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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- With no time left on the clock, Samari
Rolle had little choice: It was 81 yards or bust.
|  | | Eddie George played a solid game coming off his injury, gaining 71 yards on 22 carries Monday night. |
So he tiptoed along the right sideline, then meandered across
the field to the left sideline, reading his blocks along the way.
Finally, almost out of gas, he stumbled the last yard into the end
zone for a touchdown on the last play of the first half.
The score put Tennessee ahead by 13 points, and the Titans
headed into the locker room with the momentum on their way to a
27-21 victory over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
"That kind of broke open the game there -- I think that pretty
much did them in," said Derrick Mason, who earlier had a 69-yard
punt return. "He was determined to get it into the end zone. Some
people intercept it and run up the sidelines and out of bounds and
are satisfied with that. Not Samari."
Former Washington tight end Frank Wycheck added an 18-yard
touchdown catch in the fourth quarter as the Titans (7-1)
maintained a two-game lead over Pittsburgh in the AFC Central.
"Again this football team found a way to win," Tennessee coach
Jeff Fisher said. "It was not necessarily the conventional way."
The loss knocked the Redskins (6-3) out of first place in the
NFC East, one-half game behind the New York Giants. Washington's
players put a premium on winning this game under the national
spotlight after losing a Monday night game to Dallas earlier this
year.
"You've got to win these games at home," Washington
quarterback Brad Johnson said. "We've lost two big games at home
on Monday night. ... It came down to two plays: the punt return and
the interception before halftime. Basically that was the ball
game."
Rolle's interception was as dramatic as they come. The Redskins,
trailing 13-7, had the ball on the Titans 34 with 10 seconds
remaining in the half.
Johnson tried to force a pass, and Rolle stepped in front of
Irving Fryar and caught the ball at the 19. After he scored, Rolle
was buried under a pile of celebrating teammates in the end zone
and was so tired he couldn't make it off the field without an
injury timeout.
"Two football fields, nonstop," said Rolle, asked to estimate
the length of his run. "Luckily I saw nobody was around me and
that that was when the rest of the blockers came."
Rolle also had another interception at the Redskins 33 with 1:59
to play, ending Washington's last real chance to drive the ball
downfield.
The Titans used Eddie George on seven consecutive plays to set
up their only offensive touchdown, scored by Wycheck in the fourth
quarter. George sprained his right knee early in last week's 14-6
victory over Baltimore and was not confirmed to start until shortly
before kickoff.
Showing no obvious effects from the injury, George carried 22
times for 71 yards. He twisted his ankle late in the fourth
quarter, but Fisher said the injury wasn't serious.
The Titans defense held every offense it faced this season to
three plays and a punt on its opening series. But the Redskins
ended that streak emphatically with a 16-play, 84-yard drive that
took 8:19 and included four third-down conversions.
The most dynamic third-down play came when Johnson, hardly the
most mobile of quarterbacks, escaped a sack by spinning away from
Jevon Kearse and scrambling 13 yards before taking a hit from
Denard Walker. A pass interference call on Rolle gave the Redskins
first-and-goal, and Johnson hit fullback Mike Sellers two plays
later with a 5-yard pass to make it 7-0.
The Titans responded with a more chaotic, 11-play drive that
included three scrambles by quarterback Steve McNair. Al Del Greco
capped it with a 46-yard field goal that barely cleared the
crossbar.
Less than two minutes later, a flying block by Keith Bulluck
sprang Mason for a 69-yard punt return to put the Titans ahead
10-7. Mason darted left and juked punter Tommy Barnhardt for his
second career punt return touchdown.
Late in the half, a bad snap by Joe Zelenka forced Barnhardt to
abort a punt attempt. After the play, Bulluck pushed Barnhardt's
helmet off. Barnhardt retaliated and was flagged for a personal
foul, giving the Titans good field position to set up a 21-yard
field goal by Del Greco.
Rolle's touchdown made it 20-7 at the half. The Redskins closed
to 20-14 late in the third quarter with a 13-play, 66-yard drive,
relying heavily on Stephen Davis, who scored on a 1-yard run.
But the Titans scored the insurance touchdown as George's runs
and a roughing the passer penalty on Kenard Lang led to Wycheck's
score. Wycheck, cut by the Redskins in 1995, spiked the ball hard
and looked at the Washington bench after the score.
"I was hungry for that end zone. I wanted it bad," Wycheck
said. "I just wanted to go out and prove to them that they made a
mistake. It was definitely an emotional game for me."
The Redskins came back one more time on Larry Centers' 3-yard
touchdown pass with 6:42 remaining to make it 27-21.
But Rolle's second interception ended the Redskins' last real
chance. Dainon Sidney also intercepted a desperation pass by Johnson
on the last play of the game.
"There were things we did well moving the football,"
Washington coach Norv Turner said. "But we're going to look at the
film tomorrow and say the same thing: Punt return for a touchdown,
an interception return for a touchdown, it's hard to overcome
that."
Game notes
The Redskins replaced the pregame on-field announcer who
upset Baltimore fans with a derogatory remark before the Ravens
game two weeks ago. The new announcer kept his routine tame,
although his calendar was slightly off. His first words: "It's
Halloween!" ... Stadium parking attendants, upset over working
conditions, called off a planned strike hours before kickoff after
an appeal from Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening's labor relations
office for a cooling-off period. ... Irving Fryar left the game
with a rib injury in the fourth quarter, so the Redskins used
cornerback Deion Sanders as a receiver for the first time this
season.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Tennessee Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
Johnson hurt in Redskins' loss, questionable for Sunday
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Frank Wycheck was able to come up with a touchdown catch against the team that once cut him.
avi: 1160 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Eric Dickerson catches up with Samari Rolle after the Titans' Monday night win over the Redskins.
wav: 169 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Coach Jeff Fisher tells ESPN's Ed Werder his Titans always seem to find a way to win.
wav: 298 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
The Titans' Frank Wycheck talks about his fourth quarter heroics against his former team with ESPN's Ed Werder.
wav: 452 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Norv Turner says Washington needs to execute in all 3 phases of the game.
wav: 172 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Eddie George talks with ESPN's Ed Werder after the Titans' victory over Washington.
wav: 764 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Brad Johnson knows that big plays hurt the Redskins on Monday night against the Titans.
wav: 84 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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