Redskins legend Pat Fischer dies at 84
Redskins legend Pat Fischer dies at 84; excitement builds for Washington-Baltimore showdown
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Garrett was the first overall pick back in 2017 and has been one of the best pass rushers in the league ever since. He has been dealing with an injury this season but had two sacks against the Raiders in Week 4 going into the game. He has the talent to single-handedly shut down much of the Commanders offense, or any offense for that matter, with his game-wrecking ability off the edge. That was especially the case against a left tackle rotation between a third round rookie and a veteran back up swing tackle.
However, the Commanders managed to prevent him from registering a single stat. He had no sacks, no tackles and no hits on Jayden Daniels, despite playing 52 snaps in the game. That’s almost more impressive than the win itself. So how did the Commanders manage to keep Garrett in check? Kliff Kingsbury and his offensive coaching staff put together a great plan with a diverse protection plan to help negate Garrett specifically. The most obvious way to deal with Garrett is to chip him. The Commanders used chips as their most frequent form of help against Garrett, but they varied the way in which they provided chip help.
Pat Fischer, undersized NFL defensive back, dies at 84
Known for playing well beyond his physique in 17 NFL seasons, the final 10 in Washington, the cornerback perfected the “bump and run” coverage technique.
Pat Fischer, a feisty and fearsome if diminutive defensive back who played 17 seasons in the National Football League, including the final 10 with Washington, died Oct. 8 in Ashburn, Va., after suffering from dementia. He was 84.
Known to his teammates as “Mouse,” Mr. Fischer was listed on the team’s roster as 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, yet anyone who ever saw him in person knew even those measurements were somewhat exaggerated.
His playing style was not.
As a cornerback responsible for covering many of the game’s finest receivers and tackling some of its most physical runners, Mr. Fischer was fearless. Early in his pro career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Colts Hall of Fame quarterback John Unitas was asked what he thought of “the kid playing corner.”
“That kid is Pat Fischer,” Unitas replied, “and if he hits you, he’ll knock your socks off!”
Mr. Fischer also is believed to be one of the earliest defensive backs to employ the “bump and run” technique. He would initiate contact at the line of scrimmage, throwing a wide receiver off balance and disrupting his path toward his normal pass route.
“Fischer was in at the birth of the bump-and-run,” Washington Post sports columnist William Barry Furlong wrote in 1974. “Normally, it’s credited to Kent McCloughan and Willie Brown, Oakland Raider cornerbacks in the mid-to-late 1960s. Fischer is not inclined to get into a historical dispute, but he is inclined to credit the maneuver to Abe Woodson, a teammate of his on the St. Louis Cardinals.”
