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But the game was actually not as close as it appeared, as consufing as that may sound. Philadelphia intercepted a pass intended for Irvin at their own 2 yard line. A catch at that point by Irvin and Dallas would have been in the end zone, adding another 7 points to the final score.
"From my standpoint, they outclassed us in every area," Eagles coach Ray Rhodes said. "It's very disappointing as a team. We worked hard to get to this point. As a coach, I'm disappointed. Going into the game, our guys were very excited. Things just didn't materialize for us. I think that we didn't execute on offense as well as I would have liked."
Emmitt Smith passed Roger Craig and Gerald Riggs on the NFL all-time rushing list moving into 15th place with a performance reaching 8,320 yards. He also has 91 career TDs, passing Charlie Taylro and Leroy Kelly to move into 12th spot on that all-time list. He is currently tied with ex-Cowboy Tony Dorsett and Bobby Mitchell. He currently has 1,137 yards on the season, a healthy 245 yards ahead of his nearest competitor Barry Sanders. His TDs against the Eagles gives him 16, also a league best.
Aikman finished 17 of 24 for 202 yards with an interception and a touchdown.
But the record talk last night belonged to Michael Irvin. His 115-yard performance gave him 7 consecutive 100-yard games, tying him with Charley Hennigan and Bill Groman of the Oilers in 1961.
"The record means a lot," Irvin said. "It's like coach Switzer said, the record was set before I was born. That puts it in perspective. Getting the record would be a true blessing but the key is winning."
"We didn't play great tonight but we won. We didn't have the killer instinct, we let them back in it. We've got to keep teams down when we have them there.
The other touchdown was an interception return by Larry Brown.
The Eagles drew first blood, recovering an Emmitt Smith fumble fron his 2nd carry of the game. They went 3 plays with minimal gain and then sent in Gary Anderson to kick a 36-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.
And, after that, it was pretty much over. Smith took the ball from the Eagle 39-yard line and broke through the line for a dash to the end zone to put the Cowboys ahead 7-3. Dallas didn't trail again. Chris Boniol later added a field goal to give Dallas a 10-3 lead after the 1st quarter.
A little over 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter, Aikman hit Irvin on an 11-yard fade pattern for another TD. Irvin was so open there was not another player within 10 yards of him. The Eagles added another field goal before the half. The Eagles had 1 first down in the first quarter and 6 in the 2nd quarter, one of which was a face mask call on an alread 1st and 10 down. The Eagles' first 3 series were 3-and-out.
The Eagles finally got into the end zone with 9:34 to play in the 3rd quarter on a 2-yard run. The two-point conversion failed on an incomplete pass, making the score 17-12 Dallas.
"We still felt we were in it in the second half," Watters said. "I take my hat off to them, they're a great team and they played great today. Our season is not over by any stretch of the imagination. We came in here and played in a very tough environment. We know we're a better team than the one you saw out there tonight."
When they got the ball back, Dallas drove right back down the field and put the ball into the end zone again, giving Smith his 2nd TD of the game and 16th of the season. Boniol added another field goal in the 4th quarter.
It was then that the defense stepped up to get onto the board, with Larry Brown stepping in front of a Rodney Peete pass to stroll 20 yards for a touchdown, his fourth interception of the season and first touchdown of his career.
Peete finished the game 11 of 26 for 133 yards and two interceptions. Watters rushed for 80 yards on 18 carries, Garner for 17 yards and Calvin Williams let the team with 42 receiving yards.
"I'm real disappointed," said Peete, who played for Dallas last season. "Everyone on this team has been looking forward to this game all season. When you want to be one of the best teams in the league, you have to measure yourself against the best. With a team like that, if you get behind, it's very difficult to come back. They are solid from top to bottom and as good on offense as they are on defense."
And "Prime Time" even got into the act, taking a reverse handoff from Kevin Williams to go 43 yards up the sidelines and later was a decoy on the reverse to spring Williams for a big gain.
The Cowboys can now start prepare for the 49ers, a game that before had been marked as a showdown, but now makes us wonder if San Francisco will show up.
We're looking forward to it," Irvin said about this week's game against San Francisco. "People say San Francisco is not at full strength, but if anyone says it won't be a great game, they're kidding you."
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