Wild Saturday In The NFL

The NFL's playoff tournament began Saturday with the first two of the four games that comprise Wild Card Weekend.

In a fittingly wild opener, the Tennessee Titans scored the go-ahead touchdown on a crazy kickoff return play with :03 left to defeat the Buffalo Bills 22-16.

In the nightcap of Day 1 the Detroit Lions travel to Washington to tackle the Redskins. These two teams met in a regular season game that saw the Lions manhandle the Redskins 33-17. But, the Lions have never won a game against the Redskins at Washington - ever.

The Washington Redskins have vivid memories of Brad Johnson under siege in the Pontiac Silverdome.

When the Redskins lost to the Detroit Lions 33-17 five weeks ago, Johnson was sacked five times. The offensive line, dicombobulated by the dome crowd, was plagued by false starts, holding penalties and coach Norv Turner's determination to pass the ball against the Lions' depleted secondary.

Defensive end Robert Porcher, who had 15 sacks in the regular season, made right tackle Jon Jansen look like the rookie he is.

"He got inside of me a couple of times, he got around the end," Jansen said. "I learned a lot about him. I learned a lot about myself."

Detroit Lions Cory Schlesinger, Mark Carrier, Stephen Boyd and Luther Elliss.

"There'll be a lot of things I'll do differently," Jansen said.

At the final whistle of the Detroit-Washington game on Dec. 5, the Lions were leading the Central Division and seemed headed for a high playoff seed, while the Redskins were left wondering if they would collapse altogether.

How things have changed. The Lions (8-8) haven't won since, while the Redskins (10-) won the NFC East.

"I do think it helped us, as bad as it sounds, by taking the beating that we did," Johnson said. "So I don't think there will be any happy faces around here until after the game. In a sense, I think that could help us from a preparation standpoint."

Neither team has much to brag about. The Redskins beat only one team with a winning record this season, and that was the season-ending Miami game when the Dolphins rested many of their starters. The Lions have not been a good road team away from their dome, losing five in a row and six of eight on the road.

"When you start to lose a little bit like we've done, there's a confidence factor that you have to regain," Detroit coach Bobby Ross said. "And I think that's what we're working on right now."

The Redskins will have not only momentum and the home field on their side Saturday, they'll have history. No 8-8 team has ever won a playoff game, and the Lions are 0-17 on the road against the Redskins since the franchise moved from Boston to Washington in 1937.

The Lions were regular playoff participants in the 1990s – this is their fifth postseason appearance in seven years – while the Redskins are braking a seven-year playoff drought. Even so, Washington has the more recent playoff victory.

The Lions have stumbled at the first playoff hurdle four straight times. They haven't won a postseason game since January 1992, when they beat Dallas and then lost to eventual Super Bowl champion Washington. The Redskins returned to the playoffs the following season, won one game and hadn't been back until now.

All that history is well known to former Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte, who will start for the Lions. When asked about it, Frerotte pointed to a more relevant bit of recent history – that 33-17 game.

"We know we're playing the same Redskins we played up here," Frerotte said.

Frerotte is starting ahead of Charlie Batch, who reinjured his broken thumb in the final regular-season game. Frerotte also started the first game and had success throwing upfield against a Redskins defense ranked next-to-last in the league.

"We have to make the big plays," Frerotte said, "because our running game's not there."

Ross said he would try fullback Cory Schlesinger at the tailback spot to try and revive a running game that's almost been nonexistent since the departure of Barry Sanders.

The key to the game, though, could be how Jansen and the rest of the Redskins offensive line fare against Porcher and the Lions front four. Turner has vowed to run the ball more this game, but the strategy might be hampered by an injury to Stephen Davis, thNFC's leading rusher. Davis sprained an ankle 2 ½ weeks ago and returned to practice this week. He won't be 100 percent for the game.

"We need to run the ball for four quarters," Turner said. "But we've got to make the plays in the passing game we didn't make the first game."