Cowboys have two more games to get back in synch before playoffs after 10-6 loss to Philly
IRVING, Texas: Another home game like this and the Dallas Cowboys will be out of the playoffs in a hurry.
Good thing for the NFC East champion Cowboys, they have a couple of regular-season games left to get back in synch after a 10-6 loss Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"We've just got to really recognize what this feels like," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "And what it would feel like if you did this in the playoffs."
Dallas (12-2) secured a first-round playoff bye even before kickoff because Seattle had already lost. The Cowboys won't be back at Texas Stadium until the second weekend of January for their first postseason home game in nine years.
With games left at Carolina and Washington, Dallas is still trying to clinch home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs. Dallas and Green Bay are tied for the NFC's best record, but the Cowboys own the tiebreaker for beating the Packers last month.
"As frustrated and upset as I am right now, you can't take too long to dwell on this," said quarterback Tony Romo, who bruised the thumb on his throwing hand but insisted he was OK.
The Cowboys certainly will have to play a lot better than they did Sunday, when they had their fewest yards of the season (240) and didn't score a touchdown for the first time since November 2004. It was their second straight lousy outing.
"Maybe this is good for us, a gut check," Terrell Owens said.
While avenging a lopsided loss to Dallas six weeks ago, Philadelphia (6-8) snapped a three-game losing streak and kept alive hopes of earning a wild-card playoff berth.
Brian Westbrook gained 81 yards on 18 rushes and 63 yards on nine receptions. His most satisfying play came when he busted loose for a 24-yard run, then bypassed an easy score by stopping on his own inside the 1 just before the 2-minute warning.
Dallas was already out of timeouts, and Donovan McNabb only had to take a knee three straight times to run out the clock.
"It was brilliant," Eagles coach Andy Reid said of Westbrook's move. "He used that Villanova education and transferred it to the football field."
A week earlier at Detroit, the Cowboys got the ball with 2:15 and no timeouts left and drove 83 yards for a game-winning touchdown. They also won at Buffalo when they overcame six turnovers by Tony Romo by scoring nine points in the final 20 seconds.
"We've been in situations this year where we came away with wins in these type of situations," Marcus Spears said. "It catches up with you. It did today."
The Cowboys had won seven straight games since their Oct. 14 home loss to still-undefeated New England. They are still one shy of matching the franchise record of 13 victories.
McNabb was 23-of-41 for 208 yards and a touchdown, which he celebrated with the kind of spread-armed, arched-back gesture Owens used when he played for the Eagles. He also ran nine times for a season-high 53 yards, with a season-best 28-yarder.
McNabb denied borrowing a page from T.O.'s celebration manual.
"I've been through a lot this season, so I was just giving thanks to the man upstairs," McNabb said.
He was hardly dominant, getting sacked four times and failing to convert on several third-and-shorts. Then again, he also overcame the loss in the first quarter of right guard Shawn Andrews (knee) and tight end Matt Schobel (concussion), who started because L.J. Smith (knee) was already inactive.
Philadelphia's defense gave up 38 points and 434 yards last time against the Cowboys. This time, Dallas didn't get a first down in the first quarter and Tony Romo started 0-for-6 after having only five incompletions last month.
Tony Romo finished 13-of-36 for 214 yards, with a career-low rating of 22.2. It came in front of his parents and his newest celebrity girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, who tugged the front of her pink No. 9 jersey, then mouthed the word "Tony Romo!" when cameras spotted her.
"But you know what, we've been fortunate through this season," said Owens, whose only two catches came in the fourth quarter. "We're very fortunate to lose a game and get a first-round bye and still have an opportunity to have home-field advantage. We're just got to win out."
Notes:@ Reggie Brown scored the Eagles' TD on a 1-yard catch just before halftime, minutes after he wound up inside a giant Salvation Army red kettle while trying to avoid running over a cheerleader. "I was running too fast to slow down," he said. "I was happy there wasn't any presents in there. I didn't want to squish anyone's presents." ... Jason Witten had eight catches, including a 53-yarder that made him the first Dallas eight end with a 1,000-yard season.
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