Redskins Put Rush on Eagles : Washington Sacks Cunningham 6 Times in a 17-10 Victory

For once, the Washington Redskins kept Randall Cunningham from running loose.

Instead, Timmy Smith did the running, for 107 yards and a touchdown to lead the Redskins to a 17-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday.

“We were able to contain Randall, force him inside,” said defensive end Dexter Manley, who led a pass rush that sacked Cunningham six times.

Markus Koch, subbing for injured defensive end Charles Mann, had three of the sacks.

Cunningham, who has led the Eagles (1-2) to two victories over Washington in recent seasons, was able to complete just 15 of 35 passes for 236 yards and ran 6 times for 40 yards. Last season, he passed for 537 yards and ran for 119 as the Eagles split two games with the eventual Super Bowl champions.

“This was the best I’ve seen Washington’s defense,” Cunningham said. “Their (pass) rush was good, pushing our guys back in front of me. And I said all week they have the best (defensive) backs in the league.

“Even when I was able to get out of the pocket, they had a defensive lineman spying me.”

Cunningham did get loose to throw a 55-yard touchdown bomb to Mike Quick with 14:08 left in the game and bring the Eagles to within 17-10, but Washington allowed Philadelphia just one first down the rest of the way.

Philadelphia had one last chance to get the ball when Washington was forced to punt with 1:31 left, but the Eagles’ Junior Tautalatasi went offside on the kick, giving the Redskins a first down, and they ran out the clock.

The Redskins (3-0) jumped to a 14-0 lead by scoring on its first two possessions, Smith running 19 yards for a touchdown and Jamie Morris going 27 yards for the other.

“I think the offensive line went in with the attitude that they were going to make it happen, and I went in with the attitude that I was going to run hard,” Smith said.

The Eagles cut the margin to 14-3 early in the second quarter on Dean Dorsey’s 23-yard field goal, but Dorsey later missed kicks of 35 and 47 yards--the latter kick bouncing off the crossbar.

Chip Lohmiller kicked a 34-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to increase Washington’s lead to 17-3, but the Philadelphia defense stiffened.

“They did a good job of shutting us down in the second half,” Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs said. “I’m not looking forward to playing them again.”

Redskin quarterback Doug Williams, who threw 102 passes in Washington’s first two games, completed 12 of 23 tosses for 142 yards and had 2 intercepted.