D12 210


EZ SU


Lions 37, Redskins 25 4


Undrafted rookie KeilandWilliams had carried the ball four times in his career when he became the Redskins’ lone healthy running back at the start of the second half Sunday. Williams also had 11 receptions heading into Sunday’s game.


With 210 yards passing, Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb passed Jim Hart and Jim Everett to move into 16th place all-time in passing yards with 34,844.


KLMNO 200


Redskins linebacker London Fletcher played in his 200th consecutive game Sunday, the second-longest active streak in the NFL after Brett Favre’s 292. Fletcher’s streak began in 1998, when he played for the for the St. Louis Rams.


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010


McNabb’s benching adds new twist to season


Shanahan’s decision could change tenor of whole campaign


BY BARRY SVRLUGA


detroit — With 1 minute 50 seconds remaining Sunday, the Washington Redskins trailed the Detroit Lions by six points. In the offseason, they acquired a quar- terback specifically for such pre- dicaments — time ticking away, no timeouts remaining, and a smooth, sustained touchdown drive the only antidote for a crushing loss. And Sunday afternoon, Coach


Mike Shanahan decided that quarterback was Rex Grossman —the backup who hadn’t taken a snap this season — not Donovan McNabb, the six-time Pro Bowler. “I thought that was the best scenario for us to have a chance to win,” Shanahan said. And with that one move, and


that one statement, the Redskins’ bye week — and the rest of their season — may have taken on a completely different tenor. Grossman came in and, on his


very first play for the Redskins, fumbled as he was sacked. The loose ball was recovered and re- turned by Detroit rookie Ndamu- kong Suh for a touchdown that was merely the final humiliation in the Lions’ 37-25 victory over the Redskins. The aftermath was dominated not by the fact that the Redskins lost a winnable game against a 1-5 team. It was domi- nated by Shanahan’s decision to replace McNabb with Grossman with the game in the balance. “At the end of the game with


Donovan, with a minute left and Rex knowing how to run that two-minuteoffense, I felt with the time and no timeouts he gave us the best chance to win in that scenario,” Shanahan said. “Just knowing the terminology of what we’ve done, how we’ve run it, it puts a lot of pressure on a quar- terback that hasn’t been used to that terminology.” Grossman knows the system


because he spent last season with Houston, where the offensive co- ordinator was Kyle Shanahan —


“Obviously as a player you want to be in there, but [I] went along with it and now we all have to learn from it and move on.”


—Donovan McNabb on being benched for Rex Grossman


and 10—the sixth sack he took on the day. That set up Shanahan’s final decision. Grossman left the visiting lock-


er room quickly, without speak- ing to reporters. “He seemed fine,” Armstrong


said of Grossman. “He seemed just like Rex at any other time.He wasn’t flustered or anything like that. He’s a pro. He’s been in the league for a while now.” But he is now in the middle of


what could be a controversy. Af- terward, Shanahan said McNabb remains his starter. It’s unclear, though, who is the finisher. “He understands,” Shanahan


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST After being sacked,Washington’s Rex Grossman watches helplessly as Ndamukong Suh picks up the fumble and runs for a decisive score.


Mike’s son, now the Redskins’ offensive coordinator. But Gross- man was then, too, a backup, and he played in just one game, throwing nine passes and com- pleting just three. He never ran the two-minute offense for the Texans. But at the midway point of the Redskins’ season — the first in Washington for both Shanahan and McNabb — Shanahan chose Grossman overMcNabb. “What you have to do some-


times is you understand every- thing is sped up,” Shanahan said. “When you don’t have timeouts, it’s got to come automatic. You’ve


got to call a couple plays at the line, a fewplays at the line. When you go through this during the week [in practice], and you take a look at this type of atmosphere [in a game], I thought it was the best scenario to put him in there in that situation.” McNabb has been inconsistent


all season, and his quarterback rating coming into the game was the worst of his career as a starter after the season’s first seven games.He addressed the decision afterward in his typically ruffle- no-feathers style—“I’ma profes- sional, and I try to handle it in a professional manner,” he said —


but he clearly would have pre- ferred to play. “If you’re asking, would I want


to be in there? Yes,”McNabb said. “I think any quarterback wants to be in there. That’s something that you get measured by: two-minute drives, being able to drive down and win the game. So a decision was made. Obviously as a player you want to be in there, but [I] went along with it and now we all have to learn from it and move on.”


McNabb might never have


been in such a situation if not for his own performance. With 4:40 remaining, the Redskins had


MIKE WISE After late benching in loss, the message is clear: In McNabb, the Shanahans don’t trust wise from D1 But with the surprise


benching ofMcNabb with less than twominutes left and the Redskins down to the Lions by a mere six points—in essence, sitting a proven late-game playmaker at the exactmoment he was acquired for last spring —the evidence keeps building toward an undeniable reality: Halfway into a 4-4 season, the


quarterback and his immediate supervisors don’t see eye to eye. Mike Shanahanmade that


clear themoment he pulled McNabb for Rex Grossman, whomhe explained understood the two-minute offense “terminology” better than McNabb—as ifMcNabb had never converted fourth and 26 once in January against Brett Favre and Green Bay to save another Philadelphia season. Kyle Shanahan andMcNabb


separately admitted they’re on different pages, too; Kyle saying in the postgame locker room that he calledmost of the plays at the end of the game;McNabb revealing in his news conference that “themajority of the time, you call your own plays, but Kyle hadmajor input today.” Like any quarterback,


