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Switzer gives Cowboys all the blame

By BART HUBBUCH

Knight-Ridder Tribune

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Still fuming at what he had just witnessed, Barry Switzer dispensed with the usual coaching pleasantries Sunday afternoon.

The upstart New York Giants weren't going to get much, if any, credit from the Cowboys coach for upending his reeling team, 20-17, in an NFC East matchup in front of 77,137 at Giants Stadium.

No, the Cowboys were going to get all the blame.

"We beat ourselves," Switzer said, almost spitting his words. "The better team got their butts beat today because it made too many mistakes."

The identity of the better team was a matter of debate after the Giants (3-3) dropped Dallas to 3-2 - and, more ominously, 1-2 in the division - with their eighth victory in the Cowboys' last 11 visits to the Meadowlands.

Switzer's "better team" committed 11 penalties for 119 yards, watched quarterback Troy Aikman throw two huge interceptions and sputtered once again inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Sure, the Cowboys came out of their offensive coma, outgaining New York by more than 250 yards (428-166), running up more than twice as many first downs (27-13) and controlling the clock for nearly 41 minutes.

But it was the injury-ravaged Giants - minus their best receiver and down to their second-string quarterback and third-string tailback - who were celebrating when time expired.

And it was the Cowboys pondering a lost opportunity with three more grueling road games in the next four weeks.

"There's a lot of what-ifs," said Aikman, who threw for 317 yards while setting club records for completions (34) and attempts (52). "I could go through a lot of things that hurt this football team and maybe kept us from winning this football game."

Appropriately, the Cowboys' last gasp was snuffed out by a penalty. Right tackle Erik Williams, already guilty on two earlier flags, didn't get downfield fast enough for the Cowboys to ground the ball and tie the score with a 34-yard field goal by Richie Cunningham.

Williams was penalized for a false start with no time remaining, thereby ending the game after Aikman had found Eric Bjornson for 32 yards over the middle on the previous play. The Cowboys were out of timeouts, having burned one in the third quarter.

If Williams had been set, the Giants' Chad Bratzke would have been penalized for offsides.

"I'm not sure what happened," Williams said.

If you asked Cowboys wideout Anthony Miller, the final play didn't matter.

"We shouldn't have even been in that situation," Miller said.

Miller was correct on that point. Dallas' offense, mired in a deep funk for the past three games, broke out with the help of better blitz protection and a few new wrinkles, including more runs to the outside and frequent three- and four-receiver sets.

Switzer also kept his promise to use Sherman Williams more in place of the struggling Emmitt Smith. Williams appeared on the game's second possession and finished with eight carries for 28 yards in extended playing time.

Smith, who now has not scored a touchdown in a career-long seven consecutive regular-season games, finished with 91 yards on 19 carries.

"That's the most rest I've had in a ballgame in the eight years that I've been playing here," Smith said. "It probably should have happened a long time ago. Sherman spelled me and did a great job."

The overall result was plenty of yardage, plenty of first downs ... and too many field goals. Despite amassing nearly 500 yards, the Cowboys mustered just one touchdown in five trips inside the Giants' 20.

The touchdown came on a two-yard pass from Aikman to Miller, but just 1:54 remained and the Cowboys had to burn their last two timeouts trying to get the ball back after failing to recover David Patten's fumbled kickoff.

"We didn't have enough time on the clock," Aikman said.

Actually, the Cowboys' downfall began long before that. Their inability to convert chances early and put away the Giants allowed the NFL's youngest team to hang around and gain confidence.

Momentum then swung New York's way when ineffective quarterback Dave Brown left for good in the second quarter after reinjuring his shoulder. He was replaced by crowd favorite Danny Kanell, who quickly gave the fifth-largest turnout in Giants history reason to cheer.

Kanell, who completed 10 of 17 passes on the day, forged a 6-6 tie by the third quarter, then watched the Giants go ahead for good on safety Tito Wooten's 61-yard touchdown return of an interception.

Kanell followed by directing the Giants' second and final scoring drive, although it consisted mostly of a 26-yard interference penalty on Dallas cornerback Kevin Smith. Smith also was whistled for taking off his helmet, giving the Giants the ball at the Cowboys 3. Charles Way scored on the next play, putting New York up, 20-9.

Dallas followed with its two-minute scramble, but the Cowboys were the only ones left dazed when it was over.

"We had more to do with losing the ballgame than probably they did winning it," Switzer said. "We made mistakes and penalties, and we beat ourselves today. We made too many mistakes to win it."