NFL Recap (Washington-Dallas)
Posted: Mon December 28, 1998 at 12:51 a.m EST
DALLAS 23, WASHINGTON 7
IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Emmitt Smith broke the NFL
record for career rushing touchdowns before sitting out the second half as
the Dallas Cowboys
cruised to a 23-7 victory over the Washington Redskins to
finish with a perfect record against NFC East teams.
Smith passed Marcus Allen with his 124th career rushing TD when he ran
up the middle for a one-yard score that gave Dallas (10-6) a 10-7 advantage
2:20 into the second quarter. Just 4:58 later, Smith took a handoff up the
middle and broke a couple of tackles before turning up the left sideline
for a 26-yard TD run to make it 17-7.
"The record means a lot to me," Smith said. "Through nine years there
are a lot of people who helped me along the way and to be at the top of
this list is great. It's a record I'm very proud of. It's even better
because of the way we played tonight."
Smith left the game after rushing 10 times for 67 yards. Troy Aikman also played
only in the first two quarters and completed 10-of-15 passes for 184 yards.
Michael Irvin caught
two passes for 50 yards and also sat out with Smith and Aikman.
The Cowboys became the first team to finish 8-0 in the NFC East. In
capturing their sixth division title in seven years, they surpassed the
previous mark of the 1997 New York Giants, who went
7-0-1 against division foes.
"We did a good job. We held their running game down and we made some
big offensive plays," said Dallas coach Chan Gailey. "Emmitt Smith ran
exceptionally well today. I was really impressed with our players
determination to get it back to where it needed to be. Everyone wanted to
go 8-0 in the division, but that wasn't the only thing in our minds
tonight.
"We had some breakdowns in the red zone which kept us from scoring a
couple of touchdowns, but we did do better at that this week. It doesn't
matter how we played this week we must build on it and prepare for next
Saturday."
Cornerback Deion
Sanders missed his fifth straight game with a toe injury for Dallas,
which hosts the Arizona
Cardinals next Saturday in the wild card round.
"Tonight was a good game for us being the first team to sweep our
division is quite an accomplishment," Aikman said. "This team is ready to
hit the playoffs. We put ourselves in a position to be here and now we all
know what's before us. There's a reason no one has ever swept the division
before, it is very hard to do and it's really hard to beat a team three
times in one year."
Washington (6-10) won six of its last nine games after losing its
first seven contests for its worst start since 1961. But the Redskins have
missed the playoffs for six straight years.
Trent Green was
21-of-35 for 223 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the
Redskins. With running backs Terry Allen and Skip Hicks sidelines with
ankle injuries, fullback Stephen Davis rushed for
70 yards on 17 carries.
"The Cowboys are a talented group of players and they find a way to
play us at the top of their game," said Washington coach Norv Turner, who
was the Cowboys offensive coordinator before coming to the Redskins in
1994. "I am sure over the next month there will be announcements about the
changes that will happen and I am just as excited as you are to find out
what those changes will be."
Dallas has won three of the last four meetings with Washington after
losing four of the previous five and holds a 43-33-2 edge in the all-time
series.
With Dallas resting most of its starters, the Redskins were held to
three first downs and 82 total yards in the second half.
Richie Cuningham kicked three field goals for Dallas. Sherman
Williams had a 24-yard that led to Cunningham's 34-yard field goal that
staked Dallas to a 3-0 lead 6:27 into the game.
Washington's only score came as time expired in the first quarter.
Green rolled to the right and found Leslie Shepherd in the
back of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown.
Cunningham kicked a 23-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the
first half to give the Cowboys a 20-7 lead at the break. Aikman completed a
pair of 14-yard passes to tight end Eric Bjornson and a
45-yard pass to Patrick
Jefferson on the seven-play, 75-yard drive.
After a scoreless third quarter, Cunningham kicked a 26-yard field
goal to complete the scoring 2:59 into the fourth.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
|
