ShareThisARLINGTON, Texas - Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall promised he would go after Dallas quarterback Tony Romo's broken rib Monday night.
But instead, he found Dez Bryant's face mask.
It cost the Redskins 15 yards -- 15 precious yards.
Romo magically converted a third-and-21 at his own 30 when Bryant beat Hall for a 30-yard gain. The 15-yard penalty was a nice bonus.
That was the key moment in the Cowboys' gutsy 18-16 win here Monday night.
Down the stretch, they resembled a NASCAR driver trying to win a race while running on fumes.
Their quarterback was playing with a broken rib.
Their best running back was out there with a dislocated shoulder.
Their best wide receiver sat this one out with a hamstring injury. Their next best receiver played with a bad thigh.
Their center was leading the league in bad snaps.
It was gut check time for the Cowboys.
The Redskins had scored the game's only touchdown and were leading 16-15 with 3:44 to play. The Cowboys were backed up to their own 14-yard line, but from Romo's view, it probably looked miles and miles away.
It looked like Newt Gingrich was calling plays for Dallas.
With first down at the Redskin 25, the touchdown-less Cowboys went conservative and played for a field goal. They handed the ball to backup running back Tashard Choice three straight times and got 3 yards out of it.
So rookie Dan Bailey, the game's leading scorer and the Cowboys' only scorer, trotted onto the field and kicked a 40-yard field goal to give Dallas its first lead of the night with 1:57 to play.
Still plenty of time, however, for Rex Grossman, who did a respectable job of playing within himself all night long. Every time it seemed that the Cowboys got pressure on the Washington quarterback, he got rid of the ball just before being hit.
But he couldn't escape Anthony Spencer in the end. Spencer chased Grossman down, tomahawked the ball out of his hand, and Sean Lee -- a deserving game ball recipient -- fell on it.
Finally, the checkered flag was waving in Dallas' direction.
This was not a pretty win, but after going 1-7 to start last season, nobody with the Cowboys is about to argue with any kind of win.
With the Redskins only allowing 123 rushing yards in their first two games and with Felix Jones really hurting, you might think Dallas would look at other ways to move the ball besides handing it to a running back.
But they continually banged with the Redskins.
It was a genius game plan when you consider that Washington's two best defensive players are outside linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan. This slowed down the rush on Romo.
It wasn't a great game for the Cowboys quarterback -- 255 yards, one sack, one interception -- but it was enough.
You can thank Sean Lee for that.
His blocked field goal attempt kept three points off the board for the Redskins, and his interception put three points on the board for the Cowboys.
Those were huge plays in a close game like this.
"We had a lot of mistakes, but I'm proud of the way our guys kept coming back," Romo said.
After what he did for them last week in San Francisco, they owed him one.
(Contact Wichita Falls Times Record-News Sports Editor Nick Gholson at gholsonn9at)timesrecordnews.com.)
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