Mark Rypien made his first start as a Redskin, albeit on an emergency basis as Williams had taken seriously ill during the week. Rypien showed both his promise and inexperience in the first quarter, throwing a TD pass to Monk but then giving up a safety on a sack in Washington's end zone.

The teams traded TDs in the second quarter, with Rypien adding a scoring pass to Sanders, and Washington led 14-9 at halftime. The Cardinals' offense got on track in the second half. They pulled to their first lead in the third quarter, and pulled farther away with a TD pass early in the fourth. Washington was able to respond with a scoring drive to close the score to 23-21, but a fumble return for a TD by Phoenix's defense put the game out of reach.