Cowboys Blow Another Opportunity

Add another near-miss to a Dallas Cowboys season filled with near-misses.

On a day when a victory would have given the Cowboys some breathing room in the NFC playoff picture, they saw the New York Jets pull out a 22-21 victory Sunday with a 37-yard field goal by John Hall with 1:35 left.

“We had a real opportunity, and we let it go,” Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman said. “We dug ourselves in a real hole.”

This was the fourth time this season the Cowboys (7-7) have lost by four points or less. Their first home loss couldn’t have come at a worse time because a victory would have moved them into a tie with Washington for first place in the NFC East.

Instead, Dallas stayed in a second-place tie with the New York Giants, who lost to St. Louis.

“No one in this division wants to step up,” Cowboy offensive lineman Erik Williams said. “We have to keep pushing.”

The Jets (6-8) did another nice job of playing spoiler, a role they’ve been forced into since a 1-6 start. The Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 28-20, with a big fourth quarter last week.

“It’s a misconception among lay people that you have nothing to play for,” Jet Coach Bill Parcells said. “If you like competition and you like football, you’re going to be ready to play. That’s not always going to happen, but there’s never nothing to play for.”

The Cowboys led, 21-13, one drive into the second half, but couldn’t put the Jets away--not even after taking over at the New York 36 after recovering a fumble. Aikman wasted that chance with an interception in the end zone. It was his second interception in three throws after going 216 attempts without one.

Aikman was 12 for 28 for 158 yards with a touchdown. He completed only one of five passes on Dallas’ final drive.

The turnovers didn’t hurt the Cowboys as badly as their other season-long problems: penalties (seven for 92 yards, including a 34-yard pass interference that led to New York’s first touchdown) and failure to convert third downs (three for 12, only one in the first three quarters).

The Jets weren’t very efficient either until their final drive: 11 plays, 41 yards over 4:16, forcing Dallas to use all three of its timeouts.

Curtis Martin, who had 49 fourth-quarter yards last week, had 38 in nine carries during the drive to finish with 114 yards.

“I was looking at the faces of our offensive linemen and knew we would drive the ball down there and at least get a field goal,” New York quarterback Ray Lucas said. “They were fantastic and that’s why we won it.”

The Cowboy defense had a streak of holding foes to 13 or fewer points end at five games; allowed a 100-yard rusher for only the third time and gave up 355 yards, their most since the opener.

The anticipated showdown of Keyshawn Johnson versus Deion Sanders never materialized. Sanders covered Johnson 15 times, and Lucas threw elsewhere every time.

“I think it was more hype than anything,” Johnson said. “It was fun to get the opportunity to play against him and run around the field.”

Emmitt Smith, playing with a strained groin that limited him to one carry last week, had 110 yards in 19 carries. Smith scored the 146th touchdown of his career in the second quarter on a 14-yard pass play. He passed Marcus Allen to take the No. 2 spot on the NFL career touchdown list behind Jerry Rice and became the leading scorer in Cowboy history with 876 points.