knocked from his grasp by his running back as he dropped back to pass. As the ball bounced crazily in the Washington end zone, pursued by one stumbling Brunell and a herd of charging Rams, he knew just what to do. When all around him were panicking, Brunell was calm, deliberately swatting the ball out of the end zone, giving St. Louis a two-point safety that cut Washington's lead to 17-9. "Better two than six," he said.

Just seconds later, on the next play from scrimmage, Rams rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, with no pressure on him, bobbled a simple handoff near midfield, banging the ball off his tailback's knee. In a moment when there was no need to be rattled, he had the handoff jitters. Just as his Rams were given a possible game-changing gift, Fitzpatrick gave it right back.

Sometimes, apparently, it's better to have 13 seasons in the NFL than four years at Harvard.

In those few brief minutes -- as Brunell prevented St. Louis from cutting Washington's lead to 17-14 and Fitzpatrick gave Washington the ball in Rams territory, setting up a 45-yard, game-clinching touchdown drive -- the nightmares that have haunted the Redskins' sleep for the past three losing weeks were dispelled. Suddenly, Washington's string of self-inflicted misfortunes came to an end, a 24-9 victory was entered in the books and its season returned to the dignity of .500.

If the Redskins had blown a fourth-quarter lead for a fourth consecutive week, the rest of this season might have been a misery of self-doubt and general perplexity. Instead, the Redskins are allowed to dream -- so long as they do it one modest week at a time.

"We've got a lot to look forward to down the stretch," Coach Joe Gibbs said. "This has been a tough, tough, tough month. To bounce back so well says a lot for our guys, especially the way we came off the ball [rushing for 257 yards]. With four games to go, we're this far into the season and we still have a lot to play for. It's fun to be here and still have a chance."

Unless the Redskins run the table, including wins at home against the Cowboys and Giants, they probably don't have much chance for the playoffs since a 10-6 record seems like it will be a minimum requirement. But that's not the point. Finally, they may be improving at winning games that are already in their hands. "We want to finish games the right way," Gibbs said.

This time, they did. But only because of Brunell's poise and Fitzgerald's loss of composure. From Gibbs, right on down through the Washington locker room, there was praise for Brunell for not making the instinctive reflex move of almost every ball carrier -- to try to scoop the ball up and salvage the play or else fall on it for a recovery.

"Mark was smart to bat the ball out of the end zone and give us a chance to still be in there at the end," tackle Jon Jansen said.

"The running back hit the ball [going to block]. I saw it" on the ground, Brunell said. "I thought, 'Instead of six, make it a two-point thing.'

"That play just comes from being around the game for a while. You have to be prepared for something bad to happen."

But don't most players try to recover fumbles -- and their dignity -- in such situations rather than make the goofy gesture of swatting the ball out of play? "Maybe I've made that mistake enough not to do it again," said Brunell.