On fourth and 10, Joe Theisman threw a desperation pass in the direction of Art Monk. The ball sailed well over everybody's head, and the 49ers were prepared to take the ball back for a game winning drive.
Except that a penalty had been called. Eric Wright was flagged for pass interference on Monk, even though the pass had been completely, unquestionably uncatchable. It was a crushing blow, but even with the penalty, the 49ers had a chance to shut down the Redskins. Washington marched well within field goal range, but wanted to knock as much time off the clock as possible. On third and five from the 13 yard line,
the Redskins caught another break. Theisman threw an incomplete pass, but Ronnie Lott was called for holding a receiver away from the play and the Redskins got another first-down and whittled the clock to under a minute before taking a chip-shot field goal to take the lead.