1. Touchback Upheld
With the Redskins already leading 7-0 late in the first half, it appeared the Cowboys might start another drive on the 1-yard line after Washington appeared to down a punt near the goal line. But the officials ruled that Washington's Rock Cartwright was on the line when the ball touched him "on the rear," as the referee explained. The Redskins challenged but the play was upheld. Instead of starting the ball at the 1 and likely playing over-conservative, the Cowboys got it at the 20 on the touchback. The Cowboys proceeded to drive 80 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
2. Barber's TD Booth Review
You rarely want to take a touchdown off the board, but the Cowboys would've benefited from the replay officials reversing the call on Marion Barber's 1-yard touchdown at the end of the half. The call was ruled a touchdown on the field although it was still questionable whether Barber was down before the ball crossed the goal line. Had he been ruled down first, more than 35 seconds would've come off the clock but the Cowboys still had three chances to score from the 1. Instead, the touchdown stood with 1:01 to play, and Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to set up a Shaun Suisham field goal just before halftime.
3. Sack Sets Up FG Miss
With the Redskins already leading 10-7 late in the third quarter, Washington had a third-and-13 at the Cowboys' 20. Despite going against the wind, it was still in decent field goal range for kicker Shaun Suisham. But Jason Campbell was sacked by Jay Ratliff, his college teammate at Auburn, for an eight-yard loss back to the 28. That forced Suisham to kick a 46-yard field goal that went straight, but came up a few yards short. It certainly wasn't eight yards short. Ratliff's sack, his second of the game, saved three points.
4. Underhand Pitch To Austin
Not sure that Tony Romo has ever run the option before, but he at least knows how to make that pitch. One play after he just missed a wide open Jason Witten on second down over the middle, Romo had a third-and-7 at the Redskins' 33 early in the fourth quarter. While he stepped up in the pocket, Romo knew he couldn't run for the first down, so he went for the shovel-pass flip to Austin, who picked up the first down. On the next play, Romo went back to the conventional route and lobbed a pass up to Martellus Bennett, who came up with the go-ahead, and consequently, game-winning touchdown.
5. Gathering Moss Again
On the Redskins' final drive, Terence Newman had Santana Moss covered on two key plays - one to start the drive and another to end it. Newman was with Moss stride for stride on a deep ball on first down. Moss gave a slight push to Newman's back before the ball trickled off his hands inside the Cowboys' 10. The Redskins eventually got to the Dallas 37 but on fourth-and-6, Campbell went back to Moss on the right side only to be denied again by Newman, who swatted the ball away, giving the ball back to the Cowboys, who never let it go again.
There were lots of big plays in this game, but these were five that certainly helped the Cowboys hang on for the must-needed win.
