Cowboys.com:Mistake-Prone Cowboys Win Anyway

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Mistake-Prone Cowboys Win Anyway

Troy Hambrick suffered the first of two first-half penalties with 2:31 elapsed in the opening quarter, but on the plus-side he scored twice on short runs.

Quincy Carter suffered two interceptions; one was the result of Terry Glenn mishandling the ball and having it picked off. Glenn dropped two other tosses in the opening half but came through with a touchdown reception.

Carter had a 35-yard TD pass to Glenn rubbed out by an illegal motion penalty on rookie tight end Jason Witten.

"I just kind of got a little lackadaisical, and thought I'd make the catches," said Glenn, who came back in the fourth quarter to make a finger-tip reception that produced a 19-yard touchdown play, giving Dallas a 21-6 lead. "By throwing it a little short, Quincy allowed me to come back and get it and cut back inside the guy," explained the eight-year veteran.

Coach Bill Parcells referred to the first part of the game as a "complete nightmare," saying the Cowboys "made enough mistakes for two or three games. Penalties, fumbles, dropped passes - it was a tough start, but we hung in there. We were in a benevolent mode.

"I told the players that you can't get away with some of that stuff. After that nightmare first half, though, we didn't play too badly. It wasn't because we weren't ready. We were ready."

As if the turnovers, penalties and dropped passes weren't enough, the Cowboys' offensive line had to withstand the absence of right tackle Ryan Young (sore knee) for the entire game. Also, left guard Larry Allen (sprained knee) and left tackle Flozell Adams (shoulder contusion) missed varying lengths of the game. Kurt Vollers, Torrin Tucker and Tyson Walter filled in admirably. And the backfield was without fullback Richie Anderson (back/shoulder), who was replaced by Jamar Martin.

Dallas' defense was relentless with a hail of blitzes on Ramsey, with sacks registered by Dat Nguyen, Dexter Coakley, Darren Woodson and Roy Williams. The Redskins have allowed 29 sacks this season.

"Our objective was to try and get after Patrick," said Williams of a defense that swarmed Ramsey and limited the 'Skins to converting only one of 11 third-down plays.

Woodson said, "it's been a while since we've played this well as a defense, but it's obvious we can still play better."

The Redskins (3-5) only held the ball for 12:56 of the opening half, were outgained in yardage, 193-59, and did not convert any of their six third-down attempts as Dallas led, 7-6. After a season-low 178 total yards against Tampa Bay, the Cowboys finished with 400 against the 'Skins. Tied for first in penalties and penalty yardage in the NFL, Washington added to its own demise with eight infractions for 57 yards.

Washington's visit to Texas Stadium was just what the Cowboys needed, one week after being ripped, 16-0, by Tampa Bay. The Redskins, a team in disarray, provided the perfect opponent for the Cowboys, who needed an emotional lift.

Dallas (6-2) has now won all three games in the NFC East this season, and maintains a one-game lead over second-place Philadelphia (5-3).

Parcells' approach to Sunday's game was to call it "probably the biggest we've played to date." He recognizes a five-game stretch of games in November, including four at home, will probably define what kind of team he really has.

"It doesn't make any difference how, it's how many in this league," observed Parcells. "It was important that we bounced back, but we'll have to play much better than we did today if we really want to do something."

Added defensive end Greg Ellis: "It was a big win... gets us over the five-win mark that we have been used to around here."

Cornerback Mario Edwards said Parcells challenged the team, and that "we accepted the challenge... played well defensively."

Ross provided an electrifying start to the game, taking the opening kickoff at the goal line and racing 100 yards for a would-be touchdown. However, O'Neil was flagged for a holding infraction at the Cowboys' 30-yard line at the point where Ross exploded out of the pack.

After Carter drilled a pass to wide receiver Antonio Bryant for 20 yards to the 40, the quarterback erred by holding onto the ball too long and then under-threw wideout Joey Galloway. It was intercepted by safety Matt Bowen at Dallas' 19.

When the Cowboys regained possession of the ball moments later after a punt, they generously gave it right back as Hambrick had the ball stripped by Bowen with linebacker LaVar Arrington making the recovery at the Redskins' 41.

Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer turned up the heat on Ramsey with sacks posted by Nguyen and Coakley, and the Cowboys got it back on Washington's second punt.

