NFL Recap (Oakland-Dallas)
Posted: Sun September 27, 1998 at 6:02 p.m. EDT
OAKLAND 13, DALLAS 12
IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Jeff George tossed a
75-yard touchdown pass to James Jett late in the
first half and Greg Davis booted two field goals as the Oakland Raiders held on
for a 13-12 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
With Oakland facing a 3rd-and-12, George's pass was deflected by
Cowboys' cornerback Kevin
Smith into the hands of Jett, who raced untouched down the right
sideline to give the Raiders a 10-3 lead with 1:14 left in the first half.
"I was just trying to beat him deep on a go route," said Jett. "Jeff
threw a great ball and hit the defensive back right in the shoulder pads. I
then just grabbed it. Actually, the ball was a little short but the
defensive back over-ran it."
The Raiders increased their advantage to 13-3 on Davis' 38-yard field
goal with 10:47 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Cowboys' late
rally fell short.
"I thought we had the toughest first four weeks of any team in the
league -- the Super Bowl champs, two division champions and then the
Cowboys," said George. "Coming out of those games 2-2 is pretty good."
Jason Garrett's
55-yard pass to Billy
Davis set up Emmitt
Smith's 1-yard TD run that brought the Cowboys within 13-10 with 5:43
to play.
After forcing the Raiders to punt, Dallas got the ball back on its own
15. Garrett drove the Cowboys into Oakland territory by completing two
third-down passes, but safety Eric Turner sealed the
Raiders' victory with an interception at the goal line with 1:31 remaining.
It was the third interception of the year for Turner.
"I think the ball should have gone to Deion (Sanders) on the other
side, " said Garrett, who instead threw to Davis on the left side. "It was
all my fault. Oakland is big and aggressive up front and good in their
defensive backfield. We knew that coming in but couldn't do the things we
needed to do."
"We've got to be a consistent football team before anyone can say
we've arrived," added Cowboys coach Chan Gailey. "We played well in spurts
but we're not consistent."
The Raiders took a meaningless safety when punter Leo Araguz ran out of the
end zone with two seconds remaining.
"We had some succcesses on third down and we were able to control the
Dallas running game," said Oakland coach John Gruden. "We set some goals
for our team at the beginning of the year. Number 1, was to improve and we
have been able to do that from week to week."
The Cowboys, who managed just 76 yards in the first half, outgained
Oakland, 80-1 in the third quarter and held the ball for over 12 minutes.
But Dallas came up empty on two trips inside the Raiders' 20.
Cornerback Charles
Woodson, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, turned back the first drive
with an interception at the goal line on a pass intended for Michael Irvin and Richie Cunningham missed a
37-yard field goal on the Cowboys' next possession 10 seconds into the
fourth quarter.
"I thought Michael would be a little more outside than he was," said
Garrett. "If we don't turn it over and we settle for three there, we're in
a much better position."
The Cowboys suffered only their second loss in 11 games against AFC
West teams in the 1990s and fell to 62-36 overall against the AFC.
"We stuck with our game plan at halftime," said Cowboys receiver Ernie Mills. "Chan didn't
say too much except to keep plugging at it. I don't think anyone took this
game lightly at all. We let one get away and it hurts. Every player on our
team should be hurting."
Oakland took a 4-3 lead in the series with the Cowboys, winning all
three games at Texas Stadium.
George was 12-for-20 for 171 yards, while Napolean Kaufman led the
Raiders on the ground with 116 yards on 24 carries.
"Coming into the game we knew we'd have to run the ball and
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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