Looks as If Cowboys Don’t Have What It Takes Anymore

IRVING, Texas â€”  The Carolina Panthers unceremoniously ended the Dallas Cowboys’ five-year reign as NFC East champion, and also might have ended the NFL’s most successful run of the decade.

Kerry Collins threw two touchdown passes and Fred Lane rushed for 138 yards Monday night as the Panthers stayed alive in the NFC wild-card race and all but eliminated the Cowboys with a 23-13 victory.

“I hope this isn’t the end of an era,� Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman said. “I don’t think we are willing to concede that. We just couldn’t get things going.�

Said Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer: “We were inept. It was frustrating and disappointing.�

It also was probably the end of Dallas’ playoff hopes, although at 6-8 the team that has won three Super Bowls this decade remains technically alive for a wild-card berth. The Cowboys have lost three in a row for the first time since 1990.

Carolina (7-7), which won the NFC West and defeated Dallas, 26-17, to reach the NFC title game last season in only its second year as a franchise, will need help from other teams to make the playoffs.

“We’re still in it, we’re still in it,� said Lane, a rookie free agent. “This was big for us to beat the Cowboys on ‘Monday Night Football.’ We were confident we could run the ball and we did.�

Collins, who suffered a concussion last week, made key completions and Lane plowed through the Cowboys with his hard running despite the presence of defensive tackle Leon Lett, playing his first game after a one-year suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Collins, who threw to Rae Carruth for a 15-yard touchdown pass play in the second quarter, guided Carolina on a 69-yard scoring drive to open the second half.

Collins completed passes of 13 yards to Anthony Johnson, 18 yards to Muhsin Muhammad and then found Scott Greene for a one-yard scoring pass to put the Panthers ahead, 17-6.

John Kasay made a 40-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter and had an 18-yarder with 53 seconds left that finished off the Cowboys.

Aikman connected with Michael Irvin for a 52-yard touchdown to pull Dallas within seven points with 6:33 left.

However, on fourth-and-1 at the Carolina 45, Aikman was trapped for a 25-yard loss by safety Chad Cota with 3:27 left.

“I was just trying to make something happen,� Aikman said. “It was a busted play.�

Said Switzer: “If you can’t make a fourth-and-1 then you don’t deserve to win. We just have to try to win the last two games. They are pros and they get paid.