For today's Throwback Thursday moment presented by Subway, Redskins.com looks back at Washington's incredible, late comeback win over Dallas in 2005 that has been referred to by Redskins fans as the "Monday Night Miracle."*
Trailing 13-0 with less than four minutes to play? No problem for Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell and wide receiver Santana Moss.
On the Monday night of Sept. 19, 2005 at Texas Stadium, things looked bleak for Washington as the Dallas Cowboys took a 13-0 lead on a Jose Cortez field goal with 6:01 remaining in the game. Cowboys head coach, Pro Football Hall of Famer Bill Parcells, was 77-0 in his career when holding at least a 13-point lead at any time in the fourth quarter.
To make matters worse, the Redskins were deep into their eighth quarter of the 2005 season and still had not scored a touchdown (the Redskins had beaten the Bears 9-7 in Week 1 behind three John Hall field goals). When Brunell was sacked for a loss of 17 yards, setting up 3rd-and-27 for Washington with less than five minutes remaining, the probability of the Redskins winning had moved to just about zero.
However, Brunell took off for a 25-yard run on third down and completed a pass of 20 yards to James Thrash on fourth down to keep the drive alive. After three incomplete passes, the Redskins again converted on fourth down when Brunell hit Moss for a 39-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-7 Cowboys.
Less than a minute later, the Redskins had the ball back. Thirteen seconds after regaining possession, Washington had the lead as Brunell hit a streaking Moss for a 70-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the drive. Nick Novak's extra point put Washington in front for good.
Dallas ended up possessing the ball twice more in the final 2:44 of the game, but never got closer than the Redskins' 42-yard line.
"I don't know what to say," Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs said. "I was proud of the way we fought. The defense just hung in there and kept slugging. Their crowd was really into it and hurt us a bunch of times. In the end, just unbelievable plays. Kind of takes your breath away. I'll appreciate it forever. I'm just thrilled."
