Cowboys Hand Redskins Their First Loss

The wide receivers didn't know where to line up or what routes to run.

The center couldn't figure out the snap count.

The quarterback was playing with one good lung and one cracked rib.

And yet even with all of those woes, the Dallas Cowboys still found a way to hand the Washington Redskins their first loss of the season.

In other words, the game was hardly the way Redskins' fans played out this Monday night matchup in their dreams.

Despite looking more like a bad high school football team for most of the game, the Cowboys finally put together one good drive at the end, a drive capped off by a 40-yard field goal to give Dallas an 18-16 win.

The field goal with 1:47 left was rookie Dan Bailey's sixth of the night. Do the math and you realize that the Cowboys didn't score a touchdown the entire game. All of their points came off of Bailey's leg.

The Redskins did score one touchdown -- a 1-yard pass from Rex Grossman to Tim Hightower in the third quarter that gave Washington a 16-9 lead. But that lead didn't last.

The resilient Tony Romo kept nibbling away in third and fourth quarters while playing through pain. With no experienced receivers to help him, he somehow found a way to keep his team in the game -- despite the best (or worst) efforts by center Phil Costa to throw the game away with numerous errant snaps.

The Redskins had one final chance to win it with time running down, but the last-minute drive ended when Anthony Spencer chased Grossman down from behind and tomahawk chopped the ball out of his hand, allowing a teammate to scoop it up and end it.

There's no doubt about it. Games like this hurt if you're part of the Redskins organization. The Redskins had the hated Cowboys right where they wanted them -- a banged-up Romo, no Miles Austin and a ton of experience on offense meant this was the Redskins' divisional game to lose. And, unfortunately for Skins' fans, that's exactly what they did.

We'll have more analysis from Redskins reporter Jack Anderson soon, but in the meantime, feel free to leave your comments below. And we're sure a few Cowboys fans will chime in, as well.

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