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Letter sent to Soldier about wk 2 vs. Dallas
About a week after the Redskins beat Dallas in week 2 a friend of mine asked me to write a letter to her boyfriend who is a soldier stationed in Iraq updating him on the Redskins. Considering the Dallas game, I decided to write him about that game. I thought I would let you all read it and hopefully it will bring back some of the memories and feelings you experienced during that game. It is basically a recap of the game and some feelings I had on it.
Sorry for any gramatical errors found within this letter, I was writing quickly. Well, here it is:
Washington vs. Dallas
I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I didn’t think it could be possible. A few minutes earlier I had been calling for Mark Brunell’s head, hoping that one of the Dallas players would hurt him, that Joe Gibbs would pull him from the game, anything that would get Mark Brunell out of this game and might give us a chance to win. The entire game the Redskin’s had struggled to move the ball the entire night against the Cowboy’s. It seemed like it was just gonna be another one of these games that the Redskin’s inevitably lost to the Boy’s; another hopeless game. But then the unbelievable began.
3rd and 27 from our own 21 with 4:48 to go in the 4th, Skins are down 13-0, no hope in sight. Brunell takes the snap from the shotgun, nobody is open, good protection, Brunell moves around in the pocket for a bit, he decides to scramble, OH NO! there is now way he is gonna get anywhere, wait a second, he has almost got a first down, he breaks it big, Brunell scrambled for 25 yards to the 46! 4th and 2 from the 46 with 4:18 to go. Brunell under center, Portis in the backfield, Brunell takes the snap he quickly throws a screen to Thrash for the first down, Thrash beats a guy and takes the ball 20 yards downfield to the Dallas 34! Thrash was pushed out of bounds, the clock stops. 4:14 left to go in the game. Redskins are in shotgun formation, uh-oh, there is a false start on Randy Thomas. The Redskins are moved back five yards to the 39, still 1st down. Brunell is in shotgun, takes the snap, throws to Taylor Jacobs who is four yards deep in the middle of the end zone, the pass is knocked away. Brunell is back in shotgun again, 2nd down and 15, Brunell takes the snap, he is pressured, Brunell rolls out of the pocket, he takes a shot at the left sideline and the pass is overthrown and is incomplete. 3rd down and 15 from the 39, once again the skins come out in shotgun formation, Brunell takes the snap, he waits a second and fires quickly to Ladell Betts at the 25, pass is broken up and is incomplete. This is not looking good for the skins, 4th down and 15 from the Dallas 39. Brunell comes out in shotgun, Moss is lined up on the right sideline, Dallas fans are going crazy, no way Brunell is gonna get anything on the Cowboys, Brunell takes the snap and drops back, Moss has an edge on Henry he is slanting towards the middle of the end zone, Brunell lets a rocket go, OH NO! it looks like Roy Williams is going to get there from the opposite side, the ball is almost there, Roy Williams dives, Williams is going to get it, the ball is there, Williams misses it by inches, the ball lands perfectly in the hands of Santana Moss, REDSKINS TOUCHDOWN! Brunell connected with Moss on a 4th and 15 for a 39 yard touchdown strike against all odds. Extra point is good. There is hope in sight as long as our defense holds up.
