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Romo, who threw for 284 yards on the afternoon, went deep down the left side of the middle of the field.
The play stood as an example of the thin margins of competition. The Redskins had been so thoroughly beaten in the seams between the hash marks that yesterday it was Vincent, and not Archuleta, who started at safety alongside Taylor. And yet here was Owens slipping past Vincent and Rogers on his way to a game-breaking, 74-yard touchdown.
But Owens dropped the ball. The score would have given the Cowboys a 26-12 lead.
"It's a game of inches, it's a game of error," Vincent said. "When we look, people will ask, 'Was T.O.'s dropped pass really the difference?' Some will say yes, others no. Was the blocked kick the difference? At the end of the day, we're leaving here with a victory."
Street fights, Salave'a admitted, are not pretty, and much of what the Redskins tried did not work, but the goal simply was to stay alive. They began the game committed to returning to their former incarnation as a power football team committed to breaking the resolve of their opponent. On the opening drive, they drove down the field, powered by Clinton Portis and the running game, aided by big Dallas penalties.
Then they stalled. On first and goal from the 4, the Redskins had seven chances -- with the help of a penalty -- to punch the football into the end zone and couldn't. On fourth and one from the 1-yard line, Coach Joe Gibbs called timeout, called Novak off the field, went for it and saw Portis stuffed at the goal line. A 14-play, 79-yard opening drive ended with no points.
Two plays later, Marshall stopped Jones in the end zone for a safety. On their next possession, the Redskins took a 5-0 lead on a Novak field goal. The Cowboys answered each time, taking a 9-5 lead before Portis answered with a 38-yard touchdown around the left end.
In the middle, they sagged. Quarterback Mark Brunell, having an exceptional day, fumbled a snap that stalled another. The Cowboys began to take the game, scoring on four consecutive possessions, the last a four-yard slant to Owens that broke a 12-12 halftime tie and gave Dallas a 19-12 lead.
"We told ourselves to let it stop there," lineman Andre Carter said. "We told ourselves that this is it."
