Washington's Trent Green connected on three touchdown passes in Sunday's win. (Reuters)

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 30, 1998; Page D1

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 29 – The Washington Redskins gave a crisp performance today in a late-November game with playoff implications. Those playoff implications didn't involve them, of course, but the Redskins threw a major kink into the Oakland Raiders' postseason plans by riding quarterback Trent Green's three touchdown passes to a 29-19 victory.

On a windy, rainy afternoon at Network Associates Coliseum, the Redskins (3-9) earned their first road win of the season and made the Raiders look like the team with nothing at stake.

"The number one question I was asked was what our guys had to play for," said Redskins Coach Norv Turner. "Hey, when you're a competitor and when you like to play football, you have a lot to play for."

Running back and kick returner Brian Mitchell called it the Redskins' most gratifying victory of the season.

"They're a playoff-caliber team, and we came to their place and took care of business," Mitchell said.

Said Green: "For our guys to respond the way we did, that was a huge win for us."

Washington's again-revamped offensive line gave Green some time to throw, and he completed 16 of 31 passes for 224 yards. He had scoring throws of 19 yards to fullback Stephen Davis, 43 yards to wide receiver Leslie Shepherd and two yards to tight end Stephen Alexander, the last of which gave the Redskins a 26-7 lead in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

Oakland quarterback Donald Hollas took over at halftime for Jeff George, who was ineffective and aggravated a pulled groin muscle, and threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes to wide receivers Terry Mickens and Tim Brown. But the Raiders were not in serious contention in the game's late stages.

The Redskins won for the third time in five games since an 0-7 start, and beat a non-NFC East Division opponent – not to mention a team with a winning record – for the first time this season. Their previous wins had come against the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.

Tight end Stephen Alexander is congratulated after his 3-yard scoring catch in the fourth quarter Sunday. (AP)

The Redskins had a lengthy list of contributors today. Davis caught seven passes for 110 yards, both single-game career highs. Mitchell and punter Matt Turk repeatedly helped the Redskins with big plays on special teams. Place kicker Cary Blanchard made a pair of field goals. Veteran cornerback Darrell Green got his first interception of the season and saved a touchdown by chasing down speedy running back Napoleon Kaufman, and rookie linebacker Shawn Barber (eight tackles) was around the ball all afternoon.

The Redskins offset a hard-charging Raiders defensive line with a solid performance by their blockers and a game plan that featured quick-hitting swing passes to Davis, a converted halfback.

"They were committed to stopping the run and blitzing us and testing our protection," Turner said. "We were able to get Stephen out quick in the flat, and Trent did a great job getting the ball to him."

Green said: "The offensive line stepped up and played well. I think this is the game I got hit the least."

Kaufman rushed for a season-high 152 yards and had a 23-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that tied the game at 7. But the Redskins benefited from some rare good fortune, scored the game's next 19 points and never looked back.

The Redskins nearly got a touchdown on the opening kickoff, as Mitchell broke into the clear. He was taken down by kicker Leo Araguz at the Oakland 40, and the Redskins took advantage of the 57-yard return. Green connected with wide receiver Michael Westbrook over the middle for 21 yards on the Redskins' second play. Davis caught a swing pass from Green, beat linebacker Greg Biekert to the sideline and got into the end zone to put the Redskins in front only 51 seconds into the game.

"For a fullback, any time you get the ball in your hands you've got to take advantage of it," said Davis, who inherited the job from the injured Larry Bowie. " . . . I've been a halfback all my life [but] this fullback thing is going pretty good."

George, who returned to the starting lineup but completed only 7 of 15 throws, couldn't get the Raiders moving on their first possession, and Mitchell found a seam after taking Araguz's short punt. His 19-yard return put the Redskins back in business at the Oakland 48. They converted three third-down plays and were on the verge of another touchdown when Alexander fumbled. The rookie grabbed Green's first-and-goal pass at the 3, and was hit by Biekert, linebacker Richard Harvey and cornerback Charles Woodson. The ball was jarred loose and recovered in the end zone by safety Louis Riddick.

It took Oakland only six plays to go 80 yards and tie the game. Defensive end Kenard Lang helped with a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Raiders' first play. Kaufman went through the middle of the Redskins defense virtually untouched for the final 23 yards.

Darrell Green saved the Redskins a touchdown on Oakland's next possession when he ran down Kaufman, turning a would-be 76-yard scoring run into a 55-yard gain.

"Napoleon Kaufman thought he had a touchdown," Mitchell said. "He forgot how fast Darrell Green is."

The Raiders still had a first down at the Redskins 21, but didn't score. Running back Harvey Williams took a third-down pass from George and fumbled after being hit by Barber, although television replays seemed to indicate that Williams was down first. Linebacker Marvcus Patton recovered.

The Redskins punted after three plays, but they got another break when Turk's punt struck the Raiders' Bucky Brooks in the back as he was trying to block downfield. Chris Thomas recovered for the Redskins, but they couldn't capitalize. Trent Green was sacked on third down by defensive end Lance Johnstone.

Barber put the Redskins in position to take the lead midway through the second quarter. After the Raiders were backed up by a holding penalty, George tried to get the ball to Brown. Darrell Green arrived a bit early, and might have been called for pass interference. But he wasn't, and Barber got an interception on the deflection. Actually, the ball slipped through Barber's hands and hit the ground, but the officials awarded him the interception at the Oakland 44.

On third down, Trent Green threw deep for Shepherd. His throw was too long and was headed out of bounds, and cornerback Marquis Walker had the play well covered. But the ball bounced off Walker as he tried to make the interception. Shepherd grabbed the carom and got both his feet in bounds, and the 43-yard touchdown gave the Redskins a 14-7 advantage just over six minutes before halftime.

They weren't done, and Blanchard's 28-yard field goal made it 17-7 just over two minutes before the break.

The Raiders went to Hollas to open the second half, but that failed to provide a spark. He underthrew wide receiver James Jett on a deep ball, and Darrell Green took advantage for his first interception of the year – giving him at least one pickoff in 16 consecutive seasons.

Turk pinned Oakland at its 1-yard line and 2-yard line with third-quarter punts. Following the second punt, Redskins defensive tackle Marc Boutte sacked Hollas in the end zone. The ball came loose but bounced back to Hollas, who recovered to give the Redskins a safety.

The Redskins took the ensuing punt by Araguz and marched to a touchdown that made it 26-7. Davis's catch and run got the Redskins 30 yards, and two runs by Skip Hicks totaled 29 yards and got the ball to the 3. Hicks got a yard on first and goal, then Green froze the Oakland defense with a play-action fake and lobbed the ball to Alexander for the tight end's second NFL touchdown.

The Raiders got to 26-13 with just under 10 minutes to play on Hollas's 12-yard touchdown pass to Mickens, but the Redskins responded with Blanchard's 47-yard field goal before Hollas's final scoring toss to Brown.