The Dallas Cryboys Anti-Fan Picture Page
Super Bowl 40: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10
Why is this picture here? Well, I just wanted to take this moment to point out that the Cryboys are now one of three teams who have five Super Bowl trophies (not the one or two a lot of fans like to claim). And of those three teams, the Cryboys have the WORST winning percentage in the Super Bowl:
I also just had to add this picture after seeing it pop up during a commercial in the Super Bowl yesterday. Gotta love that.
2005 Week 17: Rams 20, Cryboys 10
Additional Bonus: Cowboys eliminated, sit at home for playoffs.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Once the Dallas Cowboys ran out of ways to make the playoffs about an hour before their season finale, the only question left was whether they'd have any fight left against the St. Louis Rams.
Nope.
The Cowboys allowed Aveion Cason and Arlen Harris to run for their first touchdowns since 2003 and scored the fewest points against the Rams this season in a 20-10 loss Sunday night.
"I think we were a little deflated mentally, especially our offensive group," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "We just seemed to not be on edge in light of what happened today, probably."
The game was rendered meaningless when Washington beat Philadelphia and eliminated Dallas from the wild-card chase. A Carolina victory over Atlanta earlier in the day cut off another potential path to the playoffs. A long-shot scenario had fizzled when the New York Giants won Saturday night.
Despite all the Cowboys (9-7) had done to prepare for this game in case they were playing for a playoff berth, they showed none of the "spunk" Parcells praised them for having only a week earlier.
"The atmosphere tonight was totally different," safety Keith Davis said. "If I told you it wasn't, I'd be lying. But it wasn't the Eagles, it wasn't Atlanta -- it was us. We were in too many close games all year long. I don't point the finger at anybody but the Dallas Cowboys."
Dallas went 6-5 in games decided by a touchdown or less. This one was headed to balancing that slate until St. Louis' Jeff Wilkins kicked a 20-yard field goal with 1:05 left, making this the second-worst margin of defeat for the Cowboys all season.
Now the wait begins to find out whether Parcells is coming back for the final season of his 4-year, $17 million contract. He wouldn't say what he's doing or when he'll meet with team owner Jerry Jones to discuss it.
"I just got to get away from it a little while," Parcells said.
Jones told ESPN during an in-game interview, "I hope that we can continue what we've got started here." In the somber locker room afterward, Jones said, "You know how I feel about the job he's done."
Under Parcells, the Cowboys are 25-24 in three years, a big turnaround from 15-33 the three previous seasons.
St. Louis (6-10) ended a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in its last eight games. It may be a going-away present for Marshall Faulk, who got his first start of the season, and coach Mike Martz, who has missed the last 11 games because of health problems and is believed to be on his way out.
"The guys played with a lot of passion," interim coach Joe Vitt said. "They practiced well the last four weeks and had nothing to show for it. I'm proud that they got this win."
The Rams came in averaging a league-worst 27.9 points per game and were near the bottom in total defense and run defense. They didn't look like that this time, holding Dallas to 271 yards and a season-low 57 yards rushing.
The Cowboys scored an early touchdown, but couldn't do much right for long after that. They went sack, fumble, sack on a second-quarter drive, then started a third-quarter possession with a false start; a holding penalty that wiped out a decent run; then a sack by an unblocked defender on third down. Many fans missed that play, however, because they were doing the wave.
All Dallas could get over the last 3 1/2 quarters was a 22-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham with 3 seconds left in the half that tied the game at 10. He missed way right on a 47-yarder with 9:28 left.
The Rams got a 49-yard field goal by Wilkins, an 8-yard touchdown run by Cason, who hadn't taken a handoff all season until this game, and a 1-yarder by Harris that made it 17-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Cason and Harris got so much prime action because Steven Jackson was inactive, the same reason Faulk started. Cason gained 65 yards, Faulk 25 and Harris 15.
Faulk said afterward that he hasn't given any thought to whether he'll be back next season.
"I think it's unfair to even speculate on any decision because I haven't made one," he said.
