New Life for the Redskins

"The start of the game and the end of the game were the worst conditions I've ever seen," said Frost, who played his college football at Northern Iowa.

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But the little bit of success Collins had allowed the Redskins a small bit of creativity. Somewhere they decided to pull out an obscure play in their 700-plus-page playbook. It called for Collins to take a snap, quickly step back and fake as if he was throwing a fast pass toward the sideline. Then, when the Giants instinctually began following the motion of his arm, he dropped a handoff into the arms of his running backs.

The first time they tried this, running back Ladell Betts took the handoff and ran for a touchdown. The second time, Portis ran 31 yards. The third time Portis got eight and then 10. In the third quarter the play helped Portis run for a touchdown that put Washington ahead 22-3 and ultimately put the game away.

Afterward Collins dressed slowly in the happy locker room. He had been ignored and forgotten for so much of his career he might as well enjoy this. After 13 years as a reserve there are no guarantees how many more chances there will be to bask in a victory, particularly one that came on a weekend in which his wife, back in their home outside Boston, delivered a baby boy named Jack.

The word of the impending event reached the Redskins on Friday and Coach Joe Gibbs -- desperate to get his starting quarterback up for the birth and then back to New York for Sunday's game -- went down the hall at Redskins Park and asked for the help of team owner Daniel Snyder. He approved the use of a car and a plane to take Collins to Massachusetts; the baby was born Friday night.

Two evenings later, the playoff dream was redelivered in the howling winds of the Meadowlands.

The season once done is very much alive again. And who would have ever thought that?