[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Cowboys go on mystique or mistakes

By Jean-Jacques Taylor / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas -- You can call it mystique. Or you can call it divine intervention. Or maybe you can consult tarot cards and the Psychic Hotline searching for an answer.

But some franchises like the Cowboys know how to win games they should lose.

Dallas did put its mystique -- or whatever you choose to call it -- to the ultimate test Monday night in a bizarre 21-20 win over Philadelphia.

What other explanation is there for a fourth quarter in which the Cowboys lost? Then won. Then lost. Then finally won.

There's certainly no logical explanation for former Cowboy Chris Boniol, one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, not getting a chance to beat his former team because of a botched hold.

Perhaps, though, it's not a surprise the Cowboys won. For the last three decades, they have been one of those teams that figures out how to win.

After all, former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach was nicknamed Captain Comeback. And the Cowboys' annals include Drew Pearson's Hail Mary catch and Clint Longley's Thanksgiving Day Bomb.

But those victories were classic comebacks.

The Cowboys eerie win Monday night seemed like something out of the Twilight Zone because of the ride it gave players, coaches and fans.

"I don't know if I've ever been in an emotional roller coaster like that one," offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese said. "You had to think Chris was going to make it unless we blocked it, because he's so good under pressure."

Nearly every break favored the Cowboys in the fourth quarter. And they needed all of them to win.

The biggest break occurred on the game's final play.

With Philadelphia trailing by one point, a 46-yard catch-and-run by Freddie Solomon put the Eagles at the Cowboys' 4-yard line with four seconds remaining.

The irony was unmistakable.

Boniol was about to kick the game-winning 22-yard field goal. From that distance, he's as sure a bet as Secretariat in 1973.

Boniol owns two of the five longest streaks for consecutive field goals in NFL history, and he likes pressure.

"I closed my eyes because I was scared to look," tight ends coach Robert Ford said. "After a couple of seconds when I didn't hear any noise, I opened my eyes and looked because the ball was supposed to be gone by then."

But holder Tom Hutton bobbled a perfect snap, and Boniol never attempted the kick. Hutton tried to set the ball up, but Boniol's timing had been thrown off and he stopped just as he approached the ball.

The Cowboys, having resigned themselves to defeat, barely rushed the kick. Actually, Boniol might have had enough time to take a step back, gather himself and kick the ball anyway.

"That would have been tough," said Dallas special-teams coach Joe Avezzano. "I don't know if he would have had enough time to do that."

Hutton ran around left end, while holding the ball precariously in his right hand. Fittingly, he dropped it without being hit.

The game ended as he fell on the ball.

As his fellow coaches celebrated and the unmistakable sound of victory filled the coaching box, Zampese said relief consumed him.

"I just walked to the elevator," he said. "I was too tired to do anything else."

The Cowboys' mystique began working full force at the end of the first half, when Philadelphia cornerback Troy Vincent strained a hamstring.

He did not return.

Without Vincent, the Eagles didn't blitz nearly as much, because they didn't want his replacement, Charles Dimry, playing man-to-man against Anthony Miller or Michael Irvin on a regular basis.

It's no coincidence Aikman completed 4 of 16 passes for 42 yards in the first half and 13 of 20 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown in the second half.

Fate intervened elsewhere, too.

How else can you explain much-maligned defensive end Shante Carver, a former first-round pick, making one of the best plays of his career? On third-and-2 from the Philadelphia 29, Ricky Watters ran off left tackle, but Carver fought off the tight end, slid into the gap and made the tackle after a 1-yard gain.

The game-winning drive began with two incompletions. On a fourth-and-5 play, Aikman threw an incompletion to Stepfret Williams, who has seven career receptions, but Dimry was penalized for pass interference at the Eagles' 44.

At least 10 Philadelphia players sprinted off the sideline to vehemently argue that the pass had been deflected at the line of scrimmage. Television replays seemed to confirm it, which would have negated the penalty.

"The game should have been over right there," said Philadelphia defensive end Mike Mamula, "but we shouldn't have put ourselves in that position. That's the way the game goes sometimes."

Four plays later, Aikman, showing rare mobility, rolled left before throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass in the middle of the end zone to Anthony Miller.

Miller, standing in the back of the end zone, outfought safety Tim Watson for the ball and a 21-20 lead with 51 seconds left.

The two-point conversion failed, giving Philadelphia a chance to win.

Ty Detmer took full advantage of it.

A 26-yard completion on first down moved Philadelphia to its 37. After two incompletions, Detmer hit Michael Timpson for 13 yards to midfield.

Then the Eagles received a break.

Television replays appeared to show Detmer had crossed the line of scrimmage when he released the ball on the completion to Solomon, who broke a Kevin Smith tackle at the 35.

Solomon zig-zagged down the field and nearly used up the last 16 seconds until rookie Omar Stoutmire tackled him at the 4 with four seconds left, setting up Hutton's gaffe.

"Maybe it's the mystique. Maybe it's the Cowboys," Ford said. "But I am a Texan, and I grew up watching the Cowboys. It was a miracle. It was one of those classic moments for the Cowboys."

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.