IRVING, Texas - Except for a strong first quarter, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips watched a different team Sunday than the group which had mostly cruised through the better part of September.
He gave full credit to the Washington Redskins for causing their untimely transformation.
Behind quarterback Jason Campbell's balanced attack and a defense that rendered Dallas one-dimensional offensively, the Redskins (3-1) handed the Cowboys (3-1) a stunning 26-24 loss that left Phillips, his players and a sellout Texas Stadium crowd (63,462) abruptly searching for answers after such a charmed first three weeks to the regular season.
"I thought they outplayed us," Phillips said flatly after his team pulled within two points in the final two minutes only to watch its ensuing onside kick fall through receiver Sam Hurd's hands and out of bounds, allowing Washington to run out the clock. "I thought they outplayed our offense, they outplayed our defense, they outplayed our special teams and our coaching. All of it. Take your pick."
Let's start with the defense, which again fell prey to Santana Moss' career-long heroics at Texas Stadium. The slippery, 5-foot-10 receiver's four catches for 103 yards helped the Redskins score 17 unanswered points in the second quarter - Campbell's touchdown passes to James Thrash and Antwaan Randle El, and a 20-yard field goal set up by Moss' 53-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline.
All three passing plays targeted Pro Bowl cornerback Terence Newman, who made his second start after a groin injury sidelined or limited him for the first two games.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo led the offense to a field goal as time expired, but suddenly a quick 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter had spiraled into a 17-10 halftime deficit.
"I thought we started out good - we got to the quarterback early, we moved the ball and scored early. Then it seemed like we relaxed," Phillips said.
And for the final two quarters, Washington pushed the Cowboys into an unfamiliar position - a race against time - to win the teams' final meeting at Texas Stadium (playoffs pending). Excluding their back-and-forth thriller against Philadelphia, the Cowboys trailed Green Bay for only a six-minute, 27-second stretch and led Cleveland the whole way.
The Redskins stamped their smash-mouth, ball-control offense on the second half and held off a Cowboys rally with three more field goals. They chewed 20:20 off the 30-minute clock and had the ball for all but 2:12 in the fourth quarter.
Campbell stayed cool after two first-quarter sacks and finished 20-of-31 for 231 yards with two touchdowns. Moss led all receivers with eight catches for 145 yards (18.1 avg.), and Clinton Portis (21 carries for 121 yards) became just the second 100-yard rusher against the Cowboys in their last 21 regular-season games.
"They were able to hang around, kick field goals and score at crucial times," inside linebacker Bradie James said. "It was us. We made mistakes and couldn't get off the field at crucial times."
Washington's consistent lead forced Dallas to abandon its running game. Pro Bowl back Marion Barber had just eight carries for 26 yards, and rookie Felix Jones did not have a single offensive touch.
Meanwhile, Romo threw the second-most pass attempts of his career (47) and never seemed to find a consistent rhythm despite hitting seven different receivers. Jason Witten, Patrick Crayton and Terrell Owens each had seven catches, but Owens was a relative non-factor until the second half, and the offense never took full advantage of in-game injuries to Redskins cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot.
Washington's defense also produced a strong pass rush without former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor, who was inactive following surgery to relieve compartment syndrome in his left calf.
"If you can put pressure on the quarterback it's usually hard for him to throw the ball down the field," said Romo, whose 300 passing yards tied Troy Aikman's franchise record for most career 300-yard games (13). "They had a good pass rush; they did a good job. I thought our guys battled hard. Just too many times we made a mistake on a critical down."
Two critical errors helped the Redskins regain and preserve their lead in the second half. After tying the game with a 10-yard touchdown to Owens early in the third quarter, Romo threw his fourth interception of the year in Cowboys territory, which led to a Washington field goal.
Then in the fourth, with the Redskins facing a third-and-2 at the Dallas 31, the Cowboys were flagged for having 12 players on the field. Safety Pat Watkins took the blame, saying he should have left the field when cornerback Adam Jones entered the game.
Suisham's ensuing 29-yard field goal gave Washington a 26-17 lead with 3:26 remaining - too many points and too little time for the Cowboys to overcome despite Romo's late touchdown pass to Miles Austin.
"You're hoping to get that recovery on that onside kick; you hope we go down there and if not get a field goal, go ahead and score," linebacker Greg Ellis said. "But you credit those guys. They had a good game today."
For the first time all season, the Cowboys will face questions this week about how to rebound from a loss rather than build on a victory - something they can look forward to next Sunday at home against Cincinnati.
"I think the reality of it is, you hope to go 16-0 each year in the regular season, but it's pretty unrealistic," Romo said. "I know it happened last year (with New England), but that's not the norm.
"The only benefit I can see from getting a loss this time of year to a team like this is you know some of the negative things that you did that you have to work on. And sometimes that can be a blessing in disguise."
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Rob Phillips - 
