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Cardinals edge past Cowboys
Source: Agencies |
December 27, 2010, Monday
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A MISSED Dallas conversion was followed by Jay Feely's 48-yard field goal winner with five seconds to play, as the Arizona Cardinals won 27-26 win against the Cowboys on Saturday's NFL Christmas Day game between two lowly teams.
Third-string quarterbacks when the season began, John Skelton and Stephen McGee had lead parts in a game between two teams that would be looking forward to next week's season-closing game to put disappointing campaigns behind them.
"Really, nothing's bigger than beating the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day right now," Cardinals rookie Skelton said. "Whiz (coach Ken Whisenhunt) was shaking my hand before the game and I said, 'We have one last gift to unwrap.' Sure enough, it took the last minute, but we got it."
Dallas (5-10) rallied from 18 points down to take a 26-24 lead when McGee, in his first NFL game, threw 45 yards to Miles Austin for a touchdown with 1:46 to play. But David Buehler's attempted conversion went wide left, opening the door for Arizona to clinch the game with a field goal.
"I'm not feeling too good," Buehler said. "I feel bad for Stephen. He drove the team down there and got the touchdown. PATs are something that is something automatic. You have to put them through the uprights. I just rushed it a little bit."
Arizona (5-10) was in deep trouble after the kickoff, but Skelton, on fourth-and-15 from the Cardinals 19, threw 26 yards to fellow rookie Max Komar. Then the Cardinals slipped into kicking range. Feely, who had a 49-yarder earlier, had missed only three kicks all season and duly slotted the winner.
Dallas fell behind 14-0 when quarterback Jon Kitna had interceptions returned for touchdowns on the Cowboys' first two possessions. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned the first 32 yards, and Greg Toler the second 66.
It was the first time since 1999 a team had returned two interceptions for scores in the first quarter.
Under clear skies with the stadium roof open and at least half the capacity crowd cheering for Dallas, the Cardinals took a 21-3 lead. Skelton, in his third NFL start, connected with wide-open rookie Andre Roberts on a 74-yard play for the young quarterback's first NFL touchdown pass.
End zone
Kitna, the starter since Tony Romo went down with a broken collarbone, got Dallas in the end zone before halftime. The 38-year-old quarterback scrambled 7 yards up the middle to the Arizona 2-yard line, and on fourth down threw to Jason Witten for the score.
He left the field and immediately went to the locker room with a hip injury and didn't play again.
McGee stepped in, repeatedly connecting on third-down passes. He finished 11 of 17 for 111 yards with no interceptions.
The Cowboys dominated the third quarter, holding Arizona to 23 yards and no first downs, outscoring the Cardinals 10-0 to cut the lead to 21-20.
Feely kicked a 49-yarder that boosted Arizona's lead to 24-20, forcing the Cowboys to go for a touchdown.
They got it on a perfect pass by McGee onto Austin's fingertips.
The best Arizona could hope for was overtime, everyone thought. Then Buehler missed a conversion kick for the second time in 40 tries.
Third-string quarterbacks when the season began, John Skelton and Stephen McGee had lead parts in a game between two teams that would be looking forward to next week's season-closing game to put disappointing campaigns behind them.
"Really, nothing's bigger than beating the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day right now," Cardinals rookie Skelton said. "Whiz (coach Ken Whisenhunt) was shaking my hand before the game and I said, 'We have one last gift to unwrap.' Sure enough, it took the last minute, but we got it."
Dallas (5-10) rallied from 18 points down to take a 26-24 lead when McGee, in his first NFL game, threw 45 yards to Miles Austin for a touchdown with 1:46 to play. But David Buehler's attempted conversion went wide left, opening the door for Arizona to clinch the game with a field goal.
"I'm not feeling too good," Buehler said. "I feel bad for Stephen. He drove the team down there and got the touchdown. PATs are something that is something automatic. You have to put them through the uprights. I just rushed it a little bit."
Arizona (5-10) was in deep trouble after the kickoff, but Skelton, on fourth-and-15 from the Cardinals 19, threw 26 yards to fellow rookie Max Komar. Then the Cardinals slipped into kicking range. Feely, who had a 49-yarder earlier, had missed only three kicks all season and duly slotted the winner.
Dallas fell behind 14-0 when quarterback Jon Kitna had interceptions returned for touchdowns on the Cowboys' first two possessions. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie returned the first 32 yards, and Greg Toler the second 66.
It was the first time since 1999 a team had returned two interceptions for scores in the first quarter.
Under clear skies with the stadium roof open and at least half the capacity crowd cheering for Dallas, the Cardinals took a 21-3 lead. Skelton, in his third NFL start, connected with wide-open rookie Andre Roberts on a 74-yard play for the young quarterback's first NFL touchdown pass.
End zone
Kitna, the starter since Tony Romo went down with a broken collarbone, got Dallas in the end zone before halftime. The 38-year-old quarterback scrambled 7 yards up the middle to the Arizona 2-yard line, and on fourth down threw to Jason Witten for the score.
He left the field and immediately went to the locker room with a hip injury and didn't play again.
McGee stepped in, repeatedly connecting on third-down passes. He finished 11 of 17 for 111 yards with no interceptions.
The Cowboys dominated the third quarter, holding Arizona to 23 yards and no first downs, outscoring the Cardinals 10-0 to cut the lead to 21-20.
Feely kicked a 49-yarder that boosted Arizona's lead to 24-20, forcing the Cowboys to go for a touchdown.
They got it on a perfect pass by McGee onto Austin's fingertips.
The best Arizona could hope for was overtime, everyone thought. Then Buehler missed a conversion kick for the second time in 40 tries.
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