Dallas' Julius Jones gained 35 yards a week after gaining 194. He fell 7 yards shy of 1,000, missing the chance to join his brother Thomas of Chicago, and to be the first Cowboys player to crack that milestone since Emmitt Smith in 2001.
Drew Bledsoe finished his first season in Dallas going 18-of-39 for 242 yards, giving him the second-best season in team history (3,639). However, he also lost his NFL-worst eighth fumble and threw two interceptions, the first setting up Wilkins' final field goal, the last coming on the Cowboys' final snap of the season.
Notes
Keyshawn Johnson caught five passes for 97 yards, then was the last player to leave the Dallas bench, a sour look on his face. ... Wilkins hit the left upright on a 27-yarder and narrowly missed from 53 yards after a strange intentional grounding penalty tacked 10 yards onto the attempt. ... St. Louis beat a winning team for only the second time
2005 Week 13: Giants 17, Cryboys 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- For once, the New York Giants' offense didn't have to manufacture a last-minute comeback. Instead, their defense stopped one by Dallas.
The Giants built a 17-0 lead Sunday and then hung on to beat the Cowboys 17-10 to take sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
In four games this season, New York (8-4) has rallied from deficits late in the fourth quarter behind the timely passing of Eli Manning. With the second-year quarterback struggling Sunday, the Giants relied on a defense that produced four sacks, two interceptions and two fumbles and pressured Drew Bledsoe into a 15-for-39 performance.
Antonio Pierce returned one of the fumbles for a 12-yard touchdown on the first play of the second half to give New York a 17-0 lead. Defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy forced the fumble when he got into the backfield a split second after Bledsoe received the snap and attempted to hand off to Julius Jones.
The ball bounced out of the pile right into Pierce's hands and the middle linebacker ran into the end zone untouched.
"I didn't know he was in the end zone," Clancy said. "I didn't know the ball was fumbled or if he was just running. I saw it when I looked at the replay up on the screen."
Bledsoe had a different take on Clancy's play.
"It seemed like he was offside," he said. "He jumped the snap count pretty good. He almost took the handoff from me."
The play loomed huge when Dallas (7-5) closed within a touchdown in the third quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff and a 7-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Terry Glenn.
But unlike in earlier losses to Dallas, Minnesota and Seattle, New York's defense held fast in the final minutes. Safety Gibril Wilson tipped Bledsoe's pass intended for Keyshawn Johnson and Brent Alexander intercepted with 1:47 left. Dallas got the ball back once more but couldn't move past the Giants' 44 at the final whistle.
"We felt like if they went down and scored on our defense, we lost the game," said linebacker Carlos Emmons. "I don't care what else happened."
The Giants survived another missed field goal by Jay Feely, who a week earlier blew three potential game-winning kicks in a 24-21 overtime loss at Seattle.
On Sunday, Feely clanged a 33-yard attempt off the upright with 5:18 left that would have given the Giants a 20-10 lead and some breathing room.
New York also won despite a shaky performance from Manning, who was 12-for-31 for 152 yards and was intercepted twice by Dallas cornerback Aaron Glenn, filling in for the injured Anthony Henry. Tiki Barber gained 115 yards on 30 carries for the Giants.
The Cowboys face an uphill battle in the division race with games left against Kansas City at home, at Washington and Carolina before closing at home against St. Louis. They can take solace in the fact three of New York's final four games are on the road, and two are against division rivals Philadelphia and Washington.
"There's a month of football to go," said Dallas coach Bill Parcells. "To be judgmental now with just the one-game separation would be premature. If you look at this like it's a disaster, then that's what it will turn out to be. If we look at it like we can bounce back, then that's probably what will happen."
Notes
Feely received a huge cheer from the crowd when he kicked the extra point after Brandon Jacobs' 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter ... Michael Strahan had two sacks to give him 127 1/2 for his career, moving him one sack past Derrick Thomas and into 10th place on the NFL's all-time list ... Pierce's touchdown was his second as a pro. With Washington last December, he returned an interception off Ken Dorsey 78 yards for a score against San Francisco ... Manning's streak of consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass ended at 12. It had been the NFL's longest active streak ... The teams split the season series for the first time since 2001. The Giants swept in 2002 and 2004 and the Cowboys swept in 2003.
