Cowboys vs. Cardinals: Stephen McGee Rallies Dallas, John Skelton Answers

David Buehler's missed extra point ruined the debut of Dallas rookie quarterback Stephen McGee as Arizona's Jay Feely hit a 48-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Cardinals an incredible 27-26 victory over the Cowboys on Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Cardinals had started the game with a bang with two early interception returns for touchdowns and the Cowboys had seemingly finished it with a 37-yard touchdown pass from McGee to Miles Austin with 1:17 remaining. The only reason that McGee had the chance to be the hero was that Arizona cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who scored the first touchdown, was called for pass interference on 4th-and-5 on the previous play.

And when Buehler's extra point went wide left, Arizona only needed a field goal for the triumph. Rookie quarterback John Skelton finally got the ball to star receiver Larry Fitzgerald for 26 yards on fourth-and-15. Feely's game-winning field goal came six seconds later as the Cardinals improved to 5-10.

The Cowboys, like the Cardinals a division champion in 2009, slipped to 5-10, 4-3 under interim coach Jason Garrett.

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Some thoughts on the game:

• It took Dallas just two offensive snaps to fall behind. Austin slipped near the Arizona sideline and Rodgers-Cromartie picked off veteran Jon Kitna's pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.

• The Cardinals then doubled their pleasure on the Cowboys' second series. Dallas had moved to the Arizona 39 in seven plays when receiver Roy Williams couldn't handle Kitna's pass. It deflected to second-year cornerback Greg Toler, who returned it 66 yards for a 14-0 lead just 6:36 into the game.

• The two early interception returns gave Arizona nine defensive touchdowns, two more than its number of touchdown passes, the greatest imbalance in the last 51 seasons. It also marked the first time since New England vs. Miami on Oct. 17, 1999 that a team had two interception returns for touchdowns in the first quarter.

• After Dallas got on the board with a 42-yard Buehler field goal, Skelton hit receiver Andre Roberts, a fellow rookie, for a 74-yard touchdown on which Roberts toasted Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins and then outran safety Alan Ball to the end zone with 11:57 left in the first half. As the NFL Network's Matt Millen explained, the other key to the Cardinals' longest pass play in more than two years was the terrific blitz pickup by running back Beanie Wells on Dallas safety Gerald Sensabaugh.

• The Cardinals sacked Kitna four times in the first 20 minutes, with Darnell Dockett recording two of them. Six plays later, Kitna was slammed to the ground by Calais Campbell and O'Brien Schofield. The 38-year-old came up limping but missed just one play -- allowing McGee to debut by handing it off to Marion Barber for a 24-yard run that set up Kitna's touchdown toss to tight end Jason Witten on fourth-and-goal from the 2 to narrow the deficit to 21-10 with 5:11 left in the half. But Kitna was unable to return after that.

• McGee just got the ball away, before being pounded by Arizona linebacker Daryl Washington, for 19 yards to Austin to put Buehler in position for a 53-yard field goal which made it 21-13, with 5:46 still to play in the third quarter. And when the Cowboys got the ball back, they needed just six plays to close within 21-20 when Barber ran over Arizona safety Adrian Wilson to complete a 24-yard scoring scamper just 3:48 later.

• The Cardinals didn't pick up a first down in a 25-minute span, but on third-and-7 with 8:07 remaining, Roberts bailed out Skelton with a clutch 21-yard grab. Beanie Wells ran for 18 yards on the next two plays, setting up Feely's 49-yard field goal four plays later that extended the Arizona lead to 24-20 with 3:45 to go.

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