He's thrown several good looking passes tonight.
He has thrown several clunkers as well.
That was the last two qualifying as such.
There was good coverage downfield.
He's been having a hard time to figuring out the zone of the Dallas Cowboys.
They had the one successful touchdown pass to Gary Clark.
He was wide open.
But other than that, the Cowboys defense has been very effective
and it's been primarily zoned.
Good burn to Punt and nobody is back deep for Dallas.
They'll just let it bounce.
Thirty-five seconds remaining.
And good burn's kick.
Is it stocked?
Very close.
It is not.
It is into the end zone as Johnny Thomas got down there
but could not stop it from crossing the plane of the goal line in effect.
Fifty-one yard kick.
Good looking dance move nonetheless.
Made a good effort but the ball was ruled having broken the plane of the goal line.
But Johnny Thomas making you look awfully good.
But Johnny Thomas trying to keep his feet in bounds
but that's not the issue on that play.
It's where the ball is.
Half-time report.
We're going to have a feature on Desmond Howard.
The Heisman Trophy winner joins the posse.
And Dennis Green, the new coach of the Minnesota Vikings
who had a tremendous preseason and won an overtime yesterday against Green Bay
will visit with us live to talk about his NFL debut.
Troy Aikman with a kneel down.
And for 23 seconds, let's see, Dick Hancock's going to bring him back out
because the Redskins are going to take a timeout.
So the Redskins are playing this one according to the book.
They've got the timeouts.
They're going to use them.
They can stop it once more.
Now they're going to make the Cowboys execute a center quarterback exchange.
And stranger things have happened.
The ball might come out.
A long shot but Joe Gibbs maybe serving notice on his football team
that it's not as easy to just trot up to the locker room.
Well, take a look at that.
That's over the last four years.
Twenty-three of the 24 division champs over a four-year period
have won their season openers.
The only exception was Detroit last year,
blown out by Washington on opening day 45 to nothing
and then rebounding to win the central division.
I'm sure everybody at home knew that anyway.
Beyond question.
Ray Horton, the safety, lined up as the tailback here.
That's pretty good insurance policy
when your safety is playing the tailback.
And the refinal timeout and the Redskins just took their last.
And Ray Horton gets a couple of offensive plays.
Another two-way player in the NFL.
That's right.
This guy can tell his grandkids,
hey, you heard it, Dorsett and Perkins and guys like that.
I was a tailback too.
Roy Green and here we go.
Remember the Washington game.
They both go into the locker room down 16 to 7
after one more eight-minute kneel down
and a first half very much dominated by the Dallas Cowboys.
I'm sure they'll be reminded that they came from behind last year
on a Monday night game here in Texas Stadium.
But they are going to have to play a noticeably better
second half than they did here in the first.
Halftime score, Dallas 16, Washington 7,
and we'll return with halftime activities
after this message from the National Football League
and a word from our ABC station.
In Texas as the second half begins, 16 to 7,
the Cowboys lead it by nine.
They kick off.
Lynn Elliott will send it skyward
and Desmond Howard and Brian Mitchell are back to receive
for the Washington Redskins.
Elliott won the job with a good preseason.
It was nip and tuck with Brad Dalviso through preseason
after Ken Willis left for Tampa Bay on Plan B.
And we're going to take a look at Desmond Howard again,
whose last run back was 23 yards,
and this one is a little bit longer as he is knocked down
by Washington up at the 26-yard line.
ABC's Monday Night Football is being brought to you
by Chrysler Corporation and your local Chrysler,
Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep, and Eagle dealers by Levi's Dockers.
Nobody does color like Dockers.
And by Bud Light, if you want great taste
that won't fill you up and never lets you down,
make it a Bud Light.
At the 26-yard line for the Redskins, 1st and 10.
Griffin, after an off-and-on performance,
mainly off in the first half,
gives it to Ernest Beiner,
and that's a big hole through the middle
and up to the 37-yard line.
And let's take a look at the numbers
from the first 30 minutes of play,
dominated by the team on the right side,
the Dallas Cowboys.
And you can see the opponent's points off turnovers.
You can see that the turnovers were 1-each,
but the Cowboys gave up 7 points on that,
well, what really was a bogus interception by Martin Mayhew.
He really trapped the ball.
On first down, Griffin airing it out
and getting wide open was not what it's under-thrown,
and getting back there is Horton.
I mean, he was open by 10 yards.
Griffin just a little late on the delivery,
and Art Muck was either caught in a messed-up defense
or a man just let him go.
Let's take a look. Hope is number 30,
but Art Muck just sprints by hold.
He lets him go.
Trying to get the help from the inside from Ray Horton,
but he had a gap in there,
and Mark Rippon was late on the delivery.
You can see Rippon double-clutch the ball
and take a stagger step before he released it.
As it was, the ball went 55 yards in the air.
Second and 10.
Finer makes the catch, breaks the tackle,
picks up the first down, takes it into Cowboy territory.
Kenneth Gantz was the guy who couldn't make the tackle,
and Larry Brown finally ran him down.
Let's take an eye here on Big Jim Lasse, number 79.
Oh, and stepped on by his left guard.
Raleigh McKenzie stepped on his foot
and put him on the ground.
That's one of the few times you'll see Lasse flat on his back.
Redskins go without a huddle,
and then Rippon has a hard time with a handoff,
and it's all he can do not to fumble
to earn his minor for no game on a messed up play.
Second and 10.
If one of the attempts of the Washington no huddle
was to in some way disorient a rookie middle linebacker,
Robert Jones, in the Dallas defense,
I don't think it appears to be working.
