By Rich Tandler
Thanks for joining me here as I live blog the Redskins’ game against the Cowboys live from the press box at FedEx Field.
As we do every week here, we are going to keep a running blog of news, notes, and nuggets that will run until just before kickoff. Then we’ll continue this right into the live game blog and keep you going on that until the clock reads 0:00.
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This is about you, too. If you have questions or comments, leave them in the comment section here or hit me on Twitter @Rich_Tandler.
Overtime
5:39—And Bailey’s FG is good from 39 and the Cowboys again beat the Redskins. Heading to the locker room, more later.
7:37—That just might be the ballgame as Romo converts a third and 15 with a 26-yard pass to Bryant. They have it at the Redskins 23.
9:21--And it gets worse as Trent Williams is helped off of the field.
9:27—Gano is about to attempt a 52-yard field goal to win it. He missed from 50 earlier but he hit from 59 two weeks ago on this field. It’s no good, plent of leg but wide right, and Dallas gets the ball on their own 41.
14:08—The Redskins burn the first of their two overtime timeouts after picking up a first down on a Grossman to Stallworth pass. It’s now first and 20 after an offensive pass interference flag.
Fourth quarter
1:06—Redskins with third and four at the 10. Two chances to get the first and all three timeouts left.
2:00—The 2:00 minute warning comes with the Redskins nearing scoring territory. They’re at the Dallas 30 with passes of 20 yards to Donte Stallworth and 27 yards to Darrel Young—the fullback ran through one tackle to turn a first down into a long gain—gaining most of the ground.
5:35—The Redskins do hold the Cowboys to three and out after the interception. They have the ball on their own 11 needing 89 yards to tie the game.
8:40—Rex Grossman’s first turnover of the day could be a dagger. He went long for Anthony Armstrong on first down after the kickoff. Armstrong was never open for even a moment and the ball was easily picked off. A tired defense how has to fend off a hot Cowboys offense once again.
8:48—And another third-down conversion gives Dallas the lead. Romo bought some time, got away from Orakpo and found Jason Witten running wide open deep down the middle. It went for 59 yards and Dallas now leads 24-17. Do the Redskins have a rally in them?
10:07—Dallas converted another third down, this time from deep in their own territory. They still have a way to go, they’re at their own 25, but the defense has to come up with a stop.
11:18—The Redskins work their way out of a hole by converting after facing second and 25 deep in their own territory. They end up punting but Dallas has the ball at their 12 rather than somewhere near midfield. Big defensive series for the Redskins.
14:43—Another third-down conversion finishes off the drive for Dallas as Romo goes to Robinson to tie the game at 17. Romo scrambled to buy time and found Robinson for the TD.
Third quarter
Summary—After the field goal miss, Dallas converts a fourth and one and then a third and seven to move to a first and goal at the seven. After stalling on offense for most of the second and third quarters the Cowboys are coming to life here. The Redskins have four sacks but they could regret one the just missed as Romo spun away from Orakpo to complete that third-down pass.
6:22—The Redskins squander a 55-yard Banks punt return as Gano pushes a 50-yard field goal try wide right. Field position wasted as well as the scoring opportunity. They become distinctly unaggressive in going three and out after the return and they paid for it.
11:40—The Redskins continue to look like an actual NFL offese as they score on their third straight possession. Grossman passes to Gaffney and Davis gained most of the yardage but they had to settle for a 40-yard Gano field goal when Rex’s third-down pass went off of Anthony Armstrong’s fingertips in the end zone. Redskins up 17-10.
Second quarter
A halftime tweet from @Cpbetterlife:
I have said all wk that skins are going to win, because Dallas was going to take them lightly. 1/2 time 10-14 skins.go skins
And another:
@alanhqc: @Rich_Tandler redskins are ahead and pigs are flapping their wings outside my window.
Summary—The challenge of Grossman’s fumble was the turning point of the game. Dallas was about to go up 17-0. But the fumble was overturned, Sav Rocca boomed a punt and after a holding penalty Dallas had the ball at its own five. A shaky punt gave the Redskins a short field and they punched it in. Then another punt and another touchdown. All of a sudden, the Redskins look like a real NFL team.
0:14—For the first time since Oct. 2, the Redskins have the lead in a game. They just scored on a 16-yard pass from Grossman to Gaffney. Nice pass, nice grab. And the Redskins get the ball to start the second half.
1:55—Ryan Kerrigan picks up what really was a coverage sack of Romo and the Cowboys punt. A 32-yard Banks punt return has the Redskins in Dallas territory at the 43.
3:30—In case you’re keeping track, that is the Redskins’ initial first-half touchdown since the Oct. 2 game in St. Louis. Not coincidentally, that is the last game the Redskins won.
3:39—Rex races in on a quarterback draw on third and goal at the five. A nice connection between Grossman and David Anderson converted a third and seven to set up a first and goal. Of course, that is often meaningless for the Redskins but they did manage to punch it in. They spread it out by lining up with five wides and Rex found a hole and Grossman dove in for the score.
