'Boys Limp Into Playoffs

So much for working out the kinks before the playoffs. The Dallas Cowboys are headed into ``the tournament'' at their worst.

They couldn't even beat Detroit on a day when a loss would've given the Lions the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Done in by repeated mistakes from Tony Romo and a few more by Terence Newman, the Cowboys blew their last chance to win the NFC East with a 39-31 loss to the Lions on Sunday.

Roy Williams caught a pair of touchdown passes, Mike Furrey and Mike Williams each caught one and Jason Hanson kicked four field goals, helping Detroit (3-13) score its most points of the season and win a game the franchise might've been better off losing. Now Oakland gets the top overall pick and the Lions will go second.

Furrey punctuated his score by firing the football into a plastic Cowboys logo behind the end zone, knocking it off the wall and putting a crack in it.

How symbolic.

Despite owning the top wild card, Dallas (9-7) goes into January having lost consecutive games for the first time all season. The Cowboys also have dropped three of four since owning a two-game division lead in early December.

"I can't tell you how disappointed I am. I really can't," Parcells said. "This is the low point for me in a long time."

All three losses were at home, guaranteeing no playoff games at Texas Stadium. Dallas will open the playoffs at Seattle on Saturday or Sunday.

"We are definitely going in backwards from the way we wanted to," said Romo. "We may not scare anyone right now. We win a game or two and that will change."