Cowboys do little right in playoff washout

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Getting to the playoffs was quite a feat for Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys. They'll certainly want to remember that more than what they did in the postseason.

Unable to mask their known problems (lack of a running game, poor punting) and let down by their strengths (a top-ranked defense, including the league's stingiest secondary), the Cowboys looked completely overmatched by a team they never trailed in beating six weeks ago.

The 29-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Saturday night was one of the worst for Parcells in his 18-game postseason career. Parcells lost 21-0 to Chicago while with the New York Giants in the playoffs after the 1985 season.

It's only the third time in nine playoff trips that he's going home without wining at least once.

For Dallas, it was the worst playoff loss since Jimmy Johnson's first postseason team was stomped 38-6 by Detroit in January 1992. The franchise has lost four straight playoff games, a streak that began in January 1997 on this same field.

Yet for all the misery of this wretched performance the asterisk is that that no one expected the Cowboys to be playing in January, not after three straight 5-11 seasons. They made it by going 10-6, even clinching a berth with a week to spare.

They won't be playing any more, though, because of breakdowns in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams.

Quarterback Quincy Carter didn't make the mistakes that usually brought down the unit, but he hardly made any big plays, either. The running game was brutal and Richie Anderson, usually Mr. Reliable, fumbled inside the 20 when the Cowboys were down just 6-0 early in the second quarter.

Carolina got those two field goals after a pair of 32-yard punts by Toby Gowin. Then he shanked a 17-yarder and the Panthers answered with their first touchdown.

The defense was the big disappointment, especially after having done such a good job against Stephen Davis and Jake Delhomme in a 24-20 victory over Carolina on Nov. 23.

Both had better numbers by halftime of this game than they did that entire previous meeting.

Davis finished with 104 yards, just the second time he's cracked 100 against Dallas in 12 meetings.

Delhomme was 18-of-29 for 273 yards, setting up Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad for 100-yard games. The Cowboys had allowed only two 100-yard receivers all season.

Dallas had bad luck with the officials, too. There was an offsetting pass interference penalty that could've been waived off for an uncatchable ball; instead, Carolina got a second try at that third down and converted, leading to its first TD. Then, in the final minute of the first half, Muhammad fumbled, went out of bounds, then legally came back in bounds to recover the ball at the 2. The league issued a three-paragraph release to explain the ruling.

Then again, the Cowboys have imploded on the road most of the season. They'd scored only five touchdowns in the previous five road games, getting shut out twice.