By Mark Maske and Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 7, 1998; Page C4

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Sept. 6 – Quarterback Gus Frerotte isn't the only starter for the Washington Redskins' offense whose shortcomings in today's season-opening loss to the New York Giants will be dissected by the team's coaches over the next few days. It also was a rough afternoon for right tackle Shar Pourdanesh.

The Redskins appeared to take a 14-3 lead in the second quarter when Frerotte connected with wide receiver Michael Westbrook for a 31-yard touchdown. But Pourdanesh received a holding penalty for dragging down defensive end Michael Strahan on the play, negating the touchdown. Frerotte was sacked on the next two plays, and the Redskins got no points on the drive. The Giants escaped the first half with the score tied at 10 and won, 31-24.

Strahan – lining up at left end, across from Pourdanesh – had two of the Giants' eight sacks, returned an interception for a touchdown and disrupted the Redskins' offense all afternoon.

The Redskins auditioned Troy Drake at Pourdanesh's right tackle spot late in training camp. Pourdanesh kept his job, but Coach Norv Turner said today: "You either get a better guy in there or you get him to quit doing it. We feel we're playing the best guy there, the best guy we've got right now for that."

Turner said of the nullified touchdown: "There's no reason to hold; it's ridiculous. Our offensive line can play better than that, and they just have to play better than that. If we're going to be a good football team, we can't do the things we did today."

Pourdanesh termed the holding penalty "a questionable call." He added: "I tried to go for the cut [block]. The official said I grabbed him."

Pourdanesh also was called for a personal foul in the final moments of the first half, and the Giants declined a fourth-quarter holding penalty against him.

"The more I think about it and worry about what can go wrong, the worse it is," Pourdanesh said. "When I just played and didn't think about it so much, I did better."

Big Presence
The addition of defensive tackles Dana Stubblefield and Dan Wilkinson didn't show up in the form of flashy statistics. Stubblefield had one solo tackle and a hand in two others; Wilkinson had three solo tackles and a role in a fourth. But their presence was felt, nonetheless. The Giants, who had intended to run the ball against the Redskins, were held to 82 yards rushing and an average gain of 2.7 yards per play.

Rush to Judgment
When their offseason search for a tackle proved fruitless, Redskins officials decided to go with the best offensive line they could assemble from talent on hand. Against the Giants' rush, it didn't hold nearly as well as hoped.

Brad Badger, who started his first NFL game at left tackle, said the blame was collective. "It's all our faults," Badger said. "There are things we can do better, and we have to be better to be successful."

Said offensive line coach Russ Grimm: "We had the best five guys on the field, so we go back and start again working on techniques. There's no question they've got a good front, and they've got some talented pass rushers. When we got stuck in the throne a little bit, we struggled."

Getting His Kicks
Place kicker Scott Blanton kept coaches guessing about his health, stamina and accuracy throughout most of training camp. Slowed by a strained groin muscle, he barely kicked at all in camp and misses two days of practice for the same reason last week. Blanton was perfect against the Giants, hitting his lone field goal attempt – a 46-yarder – and his three extra points. In last season's 7-7 tie against the Giants, Blanton missed a pair of field goals – from 45 and 54 yards.

Backup wide receiver Albert Connell sprained his left knee in the second quarter and didn't return.

The Giants extended their unbeaten streak against NFC East opponents to nine games. They were 7-0-1 against NFC East foes last season.