Friday, November 29, 2002
Dallas beat NFC East rival Washington for the 10th straight time.
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- There's something about the Washington Redskins that brings out the best in the Dallas Cowboys.
Regardless of who plays quarterback, coaches or does anything else for Dallas, the Cowboys can't lose to the Redskins. They've won 10 straight, including a 27-20 victory Thursday.
"I think it's amazing that one team can actually win that many games against another NFL team," said Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, who ran for 144 yards, his most in two years.
The Dallas-Washington rivalry, one of the most bitter in the NFL, has become the most lopsided. No other team has as long of a winning streak going against another team, and it's the longest in the history of this 85-game series.
The remarkable part is that Dallas is only 33-48 against the rest of the league since this roll began in November 1997.
The storyline to the latest meeting was the Cowboys (5-7) standing up to a challenge new Redskins coach Steve Spurrier threw out when he was hired in January, and Smith proving a point he's waited 13 years to make.
Smith's best game since Dec. 10, 2000 -- also against Washington -- came against the coach who barely tried convincing the running back to stay at Florida for his senior season.
"You start adding elements like Spurrier, the Skins -- it makes it more special," Smith said.
Milestones
Smith had seven runs of at least 11 yards, upping his NFL-record career total to 17,021, despite bruising a hand and straining his neck. This was the 76th 100-yard game of his career, tying Barry Sanders for second-most in league history, one behind the record held by Walter Payton.
It also was his fourth straight 100-yard game against Washington and 12th overall, tying his most against anyone. And he joined Jerry Rice and Payton as the only players with more than 20,000 yards from scrimmage.
"Emmitt Smith was running rampant," linebacker Kevin Mitchell said. "Everytime he plays us, he looks like he did when he was the Super Bowl MVP. We'll get him one day."
When Spurrier was hired in January, he promised owner Dan Snyder the game ball from his first victory over Dallas. A clip of that comment was played inside Texas Stadium just before kickoff, drawing boos that quickly turned to cheers when the screen turned black except for the words, "Not Today Steve!"
"No game balls on this side," said Spurrier, noting that the teams play again Dec. 29 in Washington. "Hopefully we'll give them a little better test next time."
Quarterback duel
Rookie Chad Hutchinson became the sixth Dallas quarterback to beat Washington (5-7) during the streak, going 12-of-25 for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He guided the league's lowest-scoring team to its most points this season and its first division win.
Redskins quarterback Danny Wuerffel was 21-of-36 for 243 yards with a career-best three TDs and three interceptions. He hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since 1998 and had only nine in his previous 20 games.
Wuerffel's third TD pass made it 20-10 early in the third quarter. The Redskins missed the extra point and little went right for them again.
On a third-and-12 from the 1, Wuerffel threw a pass that bounced off the hands of running back Kenny Watson and straight to safety Roy Williams. He returned it 5 yards for a touchdown that made it 20-17.
The Cowboys went ahead when Hutchinson hit Joey Galloway for a 41-yard TD early in the fourth quarter and Billy Cundiff added a 42-yard field goal. The Redskins made it to the Dallas 34 in the final four minutes, but didn't come close to scoring again.