This result of today’s loss to Philadelphia was bound to happen, I suppose, given that the Cowboys have started slowly in so many games. This was still hard to take, though. The Cowboys had chance after chance today, only to fail to capitalize. Here are the key plays:

* 1st Quarter (10:39): Julius Jones gains five yards on a first down run. He also finished the game with five yards. There is no reason at all for him to be a starter.

* 1st Quarter (9:53): Tony Romo missed Terrell Owens on a deep route that may have gone all the way. It was the first of a number of bad throws. It was followed by a drop by Sam Hurd.

* 1st Quarter (6:23): Roy Williams called for a horse collar tackle on Donovan McNabb, putting the ball in Dallas territory. Williams needs to be suspended, just for being so stupid that he can’t avoid committing a penalty named after him.

* 1st Quarter (4:38): David Akers misses a 47-yard field goal. This should have given Dallas some momentum. Should have (…it was a three-and-out).

* 2nd Quarter (11:32): Tony Romo hits Jason Witten on a 53-yard pass, giving the tight end more than 1,000 yards this season (his first). Ordinarily, this would spark the Dallas offense, but…

* 2nd Quarter (9:57): Romo is picked off by Quintin Mikell in the end zone. For some odd reason, Mikell decides to run it out, fumbling it back to Dallas at the 14. Big break for the Cowboys, who could not move the ball any further, settling for a field goal.

* 2nd Quarter (2:23): Instead of a momentum-building final drive of the first half, Romo threw the worst pass of the day. Trying to force the ball to Owens, he was instead picked off by Lito Sheppard. This set up the Eagles’ touchdown at the end of the first half, and Dallas would never lead again.

* 3rd Quarter (8:30): Dallas moved the ball to the Philadelphia 3 but was unable to punch it in. A field goal cut the lead to 7-6.

* 4th Quarter (13:34): An Akers field goal effectively put the game away, because the Dallas offense had fallen apart at that point.

* 4th Quarter (2:57): On the would-be final comeback drive, Romo followed up a sack by throwing to Philadelphia safety Brian Dawkins.

* 4th Quarter (2:38): The Eagles faced a 3rd and 9 when McNabb hit Brent Celek on a 29-yard pass. This allowed the Eagles to run the clock out in Dallas territory.

What This Loss Means

Dallas and Green Bay now have identical 12-2 records. Dallas needs to stay even with the Packers to have home field advantage (though, to be sure, I’m not sure that home field is all that important to this year’s squad).

On the brighter side, the Cowboys earned a first-round bye due to Seattle’s 13-10 loss to the Panthers.

Final Two Opponents

The Panthers and Redskins both won this week against teams with better records, so the Cowboys do not have the cakewalk that we might have wanted.

Video Highlights

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