Redskins stand atop of the NFC East
The Washington Redskins withstood a fierce 4th quarter comeback from the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium to keep their place atop the NFC East with a 5-3 record.
Redskins’ QB Gus Frerotte hit Leslie Shepherd on a 37-yard pass in the 3rd quarter to give the Redskins a 24-13 lead and it seemed like the Redskins had the game in hand. However, Vinny Testaverde started to heat up. Vinny drove the Ravens down and he hit Jermaine Lewis with a 13-yard TD pass with 9 minutes to play to cut into the lead. Then Testaverde hit Earnest Byner in the corner of the end zone to convert the 2-point play to make the score 21-24. Later in the quarter, Testaverde led another drive that yielded a field goal and the Ravens caught up at 24 with 4:30 to play.
The Redskins answered the Ravens drive with a drive of their own. On a third and long, Frerotte found Leslie Shepherd again. This time they hooked up for a 32-yard gain and it put the Redskins down inside the Ravens’ 5-yard line. A few plays later, Scott Blanton kicked a 22-yd field goal, and the Redskins took a 27-24 lead with 15 seconds to go. After a touchback, Chris Dishman picked off Testaverde to seal the game giving the Redskins their fifth win of the season.
The NFC East leading Redskins (5-3) will travel to Chicago to take on the Bears next Sunday, while the Ravens (3-5) travel to the New Jersey to take on the Jets.