The boys’ get the ball back on the 31 yard line, 3:42 left in the game. Drew Bledsoe throws and incomplete pass to Keyshawn Johnson. 2nd down Cowboys from the 31, 3:36 left, Bledsoe hands it off to Julius Jones, who runs for 8 yards, he is tackled by Walt Harris, Jones gets up and is signaling a facemask, what, come one, ref throws a flag, instant replay shows that Jones did get face masked but it is only a five yarder giving them the first down from the 43 yard line. 3:29 left in the game, Jones runs up the middle, he is stuffed by Marcus Washington and Philip Daniels for two yards, time still running, 3:23 left in the game. 2nd and 8 from the 45, Bledsoe takes the snap, goes back, throws and incomplete pass to Pierce, clock stops at 3:17. 3rd down and 8, no timeout was used, we still have two. Bledsoe goes back in shotgun, takes the snap, fires a pass off to Keyshawn (Meshawn) Johnson for 17 yards. This is just great! But Wait! There is an offense holding penalty Adams, play comes back! 3rd and 18 from the 36, no way they got this, Bledsoe takes the snap, completes a pass to Witten, Witten takes the ball for what seems to be a long distance but is only 13 yards. 4th Down! Redskins use a timeout to stop the clock. 3:07 left on the clock. Cowboys punt the ball 51 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
Skins get the ball back on the 20 yard line, seems like a long distance with 2:52 to go, but not impossible, we had just moved the ball last time very well for a td. Brunell takes the snap from the shotgun, completes a pass to Portis for 10 yards to the 30 and a first down. Alright we are moving the ball! 1st down with 2:44 left in the game, Brunell takes the snap from shotgun, goes back, waits for a second, launches a deep ball with strength no one thought he had left, the ball is in the air a long time, Moss has an edge on Henry, Roy Williams makes up ground, Williams takes a dive for the ball and gets his fingers on it, no he barely missed, 60 yards down the field from Brunell, Moss in perfect stride catches the ball which was perfectly thrown, he takes it the rest of the way for a 70 YARD REDSKINS TOUCHDOWN!!!!! THE REDSKINS ARE UP 14-13, the Redskins have the lead, this is unbelievable, there is no way that just happened. Brunell? He can’t throw the ball, this couldn’t have happened. But it did my friend, it really did. The Redskins in a span of 72 seconds, scored their first two touchdowns of the season to come from a 13 point deficit to take a one point lead. I can’t believe it. It is almost over.
The Cowboys get the ball back and return it 49 yards to the Redskins 48 yard line. The Cowboys try to throw the ball, but that ain’t gonna happen against our D. Not now. They go three and out. They punt and the Redskins get the ball back on the 43 with 1:47 left in the game. The redskins do not get a first down and the Cowboys use their last two timeouts to force the Redskins to punt with 50 seconds left in the game. Dallas get the ball back on their own 21 with 36 seconds left, the punt used up 14 seconds. Bledsoe throws two incomplete passes in a row. 3rd down 10 from the 21 with 26 seconds left. Bledsoe completes a 20 yard pass to Glenn for a 1st down at the 41. Glenn was tackled in bounds, clock is running, Bledsoe spikes the ball, 2nd down with 9 seconds left. Bledsoe throws a pass to Crayton, the guy who burned us last year for the last second td, it looks like it is complete, out of nowhere comes Sean Taylor, he is flying and with a massive hit, I mean it was nasty, the ball flies out Crayton’s hands about 15 yards backwards, it looks like it is a fumble and Harris picks the ball up with open field in front of him, but the refs blow the play dead and call it an incomplete pass. 4 Seconds left in the game at their own 41, Bledsoe takes the snap from the shotgun, completes a quick dump off to Julius Jones, who runs for 9 yards but is TACKLED IN BOUNDS TO END THE GAME!!!! REDSKINS BEAT DALLAS 14-13.
This was the day that Aikman, Smith, and Irvin were inducted into the Cowboy’s hall of fame. This was the day the Cowboy’s set their own record for largest attendance at a single game. This was the first game that Bill Parcell’s had ever lost when he held a lead of 13 points or more in the 4th quarter. This was the day that Joe Gibbs ended his 8 game losing streak against Bill Parcell’s. This was the day the Redskins ended the Cowboy’s streak of 10 years of winning their games against us at home. This was a game the Cowboy’s and their fans knew they were going to win. This was a game that the Redskins could not win. This was a game with 5 minutes left in it the Redskins had no hope and few minutes later the Cowboys had none. The was a game where the Redskins got their revenge and made the Cowboys taste the bitter flavor of a game that is won to only have it ripped from you agonizingly with seconds left. This was the day the Redskins came to the Cowboy’s home and showed them how to play football. The Redskins beat the Cowboys on this day.
Note: I did a search and I couldn't find this anywhere, sorry if I reposted.
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Originally Posted by jschlesi