Drug Update: Michael Irvin
From Joe: No one has ever come out and said what happened in that hotel room several years ago. And I presume the stuff wasn't his in this most recent incident, right? RIGHT? I'm sure this was all done to further his "Hall of Fame" credentials.
DALLAS (AP) -- Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after Plano police officers searched his vehicle during a traffic stop.
Irvin, an ESPN analyst and semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, told The Associated Press late Sunday that the drug pipe found in his car belonged to a friend of 17 years who left a Houston rehab center and came to Irvin's house in Carrollton for Thanksgiving. Irvin wouldn't reveal his friend's name.
Irvin said he put the pipe in his car because he didn't want it in his house where his children might find it. He said he planned to drive somewhere the next day, like a grocery trash bin, and throw the pipe away but forgot.
"It's a situation that is not as it seemed," said Irvin, whose voice was choked with emotion during the telephone conversation.
"I know the type of demons they have to fight and I am going to help them, because it's the only way I can keep them from getting to my family. I have to clean up my friends because they are around my boys. It's upsetting."
Irvin was arrested on an outstanding warrant for speeding in Irving after being pulled over Friday afternoon for speeding in Plano. Irvin said he thought he had paid the outstanding ticket.
Irvin paid a fine on the speeding ticket and posted bond on the drug paraphernalia possession charge. He was released about an hour after he was pulled over.
Irvin was a member of three Super Bowl championship teams with the Cowboys. Asked how this kind of publicity might affect his chances of induction into the hall of fame, Irvin said his helping his friends are more important.
"The whole thing means such a great deal for me, and hopefully one day it will be there," Irvin said. "But my friends and my family mean a little more. I would rather be helping them, even if it hurts that."
In 1996, Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession in exchange for four years of deferred probation, a $10,000 fine and dismissal of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. Irvin said Sunday he's always been transparent and open about his issues in the past, and now wants to help others through those same problems.
Irvin holds Cowboys records for catches (750), receiving yards (11,904) and 100-yard games (47), including a team-record seven in a row in 1991.
ESPN said it has spoken to Irvin, who will still appear on the network Monday as an analyst.
"We've talked to Michael, who explained the situation to us the way he did to the AP, and we will continue to talk with Michael," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "But you can expect to see him on `Monday Night Countdown' on Monday evening."
2005 Week 12: Broncos 24, Cryboys 21
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Regardless of whether Ron Dayne ever outruns his reputation as an underachiever, he'll always be able to look back fondly at Thanksgiving 2005.
Filling in for injured Tatum Bell, Dayne rumbled 55 yards on the second play of overtime and Jason Elam followed with a 24-yard field goal to give the Denver Broncos a 24-21 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday in the kind of tight, tense game expected in a clash between first-place teams.
Bell was a surprise scratch because of a bruised chest, and Dayne didn't even know he'd be in the lineup until Thursday. He responded with 98 yards rushing, his most since Sept. 30, 2001, and scored his first touchdown since the 2004 opener, when the 1999 Heisman Trophy winner was still with the New York Giants.
"The coaching staff gave me a chance and they believed in me," Dayne said. "I was glad I got this opportunity to show Coach that I wasn't a bust."
The game was close for more than four quarters, with the margin never wider than a touchdown. Both defenses came up with big plays and each team downed a punt inside the 2. There was a close call by the officials, and the Cowboys (7-4) missed a 34-yard field goal that would've put them ahead midway through the fourth quarter.
Denver (9-2) never trailed in winning its fourth straight, but the Broncos were hardly in control. Their running game struggled until Dayne's big burst and Jake Plummer threw his first interception since Week 2. Still, they improved to 3-2 on the road to maintain hopes of catching unbeaten Indianapolis for home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
"I guess we're living right," said cornerback Champ Bailey, who returned an interception 65 yards for Denver's first touchdown. "Everything worked out tonight. ... We have something special here."
