Sweeping statement
Cowboys quiet 'Skins in East showdown
10/25/99
By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING - The Washington Redskins can talk the talk, as they showed in the days leading up to Sunday's game.
It's that part about walking the walk that gave the 'Skins trouble.
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Game summary
A supremely confident Washington team blew into Texas Stadium to encounter the Cowboys' beleaguered coach and bewildered offense. Much to their surprise - and the ire of owner Daniel Snyder - the Redskins left with a 38-20 egg on their face masks.
This wasn't supposed to happen, at least not according to the Washington players. The loquacious duo of Michael Westbrook and Albert Connell spoke of roasting All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders. Their teammates talked of avenging a season-opening loss to Dallas and of the Cowboys' inability to stop their high-powered offense.
"I'm just amused any time you hear that kind of talk in this league," said Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, who helped deflate Washington's ego by throwing for 244 yards and two touchdowns. "I don't understand it. It's not boxing. We don't have a hard time selling tickets.
"I think a lot of guys want to bring attention to themselves, to have the whole world recognize them. I don't get it. . . . They were a confident group coming in and should have been. But some of the things that were said were inappropriate."
Although early, Sunday's game represented a crossroads for Dallas. The win pulled the Cowboys even with Washington in the NFC East and gave them the crucial tiebreaker based on their series sweep.
A loss would have dropped Dallas two games behind the Redskins with the most difficult part of its schedule about to unfold. Instead, Washington has found it can beat every team it plays except Dallas in this 4-2 start.
"The biggest enemy that you have when you're on a four-game winning streak is overconfidence," Redskins fullback Larry Centers said. "Maybe we didn't realize what a big game this was.
"They were a wounded animal, and that's when an animal is most dangerous."
The wounds were inflicted by consecutive 13-10 losses to Philadelphia and the New York Giants. Critics argued the Cowboys impaled themselves on the conservative game plans of coach Chan Gailey. Running back Emmitt Smith suggested the Cowboys had lost their offensive focus by trying to do too much and echoed Gailey's theme that Dallas needed to get back to basics.
On this day, Gailey streamlined what he asked his team to do in the running game and ran Smith between the tackles. He also had Aikman throw the ball downfield more than he had in the previous two games.
The result: A Dallas team that had been held to 10 points in each of its last two games equaled that output in the first quarter Sunday. A Dallas team that had scored just two touchdowns on its previous 28 possessions reached the end zone twice in its first three possessions.
An animated Gailey walked along the sideline pumping his fist after the second touchdown staked Dallas to a 17-0 second-quarter lead. The barrage didn't end until Sanders, who missed part of the game with a concussion, returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"I thought we stayed aggressive throughout the game with the way we attacked them," Aikman said. "I thought Chan called an outstanding game. We mixed it up enough out of our personnel packages, running the ball and throwing it.
"I felt we had Washington back on their heels a little bit, wondering what we were going to do in certain situations."
Perhaps the best example - and certainly the most significant - came early in the fourth quarter.
Dallas was clinging to a 24-20 lead when it faced a third-and-20 on its own 9-yard line. Receiver Alvin Harper, a blast from the Cowboys' past who was signed because of injuries, had just dropped a pass over the middle.
Aikman went right back to him on a skinny post. Harper, who is no longer that skinny at 222 pounds, was mugged by cornerback Darryl Pounds on the play. The 17-yard pass-interference penalty gave the Cowboys a key first down in a 13-play, 93-yard touchdown drive.
"At that point, the way the game was with us being backed up, more times than not you have a tendency to be a little conservative in that situation," Aikman said. "Maybe just run the ball and try to get some yards for better field position for your punter.
"We took a shot at it and got the call. That was a big play."
There were others. Sanders' punt return. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail got the scoring started with a 13-yard touchdown catch when he beat Darrell Green to the corner and finished with six catches for 76 yards. Jason Tucker had a 52-yard reception that came moments after the interference call on Harper. Smith rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Cowboys contained Westbrook, Connell and Stephen Davis. The big three, who combined for 405 yards in the season opener, answered with 172 yards Sunday afternoon. Twenty-five percent of those yards came when Connell beat Kevin Mathis - not Sanders - for a long touchdown.
"He wasn't ready to walk that walk as of yet," Sanders said. "Those guys . . . they've got a way to go." |
