Summary of the Washington game

by Raul Villaronga
Staff Reporter for theboys.com

The Dallas Cowboys travelled into RFK only to lose Aikman to an injury and the game by a score of 27-23. The Washington Redskins showed that the stats on paper don't mean a thing - and that's why they play the game.

With talk about the Cowboys' offensive line, it was the Redskins offensive line that played like all-Pros, opening holes for Terry Allen to gain 121 yards on 30 carries. Gus Frerotte went 13 for 24 with 192 yards and 2 TDs and 1 interception, but all but 2 of those passes were made in the 1st half.

Aikman went down with a strained right calf muscle on an incompleted pass on the first Dallas drive. The Cowboys settled for a Field goal to take a 3-0 lead. With Aikman on the sidelines, the Cowboys are a different team. Emmitt Smith had a sub-par game by his standards, missing the 100-yard mark for the first time this season. He ended up with 97 yards on 22 carries with no TDs. It snapped an 11-game streak of scoring a touchdown and a 4-game streak of 100-yard games.

Aikman told reporters on the sidelines after the game that he may be out 2 to 3 weeks with this injury. He will begin rehabilitation as soon as they get back to Dallas.

But the big story in this game was the Washington running game. Coming into the game ranked #2 is rushing, the Redskins bulled over and ran through the Cowboys defensive line. Darren Woodson was making tackles all afternoon.

"People want to know what a rivalry is," Redskins coach Norv Turner said in a post-game interview. "This is a rivalry."

Field position played an important role on this scoring drive as Brian Mitchell set it up with a 63-yard kickoff return to the Dallas 46-yard line. Frerotte later hit RB Marc Logan for a 9-yard touchdown pass in the early seconds of the 2nd quarter. Eddie Murray helped in the win by kicking 2 field goals, one with about 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter to give the Redskins a 13-10 lead. Frerotte later hit Terry Allen on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 17 seconds left to give his team a 20-10 lead going into the half.

Dallas' record drops to 4-1, while Washington improves to 2-3.