Dallas ended a three-game winning streak and, like all its other losses, this one was decided late. The Cowboys' losses are by a combined 13 points, with the last two coming on game-ending field goals. This one gives the Giants a chance to take over first place in the NFC East on Sunday, before facing Dallas the following weekend.
"I'm disappointed with the outcome, I'm not disappointed with the effort," Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said. "I thought we played pretty solid on defense, until that last run."
Dayne joined the Broncos this offseason for the minimum salary in hopes of reviving his career in an offense that consistently features one of the NFL's best rushing attacks. The Broncos were so underwhelmed that they drafted Maurice Clarett in the third round.
Dayne was active only five of the first 10 games. He came into this game without a carry since Oct. 2 and a season total of 53 yards.
"I never lost confidence in my ability," he said. "I knew I could play if I found the right situation and the right opportunity."
He began showing it with a season-best run of 14 yards on his first carry. Then came a 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Dayne and Mike Anderson were alternating series, and it was Dayne's turn when the Broncos won the overtime coin toss. After opening with a pass, Plummer handed off to Dayne on second-and-3 from the 39.
He bowled through the left side of the line, pulled away from would-be tackler Keith Davis around the 50 and kept going until he was dragged down from behind by Terence Newman at the 6. The speedy Newman actually got to Dayne at the 10 but, carrying 245 pounds and a full head of steam, Dayne took a while to go down.
Denver called timeout, then went straight to Elam. The kick was perfect and the Broncos let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Being able to help the team win is all I can ask for," Dayne said. "I haven't been upset about not playing. I just wanted to show the stuff I have. It was a lot of fun."
The Cowboys limited Denver to 89 yards rushing in regulation, about half its average. The Broncos weren't much better throwing the ball, with a long of only 24 yards. Before Dayne's big play, they'd converted only one first down since going ahead 21-14.
Plummer was 15-of-24 for 162 yards, with a touchdown pass to Rod Smith. His franchise-record streak of passes without an interception ended at 229 when Newman picked him off in the second quarter.
Drew Bledsoe was 29-of-44 for 232 yards for Dallas, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Bledsoe tied it at 7 with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Keyshawn Johnson, at 14 with a 1-yard plunge on fourth down and at 21 with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten.
Dallas' last two scores came off Denver turnovers, including a close one by Anderson at the start of the fourth quarter. Officials ruled that Newman scooped it up at the 10 before rolling out of bounds, but it was hard to tell. The Broncos couldn't challenge because they'd used them up questioning spots of the ball in the first half.
Notes
Bell, who grew up in a Dallas suburb, was listed as questionable all week and had said he wanted to play. His average of 6.0 yards per carry is the best in the NFL. ... Witten tied his career high with nine catches and had 82 yards. ... Bailey's interception was his sixth of the year, tying for the league lead. It was the second he's returned for a touchdown. The INTs and TDs are career bests.
2005 Week 7: Seahawks 13, Cryboys 10
SEATTLE (AP) -- With the Dallas Cowboys moving the ball near midfield and 14 seconds remaining in a tie game, Seattle kicker Josh Brown was preparing for overtime.
``I'm on the sideline trying to get mentally ready, trying to be by myself,'' Brown said. ``It's one of those moments where you know what's coming. You know it's going to come. You just have to win the coin toss.''
Instead of a coin toss, Seattle nickel back Jordan Babineaux tossed Brown's -- not to mention the Seahawks' and Cowboys' -- worlds upside down.
Babineaux intercepted Drew Bledsoe's sideline pass intended for Terry Glenn with 5 seconds left and returned it 25 yards to the Dallas 32.
Brown rushed onto the field and nailed a 50-yard field goal with no time left to give Seattle a 13-10 win. Dallas had controlled the first 58 minutes of the rainy grudge match of NFC division leaders.
Brown, who made a 55-yarder in the second quarter, threw his helmet into the Seattle mist and braced for the entire Seahawks roster, which was rushing him at midfield.
