Monday, September 28, 1998

Cowboys lose to Raiders, 13-12

By JEFF WALKER

Staff Writer

IRVING - The Dallas Cowboys let one get away.

A missed field goal and two interceptions in the end zone led to the Cowboys' 13-12 loss Sunday to the Oakland Raiders at Texas Stadium.

Eric Turner's interception on a deep pass from Jason Garrett to Billy Davis with under two minutes to play sealed the victory.

"Eric Turner has played great all year and will continue to have a good season," Oakland linebacker Pat Swilling said of Turner, who grabbed his third pick of the season.

"Our corners have done a great job and stepped up big time today. We just had a strong collective effort by everyone today."

After Friday's practice Dallas head coach Chan Gailey let it be known he wasn't pleased with the team's production that day. He said he wasn't sure if the ineffectiveness of that practice carried over into Sunday's game with the Raiders.

"We had a poor practice on Friday but I do not know if that is a direct reflection of this game," he said. "We have to make the plays, we made too many bad plays in this game."

One of the "bad plays" prevented the Cowboys from scoring a touchdown in the third quarter.

With the Cowboys trailing 10-3 with 3:03 to play in the quarter, Dallas started a drive on the Oakland 49 yard line after the defense forced a punt deep in Raider territory.

Garrett marched the Cowboys down to the seven yard line before he was picked off in the end zone by 1997 Heismann Trophy winner Charles Woodson - his first interception as a pro.

"First of all we wanted to stop the run," Woodson said. "We feel that if we can make a team pass then they will be playing into our hands. With the talent we have in our secondary we feel we can play with anybody once they start throwing the ball."

The intended reciever on the play was Michael Irvin, but Garrett threw the ball toward the sideline and Irvin was breaking towards the middle of the field.

"They ran the ball on first and second down," Oakland head coach Jon Gruden said. "When you're in the red area (within the opponents 20 yard line) the field gets tight and Charles read the ball right and got the interception."

Despite the offensive miscues, the Dallas defense kept the Cowboys in the game all afternoon. Oakland's lone touchdown of the game came on a 75 yard pass from Jeff George to James Jett that bounced off cornerback Kevin Smith's shoulder pads, ricocheted up in the air, and landed perfectly in Jett's hands.

"I was just trying to beat (Smith) deep on a go route," Jett said. "Jeff threw a great ball and it hit the defensive back in the shoulder pads and I just grabbed it."

Smith said he couldn't have played any better.

"That's just part of the game," he said. "I felt it hit my arm and instead of bouncing off to the side, it went straight up in the air and there is no catching (Jett) after that. It was a lucky bounce and that's all there is to say about that."

The Cowboys' lone touchdown was set up by a similar play in Dallas' favor. Garrett hit Davis on a short pass and Davis broke one tackle and raced 55 yards down to the Raiders' 1-yard line.

Emmitt Smith, who finished the game with 33 yards on just 11 carries, scored on the next play to pull the Cowboys within three, 13-10, with six minutes to play in the ball game.

"We were able to control the Dallas running game," Gruden said. "We set some goals at the beginning of the ear and the number one goal is to improve and we have been ablt to do that from week to week and now we are a .500 team."

Both kickers missed field goals. Oakland kicker Greg Davis, who hit form 30 and 38 yards, missed a 48 yarder wide left.

Dallas' Richie Cunningham booted a field goal from 40 yards away in the second quarter, but missed from 37 yards out 10 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Jeff Walker can be reached at 676-6711 or at sports@abinews.com.