It has not in any way put the Dallas defense back on their heels,
and this time the Redskins elect to go back into the huddle.
Second and 10 from the 49-yard line.
Here's Finer swinging to the outside,
and he runs right into pick number 73, Danny Noonan.
The Cowboys doing a good job internally.
We told you Russell Maryland not playing tonight.
Tony Casillas, the two starting defensive tackles, both out.
Danny Noonan in there, and Jimmy Jones,
they're doing a fine job.
There is a look at Maryland.
He has a dislocated second left toe of his left foot,
and with Casillas, he has the knee job,
and Russell Maryland isn't even suited up tonight.
He has a dislocated toe.
Third and 9.
Ripon under a lot of pressure just throws it away
because Leon Let came blasting through, number 78.
You cannot blame Mark Ripon for that.
A miscommunication on the Redskins' left side
of their offensive line.
Watch Raleigh McKenzie, the left guard,
go down toward the center, and totally disregard Leon Let,
who's lined up on his outside shoulder.
Cowboys also in a safety blitz,
and that disturbed things up front,
and Ripon just had to deliver it.
Skins still haven't converted a third down tonight.
0 for 6. Good burn to punt.
He's been lucky with short kicks that have bounced for him.
This one is a liner.
Fair caught at the 10-yard line by Kelvin Martin.
12-11 to go in the third quarter.
Cowboys by 9.
Take note, little guys.
Here are the Cowboys of Moo Mesa.
We've got Moo Montana, Dakota Dude,
and the Cowler-Rotthochers.
Their season will begin this Saturday,
9 o'clock Eastern here on ABC.
8 out west in LA.
That's 9 o'clock Eastern AM for you little guys.
Okay, partners?
Utterly fantastic, Frank.
I'm going to milk that a little more.
From the 10-yard line on first down,
Emmett Smith goes next to nowhere.
Tim Johnson, 78, makes the tackle.
Kurt Govay is there as well.
Bobby Wilson, who started the game at defensive tackle.
There he is, 94, sprained knee.
Clearly he is done for the night, as we mentioned before.
Eric Williams now missing from the defensive line.
They don't expect to see him until October.
So Jason Buck, a much-traveled defensive lineman,
is a guy who's going to see a lot of action, 99.
And we've not seen a big push by the Redskins up the middle.
We've commented on it several times.
They may need to develop a rush coming up the middle of the line.
Second and eight.
That time the rush came from the outside.
But somehow, some way, Michael Irvin is able to make the catch.
And there's a flag down.
It's a personal foul against the Redskins.
And this will put Dallas clear across the midfield line.
Irvin's still down.
He uses his hand not only to catch the ball,
but to get clear beforehand.
Personal foul, defense number 58,
hitting the quarterback with the crown of his helmet.
15 yards, both down.
Now they're going to call it on Wilbur Marshall.
He took a tremendous shot at Troy Aikman after he delivered the ball.
You heard Dick Hancock say he hit with the crown of his helmet.
And you cannot do that.
You saw Wilbur at the last minute intentionally lower his head
and use it as a weapon that will not be tolerated in the NFL,
even though it was not what I would describe, a vicious hit.
Now let's, the conclusion of that play, Michael Irvin,
again working against Daryl Greene.
Subtle work with the right hand, gained some separation,
and that is just beautiful work by a receiver.
Daryl Greene, 5'8".
Michael Irvin is 6'2", but that's just great hand fighting.
I mean, how can you possibly fault the coverage by Daryl Greene?
He was right on it.
A lot of smiles on that Cowboys sideline tonight
from the 43-yard line on first down.
Here's Smith on his away, picking and threading
and bouncing down to the 35 for a gain of 8.
Tackled by Stokes.
10.55 to go in the third.
The Cowboys up by 9.
Jimmy Johnson out of Port Arthur, Texas.
That was his hometown.
He was a schoolmate of Janis Joplin.
He sat behind him in a couple of classes,
and there's a bust of each at the Port Arthur Library,
including a five-headed statue of Janis Joplin.
Just one head for Johnson, but enough hair for five heads.
Second and one at the 35-yard line.
He'll be thrilled.
Here's Emmett Smith picking up seven on his way to 100 yards
first down at the 28.
Scuveo with the tackle.
Well, Emmett Smith, last year, that's a record.
Of his team's total yardage on the ground,
he accounted for 91.4% of it.
And as you can see, some of the others,
including when Dickerson was with the Rams,
he gained about four-fifths of their yards.
And Sanders, last year, with Detroit, 80%.
Emmett Smith over 90%.
And tonight, 96 yards of their 136.
So he's getting a little more help tonight
than he normally does.
First down, Aikman to Johnson.
Tackled by Andre Collins, who breaks it up nicely.
Screen well played by Collins.
And you know, Smith is talking about a 2,000-yard season.
Talks openly about it.
But after average, what, about 125 per carry.
Not unrealistic.
He is very sturdy.
He's been very sturdy and very reliable
and injury-free from the time he was in high school.
He loves to carry the football, loves to carry it a lot of time.
And he would like to be a 2,000-yard back.
Second and 10th at 28, under 9 minutes left in the third.
Cowboys lead 16-7.
Swing it to Emmett Smith.
And he is finally knocked down by Raven Caldwell
after Wilbur Marshall turned him back inside.
An exceptional open field tackle by Caldwell.
One of the things that Emmett Smith is not pleased about
is the fact that with Curbin Richards being hurt,
Smith is having to run all the plays during practice.
Not only during the offensive part of practice,
but during the defensive part of practice as well.
Here's another look at that tackle by Raven Caldwell.
Look how he gathered himself, then propelled himself forward.