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Furious Finish takes a bounce for Cowboys

By Dave Ivey

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - It took just 51 seconds on Monday night for an otherwise yawn-inspiring game to become one for the "Monday Night Football" annals.

The dramatic conclusion to the Cowboys' 21-20 come-from-behind victory against Philadelphia began with a go-ahead touchdown throw from Troy Aikman to Anthony Miller, who plucked the ball away from Tim Watson in the back of the end zone with 51 seconds left.

The Eagles then drove from their 16-yard line inside the Dallas 5 behind Ty Detmer and had a chance, with four seconds left, to win the game on a short field goal by ex-Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol.

The routine quickly became the ridiculous.

Eagles holder Tom Hutton bobbled the snap, got up and tried to run with it but fumbled it away. Brock Marion recovered for Dallas.

"That was wacky - real wacky," Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith said. "The "Monday Night" ratings went up after this game."

The Cowboys' bench erupted onto the field in celebration as Eagles players slammed their helmets to the turf in disgust.

The game-winning Cowboys touchdown drive snapped a string of nine consecutive trips inside the red zone without a TD.

A questionable pass-interference penalty against Charles Dimry on fourth-and-five extended the Dallas drive, which began with 2:56 remaining and 62 yards to go. Television replays showed that Eagles defensive end Mike Mamula tipped the fourth-down pass, which would have negated interference had the referees seen it. Instead, the Cowboys got a first down.

Aikman then completed a 3-yard pass to Emmitt Smith before connecting on a 24-yarder to Eric Bjornson, who stretched out in the air to catch the ball in his fingertips. After a short completion to Sanders, Aikman rolled left and found Miller in the back of the end zone.

After a failed two-point conversion, the Eagles took over at the Dallas 16. On third-and-10, Detmer hit Michael Timpson for a 13-yard gain. On the next play, Freddie Solomon turned a short completion into a 46-yard gain and ran all the way to the Dallas 4. Omar Stoutmire saved the touchdown. Philadelphia called its final timeout to set up the field-goal attempt.

"In the six years that I've been here, there have been a lot of times I've left this stadium shaking my head," Kevin Smith said. "It's about time we finally get a break, and it's about time that the bounces finally go our way."

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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