Tuesday, October 13, 1998

Cowboys defeat Panthers

By Charles Chandler

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - Like the Carolina Panthers' season, the pass that could have saved Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys sailed uncontrollably off target.

On the final play, quarterback Steve Beuerlein hurled a pass into the right corner of the end zone and hoped one of three receivers could out-jump Dallas' defensive backs for the ball.

They would have needed a trampoline.

The pass was so high and long it didn't come down until it had flown out of the end zone.

Thus ended a 27-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, which dropped the Panthers to 0-5 to match the worst start in their four-year history.

It wasn't the storybook finish Beuerlein wanted. He played well in his first start as Kerry Collins' successor (22-of-32 passing for 286 yards and three touchdowns), but was disappointed he couldn't finish the job.

"I'm supposed to put the ball in play and give someone a chance to make a miracle catch," Beuerlein said. "What do I do? I get all juiced up and throw it out of the end zone."

For the fourth time, the Panthers lost a close game. They did it in familiar fashion.

Three of the trademarks of their dreadful season - turnovers, penalties and injuries - were present again.

The Panthers essentially gave the Cowboys a touchdown when Beuerlein and fullback William Floyd fouled up a handoff and fumbled the ball away at the Carolina 3.

The not-so-special teams units committed penalties on three consecutive kickoff returns, forcing the offense to start drives at the 9-, 10-, and 10-yard lines.

The defense couldn't stop the running of Emmitt Smith and the passing of Jason Garrett.

Coach Dom Capers was disgusted, saying, "We shot ourselves in the foot."

Tight end Wesley Walls thought the wound probably was higher up.

"We're going to go to a brain surgeon and get a lobotomy," Walls said with a snarl. "That's what we need because we're playing like a bunch of stupid idiots."

There is no end in sight to their misery.

They'll be underdogs at Tampa Bay next week. They'll almost certainly have to play without starting left tackle Blake Brockermeyer, who strained a knee and is expected to be out for more than a month.

At the end of a week when Collins resigned as starting quarterback and running back Fred Lane was yanked from the lineup for missing the team plane, Sunday's events only sunk the Panthers deeper into a pit.

"It's like a car wreck you don't expect," said running back Anthony Johnson, who was held to 28 yards rushing on 16 carries as Lane's replacement. "Everything is in the midst of chaos. You keep thinking it can't get any worse, but I guess we don't know when it's going to be at its darkest. I just know it feels like there's a lot of oppression right now.

"You pray you have the gumption to stay the course and be steadfast. To me, the big thing is to remember how it is right now so that when we get on the other side, we're really going to feel the accomplishment. I know that sounds crazy, but that's what we've got to hold on to - that hope."

The Panthers had high hopes of winning their first game midway through the second quarter after Beuerlein zipped a 16-yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 14-3 lead.

It was the second time they had scored. The first was a 35-yarder late in the first quarter.

But, as it turned out, the Panthers' destiny was foretold before that on an early Cowboys drive. In a span of three plays, Carolina cornerback Rod Smith was burned for passes of 38 and 42 yards, as Garrett hit Michael Irvin and Ernie Mills, respectively.

"I played like a dog," Smith said.

He wasn't the only Fido on a Panthers defense that allowed the Cowboys 428 yards of offense.

"We continue to give up big plays in one-on-one situations on defense," Capers said. "You can't give up the number of big plays we gave up today on defense and beat a good football team."

Dallas cut Carolina's lead to 14-10 on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Garrett to Mills with 4:52 left in the first half.

That's where the score stood at halftime.

The Panthers chances of winning began to crumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, when rookie Jerry Jensen was penalized 10 yards for holding.

That meant instead of starting at the 20-yard line, the Panthers were pinned at their 10.

Two plays later, Brockermeyer's replacement, undrafted rookie Rob Bohlinger, was beaten for a sack by defensive end Greg Ellis, a rookie first-round pick out of North Carolina. The 9-yard loss backed the Panthers to their one.

Then came the fumble when Beuerlein and Floyd couldn't finish a handoff, which became the springboard for Dallas' win.

The Cowboys scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays later on a shovel pass from Garrett to Chris Warren and never trailed again.

(c) 1998, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).

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