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Six unsung plays from Washington Redskins history

By Jonathan Eig

LANDOVER, MD - AUGUST 20: Quarterback Robert Griffin III #10 of the Washington Redskins looks to make a pass during a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at FedEx Field on August 20, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - AUGUST 20: Quarterback Robert Griffin III #10 of the Washington Redskins looks to make a pass during a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at FedEx Field on August 20, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images) /
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IRVING, TX – SEPTEMBER 19: Quarterback Mark Brunell #8 of the Washington Redskins looks to the sideline against the Dallas Cowboys on September 19, 2005 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The Redskins won 14-13. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
IRVING, TX – SEPTEMBER 19: Quarterback Mark Brunell #8 of the Washington Redskins looks to the sideline against the Dallas Cowboys on September 19, 2005 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The Redskins won 14-13. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

MARC BRUNELL, 9-19-05

This was a bizarre game. In Dallas, on Monday night, the Redskins offense was moribund. The Cowboys were pitching a shutout for 55 minutes. Trailing 13-0 with less than four minutes to play. Hulking safety Roy Williams came through unblocked on a second-down blitz and dropped Brunell for a huge loss. It set up third and a mile, deep in Redskins territory. And the clock was ticking.

Actually, it was third and 27. When Brunell dropped back on the next play, he saw nothing. So he took off. Brunell had been one of the league’s best running quarterbacks when he was younger. He had just turned 35 and didn’t move like he used to. But he moved well enough to pick up 25 yards, juking some unremembered Dallas secondary player about ten yards into the run.

Brunell got the ball close enough to convert the 4th and 2 with a short dump-off to James Thrash, and then hit Santana Moss for the first of two miraculous long touchdowns which turned certain defeat into victory.

A lot of fans remember those two Moss catches fondly. I’m one of them. But I remember the Brunell scramble even more.

BTW – you know the best thing about the two Moss touchdowns? On both plays, he beat the aforementioned safety Roy Williams. Williams could blitz, and Williams could hit. But Roy Williams couldn’t cover your grandmother.

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