Dallas’ Marion Barber dashed with the ball around the right end. And there he was met by Pierson Prioleau, who missed a tackle. Then London Fletcher, who unsuccessfully dove at his legs. And finally by safety Reed Doughty, who dropped him for a two-yard loss.
The point was made on this second-quarter play: there would be no room for Dallas to run.
And the point was hammered home by the final stats: the Cowboys rushed for one yard on 16 carries, setting a franchise low. The Cowboys, without Terrell Owens and with quarterback Tony Romo leaving early in the third quarter, finished with 147 total yards.
Thanks to the Redskins‘ defensive line, Dallas had little room to run. Few teams have had much success against Washington’s defense lately.
”We’re playing inspired football right now,” Fletcher said. ”We had eight-man fronts, we mixed up the Cover 2 later in the game. We had great gap support and everyone tackled well. But it all started up front with the line and their penetration.”
They were able to plug in players such as safety Reed Doughty with success. Doughty and safety LaRon Landry clicked in their six games starting together. They disguised their intentions well, leading to success against the pass; and Doughty often filled in as an eighth defender near the line of scrimmage.
”LaRon and I got more comfortable with each other,” he said. ”And the defense had a swagger too. You play well when you know you’re supposed to play well.”
