NFC Championship, 1972: Washington 26 Dallas 3

Game information
Charley Taylor led the Redskins to the victory by recording 7 receptions for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. Washington massively outgained Dallas in total yards (316–169), first downs (16–8), and third-down conversions (10/18–3/12), while holding them to a single field goal and shutting them out in the second half.

However, the game seemed close before the final period. Washington took the opening kickoff and drove to the Cowboys 31-yard line, but Larry Brown lost a fumble there and safety Cliff Harris recovered the ball. However, Dallas fared no better, and ended up running just six plays in the entire quarter. Following a punt, Washington scored on a 13-play, 9-minute drive, with Brown rushing for 31 yards and catching a pass for 9. Curt Knight finished the drive with an 18-yard field goal in the second quarter. Later on, Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer smoked the Cowboys with a 51-yard completion to Taylor, and eventually scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Taylor that gave his team a 10–0 lead. Near the end of the half, Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach's 29-yard run set up a Toni Fritsch field goal from 35 yards, cutting the score to 10–3. Fritsch later got another attempt on the last play before halftime, but missed a 23-yard attempt, his first miss of the season from under 30 yards.

The third quarter was scoreless, with Dallas unable to move the ball past their own 30-yard line, but they still had a few chances to score. At one point, Kilmer fumbled the ball at his own 32-yard line, and it rolled all the way back to the 18, but Washington recovered it. Mike Bragg's ensuing punt went 36 yards to the Dallas 44, but Charlie Waters lost five yards while attempting a return and a clipping penalty cost them another 15, pushing the Cowboys all the way back to the 24. To make matters worse, Waters (who was a starter on defense) suffered a broken arm on the play and had to miss the rest of the game.

Taylor had already had an excellent game while being covered by Waters, and now that he was matched up against second stringer Mark Washington, Kilmer sensed a huge opportunity to break the game open. On their next drive, he completed four passes, the last a 45-yard touchdown bomb to Taylor on the second play of the fourth quarter, increasing Washington's lead to 17–3. The Redskins then dominated the rest of the game, scoring with field goals from Knight on each of their next three drives to make the final score 26–3.

Knight had a dismal season, making just 14 of 30 field goal attempts, but he had proven to be unusually effective in the playoffs, making all three of his kicks against Green Bay in the divisional round. On this day, he came through with another big performance, finishing a perfect 4/4 by making his final three field goals from 39, 46, and 45 yards. Kilmer also had one of the best performances of his career, completing 14 of 18 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while also rushing for 15 yards. Brown was the top rusher of the game with 88 yards, and caught 2 passes for 16. Staubach completed just 9 of 20 passes for 98 yards, and was the Cowboys leading rusher with 5 carries for 59 yards.

Wikipedia

Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer.