Cowboys Pick Off the Eagles

It isn’t just Terrell Owens who’s done for the season.

So, apparently, are the Philadelphia Eagles.

That’s the way it looked Monday after the team lost in heartbreaking fashion to visiting Dallas, 21-20, squandering a two-touchdown lead in the final four minutes.

The key play came with 2 minutes 43 seconds remaining, when Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb dropped back and fired a pass to his right -- straight into the hands of safety Roy Williams, who returned it 46 yards for the winning touchdown.

“I was just reading Donovan’s eyes,” said Williams, who didn’t have a receiver within 10 yards of him when he made the interception. “I didn’t think he was going to throw it, and he threw it right to me.”

The Cowboys (6-3) pulled within striking range only 23 seconds earlier when Drew Bledsoe connected with Terry Glenn for a 20-yard touchdown pass play that cut the deficit to 20-14.

“At that point, you’ve just got to keep your mind into it,” Glenn said. “We’ve got a lot of veterans on this team, and we knew the game was close. All we needed was a couple of plays.”

Now, the Eagles (4-5) need a miracle or two to stay relevant. They’re 0-3 in the NFL’s most competitive division, and -- after getting clobbered on the interception return -- McNabb hobbled off the field and was replaced by Mike McMahon for the final possession. Coach Andy Reid said McMahon got the nod over backup Koy Detmer because “it was an opportunity if we needed to run the ball more we could do that.”

The game ended when David Akers’ desperation 60-yard field-goal attempt fluttered short and wide right.

It was the third consecutive loss for Philadelphia, which had not lost three in a row since 1999, the last year it missed the playoffs. All three of those games hinged on defenders intercepting McNabb passes in the fourth quarter.

“It really stinks to be on [the losing] side,” defensive end Jevon Kearse said. “But there are a lot of things we could have done early in the ballgame that we kind of let get away from us, and it was too late.”

Lodged at the bottom of the NFC East, the Eagles’ only realistic chance of making the playoffs would require them going 6-1 the rest of the way. That’s an especially tall order without the services of receiver Owens, whom Reid plans to suspend for the next two games then deactivate for the final five.

Philadelphia’s best chance to win in the final minute turned out to be a cruel tease. McMahon appeared to connect deep in Cowboy territory with Owens’ replacement, rookie Reggie Brown, in the waning seconds. But the ball slipped through Brown’s hands and so did the opportunity.

In the Cowboy locker room, the mood was more somber than jubilant. The day started with the funeral of Coach Bill Parcells’ younger brother, Don, 62, who died last week of brain cancer in New Jersey. Parcells attended the service, then drove two hours back to Philadelphia for the game.

“You just knew the day was heavy,” Cowboy owner Jerry Jones said. “It was disheartening, of course. He likes to get out here as many as five hours before the ballgame and get in that mode. You’ll go back there and he’ll be sitting in the dark, getting ready for the game. It just wasn’t that way today.”

Said Parcells: “There was a lot of emotion here for me today. I don’t mean to dwell on any of that, but I’ll tell you what I told the players. I got the message there today that said, ‘Don’t have a troubled heart.’ And I don’t. I’ve got those guys in there.”

For most of the game, the Cowboys didn’t look like a team that deserved a share of the division lead. They rolled up just 241 yards -- 116 fewer than their average -- and rushed for a paltry 58 yards in 24 carries. Before Glenn scored, his team had crossed the 50-yard line on just three of 10 drives.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever won a game where we were outplayed the way we were up front,” Jones said. “We just came alive for three minutes. And in the NFL, if you have the opportunity, in three minutes you can take it home.”

With Owens at home in Atlanta, the Eagles relied much more on the run than they typically do. They gained 181 yards in 36 carries, and built a 14-7 lead with touchdown runs of 15 yards by Brian Westbrook and two yards by McNabb. This from a team that had a per-game rushing average of 58.6 yards, lowest at the midway point since the 1942 Detroit Lions.

Westbrook led all rushers with 86 yards in 16 carries, and Lamar Gordon added 57 yards in 13 carries.

“Up until those two touchdowns,” Reid said, “I thought we had put a pretty good game together.”