It's All Up in the Air

"London has great excitement. You'd think a guy that has done all the things he's done wouldn't have the enthusiasm of a rookie," Gibbs said. "He sits in the front row of the meeting room, knows every single call. After practice, sometimes he'll even correct [assistant head coach-defense] Gregg Williams and say, 'You know, that wasn't supposed to be that way.'

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"He's a bona fide leader and a great producer. I can't brag about him enough."

If Fletcher, 32, isn't the central personality on the team, he's getting close. Others on the defense wear shoes with yellow toes, yellow stripes, white streaks and stripes -- everything but afterburners. Fletcher's are just black. Twice yesterday, he broke up passes deep over the center of the field with huge hits. Once, on the goal line, he blitzed to ring up a runner for a loss. Twice, he stopped third-down plays with tackles in the open field and forced punts. And once, he got so excited after obliterating a receiver who dropped the ball that he was penalizing for taunting the Cardinals' bench.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Fletcher said of the call. "He was just getting the crowd into it, not taunting," said Gibbs.

Whatever. The fire burns. "London's invaluable. He played spectacularly today, but you don't see everything he does. His 'checks' in the run game and 'alerts' against the pass -- he's getting everybody around him to play at a high level," Williams said of Fletcher's ability to play his position and verbally tip others before the snap. "He fires us up. Coaches can say [the same] things. But it means more when it comes from a warrior who's there bleeding with you."

In far too many of the last 15 years, including last season, far too many Redskins have overestimated themselves, talked a better game than they played, anointed themselves offseason champions and then showed up flat against beatable teams.

Fletcher, finally, is a free agent who is the antithesis of this pattern.

"We are not good enough to look past anybody," Fletcher said of this narrow escape that gave the Redskins a 4-2 record. What does he see in the team around him? "We can be great. Or go the other way."

In the next five weeks, that direction will be determined.