by Jeff Young , Intelligencer Journal/New Era

But from here, that fourth-quarter series on which Sunday night's 20-16 loss to the Cowboys turned for good looks like something more. Like a symptom of a much bigger problem than unfavorable officiating.

Question: Can you remember the last time this team won a game in the fourth quarter? We're talking about a game in doubt, a game in which they trailed or led by a touchdown or less.

"Well, it's tough to win when you have a couple of calls where it's tough on you,'' Donovan McNabb said early Monday morning. "We've won games in the fourth quarter. ... I know that's something that everyone is going to talk about. Have fun with it, I guess.''

That's too good an offer to refuse. This season the Eagles are 0-2 in the fourth-quarter situations described above (trailing or leading by a touchdown or less). Including last season's playoff run, with close wins over the Giants and Vikings, they were 4-7-1.

In 2007, they were 4-6, but they dropped three of their last four close encounters. So since a 17-7 nod over the Dolphins at the Linc Nov. 18, 2007, their record in those games is 5-12-1.

And after their latest disappointing finish, not every Eagle was as willing as McNabb to shrug off the trend.

"I think at the end of the day, when it's a game like that, we all just have to play ... I guess the word would be more focused,'' Quintin Mikell said.

"A lot of times we get caught in these games. We beat ourselves. I'm not going to take anything away from Dallas - I mean, they made a lot of big plays - but there are definitely some plays that we left on the field. We left some opportunities out there. And if we would have played more disciplined and played smarter, we probably would have been looking at a different game.''

Mikell could speak from experience on the play that finally sealed a Dallas victory - Tony Romo's third-and-three completion to Jason Witten for a first down at the two-minute warning. Because the Eagles had burned their timeouts, Witten's catch killed those precious two minutes.

"Really, to be honest with you, we messed that one up again,'' Mikell said. "I mean, we had some mess-ups out there on coverages. They had a good play call on, and obviously, they were reading our blitzes.''

Ironically enough, Witten might have delivered a telling blow earlier in the game. He was all alone in the end zone when Romo threw incomplete to Marion Barber at the end of the first half, and the Cowboys wound up with a field goal. But that play won't haunt anyone at Valley Ranch this week.

The Eagles , meanwhile, will be hearing more about a season-long malady - third-down conversions. One week after their best effort of the year (6-for-11) against the Giants, they were just 4-for-12 on third down against Dallas. That mark left them at 35.8 percent (38-for-106) for the season.

Entering Sunday, their 36.2 third-down percentage ranked 22nd in the league. Last year they finished 12th, at 41.3 percent. Want some benchmarks? The Colts entered Sunday at 51.1 percent, the Saints at 45.7, Minnesota at 46.6. New England was at 44.8, the Steelers at 43.2.

Does third-down success guarantee championships? Of course not. But it seems clear that the Eagles are more than a step behind the game's best teams in that department. And when you saw that fourth-quarter sequence at the Dallas 45 - three straight short-yardage runs for no gain - you couldn't help remembering all their short-yardage troubles a year ago.

"I mean, if I had the answer right now, we wouldn't have this problem,'' McNabb managed. "But I think we've answered on third-and-short situations, and third-and-medium, we just have to elevate that part of the game.''

After all, pointing at the guys in the striped shirts is a much less satisfying solution.

jyoung@lnpnews.com

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