[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Cowboys fall, 21-16, to Redskins

By Josie Karp

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

LANDOVER, Md. - It was the defining moment of the game and the season so far.

With slightly less than 10 minutes to play Monday night and the Cowboys trailing the Washington Redskins 21-9, quarterback Troy Aikman laced a pass to wide receiver Michael Irvin in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

From there, trailing 21-16, the Cowboys' offense could go either of two ways.

Their defense was playing well enough to stop a Redskins offense that was struggling without its leading rusher (Terry Allen) and leading receiver (Michael Westbrook). One more touchdown would give them the lead and maybe the kind of confidence and momentum they have lacked since a victory in the season opener.

Instead, the offense went the same way it has gone all season: nowhere, resulting in a 21-16 loss.

Despite getting the ball back twice with the same score, including once inside Redskins territory, the offense could not generate another score. The Redskins held on for a victory in front of a frenzied Jack Kent Cooke Stadium crowd of 76,159.

"It's frustrating," Cowboys coach Barry Switzer said. "It's frustrating as hell. We've got some challenges, and the guys have to work through them."

The challenge at the beginning of the season was securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The challenge today is simply making the postseason. The Cowboys are 3-3, with all three losses coming in the NFC East. In the division they trail not only the Redskins (4-2), but also the New York Giants (4-3), the team that humbled them a week ago.

"Some guys in this locker room haven't been here when we were winning," quarterback Troy Aikman said. "We have to show them how to win. I don't expect anyone to quit on this football team."

Things do not get any easier. After playing the 5-1 Jacksonville Jaguars at Texas Stadium on Sunday, the Cowboys play their next two games on the road, against the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

The Cowboys' record this season is identical to the record they had at this point a year ago. But the record reveals a portrait of different teams.

Startlingly, this year's is worse.

That team was elated to reach the .500 mark, after starting out 1-3. This team is disappointed, after starting out 3-1.

They could not, however, be surprised.

"We just bogged down and couldn't make plays," Switzer said.

What was stunning about last night's game was the fact that there was nothing surprising about it. The Cowboys lost because the offense could not score touchdowns, something they struggled to do ever since scoring four of them in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The tone for the game was set on the first drive.

The Cowboys got an immediate chance to improve upon their pathetic touchdown ratio inside their opponents' 20-yard line. And they immediately blew it.

This time the main culprit was rookie David LaFleur, who was called for an illegal procedure on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

It helped waste what started out as a positive drive for the Cowboys' offense. Running back Emmitt Smith opened the game with a 16-yard run and immediately followed it with an 11-yard scramble. The Cowboys looked like a juggernaut when Aikman hit Irvin, with cornerback Cris Dishman clinging to his arm, for a 42-yard gain.

It brought the Cowboys to the 12-yard line and the area of the field where they have struggled mightily. The struggles continued. In addition to LaFleur's gaffe, Smith ran three times for a total of 4 yards. Aikman was left to try to scramble for the touchdown on third down, and for his efforts got clobbered by linebackers Ken Harvey and Marvcus Patton 2 yards short of the end zone.

The end result should surprise no one by now - a 19-yard Richie Cunningham field goal.

The offense did not get back inside the Redskins' 20-yard line until that Aikman-to-Irvin touchdown.

The offense did however, get one crack at the end zone. The defense, which got an emotional boost when strong safety Darren Woodson started despite suffering a hyperextended right knee and a bone bruise in practice Thursday, scored the Cowboys' first touchdown. It came late in the third quarter with the Cowboys already trailing 21-3.

Woodson caused running back Brian Mitchell to fumble, and rookie linebacker Dexter Coakley ran the ball 16 yards for a touchdown. With the score 21-9, the offense marched out to try for a two-point conversion.

Aikman's pass to Irvin fell incomplete.

The Redskins, meanwhile, capitalized when given opportunities early in the game. They built a 14-3 halftime lead, and then added to it early in the third quarter after Aikman fumbled when Harvey sacked him.

The turnover set up backup running back Stephen Davis' second touchdown of the game. It came with just more than four minutes gone by in the second half. The extra point made it 21-3. It was the last time the Redskins would score. But it was enough for the victory.

"I'm disappointed that we've lost three tough games that were very close but that's this league," Switzer said.

This year, that's this Cowboys team.

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.startext.net; www.arlington.net; and www.netarrant.net.

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.