Mistakes continued to plague Dallas. Glenn dropped a second-and-six pass, then mishandled the next throw and the ball squirted into the air and into the waiting grasp of safety Ifeanyi Ohalete at the Cowboys' 36. A 30-yard runback gave Washington a first-and-goal at the six.

Nguyen stopped Chad Morton for a one-yard loss, before Ramsey went to wide receiver Laveranues Coles who looped around the man coverage of Coakley and made the touchdown reception in the right corner of the end zone. Flozell Adams used his 6-7 height to block John Hall's conversion attempt and the visitors led, 6-0, with 8:37 to play in the first quarter.

"Flozell made a big play," said Parcells. "He gave the team a ray of light."

Late in the opening period, the Cowboys began a drive from their 15 with Hambrick running for four and 15 on consecutive carries. Recently-signed running back Adrian Murrell picked up nine to the 43, and said "it felt really good" to be back in a regular-season game, after not playing since 2000. "I wanted to make a big play today," said Murrell, "but I also knew I had to take my time because I didn't have too much hitting or ball-handling. I just had fun."

The promising drive continued with Carter drilling a 12-yard completion to Glenn, and two plays later he fired a deep throw that Glenn latched onto between two defenders at the goal line. Again, misfortune struck. An illegal motion penalty on Witten wiped out the TD, and a false-start penalty on Vollers further hampered Dallas. A punt soon followed.

A drive early in the second quarter began with a screen pass to Murrell for 14 to the Cowboys' 39. After an overthrown pass was almost picked off, Carter was on the move when he zinged a pass over the middle to Glenn for 21 to the 40. Hambrick gained three and a 15-yard personal foul penalty against former Cowboy Peppi Zellner moved the ball to the 22. Again, Hambrick got the call and blasted for 13 to the nine.

The Cowboys got a break a bit later on a 21-yard Billy Cundiff field goal attempt, when Antonio Pierce was flagged for jamming signals and Dallas had a first-and-goal at the two on the penalty. Two plays later, Hambrick spun into the end zone and the Cowboys had their first lead, 7-6, at the 7:06 mark of the second quarter.

Dallas had something going offensively in the final minutes of the half, with Galloway catching his first pass for 14 to the Redskins' 48 and Glenn adding 17 to the 31. Disaster struck again in the form of Hambrick's second fumble of the day at the Redskins' 28. Middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter both caused the fumble and recovered it.

Galloway registered a 36-yard punt return to the Redskins' 48 along the left sideline in the opening stages of the third quarter. The Cowboys took advantage of the field position.

After two fumbles in the first half, Hambrick ran tough with six carries for 28 yards in the series and capped off the 10-play drive with a crunching one-yard TD plunge behind blocks by Matt Lehr, Walter and Adams. The longest play in the drive was a 12-yard pass completion on a slant to Bryant. With 6:45 to play in the third quarter, Dallas led, 14-6.

Murrell was the featured back on Dallas' next possession, beginning at its nine. Carter got the offense out of a third-and-10 jam from the nine, scrambling for 13. Murrell caught an eight-yard pass, sandwiched around runs of three and one. Carter went to Bryant for eight to the 42, and pulled off a nifty 23-yard completion to Dan Campbell. Carter took an initial step to the right, turned and fired a pass to the tight end. After Carter hit Bryant for eight, he picked up 10 to the 19 on a toss to Aveion Cason, before connecting on a nice TD pass. In the face of a strong blitz, Carter side-armed a throw to Glenn in the right flat and the wide out sped through two defenders to record the 19-yard scoring strike. Dallas led, 21-6, with 11:21 to play in the fourth quarter.

Washington made the finish exciting, driving 81 yards in eight plays in 2:56 to score on Ramsey's 19-yard pass to wide receiver Taylor Jacobs. The two-point conversion pass was completed to Darnerien McCants, and the gap was narrowed to 21-14 with 2:30 to go in the fourth.

The Cowboys' second play from scrimmage resulted in a reverse, going from Murrell to Glenn, and the wideout registered a career-best 47-yard gain to the Redskins' 29. Dallas was able to run out the clock and come away with a less-than-impressive victory to complete the first half of the season.

"I'm happy that we are fortunate to be where we are right now at 6-2," offered Parcells, "but we've got another team (Buffalo) that's had two weeks to prepare for us."