WP: Gibbs Talked Up the 49ers, The Redskins Beat Them Down (Wilbon)

[MTK]

It's not just those three platinum-plated victories at the end of January that put Joe Gibbs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Victories like yesterday's beat-down of the 49ers helped make his reputation, too. Few coaches ever have been as successful as Gibbs at getting players to believe that each week's opponent, no matter how lousy, is The Greatest Opponent That Ever Played The Game. It's as much a part of what Gibbs has done well over the years as coming up with 50-gut or counter trey. And it's a mark of Gibbs's greatness as a coach that he got his team to take the sorry, no-account 49ers seriously this week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...102301350.html