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Redskins beat the Cowboys for their second straight win

The Redskins survive a late Cowboys rally to hang on for their second straight win.
Credit: Geoff Burke
Oct 21, 2018; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins running back Kapri Bibbs (46) celebrates with Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan (91) after Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher (2) misses a game-tying field goal attempt on the final play of the fourth quarter at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

LANDOVER, Md. (WUSA 9) -- Brett Maher’s game-tying 52-yard field goal attempt bounced off the left upright as time expired to give the Washington Redskins a 20-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at FedEx Field on Sunday evening.

Washington shrugged off a sluggish offensive performance and rode their defense most of the way, forcing two turnovers, sacking Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott four times, and holding the Cowboys to only 74 rushing yards. Star running back Ezekiel Elliot was held to a measly 34 yards on the ground – the second lowest total of his career.

“[Elliott is] a great, great player and it takes all 11 men on defense to get him stopped,” Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. “And I think we did that. It was an all-around good tackling effort, but I think we won the line of scrimmage which was key.”

Leading 13-10 with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Washington’s defense delivered what seemed to be the knockout blow. Facing a third-and-14 from the Dallas 10-yard line, Prescott was strip-sacked by Ryan Kerrigan. Linebacker Preston Smith scooped up the loose ball and lunged into the end zone from one yard out to give the hosts a 20-10 advantage.

However, the Cowboys staged a late rally as Prescott capped off a late 12-play, 79-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to three with 1:37 remaining. Dallas then seemed ready to force overtime after they got the ball back on their own 36-yard line with 1:09 to play following a Redskins three-and-out.

Prescott marched the visitors into field goal range to set up a 47-yard attempt, but Washington defensive end Jonathan Allen forced long snapper Louis-Philippe Ladouceur to be flagged for a snap infraction before Maher could attempt the kick.

“Hey man, it’s the ref’s job to call the penalties and it’s my job to keep rushing,” Allen said. “I’m glad we got it and I’m just rushing and fighting and whatever happens, happens.”

After the ball was moved back five yards, the field goal attempt faded left before bouncing off the upright as time expired. The miss gives the Redskins their first victory over the Cowboys since Week 17 of the 2015 regular season and breaks a four-game losing streak in the rivalry.

“Oh it’s great to beat Dallas,” Gruden said. “That’s all I care about.”

Despite a sloppy overall performance, Washington’s offense roared out of the gates to put the hosts ahead early in the first quarter. Quarterback Alex Smith connected with Kapri Bibbs on a screen pass for a 23-yard touchdown on the first Redskins drive of the game. However, Smith and the offense struggled to break the Cowboys defense from that point on, only managing a pair of field goals the rest of the way.

Smith went 14-for-25 for 178 yards and one touchdown while Adrian Peterson ran for 99 yards on 24 carries but failed to find the end zone.

The Washington offense was only 3-for-12 on third down and 0-for-2 in the red zone, but the defense managed to pick up the slack. The Cowboys were held to seven points through the first three quarters and fell just short in their comeback bid after finally finding some semblance of momentum in the final 15 minutes.

The Redskins improve to 4-2 and move into sole possession of first place in the NFC East. Dallas falls to 3-4 and remains tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for second in the division.

“First place man,” Allen said. “One game at a time, like I said, we’re not worried about November, December, we are worried about October 22nd, I don’t even know what day it is. We are worried about the next game on our schedule. We want to keep this going.”

Washington will look to distance themselves from the rest of the NFC East next week when they travel to the Meadowlands for a matchup with the New York Giants at 1:00 p.m.

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