Matt Jones’ 14-yard rushing touchdown dragged the Redskins back into the game early in the second quarter. Following Jones’ first score of the season, Washington trailed just 10-7, despite making multiple mistakes and being handily outgained by the Cowboys throughout the first half.
A 31-yard field goal by Dan Bailey later pulled the Cowboys back in front by six points.
But, the Redskins’ extended drive to close the first half ended with a 36-yard field goal by Dustin Hopkins to trim the Cowboys’ halftime lead to three, 13-10.
Though Hopkins’ field goal was good, the play will be discussed again when the game ends. On fourth-and-1 from the 18-yard line with 36 seconds remaining in the quarter, Washington called its final timeout of the half before deciding to kick. The Redskins could have let the clock run down to around five seconds and called timeout in order not to give the Cowboys the ball back.
Or, if they had multiple timeouts remaining, they could have gone for it, then managed the clock with their remaining timeouts. They had just one timeout remaining because they used two timeouts earlier in the half when making mistakes on defensive substitutions.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.