Cowboys Earn an ‘A’ for Effort but No ‘W’

The Raiders insist theyweren’t playing down to the Dallas Cowboys’ level Sunday when they went conservative and held off the winless Cowboys, 28-21.

“We made a lot of mistakes out there,” maintained quarterback Rich Gannon. “When you have a three-touchdown lead and you allow them to get back in it, that’s not good.”

The Cowboys, who last started 0-4 in 1989, when they lost their first eight games and finished 1-15, were once again plagued by missed opportunities, blowing at least three excellent scoring chances.

Emmitt Smith said the effort was there.

“Now we’ve got to learn how to convert that playing hard into making something special,” said Smith, who carried the ball 16 times for only 25 yards.

Jerry Rice caught his third touchdown pass for the Raiders, while Tyrone Wheatley ran for two scores and Zack Crockett ran for the other.

Gannon completed 21 of 28 passes for 209 yards for Oakland (3-1).

It was supposed to be an open date for both teams, but because of a potential conflict with the Oakland Athletics’ playoff schedule at the Coliseum, both teams agreed to move the game from Oct. 21.

Dallas had problems from the start. Rookie quarterback Quincy Carter left in the first quarter with a strained left hamstring. Carter, who missed the last two games with an injury to his right thumb, was replaced by Anthony Wright, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 126 yards.

When the Cowboys did score Sunday, it was dramatic. Wright hit Joey Galloway with a 40-yard touchdown pass and Tim Seder faked a field goal for an eight-yard touchdown run. Dallas also got a last-minute scoring pass from Wright to Darrin Chiaverini after Oakland’s Charlie Garner fumbled.

Those were about the only positives for the Cowboys, who threw everything they could at the Raiders--including the option.

“We practiced for all of that,” Oakland linebacker Greg Biekert said. “But the problem is they have no real big tendencies. They do things most teams don’t do.”

The Raiders’ banged-up defense was without end Trace Armstrong, who is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, and tackle Roderick Coleman (hamstring injury). Defensive tackle Darrell Russell was serving the last of a four-game suspension for a violation of the league’s substance-abuse policy.

But before the first half was over, the Raiders had blocked two field goals, and the Cowboys’ young offense couldn’t manage to score when an Oakland fumble put them at the Raider seven-yard line.

The Raiders struck on their first possession with Gannon’s five-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Rice.

Crockett’s three-yard scoring run opened the second quarter. The touchdown was set up by Gannon’s 27-yard pass to Tim Brown.

Wright’s entry briefly sparked the Cowboys, who scored on the first play of his first series with the pass to Galloway.

The Raiders came right back and Wheatley’s four-yard scoring run made it 21-7.

“I don’t think we played down to them, because we were playing well throughout the game,” said William Thomas, who blocked a field-goal attempt. “They were making the plays and getting turnovers. They really hung in there and they fought.”