WASHINGTON 7, DALLAS 31 --- November 20, 1994
Emmitt Smith rushed for two first-quarter touchdowns and Kevin
Williams returned a punt 83 yards for a score as the Dallas Cowboys
survived injuries to Troy Aikman and Rodney Peete and routed the
Washington Redskins, 31-7.
Aikman directed the Cowboys (9-2) to 17 points in the first quarter
before leaving in the second quarter with a sprained medial collateral
ligament in his left knee. Aikman, who has already suffered a
concussion and a right thumb injury this season, underwent an MRI and
left the stadium without talking to reporters.
Peete came on after Aikman was hit by Washington linebacker Ken Harvey
and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Harper to give Dallas a
24-7 lead with 1:13 left in the first half.
Peete suffered a sprained thumb late in the third quarter and was
replaced by Jason Garrett, who finished up. Peete was 2-of-5 for 20
yards and Aikman was 8-of-13 for 87 yards.
"We've got to find a quarterback," Dallas coach Barry Switzer said.
"If Jason is going to be our quarterback, we've got to find a backup
quickly. Hopefully, Troy and Rodney will both be okay. It was a
frustrating day for us. When you lose your starter and your top
backup, you can't be happy."
Smith capped Dallas' first two possessions with touchdown runs. He
also saw limited action and finished with 85 yards on 21 carries,
moving over 1,000 yards for the fourth straight year.
"We're really banged up right now," said Smith, who has 15 touchdowns
this season. "We've been through this before. Hopefully, none of the
injuries are too serious, but it should be a concern to us."
Williams' punt return came in the third quarter and gave Dallas a 31-7
bulge. He has returned two kicks for scores this season.
The Redskins (2-9) have lost eight of their last nine games and their
last three meetings with the Cowboys. Washington has allowed more than
30 points five times this season.
Dallas, which had a five-game winning streak snapped by San Francisco
last week, swept Washington for the first time since 1985. The Cowboys
have won 14 straight divisional games.
Rookie Gus Frerotte started at quarterback for the Redskins but was
replaced in the first quarter by John Friesz. However, it was
all-purpose back Brian Mitchell, who returned the opening kickoff 67
yards to the Dallas 23, who made the first throwing mistake.
On a halfback option pass, Mitchell ran right and threw into the end
zone, where Kevin Smith had good coverage and made the interception.
In a 10-play drive, Smith caught a six-yard pass from Aikman, then
rushed six times for 25 yards, capping the march with an eight-yard
run.
Chip Lohmiller missed a 53-yard field goal attempt and Dallas took
over on the 44. Aikman hit Michael Irvin for 12 yards before Smith
ripped off a 28-yard run to the Redskins 12.
Aikman found Daryl Johnston with a nine-yard screen pass before Smith
burst in for his second score and a 14-0 lead with 5:49 left in the
quarter.
James Washington intercepted Frerotte and returned it to the Redskins
20, setting up a 32-yard field goal by Chris Boniol.
"We've had more than one good game this season, and like a normal good
game, we got several picks," said Washington, who also recovered a
fumble.
"We didn't play well in the first quarter in any phase of the game,"
Redskins coach Norv Turner said. "We got down 17-0 before we knew it.
We only got one drive put together in the first quarter and took
ourselves out of the game in the first half."
Frerotte played one more series before being replaced and finished
just 1-of-6 for 18 yards.
"Gus was obviously not going to have a good day," Turner said. "He
missed some reads, he had the ball slip a few times, and I felt things
would not get better. I thought John might have a chance to make some
things happen, but he didn't."
On his first drive, Friesz marched the Redskins 84 yards in nine
plays, hitting Desmond Howard with a 19-yard scoring toss that made it
17-7 with 11:36 left before halftime. Howard caught three passes for
44 yards on the drive.
Peete replaced Aikman with the Cowboys at the Redskins 28, just prior
to the two-minute warning. Smith carried three times for 15 yards
before Peete hit Harper on a deep slant in the back of the end zone to
make it 24-7.
Friesz was 16-of-34 for 193 yards before he gave way to rookie Heath
Shuler, who was 5-of-8 for 32 yards. Howard had career highs of seven
catches and 107 yards.
"Heath did fine," Turner said. "He handled himself well. I think we
are back to where we were when we played Dallas the first time. We'll
check things out and make a decision at the beginning of the week."