``I took my helmet off, that way they couldn't throw me to the ground,'' Brown said. ``There is a little planning in there.''
The thrilling turnabout was Seattle's third straight win and kept the Seahawks two games ahead of St. Louis atop the NFC West. They go into their bye week 5-2 for the sixth time in their 30-year history. Four times, they have made the playoffs after such a start. The fifth time, in 1986, they finished 10-6.
Dallas (5-3) fell out of the NFC East lead, a half-game behind Washington, Philadelphia and the New York Giants. The frantic finish -- the opposite of the Cowboys' 10-point rally in the final 2 minutes here last December that beat the Seahawks 43-39 -- also denied the Cowboys their first three-game winning streak since October 2003, Bill Parcells' first season in Dallas.
It was the second late-game collapse for the Cowboys this season. In Week 2, Washington scored two touchdowns in the final 3:46 to beat Dallas 14-13.
But Dallas owner Jerry Jones called it ``as tough a game to lose as any game we've had, any game we've ever had.''
Whatever, said the irascible Parcells.
``I'm not into a State of the Union after one of those kinds of games,'' the coach said. ``We'll have to wait a while.''
Seattle had to wait a while -- 57:59 seconds of game time, actually -- before its league-leading offense generated much. The Cowboys continually controlled the line of scrimmage by putting as many as nine defenders within 4 yards of the ball, even on passing downs. That left Shaun Alexander, the NFL rushing leader entering Sunday, mostly stuck in neutral.
During passes, Cowboys cover men continually hit receivers Joe Jurevicius, D.J. Hackett and Jerheme Urban -- Seattle's replacements for injured starters Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram.
Alexander finished with 61 yards rushing on 21 carries. He gained 3 yards or less on 13 of his runs. His longest run was an 11-yard dash on the Seahawks' 81-yard drive within the final 2 minutes.
The Seattle offense, averaging 407 yards coming in, finished with 289.
``They had a lot of guys in the box,'' Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson said. ``It was like beating your head against the wall.''
Seattle tied it at 10 with 40 seconds left when backup tight end Ryan Hannam caught quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's 1-yard TD pass while tumbling in the end zone.
Hasselbeck, 23-of-42 for 224 yards with the one touchdown and two interceptions, completed all four of his passes on the 81-yard march. A 22-yard pass-interference penalty on Dallas' Aaron Glenn with 1:40 remaining moved the Seahawks to the Cowboys 25 and in position for the score.
``Every drive we were in the huddle saying, 'Hey, let's make some plays' -- after a while, you get sick of hearing that,'' Hasselbeck said. ``We actually had to go do it.''
But when Dallas' Tyson Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards, to the Cowboys 41 all eyes moved toward Dallas kicker Jose Cortez, who had earlier missed a 29-yard field goal after an errant snap. Then Bledsoe -- 13-for-24 for 136 yards and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Keyshawn Johnson in the first quarter -- put the attention on the unsuspecting Brown instead with his second interception of the day.
The kick redeemed Brown's miss four weeks ago, when he hit the left upright from 49 yards on the final play of regulation in a 20-17 overtime loss in Washington.
``I told him sometime in the season we were going to be in the exact situation, and he was going to make it,'' Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said.
``And he did.''
Notes
Alexander's 11-yard run on the final Seattle touchdown drive gave him 6,713 career yards, passing Chris Warren as the franchise leader. ... Dallas played without starting running back Julius Jones, linebacker Dat Nguyen and defensive end Kenyon Coleman. Marion Barber ran for 95 yards on 22 carries in Jones' place. The game attracted the second-largest crowd in the four-year history of Qwest Field, 67,046 -- despite the first in-game rain in stadium history.
2005 Week 4: Raiders 19, Cryboys 13
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Randy Moss burned Dallas early, catching a 79-yard pass on Oakland's second play. After that, his biggest contribution to the Raiders' first win came in the running game.
But the talented receiver didn't run a long reverse or throw a big downfield block. Instead, his presence kept the Cowboys' safeties away from the line.
Enter LaMont Jordan.
