NFC CHAMPIONSHIP: Washington 17, Minnesota 10 : Name It, the Redskin Defense Did It to Keep the Pressure on

WASHINGTON â€”  Not that he wanted to, but Minnesota Viking quarterback Wade Wilson got to know a few of the fellas from the Washington Redskins defense during Sunday’s National Football Conference championship game at RFK Stadium.

First to introduce themselves were Mr. Dexter Manley and Mr. Charles Mann, who welcomed Wilson to our nation’s capital by ramming his face in the mushy turf. Then backup linebacker Ravin Caldwell stopped by and redeposited Wilson on the ground.

Little-known Clarence Vaughn, a reserve strong safety, was kind enough to say hello. While he was in the neighborhood, Vaughn tried ripping Wilson’s head off. And Kurt Gouveia, a third-string linebacker, spent a few moments in the Viking backfield, just long enough to heave Wilson to the ground, too.

No, this wasn’t what the Vikings had planned at all. Back in the old days--Dec. 26, for instance, when the Vikings and Redskins last met--Wilson had scrambled for 75 yards. The Redskins couldn’t contain him. Each time it seemed Manley or Mann or Dave Butz was closing in for a sack, Wilson would break free for substantial yardage or gain precious moments to find an open receiver.

“We owed Minnesota because they handled our defensive line when we played up there,� defensive tackle Darryl Grant said.

Not Sunday. Wilson scarcely had a spare moment to pick the turf from his face mask, what with this new-found Redskin rush.

Manley visited again, much to Wilson’s disgust. Butz barged in once and tipped a pass, resulting in a Redskin interception and later a field goal. Butz also dumped Wilson two series later, as did strong safety Alvin Walton.

In all, the Redskins would sack Wilson eight times, using seven different players. Ends, such as Manley and Mann . . . tackles, such as Butz . . . linebackers-- reserve linebackers, mind you--such as Caldwell and Gouveia . . . strong safeties, such as Walton and Vaughn . . . it didn’t matter. No matter who the Redskins sent, it worked. Again and again and again.

“Eight sacks?� asked linebacker Monte Coleman, one of the few Redskin regulars who didn’t knock the bejabbers out of Wilson. “Whoooeee! The guys were fired up.�

This wasn’t fired up, this was pyrotechnics. Ask Wilson, whose postgame body colors matched his game uniform: purple.

“We anticipated a lot of pressure,� Wilson said.

But not like this, not with the likes of Gouveia or Vaughn or Caldwell.

“We had some new blitzes in there,� linebacker Mel Kaufman said. “That was something put in this week. Actually, they worked better in the game than they did in practice.�

Nothing fancy about what the Redskins did. Rather than rush their usual four down linemen--Manley, Mann, Butz and Grant (or Dean Hamel)--the Redskins decided to add a fifth on occasion. In comes Caldwell. And a real fancy name for the defense, too: “Raymond,� it’s called.

The Redskins, said Caldwell, used “Raymond� about eight times during the game. “I thought that if we kept the pressure on them, something would give,� Caldwell said.

And it did, mostly Wilson’s assorted limbs.

When they weren’t placing Caldwell on the line to pester Wilson, they were sticking Gouveia in there. Unlike Caldwell, Gouveia would line up as an extra linebacker and then look for an opening in the backfield.

“My job was just rush the quarterback,� he said.

Afterward, looking as if he had been in a dirt fight, Wilson said the Redskins’ defense didn’t do anything “we weren’t prepared for.�

Is that so? According to Kaufman and Hamel, this was the inaugural appearance of “Raymond� and his pal, “Kurt.�

“We told ourselves that we had to put a lot of pressure on (Wilson),� Hamel said. “If we keep him in the pocket, then we were going to get our sacks. I mean, (the blitzes) were working.�

Said Mann: “It was just the defensive line today. We called on some of our young players and said, ‘This is your opportunity, so take it.’ �

But for all the sacks (just one shy of the NFC championship game record of nine, set by the San Francisco 49ers in 1984), the Redskins still were so close to overtime, or even defeat.

Early in the fourth period, with the Redskins ahead, 10-7, the Vikings began to move toward the Washington end zone. Wilson suddenly found himself with time to throw and it showed.

Anthony Carter caught one pass for 23 yards. Allen Rice caught one for 15. Steve Jordan grabbed one for nine yards. In no time, the Vikings had first and goal at the Redskins’ three.

Inside the Redskins’ defensive huddle, players yelled at each other . . . but in a nice way.

On the Redskins’ sideline, Grant, who injured his ankle in the second quarter, screamed toward the field, “Give it everything you’ve got. You got all day Monday to rest. No such thing as tired on a day like this.�

It worked. Running back Rick Fenney gained two yards on his first carry, nothing on his second. In came D.J. Dozier, sort of the Vikings’ designated scorer. He got as far as the line of scrimmage before he was pulled to the ground.

The Vikings, about a half-yard from the lead, were forced to settle for a field goal and a 10-10 tie.

Sure enough, the Redskins took the kickoff, drove 70 yards, scored--all of which meant the Vikings needed a touchdown of their own to force an overtime.

The Vikings came close, but once again were stopped just shy of the end zone. This time, a dropped pass on fourth and four ended Minnesota’s chances.

As the ball bounced harmlessly from Viking running back Darrin Nelson’s hands to the ground, Mann glanced upward. “Ahhh, thank you,� he said.

Later, inside the Redskins’ locker room, Mann reminded anyone who would listen that his team deserved respect. “No one really expected us to do anything,� he said. “The only way we were three-point favorites was because we were playing on our home field.�

Eight sacks and two goal-line stands later, the Redskins have nothing to worry about. If nothing else, Wilson will vouch for them.