by David ElfinFiled under: Redskins, NFC East
Few Redskins fans knew Perry Riley's name before yesterday's fourth quarter. And to the media that regularly crowds Washington's locker room, the rookie linebacker from LSU might as well have been one of those practice squad players who seemingly come and go every week.
But everyone at FedExField knew who Riley was after he was rightly whistled for an illegal block in the back that nullified Brandon Banks' 77-yard go-ahead punt return touchdown that might have given the Redskins a victory over struggling Minnesota and kept their playoff hopes on something brighter than life support.
"When (Brandon) was running down the sidelines, we thought we had it in the bag," said Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
The small but speeding bullet with Banks on the back of his jersey, who set a franchise record with 271 return yards three games earlier despite having a 95-yarder called back because of a penalty, had already scooted by when Riley held up the Vikings' Everson Griffen. However, as Washington coach Mike Shanahan said, "It's disappointing when that happens, especially when you don't think it had anything to do with the play, but a block in the back is a block in the back."
No comments:
Post a Comment