Troy Aikman tried to throw the ball away. He ended up throwing away a chance for a victory.
The Philadelphia Eagles won their first game in Texas Stadium in five years by cashing two interceptions into a 31-21 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. It was the last one that was the key.With just seconds left in the game, Dallas on the Philadelphia 3 and appearing ready to at least kick a game-tying field goal, Aikman threw the ball into the end zone.
"I wasn't trying to complete the pass," Aikman said. "I was trying to get rid of it. I should have taken the sack or thrown it out the end zone. It was a bad play."
Eagles linebacker James Willis picked off the pass 4 yards deep in the end zone, ran to the 10 and lateraled to Troy Vincent, who went 90 yards for a touchdown with 12 seconds left.
The Eagles are now 7-2 in the NFC East, and the eight-point favorite Cowboys dropped to 5-4 and in danger of missing the playoffs. It was Philadelphia's first win at Texas Stadium since a 24-0 shutout in 1991.
Philadelphia quarterback Ty Detmer won his fourth consecutive game as a starter and impressed the Cowboys, including cornerback Deion Sanders.
"He makes all the right reads," Sanders said. "He's fundamentally sound. I'm a big fan of his. He's a great quarterback and will be better in time."
Detmer passed for one touchdown, a 14-yarder to Irving Fryar, and scored another on a quarterback draw from 6 yards out.
Aikman was the one who looked like a rookie, but got the backing of his coach.
"I told Troy I wouldn't trade him for any other quarterback in America," said Dallas coach Barry Switzer. "He's a champion, but this will hurt him for a long time."
Safety James Fuller picked off Aikman's pass at the Dallas 35 to set up Gary Anderson's go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 3:19 to play, giving the Eagles a 24-21 edge.
But Aikman rebounded to drive Dallas to the Eagles 3, where on third down Willis made his big play. Willis decided to run the ball out, then looked around and saw Vincent, who sped the rest of the way for the score as the Eagles wildy celebrated."When I saw him (Willis) intercept the ball, I was calling his name, hoping he heard me," Vincent said. "And he did. We were just looking to make a big play out of it. I didn't see anybody on that side of the field and I just kept going. I was going to try to score. We had nothing to lose."
Willis said, "I went over to cover the tight end (Tijay Armstrong) and the ball came to me. Then I heard Troy calling my name."
Emmitt Smith's 7-yard touchdown run and Aikman's conversion pass to tight end Eric Bjornson tied the game at 21 with 10:14 to go.
Smith had two rushing scores for 105 in his NFL career, moving him to No. 4 on the all-time list, one ahead of John Riggins.
"It doesn't mean much when you lose a game like this," Smith said.
Smith rushed 24 times for 113 yards, but was overshadowed by Ricky Watters, who got 116 yards on 24 carries. Detmer completed 19 of 33 passes for 217 yards and no interceptions, while Aikman's day was 21 of 33 for 179 and the two interceptions.
Fryar caught nine passes for 120 yards before suffering a concussion in the fourth quarter. Michael Irvin of the Cowbys caught only seven passes for 89 yards.
"The interception was kind of like when I was here before with Miami and Leon Lett touched the ball (blocked field goal) and we won," Fryar said. "You just have to keep the faith."