DATE: Monday, November 17, 1997             TAG: 9711170172

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

REDSKIN REPORT CARD

THE GOOD: Washington WR Henry Ellard, who caught four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown after entering the game when Leslie Shepherd and Alvin Harper were injured. ... MLB Marvcus Patton, with eight tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one pass defensed. ... Dallas QB Troy Aikman, 25 of 45 for 217 yards passing, 9 of 13 on Dallas' final two drives, which gained 11 points and the win.

THE BAD: Washington's tackling for most of the game. As well as the defense played, they reverted to some bad habits trying to contain the Cowboys' offensive stars. ... Washington's receiving corps. Harper dropped a sure first-down pass, Shepherd dropped a sure first-down pass, Asher dropped a sure first-down pass. See the pattern? ... The last punt of Matt Turk. He picked the worst possible time (5:48 to play) to shank one 28 yards, out of bounds at the Dallas 47.

THE UGLY: Omar Stoutmire's flagrant cheap shot on Leslie Shepherd with 15 seconds left in the first half. Shepherd had beaten Kevin Smith deep, but Gus Frerotte's pass was well overthrown and had already hit the ground when Stoutmire took two steps and bowled Shepherd over with a shot to the neck. Trying to brace his fall with his arm, Shepherd instead dislocated his left elbow. No penalty was called.

TURNING POINT: The botched option play on third-and-3 from midfield. Frerotte and reserve fullback Marc Logan collided, costing Frerotte a valuable second or two on his pitch outside to Terry Allen. That gave LB Dexter Coakley time to get over and hold Allen to a 2-yard gain. Washington punted and Dallas took over with 5:48 to play.

AND DON'T FORGET: P Matt Turk wasn't using it as an excuse, but he hasn't been able to practice punting except before games since the Redskins' bye week because of a muscle strain in his right leg.

UNSUNG HEROES: WR Chris Thomas. He hasn't played anything but special teams all season, but came in to catch two big passes, each of which converted third downs into first downs on the drive that gave Washington a 7-6 lead.

NUMBERS CRUNCHING: 11,042 - Yards rushing gained by Emmitt Smith during his career. Sunday, he became the 11th player in NFL history to pass that milestone and now has 11,042 during his career. ... 1 - How many two-point conversions Emmitt Smith has in his career. He got it Sunday. ... 5 - Number of consecutive games Dallas has gone without losing a fumble, a franchise record. ... 8 - Team-high tackle numbers for Cris Dishman and LB Marvcus Patton. ... 0 - Number of turnovers committed by both teams. ... 4.7-to-3.2 - Yards-per carry for Emmitt Smith vs. Terry Allen.

INJURIES: TE James Jenkins (bruised right knee), FB Larry Bowie (sprained right ankle), WR Leslie Shepherd (dislocated left elbow), WR Alvin Harper (sprained right achilles), DT Ryan Kuehl (sprained left ankle), LB Greg Jones (bruised back and ribs), TE Jamie Asher (bruised left elbow).

NEXT OPPONENT: The Redskins play the New York Giants, Sunday, 8 p.m. at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

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