Panthers Pay the Penalty in Loss

Ken Lucas and Julius Peppers pushed through the line, grasping at air in an effort to block Billy Cundiff’s field-goal try.

Lucas was positive his left middle finger touched the ball right before he and Peppers crashed into the kicker. The deflection changed the trajectory, caused Cundiff’s attempt to miss and locked up a postseason berth for the Carolina Panthers.

The officials said otherwise.

Peppers was called for roughing the kicker, giving the Dallas Cowboys a second chance to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

Terry Glenn seized the opportunity by catching a two-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds to play Saturday to lift the Cowboys to a 24-20 victory over Carolina and ruin the Panthers’ chance to clinch a playoff berth.

Lucas was furious with the outcome.

“Definitely I touched the ball, both me and God know it, but I guess it wasn’t enough to turn the play over,” Lucas said. “Besides that, that wasn’t roughing the kicker. Me and Pep landed on the ground and the kicker just fell over us.

“The referees, they called a lot of questionable calls today. What they did was they decided the game and decided the fate of who was going to win.”

Cundiff, who had a first-half attempt blocked by Peppers, believed he was roughed.

“There was one guy down at my feet and another guy was right there where my leg was up in the air, so I had nowhere to go and the guy grazed me,” Cundiff said. “I was hit.”

Either way, it was the second chance Dallas (9-6) needed.

After two running plays, Drew Bledsoe found Glenn in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score. It was a terrific bounceback for Dallas, which was humiliated, 35-7, in Washington last week, and kept the Cowboys in contention for one of the NFC’s wild-card spots.

“I think this team has a little spunk to it, I really do,” Coach Bill Parcells said. “I know we’ve had some ups and downs, but I like them. I do.”

The Panthers (10-5) find themselves in a logjam for the NFC South title. They entered one game up on Tampa Bay but ended the day with the Buccaneers atop the division after an overtime win against Atlanta.

It capped off a frustrating day of undisciplined play for Carolina. Receiver Steve Smith was ejected in the third quarter for grabbing an official, and the Panthers had an unusually poor effort on defense.

“The Cowboys kicked our butt,” linebacker Brandon Short said. “They executed better than we did. I never would have expected it.”

Julius Jones ran for a season-high 194 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys.