There are some games that are closer than the score would indicate. Though the Washington Redskins outgained the Dallas Cowboys both rushing and passing Sunday night, the Skins fell to the Cowboys on the road 31-16 in a performance where the Dallas kick returner outgained the Cowboys total offensive effort.
Yes, it was one of those games.
As has been the case too often this season, problems on special teams, penalties and turnovers all played a big part in eventual defeat in a game by all accounts the Redskins could have stolen on the road.
The Redskins-Cowboys rivalry is one of the crown jewels of the NFL. Even in seasons where the teams aren’t particularly good the seasonal pair of matchups are usually entertaining due to the long-standing rivalry. When the teams are expected to be competitive, like this season, they make for national television viewing.
Entering Sunday night’s prime-time showdown, Washington was coming off a bye week and was well rested. Dallas was fresh off a wild, close loss to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Both teams entered with losing records — it was essentially a must-win for both.
Dallas took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on 10 plays, culminating with a DeMarco Murray four-yard touchdown run. The Cowboys drive was twice augmented by Redskins penalties, which turned out to be a common theme of the evening.
The Redskins answered with a long drive of their own, going 78 yards in 13 plays. But the Skins had to settle for a 20-yard Kai Forbath field goal. The possession saw Robert Griffin III exhibit some of the skill that makes him what he is, as rushes for 15 and seven yards helped put Washington in position to score.
On the next drive, the Skins generated the first turnover of the game, as Rob Jackson — fresh off his four-game suspension — picked off a Tony Romo pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage at the Skins 35-yard line. Dallas forced Washington to punt, and as it was being downed the ball took a funny hop and bounced off the leg of a Cowboys special teamer. The Redskins recovered, but the officials ruled that the Cowboys player had been blocked into the ball, negating the turnover.
Two possessions later, more bad things would happen on special teams. Sav Rocca punted again and this time, returner Dwayne Harris made no mistake, taking the punt 86 yards for a touchdown to give Dallas a 14-3 lead. It was not the last the Skins would hear from Harris.
The Skins were undaunted though and put together an 11-play, 68-yard drive that ended with another Forbath field goal, this time from 32 yards out, for a 14-6 halftime score. On the drive, Griffin his Jordan Reed for gains of 3 and 29 yards in succession while working the middle of the field.
Washington took the opening kick of the third quarter and put together yet another impressive drive that ended in another Forbath three-pointer, this time moving 65 yards in 10 plays, highlighted by Griffin’s 26-yard scramble and subsequent unnecessary roughness penalty on Barry Church for his late hit on Griffin while the QB was going out of bounds.
But Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to the Skins 15-yard line, setting up Romo’s 15-yard scoring strike to Terrence Williams in the corner of the end zone to make it 21-9.
After trading punts, the Redskins got the ball back on their 29 yard line. On second down, Griffin ran over left end for 11 yards on a read-option, and again Church delivered a late hit to tack on another 15 yards. That mistake proved costly, as on the next play, Alfred Morris busted through the right side of the line, then broke two tackles en route to a 45-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 21-16.
Morris, returning from a rib cage injury that knocked him out of the Oakland win, gained 81 yards on 16 carries for the night.
It looked like the momentum had swung in the Redskins favor at that point, and at the start of the fourth quarter another established drive set up another field goal attempt. But this time, Forbath missed from 45 yards, giving the Cowboys terrific field position, which they took full advantage of as they marched 49 yards on nine plays, resulting in Dan Bailey’s 30-yard field goal and extend the lead to 24-16.
On the ensuing possession, the Skins were backed up to the shadow of their own goal line after a false start and holding penalty. Griffin dropped to pass on second-and-19 and was blindsided by Kyle Wilber. Griffin was stunned, lost the football, and Wilber fell on the fumble to give Dallas the ball at the Skins’ three-yard line. Two plays later, Joseph Randle took it over from two yards to provide the final margin of victory at 31-16.
The Redskins had a chance to cut into that margin, but Griffin’s long pass into the end zone was intercepted by Orlando Scandrick after Santana Moss got tangled up and fell at the goal line.
Though Griffin looked much more like the “old RGIII”, running nine times for 77 yards, the normally accurate passer finished the night just 19-of-39 for 246 yards.
The Skins find themselves in a tough place after five games. At 1-4, they are 1 1/2 games behind Dallas and Philadelphia in the division, and face the Chicago Bears at home next Sunday at 1:00 pm.