A foot-astic finish for the Redskins

By JIM DUCIBELLA
The Virginian-Pilot

LANDOVER, Md. - Running back Clinton Portis' only explanation for how the Washington Redskins turned a devastating home loss into one of the NFL's most thrilling victories of the season Sunday was that "God must have been on our side."

The way it unfolded, even atheists would have a hard time arguing.

Nick Novak celebrates his game-winning kick. Genevieve Ross / The Virginian-Pilot

With six seconds to play, what began as a 35-yard field goal attempt by the Dallas Cowboys' Mike Vanderjagt - the most accurate kicker in league history - turned into a 47-yard field goal by Washington's Nick Novak after time expired and a 22-19 Redskins victory that can compete with any of the bizarre finishes in a rivalry replete with them.

The victory snapped Washington's three-game losing streak and moved the Redskins to 3-5, 1-2 in the NFC East. Dallas fell to 4-4, 1-3 in the division.

Vanderjagt's kick was blocked by 15-year veteran Troy Vincent, playing just his second game for Washington after being waived by Buffalo. Safety Sean Taylor retrieved the ball. During a weaving 30-yard return, he had his face mask pulled by Dallas guard Kyle Kosier.

The additional 15-yard walk-off - the most costly of 11 Dallas infractions - moved the ball to the Cowboys 29, and gave the Redskins one more play even though time had run out.

Novak, who just 29 seconds before had missed from 49 yards, barely guided the ball through the uprights then made a mad celebratory dash to the other end zone, hotly pursued by many of his teammates.

"This is what a kicker dreams about," said Novak, another recent signee who had made just 1 of 4 attempts. "The ups and the downs. This is the up. It's a short walk from the outhouse to the penthouse."

Vincent had stood before his teammates Saturday night - moments after he learned he'd just been added to the field goal block unit - and implored them to believe in themselves and to "find some way, any way, to win."

He then went out and proved the adage about actions and words.

The second man on the right end, Vincent was shocked when Dallas' Jason Witten chose to block Carlos Rogers - the outer-most player, leaving him a free lane to the kicker. After the block, he attempted to grab the ball, but his momentum took him past it.

That turned out to be a blessing, because the ball fell to Taylor, one of the Redskins' most gifted runners. He reversed his field to avoid a couple of tacklers, broke up the middle and was momentarily interrupted by Kosier's hand on his face mask.

"If I was going to put the ball in anyone's hands, it would be his," a jubilant coach Joe Gibbs said. "He has an unusual way of making things happen."

Meanwhile, Novak had continued to kick into the net behind the Redskins bench after missing from 49 yards moments before. A flaw in his follow-through had caused him to push the ball to the right on longer field goals, something he'd worked on during practice but had failed to correct on the miss.

The game-winner started out to the right, but gradually curved to the left and just barely got through the uprights.

"I don't know if the right side of the stadium started blowing on it all at the same time, or what," Novak said. "It barely came back and it barely went through."

The ending enabled the Redskins to withstand another wretched third quarter in which they gained just 17 yards, trailed by a touchdown and should have been behind by 14 points.

Late in the third quarter, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo found Terrell Owens deep down the middle, between Vincent and Carlos Rogers. Romo's pass should have been a 74-yard touchdown; instead, the ball clanked off Owens' hands and fell incomplete.

It was one of a myriad of Dallas mistakes that defied explanation.

Of the Cowboys' 11 penalties, a 48-yard pass-interference call against safety Roy Williams on a pass from Antwaan Randle El to Brandon Lloyd that Lloyd would have had trouble catching was the most damaging.

Three plays later, Mark Brunell lobbed a pass in the end zone that Chris Cooley outfought Anthony Henry to catch and tie the score.

On the drive leading to Vanderjagt's miss, Dallas tight end Anthony Fasano caught a pass from Romo and had 20 yards of unimpeded territory.

But with no one around him, he fell down.

"Yeah, I felt like we got a break today," Brunell said. "God knows, we were due."