7:34—The challenge wound up being a 95-yard swing in field position. After a three and out, a poor punt gives the Redskins the ball at the Dallas 32. If they can’t punch it in from here . . .
8:29—The Redskins try to convert a third and one on a QB sneak. The ball came out and after two pathetic tackle attempts by Gaffney and Choice, the Cowboys have the ball at the one foot line. Mike Shanahan challenged—his second and last—and it was ruled that the Grossman was down. Still, the ball was marked short of the first down and Sav Rocca booms a punt inside the 10. The bad part here is being unable to convert the third down. And the Redskins are out of challenges.
A tweet from @GarrickBoward2 Garrick
@ csnwashington whos a better lead blocker, sellers or young. I like sellers
Sorry, have to disagree. Sellers was a few years ago but he tries to use his size and not technique. You need both. Young just an overall better offensive player at this point.
12:00—A squishy pass interference call—Josh Wilson sort of grabbed the receiver’s arm, much worse contact goes unpenalized all the time—helps set up a 37-yard Dallas field goal. The Cowboys offense is not sharp at all, if the Redskins could generate any offense we might have a ballgame.
First quarter
Summary—Is Tashard Choice the answer to the Redskins’ running woes? He broke out a nine-yard gain, the Redskins longest gain of the first quarter. On second down, however, he carried for no gain and it’s third and two at the 20 as the quarter ends. The Redskins have 17 yards of offense.
2:55—After the Redskins execute their own three and out, the Cowboys are on the move, past midfield after Hall gives Bryan a massive cushion on a first-down pass.
4:06—This team just can’t string together multiple good plays. After Romo throws out a wobbler that was way off target to complete a three and out from near their own 30, a nice Brandon Banks punt return is wiped out via a penalty. Instead of starting from near midfield, it’s first down at the Washington 18.
6:30—Incomplete pass, two-yard pass, incomplete pass. That’s what the Redskins offense was after they got a first down on a holding call. The first two passes were particularly annoying as they were at or near the line of scrimmage despite Grossman having plenty of time to throw.
7:44—Dallas scores on a third and eight touchdown pass from Romo to Dez Bryant. It’s being reviewed but it stands. Chalk up seven points charged to the Redskins offense. Bryant got past DeAngelo Hall and Oshiomogho Atogwe couldn’t get over in time. PAT is good, Dallas leads 7-0. It goes without saying that this was not the start the Redskins needed.
8:39—Play stands as called, Cowboys ball.
8:39—Odd first series. End around left, end around right, pass short of the sticks, fumble by Fred Davis. The Cowboys recover at the Washington 25, play is being challenged.
10:16—Gomes and LB Perry Riley active on that series. Darrion Scott and Chris Neild also in the game. Apparently since the Redskins offense isn’t doing much to keep the defense fresh they will rotate more. Drive stalls in Redskins territory, punt into the end zone and Redskins have the ball at the 20.
14:54—DeJon Gomes does indeed start at strong safety. Big moment for the rookie out of Nebraska.
Pregame
0:40 to kickoff—Jammal Brown and Sean Locklear are both active so the offensive line isn’t going to be as woefully thin as it might have been. Of course, the unit hasn’t been playing well when they’ve all been healthy so that may not help matters much.
Here is the complete list of inactives:
For the Washington Redskins:
- - No. 30 S LaRon Landry
- - No. 39 CB D.J. Johnson
- - No. 51 LB Keyaron Fox
- - No. 55 LB Markus White
- - No. 79 G Maurice Hurt
- - No. 84 WR Niles Paul
- - No. 89 WR Santana Moss
For the Dallas Cowboys:
- - No. 3 QB Jon Kitna
- - No. 19 WR Miles Austin
- - No. 21 CB Mike Jenkins
- - No. 24 FB Tony Fiammetta
- - No. 62 G David Arkin
- - No. 70 G Daniel Loper
- - No. 96 DE Clifton Geathers
1:45 to kickoff—Correction—Rookie DeJon Gomes is likely to start at strong safety in Landry’s place. And it looks nearly certain that Tyler Polumbus will fill in a left guard for Maurice Hurt.
1:45 to kickoff—Correction—Rookie DeJon Gomes is likely to start at strong safety in Landry’s place. And it look nearly certain that Tyler Polumbus will fill in a left guard for Maurice Hurt.
2:00 to kickoff—Whenever the Cowboys come to town, how much silver and blue is seen in the stands is a topic of conversation. And there could be a strong pro-Dallas element in the crowd.
Although I came in early before the vast majority of fans, I did spy quite a bit of blue in the parking lot. And, even worse, there was a car with two of those fan flags. On the driver’s side there was a Redskins flag. On the passenger side there was a Dallas flag.
Apparently, a mixed marriage.
2:30 to kickoff—There are reports that LaRon Landry will miss today’s game with an Achilles injury. This is not particularly shocking news since he missed two days of practice and was limited in the third with the injury, which put him out the last part of last year and hampered him in training camp.
Reed Doughty is expected to start in Landry’s strong safety spot. It will be interesting to see if rookie DeJon Gomes gets any snaps on defense in Landry’s absence.
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