McNabb added, he was bothered by the fact he didn’t have the opportunity to “hopefully sustain a drive and win the game.” The kid’s oldman tried to nip


the benching in the bud by sayingMcNabb will still be his starter two weeks fromMonday againstMcNabb’s former Eagles at FedEx Field,My-WayMike implying this was just a situational substitution with no long-termeffect. But it’s pretty clear for the first time since Todd Collins


TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST Benched quarterback DonovanMcNabb, right, watched the closing minutes with AlbertHaynesworth.


helped guide the Redskins to the playoffs after Jason Campbell was injured in 2007,Washington has a quarterback controversy. And if you feel that’s too


drastic after a one-time benching—McNabb was benched at halftime in Baltimore three years ago, after all, and ended up regaining his


starting job—don’t think of it as Undependable Donovan vs. Unsexy Rexy. No. It’sMcNabb vs. the


organization thatmortgaged


part of its future to bring him here and, it hoped, re-sign the quarterback for four to five years. With the coachmaking clear


this past week he had no intention to talk contract extension during the season, it’s not hard to decipher Shanahan’s codedmessage to an established veteran (one hoping for a bona fide deal before a possible lockout): “You’re on stage for another


nine weeks. Get this version of theWest Coast systemdown. Because we’re not convinced yet.” FromtheMcNabb Stinks side,


the abysmal quarterback rating and errant throws will be used as evidence in support of not keeping himaround beyond this season. Even No. 5 knows he has been extremely lucky that just one—and not three—of his passes have been returned for touchdowns the past two weeks. (A delay-of-game nullified one pick six in Chicago and Sunday the Lions’ Alphonso Smith presumably dressed up for Halloween as Carlos Rogers, jumping an out route along the left sideline only to bobble and drop and sure interception for a score, just like the Redskins’Mr. Hands-Free Device.) Fromthe Donovan is Still


Dangerous side—my side—are these numbers: No quarterback has hooked up with a receiver for 50-yard plus gainsmore than McNabb’s six times thus far this season. Lousy completion percentage and pathetic quarterback rating and all, he’s still a game changer. Sacked six times, hit on his


hand during a late interception that probably sealed his benching,McNabb admitted he could have “made some people


missmore” and wished he had gotten the ball out of his hands quicker a few times. But unless Stanford’s Andrew


Luck has been tabbed as the future in Cashburn, Va., unless the organization is going to painfullymouth “rebuild” instead of “win now,” the alternative toMcNabb was clear Sunday afternoon: Rex Grossman, a deer in the


headlights, dislodged fromthe football after a violent blindside hit, a fumble that was returned for a game-clinching touchdown. Grossman can run Kyle


Shanahan’s sophisticated offense with unparalleled precision all he wants; but that’s the post- McNabb future, right there. One player, who requested


anonymity, said he felt the strained relationship between McNabb and Kyle Shanahan as well, adding thatMcNabb’s bootleg and play-action talents don’t exactlymesh with a meticulousWest Coast scheme under the coach’s son. The player also saidMcNabb gives the offensive unitmore confidence in the huddle than any player in recent teamhistory, that that counts formore than a scheme. Either way, with less than two


minutes left there wasMcNabb, in a baseball cap rather than a helmet.He spoke to Albert Haynesworth near the Gatorade cooler on the opposing sideline late Sunday afternoon at Ford Field. “I asked himif he was okay,”


Haynesworth said, presuming the Redskins quarterback was injured. “Imean, that’s Donovan


McNabb on your team,” he added. “I would always keep him out there on the field—no matter what. That’s justme.” wisem@washpost.com


both a 25-20 lead and the ball. On second and 10,McNabb looked to wideout Anthony Armstrong. “I thought if I could put it out


there in front of him, because the linebacker had his back to me, that we could pick up some big yards,”McNabb said. ButMcNabb’s hand was hit on


the play, and he couldn’t properly follow through. Detroit corner- back Alphonso Smith stepped in for an interception, and seven plays later, the Lions scored the go-ahead touchdown. The Red- skins’ next drive, during which they trailed 28-25, ended when McNabb was sacked on fourth


said. “He understands that it’s got to be automatic, and you’re call- ing twoplays at a time,andall of a sudden you’re speeding things up. He understood why I did it. I believe he did. I don’t think any quarterback likes it, but I got to make those tough decisions.” OnNov. 23, 2008, when he was


still the quarterback of the Phila- delphia Eagles, McNabb was yanked at halftime of what be- came a 36-7 loss at Baltimore, the only other benching of his career. “When you get benched, you


get benched, no matter how you look at it,”McNabb said. “You just have to learnfromitandmoveon. I did that then, and I’ll do that now.” Four days after that game,Mc-


Nabb threwfour touchdowns in a victory, one he played from start to finish.Whether he repeats that performance following this, his latest crossroads, remains to be seen.


svrlugab@washpost.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60