"In the locker room, with another loss only a few minutes old, there was no snarl left on London Fletcher's face. He still had some grass on his jaw, blades from the Lincoln Financial Field turf that had not yet been washed off. Eye black smudged his cheeks. A giant bandage pinned ice to his right knee, and he endured the same routine he had endured 194 previous times in the NFL, yanking the tape from his joints, heading to the shower.

For the 96th time, Fletcher went through this routine after a loss, this one 27-24 to the Philadelphia Eagles. And before the eye black was gone, before his burgundy uniform pants were exchanged for jeans, the 34-year-old middle linebacker of the Washington Redskins handled it this way: "Next week, we'll be playing hard."

Many Redskins have said many similar things throughout what has become a lost season, one that will become the eighth time in 10 years that they fail to post a winning record. With Fletcher, though, it's different.

"He is our leader," said defensive end Andre Carter, selecting a word nearly every Redskins defender used Sunday. "You have to listen."

There are any number of things Fletcher couldn't do Sunday against the Eagles, namely prevent Eagles running back LeSean McCoy from scooting into the end zone on a game-tying two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. He could not stop the Eagles from marching 66 yards on their final possession, far enough to kick a field goal that gave them the lead with 1 minute 48 seconds left.

But he did just about everything else. Game statisticians credited him with 12 tackles, 11 of them solo hits -- a number that could change when the film is reviewed, one that is sure to keep him near the top of the NFL leaders. One of them was for a loss. He deflected a pass. He forced Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to quicken his delivery. "