WASHINGTON 38
DALLAS 31
Welcome back to Texas, RG3.
Robert Griffin III threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Washington Redskins beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-31 on Thursday.
The Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor made the Cowboys look like an overmatched college team during the decisive second quarter in Griffin's first pro game in his home state. He got some help from his receivers, including a leaping grab and long run from Pierre Garcon and some nifty footwork in the end zone by Santana Moss.
Tony Romo lost for the first time in six starts on Thanksgiving, despite a career-high 441 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including the longest of his career - an 85-yarder to Dez Bryant. Romo ran in a two-point conversion after a TD throw to Felix Jones and threw another scoring pass to Bryant to help Dallas close to 35-28 with 8: 24 remaining after the Cowboys trailed 28-3 at halftime.
"I thought we had a good chance," Romo said.
But Griffin answered - twice, actually. After Romo's long touchdown to Bryant, Griffin threw his fourth scoring pass, a 29-yarder to Niles Paul. The rookie became the first Redskins quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in consecutive games.
After the Cowboys pulled within a touchdown, Griffin drove them into scoring position again, calmly completing three passes for first downs and running 5 1 /2 minutes off the clock before Kai Forbath made it 38-28 on a 48-yard field goal.
Dallas drove to a field goal, but DeAngelo Hall easily picked up the onside kick and ran untouched before sliding down short of the goal line, clinching Romo's third loss in three career 400-yard games.
"That quarterback is obviously a very good player, and they use him well," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "It was challenging for us to slow those guys down."
The Cowboys (5-6) actually contained Griffin in the first quarter, getting a sack and forcing an intentional grounding penalty that gave them good enough field position for an easy drive to a 3-0 lead.
Everything changed on Griffin's first big NFL play in Texas. He hit Aldrick Robinson in stride for a 68-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead to spark the first 28-point quarter in 13 years for the Redskins (5-6).
Griffin's next big throw wasn't nearly as accurate, but Garcon somehow came down with it and outran the Dallas defence the final 45 yards on a 59-yard score for a 21-3 lead.
Romo's first interception in four games gave the Redskins a chance to get one more score before halftime when DeAngelo Hall returned it to the Dallas 33 with 30 seconds left. Out of timeouts at the Dallas six with 10 seconds left, the Redskins trusted Griffin to try to get a touchdown, and Moss kept both feet in while falling out of bounds for a 28-3 lead.
Griffin completed 12 straight passes from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the third and finished 20 of 28.
PATRIOTS 49, JETS 19
- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots put this game - and the New York Jets' ugly season - away early.
At least it was competitive for a quarter. By halftime, it was a big-time laugher. Brady threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as the Patriots embarrassed the Jets with a 35-point second quarter in a 49-19 victory.
After a scoreless opening quarter, the Patriots (8-3) went on a touchdown spree despite holding the ball for only 2: 14 as they took advantage of several mistakes by Rex Ryan's hapless Jets (4-7). Their 35 second-quarter points tied for the fourth-most in a quarter in NFL history.
