LANDOVER, Md. – To Bill Parcells, the two-point conversion chart is a must-read.
So when the Cowboys scored their first touchdown Sunday on a 10-yard catch by Terry Glenn in the second quarter to go up 6-5, the Cowboys coach immediately put two fingers in the air.
"The chart says to do that, so that's what we did," Parcells said.
The Cowboys were 2-for-2 in two-point tries in their last two games, and lined up in the same empty-backfield formation that was successful against the New York Giants and Carolina.
In the shotgun, Tony Romo sprinted to his right and fired a pass to Patrick Crayton, but Kenny Wright swatted it away.
For the rest of the game, the Cowboys chased the point that got away in their 22-19 heartbreaker to Washington. Mike Vanderjagt is as automatic as it gets on point-after tries, missing two in his career.
Despite the early stages of the game, Parcells did not hesitate and would not second-guess himself after the game.
"I go by the chart," Parcells said when asked if time remaining plays a part in the decision.
Romo said he was for the two-point call. He ran in for a score vs. the Giants and threw a pass to Terrell Owens last week at Carolina.
"I can understand going for two there," Romo said. "It's a good situation, but you can always look back at things like that."
Parcells has a history of going for two early in games. In 2004 at Seattle, he chose to go for two after a Terrance Copper touchdown catch with 6:08 left in the second quarter cut the Seahawks lead to 14-12. The ensuing rush by Crayton failed, but the Cowboys ended up winning anyway, 43-39, thanks in large part to Julius Jones' 198-yard, three-touchdown game.
Even if the Cowboys had kicked the point-after attempt Sunday, the Redskins almost assuredly would have gone for two after Mark Brunell's 18-yard pass to Chris Cooley with 14:05 left in the fourth quarter.
That would have cut the Cowboys' lead to 20-18, hypothetically, forcing the Redskins to try and tie the score. After all, that's what the chart says to do.
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
| TWO-POINT CONVERSION CHART |
| Points ahead | Go for 1 | Go for 2 | Points behind | Go for 1 | Go for 2 |
| 0 | √ | – | 0 | √ | – |
| 1 | – | √ | 1 | √ | – |
| 2 | √ | – | 2 | – | √ |
| 3 | √ | – | 3 | √ | – |
| 4 | – | √ | 4 | √ | – |
| 5 | – | √ | 5 | – | √ |
| 6 | √ | – | 6 | √ | – |
| 7 | √ | – | 7 | √ | – |
| 8 | √ | – | 8 | √ | – |
| 9 | √ | – | 9 | √ | – |
| 10 | √ | – | 10 | – | √ |
| 11 | – | √ | 11 | √ | – |
| 12 | – | √ | 12 | √ | – |
| 13 | √ | – | 13 | √ | – |
| 14 | √ | – | 14 | √ | – |
| 15 | √ | – | 15 | √ | – |
| 16 | √ | – | 16 | – | √ |
| 17 | √ | – | 17 | – | √ |
| 18 | √ | – | 18 | – | √ |
| 19 | – | √ | 19 | √ | – |
| 20 | √ | – | 20 | √ | – |
