KANSAS CITY, MO. — KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On top of everything else, the Washington Redskins now are getting fooled.
The sputtering Redskins expected to slug it out with the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday, but wound up getting bombed by quarterback David Krieg.
Krieg, who hadn't thrown a touchdown pass for three weeks, passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-16 rout of the Redskins at Arrowhead Stadium.
This was the sorriest showing yet for the Redskins, who suffered their worst loss since they were beaten by the Houston Oilers, 41-17, in 1988.
The Redskins fell behind 28-0 at halftime and were guilty of 14 penalties, including four for offsides and three for false starts, as they couldn't cope with the crowd noise, the defensive tactics of Neil Smith and Krieg's snap count.
"These are tough times for us," coach Joe Gibbs said.
The injuries also continued to pile up for the Redskins. Offensive lineman Joe Jacoby went out in the first quarter with a back injury, and cornerback Martin Mayhew was lost for the season with a broken forearm, the same injury that sidelined the team's other original starting cornerback, Darrell Green, in the second game of the season.
Mayhew suffered the injury in the first quarter, but played the rest of the game. X-rays after the game revealed it was broken.
Team doctor Charles Jackson said: "I've never seen two broken forearms in the same season."
That's the kind of year it is for the Redskins, who limped out of town at 6-4 -- the same record they had after 10 games in 1988, the last time they were defending champions.
"I've never been so frustrated the way I was frustrated in that first half," defensive end Charles Mann said. "We wanted to play so well and we wanted to out-physical these guys and we wanted to do so much that we tried too hard, if you can understand that. We got lured into believing that they were much like the Giants [and feature the run]. We were so fired up about stopping the run that we went out and shot ourselves in the foot."
They got fooled by Krieg's play-action passes, and they had all kinds of trouble with the snap -- Krieg faked them with his signal cadence.
Mann, who jumped offsides twice early in the game, said: "I was scared to come off the ball [after that]. I'd wait until everybody on the line moved before I moved because I couldn't get another offsides, so I was totally taken out of my game."
On offense, the Redskins kept getting fooled by Neil Smith, who'd fake a move to lure the Redskins offensive lineman to move. Tackle Ray Brown, who replaced Jacoby, got fooled by this maneuver twice.
Gibbs said: "What they do is have all their linemen jump and flinch, which plays to the crowd noise. When you fake it with those outside defensive ends who are great pass rushers, it makes it hard for the offense to stay onsides."
It was also hard for the offense to function. Earnest Byner, who went out with a pinched nerve in his neck, ran six times for 21 yards, and Ricky Ervins got 17 yards in 10 carries for the second straight week. Rookie Robert Green failed to get yardage on his lone carry.
Forced to throw, Mark Rypien completed 23 of 40 for 217 yards and was intercepted once and sacked four times.
Meanwhile, Krieg got the ball four times in the first half and moved the Chiefs 60, 44, 83 and 88 yards for touchdowns.
The second drive -- begun after Charles Mincy's interception when receiver Gary Clark fell down -- lasted just one play.
The Chiefs got the ball on the Washington 44. The Redskins bit on the run fake, and Tim Barnett broke free in the secondary for a 44-yard touchdown catch.
Krieg said: "[Assistant coach] Joe Pendry noticed they were bringing their safeties up and their linebacker in on the blitz. We did a little play-action fake, and I saw Tim Barnett running underneath."
Barnett wound up catching six passes for 148 yards, mostly against A. J. Johnson, but Gibbs said Johnson was playing with a bad knee.
"We were worrying about him playing, and he got that thing kind of shot up and didn't play well. He was fighting his guts out," Gibbs said.
J. J. Birden was the Chiefs' other main weapon. He caught seven passes for 60 yards.
The Redskins had trouble on third-down plays -- the Chiefs converted eight of 13. With 1:52 left in the first half, trailing 21-0, the Redskins called timeout when the Chiefs were facing a third-and-12 at the Kansas City 25.
The Redskins wanted to get the ball back and try to score before halftime. Instead, Barnett caught a 39-yarder over his shoulder to set up another touchdown drive.
Trailing 28-0 at halftime, Gibbs didn't do any yelling.
"The coaches encouraged us to play sound," Mann said.
The defense came together, but the offense continued to sputter. After Brian Mitchell's 33-yard run on a fake punt set up their lone touchdown, the Redskins had first downs on the Chiefs 17, 9 and 10. Each time, they had to settle for field goals.
"We were our own worst enemies," Rypien said. "We had a lot of chances, but we didn't mount a substantial running game."
It's not going to get any easier for the Redskins, who have another tough test next Monday night against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.
Gibbs seemed almost philosophical about the team's plight.
"If everything was a good time, you really wouldn't know what you're like in bad times," he said. "Sometimes, your biggest tests come in tough times. It's easy to go 11-0 [their start last year]. It's not easy to go 6-4."
NFL Week 11
Chiefs 35.. .. .. .. ..Redskins 16
Jets 17.. .. .. .. .. ..Bengals 14
Steelers 17.. .. .. .. .. Lions 14
Oilers 17.. .. .. .. ...Vikings 13
Patriots 37.. .. .. ..Colts 34, OT
Packers 27.. .. .. .. ...Eagles 24
Falcons 20.. .. .. .. Cardinals 17
Chargers 14.. .. .. .. ..Browns 13
Rams 27.. .. .. .. .. ..Cowboys 23
Buccaneers 20.. .. .. .. .Bears 17
49ers 21.. .. .. .. .. ..Saints 20
Raiders 20.. .. .. .. ..Seahawks 3
Broncos 27.. .. .. .. .. .Giants 13