NFL Recap (Philadelphia-Dallas)
Posted: Tues September 16, 1997 at 2:26 a.m EDT
DALLAS 21, PHILADELPHIA 20
Troy Aikman hit Anthony Miller with a 14-yard touchdown pass for
the go-ahead score with 51 seconds left and Eagles punter Tommy
Hutton botched the hold on a 20-yard field goal try as time
expired, giving the Dallas Cowboys a 21-20 victory over
Philadelphia.
After Aikman's scoring strike to Miller gave Dallas (2-1) its
first lead of the game, the Eagles started the final drive on
their own 10 with 47 seconds remaining. Ty Detmer found Freddie
Solomon for a 27-yard gain and hit Michael Timpson with a
13-yard pass to get the Eagles to midfield with 16 seconds left.
On the next play, Detmer hit a wide-open Solomon over the middle
around the 30 and he ran toward the right side, reaching the
Dallas 4-yard line. Philadelphia quickly called timeout with
four seconds left, setting up a potential game-winning 20-yard
field goal by former Cowboy Chris Boniol.
The snap was good, but Hutton bobbled the ball and tried to run
it into the end zone. He ran left, met a crowd of defenders and
fumbled again before recovering in a scramble. Hutton was
tackled by Deion Sanders at the 5 as time ran out.
"I feel bad for letting my team down, but I'll bounce back. It
is nobody's fault but mine," Hutton said. "When you get a
20-yard chip shot, everything's got to be perfect. You practice
it over and over, but all we can do is do it better next time."
"All I remember is the surprise of seeing the ball on the
ground. I just remember seeing the ball bounce and Tom not
being able to get a handle on it," Boniol said. "I'm very
disappointed both for our fans, because I know how much it means
to them that we beat the Cowboys, but also for the team because
we had them beat."
Sanders joked, "Someone better check that holder's locker. He
may have a suitcase in there with a lot of money."
The Cowboys scored their first offensive touchdown in the last
two games after Aikman ran the two-minute drill and moved them
62 yards before finding Miller in the back of the end zone.
The Eagles (1-2) lost for the 10th time in their last 12
meetings with Dallas, despite 106 rushing yards on 20 carries
from Ricky Watters.
"I thought that our guys gave a great effort tonight. However,
all of the errors that we had wasted that effort," Eagles coach
Ray Rhodes said. "No doubt this is a very frustrating way to
lose. This is the most frustrating loss of my career."
On their final drive, the Cowboys faced a 4th-and-5 at their own
43 with just over two minutes to play. Aikman threw a pass
intended for Stepfret Williams and the ball was knocked away,
but cornerback Charles Dimry was called for pass interference.
Replays showed, however, that no penalty should have been called
because Eagles lineman Mike Mamula tipped the pass at the line
of scrimmage.
Aikman completed 17-of-36 passes for 205 yards and hit Michael
Irvin, who left the game with leg cramps, four times for 73
yards. Emmitt Smith rushed for 91 yards on 27 carries but has
yet to score a touchdown this season.
"I think you need games like this," said Aikman. "We struggled
last week and lost. We struggled tonight and saw we could win.
That will be important for us."
A pair of sacks by cornerback Bobby Taylor forced two fumbles by
Aikman, leading to 10 points for Philadelphia in the first
quarter. The first set up Boniol's 49-yard field goal just over
five minutes into the game.
Richie Cunningham's 46-yard field goal tied the game, but
Philadelphia reclaimed the lead on the Cowboys' next possession.
Linebacker William Thomas picked up a fumble by Aikman and ran
37 yards for a touchdown and a 10-3 lead.
"On the two fumbles that came out of my hand, they were on the
same blitz," Aikman said. "We didn't do a good job of picking
it up. They blitzed in the first half and gave us some real
problems. In the second half, they didn't come after me as
much."
After forcing a punt, the Eagles went 69 yards in 12 plays,
ending with Detmer's 12-yard TD pass to Chad Lewis for a 17-3
lead.
Cunningham's 48-yard field goal just before halftime cut the
margin to 17-6.
Former Eagle Herschel Walker returned the second-half kickoff 43
yards, but Dallas had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by
Cunningham.
Boniol hit a 44-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter
to put the Eagles up 20-9, but Brock Marion returned the ensuing
kick 49 yards to the Philadelphia 41. Cunningham's 23-yard kick
lifted Dallas within eight points.
Cunningham added his fifth field goal, a 22-yarder with 5:25 to
play, slicing the margin to 20-15.
"We were real fortunate today, but we can't rely on winning
games like that," Sanders added. "We can't be successful when
we let the offense drive down like that to have a chance to win.
That's something we have to fix. We won't win any Super Bowls
until we can stop their offense in the clutch.
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