The Redskins were chomping at the bit to get at the Cowboys after their dominant opening win, but Dallas would not make the going easy.

The teams were tied at 7 after a pair of first quarter TD passes, both to tight ends, when Emmitt Smith broke Dallas out in front with a long TD run. Washington answered with a field goal, but Dallas put together another TD drive, and held a 21-10 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Skins battled back, with Rypien hitting Monk for a score and Lohmiller kicking a long FG to bring Washington back to within a point at 21-20 at halftime.

Scoring slowed down in the third quarter, with each team hitting a field goal to maintain the one point Dallas lead at 24-23. Washington made their move to take the game back in the fourth quarter, capping a drive with a Riggs TD run and adding another FG. Trailing 33-24, Aikman led Dallas on a fourth quarter drive that made it 33-31, but the Cowboys could not get into position for another scoring attempt before time expired.