OPINION:
On Sunday, Washington fell behind archrival Dallas 20-9, then rallied furiously before falling 34-26 (“Disappointing but not surprisingly, the rookie has comes back down to earth,” web, Nov. 24).
Remarkably, it closely paralleled a storied Washington Redskins game 49 years and one day earlier.
On Nov. 23, 1975, George Allen’s Redskins faced John Madden’s Raiders in a nationally televised showdown at RFK Stadium. Oakland took a 20-9 halftime lead on three Pete Banaszak touchdown runs. But Washington rallied on a Mike Thomas touchdown run, a Chris Hanburger interception and a 33-yard rainbow from Billy Kilmer to Frank Grant in the end zone, tying the score at 23-23.
Unfortunately, the magic ended in overtime. After a short punt by Mike Bragg, Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler hit Fred Biletnikoff for 26 yards and Cliff Branch for 18, setting up 48-year-old kicker George Blanda’s game-winning field goal.
The 1975 classic was Washington’s third overtime game in four weeks. The team had previously beat Dallas 30-24 on a Kilmer quarterback sneak and lost to St. Louis 20-17 after Mel Gray’s “Phantom Catch” forced overtime. Washington survived another thriller the following Sunday in a 31-30 victory over Fran Tarkenton and the previously undefeated Minnesota Vikings.
The contest is remembered in NFL lore as the “Willy Wonka Game.” Seven years after infamously cutting away from a Raiders-Jets game to show the movie “Heidi,” NBC showed the entire Redskins-Raiders game, then joined the Gene Wilder film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” 42 minutes late, in progress, rendering it utterly incomprehensible.
Sunday’s Washington-Dallas game nearly took its own place in history among the NFL’s “fantastic finishes.” Jayden Daniels’ miracle 86-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 21 seconds left would have tied the game but for a missed extra point.
STEPHEN A. SILVER
San Francisco
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