Gibbs Can Still Motivate

Ironically, the quarterback for that run, if there is to be one, will be Collins, who is undoubtedly the only 36-year-old in the NFL in near-mint condition. "Todd labored that long, sat all those years staying prepared . . . You're looking at him maybe never getting his chance to play. So, it's a great story. Thank goodness, he's getting to play for us," said Gibbs.

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In recent years, with the pressure of high payrolls, perhaps unrealistic expectations and a passionate but occasionally unhinged fan base, the Redskins have tended to be tight under the gun. Whatever happens, Collins won't fit that description. "Todd was real poised. But he's cracking jokes in the huddle. He's just goofy. He's fake chewing people out or giving a rah-rah high-school coach speech, but so it's funny," said center Casey Rabach. "And when it counted, he made the throws."

Even though, after practice on Friday, owner Dan Snyder lent Collins his private plane to fly home to Massachusetts for the birth of his second son, then flew him back in time for Saturday's walk-through practice. "On Friday I told Dan, 'We have a problem. Todd's wife is having a baby.' He said, "I'll get him my plane in a hour and a car when he gets there,' " said Gibbs who was most pleased that Snyder didn't even bother to ask, "Which Todd?" on a team that has three.

Perhaps no team in the NFL has as much excuse to quit this December as the Redskins. No professional team should, of course. But, every season, as bad breaks and internal dissension mount, as poor leadership and injuries seem insurmountable, plenty of team roll over and pack in the season a few weeks early. All the normal aches and complaints of late-season football beset the Redskins. But in their case, the burden is much greater, so their ability to play through it is that much more remarkable.

The murder of 24-year-old Sean Taylor, perhaps their best defender, would be enough to take the heart from many teams. As if this weren't enough, the Redskins have those five squandered halftime leads. Try to remember the last Redskin team that continued to give its best effort after disappointing itself so repeatedly, incinerating its own best efforts. Since '81, only teams coached by Gibbs would pass that litmus test.

Every team has injuries, but the Redskins have been swamped. In addition to Taylor and the knee injury to Campbell, they've lost standout veteran linemen Jon Jansen and Randy Thomas as well as cornerback Carlos Rogers for the season. Almost every week there is a quorum call to find enough wide receivers.

The season's nasty twist is that one of the guiltiest Redskins has been Gibbs, whose game management has ranged from debatable to dubious to inept in the final seconds of the Bills' loss. For a team built around his aura, personality and four seasons worth of expensive personnel decisions, doubts about him could be the final straw to break a team's back.

Finally, as if to roll up all this potential for disappointment up into one abysmal night, the Redskins arrived here in Giants Stadium, the scene of some of their worst beatings. When Gibbs' great teams were at their best, they struggled here. What now?

The Redskins played as if there were no place they would rather be. By the time Portis plowed behind right tackle for a five-yard touchdown just 2:52 into the third quarter, the underdog Redskins had a stunning 22-3 lead.

A 22-3 lead? With almost a full half left to play? On the road? In the Jersey swamps? After a full season of late disaster, bitter memories, ingrained failures?

Could this team, having lost so many such games in the last four years, finish the job in this one?

Why not? After so many disappointments, perhaps a new season, with a different tone, is just beginning.