IRVING – All season, the Cowboys could count on their offense no matter what happened to their defense.
Entering Monday's game against Philadelphia, the Cowboys were the only team in the NFL to score at least 17 points in every game.
They can no longer make that claim.
The loss to the Eagles can be pinned mainly on the defensive woes that have troubled this team for the last month, but the offense should share the blame.
■ For the first time in his nine starts, Tony Romo threw for fewer than 226 yards (142).
■ For the second time in three games, Romo completed less than 50 percent of his passes (14 of 29).
■ For the fourth straight game, he was intercepted.
■ For the second straight game, Romo was sacked three times.
■ Terrell Owens had two catches, including his 12th touchdown of the season, and two more drops.
■ Terry Glenn had just one catch for 17 yards.
"Give them credit," Romo said. "But at the same time, when we don't do well offensively, we make a lot of mental mistakes. You have to overcome them, and we didn't."
Things were so bad for the running game that Romo finished as the Cowboys' leader with 42 yards.
Julius Jones, who ran for 100 yards for 26 carries when these teams met in October, finished with 38 yards on 10 carries. Marion Barber, who entered the game with an NFC-best 13 rushing touchdowns, had 3 yards on six carries. He was stopped at the goal line three times.
The Cowboys' ineptitude was almost comical during the team's second possession of the third quarter. After Romo's 6-yard completion to tight end Jason Witten to the Dallas 25, right tackle Marc Colombo was flagged for a false start, which was followed by another false start against left tackle Flozell Adams.
A 4-yard run by Barber left the Cowboys in a predictable passing situation at third-and-10, which allowed Darren Howard to get a quick jump off the snap and beat right guard Marco Rivera for a 6-yard sack of Romo.
"They didn't do anything different," Rivera said. "We didn't see anything new that they ran. It was the same defense. They did everything that we knew they were going to do. That's what's frustrating.
"We kept trying to chip away and chip away, but it felt like everything we did, we were just helpless."
And that's the first time that has happened this season.
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
| SLIDING SCALE |
| Tony Romo tied a team record with five touchdown passes against Tampa Bay on Thanksgiving, but he has struggled since: |
| Date | Opponent | C | A | Yds | TD | Int | Result |
| Dec. 3 | at Giants | 20 | 34 | 257 | 0 | 2 | W, 23-20 |
| Dec. 10 | vs. Saints | 16 | 33 | 249 | 1 | 2 | L, 42-17 |
| Dec. 16 | at Falcons | 22 | 29 | 278 | 2 | 1 | W, 38-28 |
| Dec. 25 | vs. Eagles | 14 | 29 | 142 | 1 | 2 | L, 23-7 |
| Totals | 72 | 125 | 926 | 4 | 7 | W-2, L-2 |
