Washington's Michael Westbrook had seven catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns Sunday. (AP)

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 21, 1998; Page C1

SEATTLE, Sept. 20 – Needing desperately to win a game and prove that they indeed are playoff material, the Washington Redskins instead dug themselves an even deeper hole this afternoon against the Seattle Seahawks.

After outplaying the Seahawks soundly in the first half, the Redskins fell victim to a familiar nemesis of their own creation – turnovers – and fell, 24-14, before a crowd of 63,336 at the Kingdome.

For the third time in as many games, the Redskins (0-3) were their own undoing. Quarterback Trent Green was intercepted twice: the first cut short a promising drive; the other translated to seven easy points for Seattle. Running back Terry Allen fumbled in a second straight game, and newly installed place kicker David Akers missed a pair of field goals in his debut.

Asked if he was frustrated, Coach Norv Turner said: "Sure. So is everyone who follows our team. We're not in the game to play well on defense and move the ball and lose the game. We're making the kind of mistakes that keep us from winning right now. And we've got to eliminate them."

For Turner, the glitches were all the more maddening because in some respects, the Redskins showed improvement. Wide receiver Michael Westbrook, who missed practice Thursday with flu, caught two touchdown passes. And the offense moved the ball well, piling up 465 yards to the Seahawks' 299. Green passed for 383 yards, completing 27 of 54 passes.

But ultimately, the Redskins lost because of mistakes and mental breakdowns.

Seattle's Ricky Watters helped hand the Redskins the loss, repeatedly running outside to pile up 136 yards on 24 carries, including a touchdown. Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon hit 16 of his 33 passes, for 141 yards and a touchdown and Seattle scored 14 points during a third-quarter lapse by the Redskins.

But in the end, the Redskins headed back to Washington pointing fingers at themselves.

"When we step on the field, we need to know exactly what to do and stop killing ourselves," said punt returner and running back Brian Mitchell. "We're making it inside the 20-yard line easily. But once we got there – I didn't know what was going on."

The Redskins haven't started 0-3 since 1981, when they lost their first five games under first-year coach Joe Gibbs, and the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are due in town Sunday. Only four NFL teams in history made the postseason after going winless in their first three games: Oakland (1970), the New York Jets (1981), Tampa Bay (1982) and Detroit (1985).

"We're going to come back, and we're going to fight and be in the playoffs," said linebacker Ken Harvey "It's hard to believe and keep that faith when things seem like they're bad. We aren't off to a great start but we will find a way to turn it all around."

Said Seattle Coach Dennis Erickson, whose team is 3-0: "Obviously the turnovers were the difference. They had a good plan. But they turned it over and we didn't."

The game began miserably for the Redskins.

Seattle's Steve Broussard returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, never touched by a Redskins player. Only Akers and safety Jamel Williams were within swiping distance, and they came up with air.

"To come out and 15 seconds into the game be down seven nothing, that was a big blow," said Darrell Green. "But everybody hung tough. The defense played great and got them off the field."

Westbrook, denied the chance to start because he missed practice, entered halfway through the first quarter to catch his first touchdown pass of the season, a 36-yarder just shy of the end zone, and tumbled in for the score. The drive was nearly snuffed out when center Cory Raymer was called for holding, negating a completion to tight end Stephen Alexander that took the team to Seattle's 20.

On their next opportunity, the Redskins drove 63 yards in 13 plays only to come up empty. Allen rushed for four first downs to get deep into Seattle territory, but right tackle Shar Pourdanesh was penalized for a false start. Throwing out of bounds under pressure, Green was called for intentional grounding, and Aker's 48-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Meanwhile, the Redskins defense was frustrating Warren Moon and his top receiver, Joey Galloway, who caught only one ball all day under cornerback Darrell Green's guard.

Trent Green's first interception came on a high pass intended for Westbrook, wide open at about the Seattle 20. Green took the blame.

"I had some pressure, and I let the ball sail on me," said Green, who was sacked three times. While the pick cost the Redskins a score, the defense kept Seattle from converting.

Akers missed another field goal – wide left from 49 yards – to end a drive in which Allen carried on four of seven plays. With two minutes left in the half, Seattle drove 47 yards and came away with a 32-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead.

The Redskins' deficit seemed a cruel hoax, considering they outplayed the Seahawks by most measures. Washington managed 14 first downs to Seattle's six; converted 40 percent of its third downs to Seattle's 25 percent; and held Seattle to 112 total yards – 53 rushing and 59 yards passing.

But whatever confident the Redskins should have taken from those numbers evaporated with Green's second interception to start the second half. Intended for Larry Bowie, who slipped and fell, the pass dropped into the hands of linebacker Darrin Smith. Two plays later, Watters ran 13 yards for the touchdown and a 17-7 Seattle lead.

Seattle took a 24-7 lead behind two huge plays. First, Watters blew past safety Leomont Evans for a 33-yard carry to get to Washington's 33. Two plays later, Moon hit wide receiver Mike Pritchard with a 21-yard touchdown pass. Pritchard was so open, it was hard to tell who missed the assignment.

Allen's fumble cost the Redkins another golden scoring opportunity. From Seattle's 14, Allen was hammered by safety Darryl Williams, and the ball squirted out.

With two minutes left in their final drive, Green completed three straight passes for 15, 12 and 8 yards and capped it with the 26-yard touchdown pass to Westbrook to narrow the margin to 24-14.

"It was just another case of shooting ourselves in the foot and missed opportunities," Darrell Green said. "If you pinpoint every position, there were plays to be made by everybody. Nobody had a flawless game, so everybody needs to start with themselves. . . . Everybody needs to point a finger at themselves and say, 'What could I have done? On what plays could I have made that play or stepped up and done something to put us in a position to win the game.' "