The Raiders' other big acquisition on offense ran for a career-high 126 yards and a score, Sebastian Janikowski kicked four field goals and Oakland's defense mounted a late goal-line stand in a 19-13 win Sunday.
``I will forever look at it as teams saying we can't run the ball,'' said Jordan, who bounced back from a 19-yard performance last week against Philadelphia. ``I encourage defenses to play that way. If you play two-deep defense against us with the way we're capable of running the ball ... we are going to run the ball down your throat. I think today was a true test of that.''
A week after gaining just 21 yards as a team, Jordan and the offensive line took it upon themselves to fix the running game. They succeeded from the start, as Jordan frequently got tough yards up the middle.
``We were determined to get running yards, especially after being shut down last week,'' offensive lineman Barry Sims said. ``We really wanted to get LaMont going. And you can't go when there's no where to go, so we really wanted to get some lanes opened up for him.''
The Cowboys kept it interesting until the final 2 minutes. Trailing 19-13 after Janikowski's 43-yard field goal with 4:29 left, Dallas (2-2) drove inside the 5 with help from a 57-yard pass from Drew Bledsoe to Terry Glenn.
But Tommy Kelly dropped Julius Jones for a 2-yard loss on second down from the 3, and Bledsoe followed with incompletions to Keyshawn Johnson and Glenn to turn it over with 1:45 to go.
Jason Witten was open in the end zone on the last play, but Bledsoe said he had chosen to go toward Glenn's side and didn't see Witten.
``It's a three-step drop. He just has to make a decision to go the other way with the ball,'' Witten said. ``I'm not doubting his decision. He's got Keyshawn and Terry over there. He's got to make a quick decision and go with it. I was open. That's for sure.''
Jordan then ran twice for a first down and Oakland (1-3) ran out the clock, heading into the bye week with a much-needed win.
Kerry Collins threw to Moss only three times in the opening half, connecting on the long pass on the first drive to set up Janikowski's 30-yard field goal and throwing his direction on back-to-back plays to open the second quarter.
Moss, who had 10 touchdowns in his first five games against Dallas, finished with four receptions for 123 yards and remained unbeaten in six games against the Cowboys.
Collins finished 13-for-23 for 218 yards, extending his streak without an interception to a career-high 149 passes, dating to last season.
``I definitely didn't play my best game today but I didn't turn it over and I made some smart decisions at times that ultimately helped us win the ballgame,'' Collins said. ``The other guys picked me up today. LaMont and the other guys up front did an excellent job.''
Oakland's defense played a big role too, holding Jones to 76 yards on 22 carries and limiting Dallas to 146 yards through three quarters.
``I know they think Julius Jones is the next Emmitt Smith,'' Oakland safety Stuart Schweigert said. ``I played against the guy in college and he's a good running back but he's not a great running back. We knew we were going to shut down the running. That allowed us to get some sacks and pressure on Bledsoe.''
Janikowski, who missed four field goals the first three games, kicked short field goals in the first half and a 49- and 43-yarder in the fourth quarter.
``I didn't change a thing,'' Janikowski said. ``I worked the whole week with the same approach I always do.''
Bledsoe hit Patrick Crayton on a 63-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to make it 16-13. Bledsoe finished 11-for-26 for 212 yards.
``We feel like we missed out on an opportunity here,'' Bledsoe said. ``We made a lot of mistakes in the ballgame that really hurt us in the end.''
The Raiders, the most penalized team in the NFL, committed 13 more infractions, including three in the first 74 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Notes
DeMarcus Ware, a first-round pick in April, had three offsides penalties, including one to wipe out a sack by La'Roi Glover in the fourth quarter. ... Dallas had gone 13 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. ... Raiders C Jake Grove left the game with a strained right knee. ... Oakland DL Derrick Burgess tied his career high with two sacks.
2005 Week 2: Redskins 14, Cryboys 13
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Joe Gibbs has won three Super Bowls and two NASCAR championships. Yet of all the thrills he has experienced, he puts what happened Monday night near the top of the list.
