A freaky finish

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The climb back to .500 remains steep. Several rosterwide problems remain unresolved. And at 3-5, the Washington Redskins seem unlikely to make a run to playoff contention in the second half of this season.

The difficulties of a disappointing year thus far and the gloomy prospects for November and December yesterday were displaced -- temporarily, anyway -- for the Redskins by the dramatic twists and last-second turns of the latest renewal of their biggest rivalry: the would-be game-winning field goal that Nick Novak missed in the final minute, the blocked field goal by Troy Vincent that kept the Redskins alive, the wild return of that block by Sean Taylor that gave Novak a shot at redemption and his team a chance at victory.

The Redskins left FedEx Field yesterday with a thrilling 22-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys that ended a three-game losing streak and gave them at least a little hope for the rest of the season.

"It's something this team needed, to know that if we keep fighting and never give up, good things will happen," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "Hopefully this will propel us to some good things down the road."

The road to this victory, especially the final moments, was full of twists and turns.

Novak missed a 49-yard field goal with half a minute remaining. Dallas drove into field goal range with three completions by Tony Romo. Vincent blocked a 35-yard field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt that would have given the Cowboys victory. Taylor picked up the ball and returned it 30 yards to the Dallas 44. And Novak made a 47-yard attempt -- a kick with no time remaining that was made possible by a Dallas face mask penalty on Taylor's return.

"I went from being the most hated guy in town to I don't know what in about one minute," Novak said. "I'm just happy I got a chance to redeem myself. Just to see my teammates come out to the field and tackle me was one of the greatest things I've been a part of."

The first person to greet Novak was Vincent, who wasn't even on the roster three weeks ago. Discarded by Buffalo, Vincent signed with the Redskins and, in his second game, started at safety in place of Adam Archuleta. In a 15-year NFL career, it was Vincent's first blocked kick.

Minus Vincent's heroics, the Redskins' slim playoff chances would have been extinguished.

The Redskins remain in the NFC East cellar, three games behind the first-place New York Giants. Still, a loss yesterday would have sent them to Philadelphia next week to face the Eagles on a four-game losing streak.