October 14, 2013
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
The Redskins and their fans will tell you losing a game and losing to the Dallas Cowboys are two entirely different things. While dropping a game is disappointing, there is nothing worse than losing to the Cowboys. After winning both match-ups against Dallas last season, Redskins nation felt the crushing disappointment that comes with losing to their despised division rival when they fell to the Cowboys 16-31 on Sunday night.
The Redskins were coming off a bye week and hadn’t played since nabbing their first win of the season on September 29th. The Cowboys, meanwhile, were hungry for a win, after a devastating 51-48 loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday. While Tony Romo had a career day, throwing for over 500 yards and 5 touchdowns against Peyton Manning’s Broncos, a last minute interception ended up costing his team the game.
Dallas scored a touchdown on their first drive, while the Redskins settled for a field goal on their first possession. By half-time Dallas had a pair of touchdowns, while Washington was only able to come away with field goals and trailed 14-6. On the first drive of the second half, Griffin led his team to the Dallas 15-yard line, but had to settle for a third Kai Forbath field goal. The Cowboys’ Dwayne Harris responded with a 90-yard punt return, which set up a quick touchdown.
The Skins’ first TD finally came late in the third quarter, when Alfred Morris broke free for a 45-yard run and pulled his team within five points. With the score 21-16 and an entire quarter to go, the Skins looked to have finally given themselves a shot to win.
Unfortunately, a missed 49-yard field goal by Forbath early in the fourth quarter gave the Cowboys back the ball with great field position. Dallas’ drive ended with a field goal to pad their lead 24-16. With the Skins still right in the thick of things, the nail in the coffin came on their next possession. Griffin had a sack fumble deep in Redskins territory, which was recovered by Dallas defensive end Kyle Wilber. The Cowboys quickly ran the ball in for a touchdown, and the clock struck midnight on Washington’s comeback attempt.
While RGIII had a glimpse of his former self – rushing for 77 yards on nine carries, five more yards than in the first four games combined — he was unable to convert that into points on the scoreboard. In the air, he was mediocre, completing 19 of 39 passes for 246 yards and a pick. Despite the effort he showed, he admitted it wasn’t enough.
“There’s no excuses,” he told reporters afterward. “You aren’t going to get any excuses from this guy. We didn’t play well enough to win in all three phases of the game. We have to go out and win as a team, and as offense, we take that on our shoulders. We didn’t score enough points.”
With the loss, the Skins now move to 1-4 on the season and trail both the Dallas Cowboys (3-3) and Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) in the NFC East; the once dominant New York Giants are proving to be irrelevant in the division race at 0-6. Washington will look to improve their record at home next Sunday against the Chicago Bears (4-2).
MLB Playoffs
And then there were four.
After exciting match-ups in the Division Series, the L.A. Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Lions are still standing. The Dodgers advanced over the Atlanta Braves, the Sox nearly swept the Rays, the Cardinals continued their post-season magic over Pittsburgh, and the Detroit Tigers squeaked by Oakland to appear in their second consecutive American League Championship Series.
After scoring 26 runs in the NLDS, including 13 in Game 3, the Dodgers have struggled to score against the Cardinals, who now have a 2-0 series lead. Los Angeles dropped the first game 2-3 in extra innings on Friday, and then got shutout 1-0 Saturday afternoon. The Dodgers are hoping to make up for lost ground as the series shifts to L.A. for the next three games. The Cards, who won it all in 2011, are playing in their third consecutive National League Championship Series and are eager for another World Series title.
The Detroit Tigers are another familiar team in this year’s playoffs. The Tigers won the ALCS in 2012 to advance to the World Series, only to get swept by the San Francisco Giants. They are facing off against the Boston Red Sox, who were the best offensive team in the American League during the regular season, with 853 runs scored. Detroit kept Boston’s bats silenced in Game 1, holding them hitless through part of the ninth, and shutting them out 1-0 at Fenway.
It looked to be another strong outing for Detroit’s Bullpen on Sunday, as the Tigers led 5-1 after six. But David Ortiz, the only remaining player from Boston’s 2004 Championship Team, proved why he has the nickname “Big Papi” two innings later. With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth, he hit the first pitch from Joaquin Benoit for a grand-slam to tie the game. The Red Sox went on to win 6-5 after a walk-off single in the ninth. With the Series now tied 1-1, the teams head to Detroit for the next three games, the first of which is scheduled for Tuesday night.
