Cowboys sack ‘Skins

Dallas defense dumps Brunell 5 times

? Bill Parcells celebrated the touchdown with a big smile and his fist thrust high in the air. The Dallas Cowboys coach had turned the trick that put his old nemesis on the ropes.

Richie Anderson’s halfback option pass floated into the hands of Terry Glenn in the back of the end zone early in the fourth quarter, and the Cowboys sacked Mark Brunell five times in Monday night’s 21-18 victory over Joe Gibbs and the Washington Redskins.

In the first meeting in 14 years between two of the NFL’s top coaches, Parcells showed he still has Gibbs’ number. Parcells has won 12 of 18 meetings and seven in a row, the last six coming when Parcells’ New York Giants and Gibbs’ Redskins were NFC East rivals from 1983-90.

The victory, Dallas’ 13th in its last 14 meetings with Washington, also made Parcells the 10th coach in NFL history to win 150 regular season games.

The trick play from Anderson to Glenn gave the Cowboys (2-1) a 21-10 lead with 13 minutes remaining, enough cushion to survive a comeback by the Redskins (1-2).

Brunell, playing one week after straining his hamstring in a loss to the New York Giants, hit Rod Gardner for a touchdown pass and Taylor Jacobs for a two-point conversion with 4:30 to play.

The Cowboys were able to use all but 21 seconds of the clock on their final drive because Washington was out of timeouts, but the Redskins almost got a chance at a tying field goal.

The Redskins managed two plays in their final drive. The last was a 46-yard pass to Gardner at the Dallas 21, but Gardner could not get out of bounds as time expired.

Vinny Testaverde was 14-of-29 for 214 yards for the Cowboys, while Anderson completed the first pass of his NFL career. Brunell was 25-of-43 for 325 yards — 167 to Gardner — and two touchdowns.