PRO FOOTBALL : Redskins Run Over Cowboys, 30-7 : With Riggs Out, Byner and Morris Pick Up Slack for Washington
Even with Gerald Riggs, the National Football League’s leading rusher, sitting out the second half with a bruised chest, the Washington Redskins still had little difficulty defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 30-7, Sunday.
Earnest Byner scored on his first run as a Redskin, a 12-yarder, and Jamie Morris scored a touchdown and gained 100 yards in 26 carries to spoil Jimmy Johnson’s regular-season home debut as the Cowboys’ coach.
Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said he was a little worried when Riggs couldn’t play.
“We went from having the biggest back in the NFL (Riggs at 232) to Morris (188) and he does the job,” Gibbs said. “It was great to get Byner going, too. We had a good 1-2 punch in there.”
Johnson was livid after the game and gave his team a dressing down.
“We’re not a very good football team, as anybody who saw us play can see, and it’s not a good feeling,” Johnson said. “I told my players I will not accept us being a poor football team.
“I told them that anyone of them not willing to work to let me know and I’ll find somebody who is willing to work.”
Johnson said the Cowboys, 0-3 and off to their worst start since 1963, will start working harder, beginning today.
“We’ll spend more time on the field and in meetings and running more after practice,” he said. “We’ll do anything we have to do to turn this thing around.
“I want this team to remember how awful they are so they’ll work to get better. The only way you move to a new level is by working.
“I can’t live with this and I can’t let them live with it.”
Dallas rookie quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Steve Walsh each were intercepted twice.
“We just stunk up the field,” Aikman said.
Johnson said Aikman would start next week, although Walsh replaced him in the second half.
“There’s no controversy,” Johnson said. “Walsh is still on the second team.”
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