LANDOVER, Md. – The main culprits to the Cowboys' secondary woes Sunday chose not to explain breakdowns after the loss to the Redskins.
"It didn't work out," said veteran cornerback Aaron Glenn, one of the few secondary players who hung around to discuss the game with the media. "When opportunities present themselves, you have to make those plays and we didn't make them."
Roy Williams and Anthony Henry did make some plays, but it's the plays they didn't make at FedExField that will be remembered.
Of the Cowboys' 11 penalties, four were on the secondary. Two on Henry and Williams totaled 77 yards.
Williams made the biggest penalty among the secondary players when he failed, again, to track the flight of the ball on a deep pass and was called for interference.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell faked a handoff to Clinton Portis then handed the ball off to receiver Antwaan Randle El. Randle El threw a tight pass down the right sideline to Brandon Lloyd, with Williams defending. Williams, with his head up, could have played the ball, instead he grabbed Lloyd's arm.
The referees flagged Williams, giving Washington the ball at the Dallas 20, a 48-yard gain. Two plays later, Brunell threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cooley, who beat Henry to the corner of the end zone to tie the score at 19-19 with 14:05 to play.
"We just didn't make the plays we're supposed to make," veteran safety Marcus Coleman said.
It isn't the first time Williams has had trouble tracking the flight of the ball. In a loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 8, Williams misplayed a long pass play to the end zone, which resulted in a touchdown.
On Washington's second possession of the fourth quarter, Williams was involved on another key play.
Faced with a second-and-7 from the Washington 36, Brunell made a bad throw to Lloyd. The ball went straight to Williams, hit him in the helmet as he jumped and landed incomplete.
The next play, the Cowboys sent Williams and Glenn on a blitz. Williams went up the middle and Glenn off the edge.
Glenn was supposed to cover running back Ladell Betts.
Instead, Betts blocked then released into a passing route, forcing Glenn to backtrack to find Betts who caught a short pass and turned it into a 21-yard gain.
The play didn't cost Dallas any points, but coach Bill Parcells yelled at Glenn.
"It was one of many good plays by those guys," Glenn said. "I'm supposed to get the quarterback, and [Betts] released. Bill is barking that we didn't make the play."
E-mail cwatkins@dallasnews.com
