"Come on Washington Gibbs Me a Win!"

The inspiration for the title of this post came near the end of the fourth quarter. The camera panned through the crowd, and stopped on a fan holding up a sign with that title. This game totally lived up to the standards of this historical rivalry. It all came down the wire. It was truly a great game for ANY football fan.

You could call the first half of the game unconventional. On the opening possession, the Skins marched right down the field to the Cowboys 1 yard-line. They tried punching it in by running up the middle for three plays, and were unsuccessful. They made the right call being at home to go for it early in the game. They ran it up the middle again, and got stuffed. Turnover on Downs. The Cowboys' first offensive play from their own 1 yard-line was a run, and Jones was tackled in the end zone for a safety. With the free kick, the Skins managed to get a field goal to make it 5-0. 5-0 is certainly a score you don't see everyday. At this point in the game it makes you feel a little uneasy after the Skins had two great opportunities and they couldn't translate them into touchdowns. The Cowboys marched right down the field and scored a touchdown on their next possession. In my book, Parcells made a very questionable decision to go for two points this early in the football game, and of course they didn't make it. The Redskins and the Cowboys ended the first half tied at 12 apiece. The Redskins certainly tried to run the ball throughout the game, but their attack wasn't all that great. The biggest run play they had was in the first half, with Clinton Portis' 38 yard touchdown run. The Skins had to play catch up when the Cowboys scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half. The Skins got their equalizer on a beautiful catch from Chris Cooley in the end zone to tie it at 19. At this point in the game, there was a real feeling of promise that the Skins had a great chance to pull this one out. With about a minute left in the game, the Skins got as far as they could to give Novak a chance to win it with a 49 yard field goal attempt. He missed it wide right...your heart jumps in your throat knowing that they gave the Cowboys great field position to drive for a game winning field goal attempt. The Cowboys get their chance with six seconds left, and Troy Vincent comes up HUGE with the block! Sean Taylor had a very nice return of the blocked field goal, and gets a 15 yard face mask penalty tacked on with no time left on the clock. Mr. Nick Novak gets his second chance with a 47 yard field goal attempt, and sneaks it through the upright! Here's some other things worth noting about the game. Terrell Owens had a CRITICAL drop of a pass behind the Skins' secondary that would've been a back-breaker putting the Skins down by 14. The Cowboys had 11 penalties for 153 yards, and the Skins only had 5 for 41 yards. The Redskins were 5 for 13 on 3rd Down conversions. On the Skins' opening possession, they had the ball for over eight minutes but, they ended up losing the time of possession battle to the Cowboys 31:28 to 28:32. The Skins next opponent is against the Eagles at Philly next weekend.