The Washington Redskins, seemingly stuck in neutral or perhaps even reverse, got touchdown passes of 39 and 70 yards from Mark Brunell to Santana Moss in the final 3:46, then their defense made it hold up for a 14-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night.
``It was one of the greatest moments in sports for me,'' Gibbs said.
The Redskins (2-0) ended a four-game losing skid to their top rival and won for just the second time in 16 meetings. This was their first win at Texas Stadium since 1995 and the first time Gibbs beat Dallas coach Bill Parcells in their last nine games.
No wonder Gibbs got the ice-water bucket treatment at the end and players were celebrating as if they'd won the state high school championship. As an added bonus, Washington is going into its bye week, so this victory will be savored even longer.
``At the end, there was some unbelievable plays,'' Gibbs said. ``It really took my breath away.''
Parcells', too, although for other reasons.
The Cowboys (1-1) were coming off a win at San Diego in which they scored the go-ahead points in the final minute, then made it hold up with a defensive stand at the end. Now it happened to them, although this time Dallas led for most of the game, stretching the advantage to 13-0 with 5:58 left.
``You've got to learn to close the show,'' Parcells said. ``We didn't do that.''
The lead seemed pretty safe considering the Redskins hadn't gotten as far as the Cowboys 28 since their opening drive and had yet to score a touchdown all season. Plus, history was on Dallas' side, too. Washington had lost 25 straight games when trailing after three quarters and Parcells' teams were 77-0 when leading by at least 13 in the fourth quarter.
``I don't know if anybody believed but us,'' linebacker Marcus Washington said. ``We did enough tonight. We're heroes, all of us.''
Making this victory even sweeter for the Redskins was spoiling what had been a festive night for Cowboys fans. The 65,207 fans -- the team's largest crowd in 10 years -- were lured out partly by Washington, but mostly to watch Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin join the team's Ring of Honor.
While fans seemed mildly irritated by Parcells' conservative game plan, and weren't too happy about an early missed field goal and a missed chance for another kick just before halftime, nobody was too concerned.
Then Brunell got going.
On fourth-and-2 from the Washington 46, Brunell hit James Thrash for 20 yards. On fourth-and-15 from the Dallas 39, he threw a spiral that Moss ran under in the end zone.
The Cowboys' next drive was ruined by a holding penalty on Flozell Adams that wiped out a first-down catch by Keyshawn Johnson. One play after a punt into the end zone, Brunell threw deep to Moss again and he again caught it in stride, never even getting touched on his way to the end zone.
``It looked like the Mark Brunell of old,'' said Moss, who caught five passes for 159 yards and won the hearts of Washington fans skeptical of whether he could be the deep threat the club was looking for when they traded Laveranues Coles to get him.
Brunell was 20-of-34 for 291 yards with an interception. He picked on Dallas cornerback Aaron Glenn on both touchdowns.
Dallas still had a couple of minutes to try regaining the lead and was in good shape, too, when rookie Tyson Thompson returned the kickoff to the 48. But the Cowboys couldn't even get a first down. Terry Glenn's short catch over the middle on fourth down was stopped short.
Their final drive began at their 21 with 36 seconds left. The game ended with Glenn tackled at the Washington 43, then he rose to his knees and threw the ball up in disgust while the Redskins went wild again.
``All losses are tough,'' Cowboys tackle La'Roi Glover said, ``but this one is tougher.''
Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe was 21-of-36 for 261 yards and remained interception-free in his second go-round with Parcells. He used a flea flicker to hit Glenn on a 70-yard touchdown pass -- Dallas' longest play since October 2002, pre-Parcells -- but it was one of the few times he threw deep.
Notes
Redskins safety Pierson Prioleau pulled his right hamstring on the opening series and didn't return. ... Eight of the teams' last nine meetings have been decided by seven points or less. ... Peerless Price caught one pass for minus-1 yard in his Dallas debut. To activate him, the Cowboys went without a fullback. ... Washington is 2-0 for the second time in three years.
2005 Offseason
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Jerry has to bring in Kevin Costner to teach the Cryboys how to "act" like Football players. |
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Other pictures:
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