NFL Old School Game of the Week: Redskins Break in New Stadium with OT Win over Cardinals

 

78,270 fans witnessed the first game in Jack Kent Cooke Stadium between the Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals.

On September 14, 1997, a new era began in Washington Redskins football as the Redskins hosted the Arizona Cardinals in their first game at their new stadium, Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Maryland.

The stadium was named after the Redskins' late owner who had passed away five months prior to seeing the new 80,116 stadium opened.

The Redskins came into their 1997 home opener with a 1-1 record under head coach Norv Turner, who was in his fourth season as the Washington head coach, having led the Redskins to a 9-7 record the year before, their first winning season since Joe Gibbs' retirement in 1992.

With Gus Frerotte at quarterback and running back Terry Allen, who was coming off a season where he had scored 21 touchdowns, the Redskins were hoping to use their new stadium as a springboard to return to the postseason for the first time since 1992.

The Redskins' opponent for this game were the Arizona Cardinals, who were coming off an emotional victory the week before as they had defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the first time in seven years with a 25-22 overtime victory(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-goalposts.html).

Arizona was led by head coach Vince Tobin who was in his second season as the Cardinals' head coach as he was tasked with trying to lead the Cards to a winning season for the first time since 1984 when they were St. Louis(The Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988).

With Kent Graham at quarterback, the Cardinals hoped to spoil the Redskins' grand opening of their new stadium as the two teams faced off in Week 3 of the 1997 NFL season.

After the Redskins went three-and-out to start the game, the Cardinals had the ball at their 29-yard-line when Graham completed a six-yard pass to Frank Sanders, only for the wide receiver to lose the football following a hit by Washington cornerback Cris Dishman, leading to a recovery by Daryl Pounds to give the Redskins the ball at the Arizona 35-yard-line.

The Redskins would drive to the Cardinals' two-yard-line until Allen was stopped twice for no gain, forcing them to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Scott Blanton to give Washington a 3-0 lead with 8:27 left in the first quarter.

The Cardinals would then drive from their 32-yard-line to the Washington 34-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Redskins who would go three-and-out as they prepared to punt the ball back to Arizona.

However, Cardinals defensive back J.J. McCleskey would block the punt as Tommy Bennett would pick up the ball at the two-yard-line and then punch it for the touchdown to give Arizona a 7-3 lead with 57 seconds left in the first quarter on the first blocked punt return for a touchdown in 25 years for the Arizona Cardinals.

The Redskins would get the ball at their 40-yard-line to start their next drive after Butler kicked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds as Frerotte would complete a 14-yard pass to fullback Larry Bowie, then hand it off to Allen, who ran for four yards to put Washington at the Arizona 42-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

The second quarter would begin with a bang as Frerotte completed a 36-yard pass to wide receiver Leslie Sheppard to give the Redskins a 1st & goal at the Cardinals' six-yard-line as Allen would run for one yard to set up 2nd & goal where Frerotte found Westbrook for the five-yard touchdown to give Washington a 10-7 lead.

Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte completed 19 of 36 passes for 265 yards and threw two TDs.

Following an Arizona punt, the Redskins got the ball at their 23-yard-line when Frerotte was intercepted by Cardinals linebacker Ronald McKinnon on a pass intended for Westbrook, to give the Cardinals the ball at the Washington 35-yard-line.

The Cardinals would drive to the Redskins' five-yard-line until Graham was sacked by Redskins defensive tackle Chris Mims for a 12-yard-loss, forcing Arizona to settle for a 34-yard field goal attempt by Butler, which ended up sailing wide left and no good to keep the score at 10-7 in favor of Washington.

From there, the two teams would trade punts for the rest of the second quarter as the Redskins went into the halftime break still ahead 10-7.

The third quarter would pick up where the second quarter left off with the two teams exchanging punts until the Redskins got great field position to start their second possession of the second half after 16-yard punt return by Brian Mitchell put Washington at the Cardinals' 41-yard-line.

Three plays would pick up eight yards to set up a 4th & 2 when Turner sent in the field goal unit as Blanton would attempt a 51-yard field goal in hopes of extending the Redskins' lead.

But Blanton's kick would miss to the left of the uprights to give the ball back to the Cardinals at their 41-yard-line still trailing 10-7 midway through the third quarter.

The Cardinals would then put together their best drive of the game as they moved 44 yards in 13 plays, primarily on the ground as they ran the ball on nine of the 13 plays for 28 yards to help set up a 32-yard field goal by Butler that tied the game at 10 with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.

After another exchange of punts, the Redskins would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line as Frerotte completed passes of 16 yards to tight end Jamie Asher and 21 yards to Westbrook to help lead Washington into Arizona territory as Blanton would attempt another 51-yard field goal, which failed short of the uprights to keep the game tied at 10 with 11:31 left in the fourth quarter.

The two teams would again trade punts until the 5:05 mark in the fourth quarter when the Redskins put together a drive for the go-ahead score.

Starting at his 24-yard-line, Frerotte would complete a 11-yard pass to Bowie for a 1st down which was followed by a two-yard pass to Asher and an incomplete pass to bring up 3rd & 8 when Frerotte found Mitchell for 11 yards and a fresh set of downs at the Washington 48-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Frerotte hit Henry Ellard for nine yards, then ran for four yards on 3rd & 1 to give Washington a 1st down at the Cardinals' 39-yard-line.

Following a four-yard run by Allen, Frerotte completed a 15-yard pass to Shepherd to give the Redskins a 1st down at the Cardinals' 20-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

Two plays later facing a 3rd & 10, Frerotte tried to hit Westbrook for the go-ahead touchdown as Cardinals defensive back Tim Howard got called for pass interference to give Washington a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.

It seemed like the Redskins were going to make it a 17-10 game but they were unable to punch it into the end zone on three straight running attempts by Allen as Washington ended settling for a 19-yard field goal by Blanton to give them a 13-10 lead with 1:13 left in regulation.

Michael Westbrook makes what would be the game-winning touchdown catch.

The Cardinals would start their next drive at their 33-yard-line with 68 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts as Graham completed a 16-yard pass to Kevin Williams for a 1st down at the Arizona 49-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass, Graham would complete three straight passes for 21 yards before spiking the ball at the Washington 30-yard-line with 14 seconds left.

Graham tried to complete one more pass but it fell incomplete intended for Sanders, leading the Cardinals to call on Butler to attempt a 47-yard field goal, which he made with two seconds left to tie the game at 13 and send it to overtime.

The Cardinals would win the overtime coin toss to get the ball to start the overtime period at their 34-yard-line with a six-yard run by running back Leeland McElroy when disaster would strike on 2nd down as McElroy would fumble the football after a hit by Redskins linebacker Marvcus Patton, leading to a recovery by fellow linebacker Derrick Smith at the Arizona 35-yard-line.

After a run by Allen lost five yards to set up 2nd & 15, Frerotte was able to uncork a deep pass despite pressure from the Cardinals' defense and hit Westbrook, who made the catch as he was falling backwards, for the game-winning 40-yard touchdown to give the Redskins a 19-13 overtime win.

The loss to the Redskins would be the beginning of a six-game losing streak as they would finish the season with a 4-12 record as rookie Jake Plummer would take over the starting quarterback job midway through the season while the Redskins would go on to finish the season with a 8-7-1 record, a half game out of a playoff spot.

As for Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, which would become known as FedEx Field in 1999, it sadly did not gain the reputation as its predecessor as it became regarded as one of the worst stadiums in the NFL as the Redskins have complied a 100-117-1 record in the stadium since its inception and have won only one playoff game, a 27-13 win over the Detroit Lions in the 1999 NFC Wild Card Game.