Redskins Hold on Against Cowboys, Give Shanahan His First Win

The Mike Shanahan/Donovan McNabb era began last night with a 13-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a sloppy game that was more a Dallas loss than a Redskin win, but they are still 1-0.

It was a rather odd game for the Skins offensively. They never were able to get the running game going despite Shanahan's ability with the running game. McNabb's numbers look pretty average going 15/32 for 171 yards, but he managed the game very well. You watched the game and saw the offense keep making plays and then at half time you wondered how they had not managed to get it into the end zone. As he settles into this offense he will continue to improve.

One of the biggest improvements was the offensive line. They allowed a single sack all night and McNabb was able to scramble out of trouble on occasion, something Jason Campbell was certainly not able to do. Rookie Trent Williams played extremely well for his first game. There were a few rookie mistakes, but those were to be expected. There were other times when he literally blocked a defensive lineman 10 yards down the field.

Defensively the Redskins looked stout until the last almost game winning drive. This really was due to bad play calling from Dallas. They completely abandoned the run despite how well Marion Barber was running against the 3-4. Everytime they took out defensive linemen and brought on the blitz, Barber ran straight up the middle for 10-20 yards. Yet the Cowboys decided to force the pass. LeRon Landry had an incredible game with 17 tackles, but the Cowboys never challenged the Redskins deep which has been Landry's Achilles' heel. I am certainly thrilled with the game he had, but I worry what this means for Houston. Will he cheat up again to get high tackles and shut down the surprising Arian Foster who rushed for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns? If he does then Andre Johnson is going to embarrass him all day long.

What was encouraging about the defense was the outside rush. Brian Orakpo looked incredible. He was held all night long because they had no answer for him. This leads me to the minor controversy of the end. On the last play of the game, Tony Romo was forced out of the pocket and threw to Roy Williams for the game winning touchdown. The play, however, was negated by a holding penalty. Since there was no time left on the clock, the game was declared over. Yes, I understand the argument that referees should not decide a game, that on the last play the referees should put away their whistles. Very true. But there is a line that Alex Barron, the player who held Orakpo crossed. You cannot commit a blatant penalty and expect the referees not to call it. Watch it, Barron was strangling Orakpo. He held him by the neck because there was nothing else he could do. This is not controversy what so ever. It was the right call.

I thought all summer that Dallas was overrated, but I never really knew what we were going to get from the Redskins. In all probability Houston is a better team than what we saw against Dallas, so this Sunday will be a much bigger test for the Redskins. It will give everyone a much better idea of where this team stands.