Redskins-Cowboys Rivalry Has New Dimensions

[TK]

http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12176

Redskins-Cowboys Rivalry Has New Dimensions

10/30/2003

By Gary Fitzgerald

Redskins.com

It’s been a whirlwind bye week for the Redskins, from regrouping after the 24-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills to the signing of several new players on both sides of the ball. Now it’s on to Dallas Week and the renewal of one of the NFL’s top rivalries.

For the Redskins, one thing remains in focus: This Sunday’s game against their NFC East rival is a critical game in more ways than one. With a win, the Redskins will be just one game back of the first-place Cowboys. More importantly, it would get Washington back to the .500 mark at 4-4 and renew the optimism of a 3-1 September start.

“It’s a crucial game,” cornerback Champ Bailey. “We want to get back to .500 and hopefully excel from there. We’re not going to look at the game any differently than if we were going against any other team, but we know we need to get it done in Dallas.”

The Redskins’ 20-14 win over Dallas last December ended a 10-game losing streak to the Cowboys. But the Redskins still haven’t beat Dallas in Texas Stadium since 1995—when Bailey was in high school. That’s a seven-game losing streak, if you’re keeping score.

“We definitely want to break that streak, too,” Bailey said. “I don’t care where we play them. I just want to beat them. We know we have to get this win.”

Added quarterback Patrick Ramsey: “The rivalry aspect of the game is important, but where it puts us in the division race is more important than the rivalry. At the same time, we know it's huge for the fans and a win is something we'd like to give to them.”

The end of the Cowboys’ 10-game winning streak aside, the first Redskins-Cowboys 2003 clash should be noticeably different than games played in the past several years:

Many Redskins and Cowboys fans will cast their eyes frequently on the two high-profile head coaches prowling the sidelines on Sunday: Bill Parcells and Steve Spurrier.

The reason for the Cowboys’ improvement has much to do with Parcells, one of the most colorful and charismatic coaches in the NFL—but a newcomer to the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry. Spurrier’s college coaching career is the stuff of legends, but the NFL is still waiting to see if Spurrier will be able to win consistently on the professional level.

Another new dimension of the rivalry: Two players who epitomized their teams for years are no longer in the picture. Future Hall of Famer Darrell Green retired last season after 20 years, and the NFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith is now with the Arizona Cardinals.

Finally, while the Cowboys are much improved than in recent years, the Redskins have a new core of young players—from Laveranues Coles to Randy Thomas to Patrick Ramsey—who promise great things in the years to come.

The remarkable thing about the Cowboys resurgence is that Parcells has transformed Dallas with very little change in the team's personnel. Both the offense and defense have many of the same players as last year, now performing at a high level.

Commented Redskins’ safety Matt Bowen: “They’ve always had talented players. Maybe sometimes it takes someone to lead them in the right direction. Bill Parcells has obviously done that. He’s leading them in the right direction.”

Parcells brought in his own offensive coaching staff to Dallas, with assistant head coach Sean Payton (formerly of the Giants) and offensive coordinator/running backs coach Maurice Carthon helping turn around the Cowboys from the 30th ranked offense last year to 18th so far this season.

Defensively, Parcells kept last year’s defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer but has instructed the team to play more of an aggressive, attacking defense. The unit is first overall in the NFL—and will certainly test Ramsey with zone coverage and disguised blitzes.

“They’re going to bring the blitz, and until we beat, they’re going to keep bringing it,” he said. “Our goal is to get out there and be successful in stopping it.”

For the Redskins, there is no doubt that after the tough loss to Buffalo and a long bye week, playing at Texas Stadium against the division-leading Cowboys will be a key mid-season challenge. And beating Dallas could be the spark that the Redskins need to turn their season around.