Todd Collins' wife, Andrea, is due to give birth any day now so she wasn't at the game on Thursday night and didn't watch the whole thing, not knowing of course, that he husband would play more than he had in almost a decade.

After Collins had led the Redskins to the 24-16 victory over the Bears, he was talking to his wife on his cellphone when coach Joe Gibbs asked to speak to her. Gibbs, typically revved up after a victory, enthusiastically grabbed the phone and said, "This guy saved our hide!"

The coach also promised to send her a tape of the game pronto.

Incidentally, Collins' last start was on Dec. 14, 1997 for Buffalo. A home loss to Jacksonville, whose quarterback was ... drumroll, please ... Mark Brunell.

Funny how life turns out sometimes.