Time to Get a Grip

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Week 6: Rams 19, Redskins 17

Josh Brown drills a 49-yard field goal as time expires Sunday to lead the Rams to a stunning 19-17 upset of the Redskins.

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With 26 seconds left before halftime, the Redskins led 7-3 and had a field goal in hand at the Rams 16-yard line. But, naturally, they wanted more. Jason Campbell's pass was batted in the air. And it came down to Kendall.

"The ball was up there an eternity. My first instinct was to bat it down and I don't know why I didn't. That's going to bother me a long time," said Kendall. "I caught it, then I thought about dropping it, then I thought maybe I'd already held it too long and it would be a fumble, so I panicked and kept the ball. I just took off [running]."

And, of course, fumbled the instant he was hit, in accordance with the divine laws that control such things.

"I should have done my job and let the field goal kicker do his job," Kendall said. "Except for me, all things being equal, we win the game today."

Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe scooped up the crazily bouncing ball in stride (pretty lucky in itself) and found blockers accidentally at his disposal to dash up the sideline to score with nine seconds in the half.

"A 10-point play," said Coach Jim Zorn, who added that he'd probably give Kendall a pat on the back at some point. After all, in 13 years in the NFL, he may never before have touched a football before it was above grass level.

"I think it happened once before," said Kendall, who never took "How Not To Fumble 101" at Boston College.

So, what lies ahead if the Redskins are, at their best, tough enough to beat any team on the road, as long as they protect the ball, but can lose to the 1-4 Rams, who'd been outscored by 104 points and already gotten their coach fired?

Sometimes, realism is painful. Only two Redskins teams in the last 25 years have had fewer than 23 turnovers. And no Redskins team has had fewer than 10 interceptions since '70. So far, Campbell, who had 24 turnovers last season -- 13 lost fumbles and 11 interceptions -- has no turnovers in six games. Zero.

Partly, that shows how much he has improved and how fine a future he may have. Partly, it makes you want to cover your eyes. Unless he's better than Sonny Jurgensen, Joe Theismann, Mark Rypien and everybody else, Campbell's got at least 10 interceptions waiting for him.

In the next two weeks, the Redskins need to beat the relatively weak Browns and Lions to reach 6-2 at the season's mid-point. And the key is to minimize turnovers. Because when they meet the Steelers, and host the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles, large bodies will collide. And the law of turnover probability may return to normal.

That's when the Redskins must appreciate these early wins and congratulate themselves on capitalizing on their record-setting five-game, zero-turnover bonanza.

This loss, given the Rams' record and disarray, will probably be the Redskins' bitterest and most unexpected of the year. It doesn't mean they weren't ready to play or even that they took a large step backwards. Mostly, it just means they can beat anybody anywhere or lose to anybody anywhere depending on the mysteries of the turnover.

Don't buy any Super Bowl plane tickets to Tampa. But don't climb out on the ledge either. In the NFL, every team and every game must be seen through the prism of the turnover. By that standard, the Redskins, who just lost to one of the worst teams in the NFL at home, aren't doing too badly.