The Redskins have never won a game played on November 16th and the trend continued as the Cowboys defeated the Skins 14-10 at FedEx Field. The Redskins won the battle of the trenches and dominated much of the game through three quarters. Romo's finger splint forced some bad and errant throws resulting in an incomplete pass on third downs or interceptions.
Portis and Betts played with all their hearts and tremendous guts. The ground game worked well through most of the game. It was the best run blocking from Samuels in a very long time. Campbell was battered and knocked down from the Cowboys pressure, but the offensive line held together much better in three and four receiver set plays.
This was a hard fought and close game that was a joy to watch with the Redskins falling on the wrong side of the scoring at the end of the game. The Cowboys were playing out of desperation to keep their playoff hopes alive and it showed in the fourth quarter. They hung tough on defense as the Skins offense sputtered again in the shortened field of the red zone. The offense still hasn't figured how to attack with Moss and Randel-El being small targets in a shortened field and a packed in line of scrimmage for Portis to run. Coming away with a field goal or no points at all ended up costing the Skins a win. The defensive line was able to collapse the pocket on Romo, but ultimately buckled when the game mattered most in the final quarter. The game may have been a loss but showed that in a conference where everyone is playing for second that an injured team still searching to find itself can play with and even beat anyone else in the NFC.
Attending the game, it was close. It was disappointing only because it was a loss. It didn't feel that the game was out of hand or not winnable. Sometimes a loss is not the teams fault. This might have been one of those cases.