Tony Gutierrez/AP
Kyle Orton throws an interception with 1:43 remaining as the Cowboys fall short of winning the NFC East in Week 17 for the third straight year .
EAGLES 24, COWBOYS 22
ARLINGTON, Tex. — Sometimes, you really have to feel for the Cowboys.
On a night when they needed Kyle Orton to be Clint Longley, he ended up being . . . Tony Romo.
The backup quarterback threw the ball as well as Romo could have, he was comfortable in the offense. Like Romo, he made big plays, he provided leadership. But with a chance to finish what Romo — out due to back surgery — had started when he saved the season against the Redskins, Orton repeated
what Romo has done so many times. His late interception, his second of the game, allowed the Eagles to escape with a 24-22 win, another familiar futile finish to a third straight Cowboys season.
The Eagles (10-6) went from worst to first in the NFC East and will host the Saints at Lincoln Financial Saturday night. They sealed the deal when Brian Boykin came up with a ball that Orton threw behind Miles Austin at the Dallas 40 with 1:43 left and the game-winning field goal within sight. Like the Redskins and Giants before them the prior two years, they denied the Cowboys (8-8) the playoffs in a winner-take all game.
“Everybody puts in a lot throughout the season. This was my chance to contribute,” Orton said in front of his locker. “We had a chance to win the game. We had momentum and I’m disappointed.”
Orton, the man the Broncos benched for Tim Tebow in 2011, would have gone down in Cowboys’ lore had he pulled it off. He came close to tying the game with 3:50 left when he led the Cowboys 80 yards on six plays and, on fourth-and-8 from the Philly 30, threw a strike to Dez
Bryant on a slant pattern. Bryant broke away from safety Patrick Chung and took it the rest of the way. Bryant was also the target on the two-point conversion but was well-covered and
Orton’s pass fell short and incomplete.
When the Cowboys’ 32nd-ranked defense, which played one of its better game, forced a punt, Orton had another chance from the Dallas 32. The interception came on the first play.
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“I just threw a bad pass,” said Orton, who finished 30-for-46 for 358 yards with a pair of TDs. “Miles ran a great route, same play we scored on before, went to Miles this time and just threw it behind him. The guy made a nice catch on the ball. I just missed it.
“Like I said, we hit it on the touchdown to Dez. But everybody fought hard and battled throughout the game. We missed a few opportunities throughout the game, interceptions, three turnovers and kicked some field goals when we had a chance to score touchowns. We moved the ball pretty well but didn’t cash in like we needed to.”
The Eagles never trailed in the game after scoring the first 10 points, helped by DeMarco Murray’s first lost fumble of the year on the Cowboys’ opening drive.
Nick Foles threw for a pair of first-half touchdowns and Bryce Brown scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 6-yard run with 6:09 left, extending the lead to 24-16.
Chip Kelly’s offense set a team record for yards and TDs in a season while LeSean McCoy set the Eagles’ single-season rushing record to become the first Eagle in 64 years to lead the league in rushing.
But at the end of the night, it almost seemed to be more about what the Cowboys weren’t able to do, as usual.
“I thought Kyle played really well,” said coach Jason Garrett. “Based on the whole body of work, I thought he did a heck of a job. He had a great week of practice. He was prepared, was confident, the guys responded to him and he made a ton of plays, over and over and over again. At the end, he gave us a hell of a chance to win this game.
“All in all, he handled the situation really well not having played all year long. That’s the kind of guy he is, that’s the kind of pro he is. We’re lucky to have him.”
Jerry Jones, who will likely bring Garrett back for another season, concurred, even if the frustration is building up.
“They never get easy to take,” the owner said. “I saw good things. I saw plus things out there with our team. I liked the way we competed against a good team with our backup quarterback stepping in and playing like a starter.”
In the end, that was the problem.
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