WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was something like dismantling downtown London with a claw hammer but the Dallas Cowboys finally destroyed the Washington Redskins here Sunday.
Danny Villanueva won it with his 20-yard field goal in the final 15 seconds, 31-30, but the darling of the frantic nerve-grating comeback was Don Meredith.
With 1:10 remaining and the Cowboys backed to their 3-yard line by a freakish punt, Meredith took them to glory in six plays, each one like having your fingernails pulled out.
First he hit Pete Gent for 26; But the Cowboys had no timeouts remaining and Gent couldn't get to the side line. Okay, so Meredith stopped the clock himself, first gaining 12 yards on a roll around right end. Now 59 seconds separated Dallas from oblivion, the Cowboys still 60 yards away.
Walt Garrison got a yard with a swing pass. Bui he did manage to get out of bounds. Then Meredith hit Gent at the Redskin 33. Meredith ran for another six, which not only stopped the clock but Gent at the Redskin 33. Meredith ran for another six, which not only stopped the clock but cost Washington 15 yards when Redskin linebacker John Reger took a late shot at Meredith.
With that done, Meredith retired to the side lines and hid his eyes while Villanueva kicked the winning field goal.
It was a desperate victory for the Cowboys, and one, that got them back in the mainstream of the Eastern Conference race since the Cards lost to Pittsburgh.
If the Cowboys can beat Pittsburgh next week (St. Louis has a bye), they will be tied for the Eastern Conference lead. Pittsburgh is the graveyard where Cleveland and St. Louis have been laid to rest the last two weeks.
Redskin quarterback Sonny Jurgensen had the hot hand Dallas had feared.
He threw for three touchdowns as the lead changed hands five times.
Meredith was his equal in every way. The Dandy Man hit 21 of 29 attempts, accumulating 406 yards which is his second best ever. And he threw a pair of touchdown shots to Bob Hayes, a 52-yarder just before the half and a 95-yarder in the early seconds of the third quarter.
In all, Hayes caught 9 passes for 246 yards, a team record and the fattest afternoon this year for an NFL receiver.
Charley Taylor, the Redskins' split end from Grand Prairie, also broke a club record, catching 11 for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
One of the sweetest victories in Cowboy history started on a sour note when Mel Renfro fumbled the opening kickoff on the Dallas 26. Four plays later, the 'Skins had a 3-0 lead on Charley Gogolak's 35-yard field goal.
Meredith immediately assumed command and Dallas held the ball for seven minutes, driving 75 yards in 16 plays to take a 7-3 lead.
Meredith worked his backs, Reeves and Don Perkins, and threw just enough to keep the Redskins delirious. Meredith scored from the 1, rolling around a block by Leon Donohue.
The Redskins closed in late in the first quarter on Gogolak's 33-yard field goal, but Dallas scrambled to the dressing with a 14-6 pad on Meredith's 52-yard scoring shot to Hayes, a play Meredith had been trying to set up since the previous series when Sam Huff's blitzing ways cost Meredith 10 yards.
When Huff blitzed again, Hayes was suddenly out there alone with Washington safety cornerback Lonnie Sanders.
The Redskins up until now had been more smoke than fire, mainly because Bobby Mitchell kept dropping Jurgensen's passes. And at any moment Dallas was about to put the game out of reach.
That appeared to be the case early in the third quarter. Backed to his own five by a Redskin punt, Meredith calmly waited in the end zone until Hayes again had a step on Sanders and mailed Bullet Bob that 95-yard love letter. Sanders did all you could ask under the circumstances – he fell down at Hayes' vanishing heels.
Suddenly Jurgensen was a mass of flames.
After Rickie Harris returned Villanueva's short punt to the Washington 48, Jurgensen got them down in 34 seconds. He threw 16 yards to Joe Don Looney, who had escaped Dave Edwards, hit Taylor for 21 when Warren Livingston slipped, and threw four yards to Jerry Smith for the touchdown.
The Cowboy offense was stalled at this point. Washington's was not. In 19 seconds Jurgensen took the Redskins from their own 18 to a touchdown. The score was a 13-yard pass that Taylor managed to twist into a 78-yard play. Three Cowboys had him in a box at the Redskin 35, but the splendid Taylor broke out and went the final 65 yards without help and needing none.
Now Dallas' lead was a single point, 21-20, and Jurgy was rapidly doing something about that.
After the Cowboys had blown a chance on Reeves' fumble at the Redskin 20, the beer-belly terror passed the Redskins to the Cowboy 13 in six plays. On fourth, and 1 from the Dallas 4, coach Otto Graham went for the field goal and Washington had the lead, 23-21.
Again the Cowboys drove deep and again they lost the ball. This time on Jim Shorter's interception as Meredith tried to lay one out for Hayes.
For a second the Cowboys were able to stop Jurgensen, and in that pause Meredith took the Cowboys 59 yards in four plays to recapture the lead, 28-23. He hit Reeves for 29, Hayes made a great leaping catch for another 27, Reeves pounded for 2 to the Washington 1, then scored his 13th touchdown of the year from the 1.
Seconds later Livingston intercepted a tipped away pass and Dallas seemed to have things in hand. Unfortunately the Cowboys were holding on the play, which gave the Redskins both the ball and four fresh downs. Jurgy went to work, picking his spots, throwing to Taylor, then to Mitchell, then back to Taylor. With 5:36 remaining, Taylor made a sensational touchdown grab in the end zone, and Washington lead, 30-28.
When the Cowboys gambled and failed on fourth down at their own 48, the game should have ended. But the swarming Cowboy defense wouldn't let Washington cross over. Still, punter Pat Richter put the Redskins out of danger with a flakey kick that hit, stalled and was downed at the Dallas 3.
It was perfect field position for Meredith, a man who never does it the easy way.