Jones Touchdown Passes Lead Colts to 21-17 Win Over 'Skins

Sparked by the arm of recently recovered quarterback Bert Jones, the Baltimore Colts rode roughshod over the Washington Redskins last night to take the Monday night battle 21-17.

The see-saw contest came down to the last five minutes in the city that gave Spiro Agnew his political start and was decided by a Jones to Roger Carr aerial, Jones' third touchdown pass and Carr's second touchdown catch of the evening. Jones lofted the ball 30 yards in the air to Carr who gathered it in at the five-yard line before tiptoeing inside the flag at the right corner of the end-zone.

Washington's last ditch efforts were stalled by a fumble with less than a minute left to play inside their own half. Washington quarterback Joe Theisman dropped the ball when jarred by a blind-side tackle. The Colts easily ran out the last few seconds of play as Jones several times took one or two steps back and fell on the ball.

The game was played evenly throughout the first half, which ended with Washington ahead 10-7. Washington's Billy Kilmer matched Jones first half touchdown pass with a 31-yard toss of his own.

Jones came out firing in the second half--despite wincing each time he exercised the shoulder he separated in preseason. He connected with Carr after only a couple of minutes of play on a 75 yard touchdown bomb. The ball traveled about 45 yards in the air before Carr gathered in a difficult catch and raced towards the end zone.

Washington's back-up quarterback Joe Theisman engineered a comeback drive that ended in a John Riggins touchdown that gave the Redskins a 17-14 lead. That was not enough, as Jones and Carr combined for their second six points to give Baltimore the victory.

The Washington loss dumped their record to 7-3 and left them only one game ahead of the Dallas Cowboys--who missed a golden opportunity to move into a first place tie by losing yesterday to the Miami Dolphins, 23-6.

The Colts raised their record to 4-6 on the year but only miracles could grant them a wild-card playoff spot as the Dolphins, the team with the best second place record in the American Conference, stand 7-3, three full games ahead.