Paul Domowitch: In short, a familiar problem for Eagles

For the better part of last season, third-and-short was a hurdle the Eagles couldn't seem to get over. For a while, it appeared it would be their undoing.

In their first 11 games last season, the Eagles converted just eight of 20 third-and-one situations. Not surprisingly, the Eagles won just five of those 11 games.

But then they got their short-yardage act together, converted six of eight third-and-ones in their final five regular-season games and five of six in the postseason and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

In their first seven games this season, they were an impressive 12-for-15 on third downs of 2 yards or less, including 7-for-8 on third-and-1.

But last night, they came up short on three separate third-and-1s and a game-turning fourth-and-1 that gave the Cowboys a short field they used to set up their game-winning touchdown in a tough 20-16 loss.

With the game tied early in the fourth quarter, running back LeSean McCoy was stopped for no gain on a third-and-1 at the Dallas 45-yard line.

Rather than punt the ball away, coach Andy Reid decided to go for it on fourth-and-1. Donovan McNabb ran a quarterback sneak that appeared to get the first down.

But referee Walt Coleman's crew spotted the ball short of the first-down marker.

Reid challenged the spot, just as he did on a failed third-and-2 in the third quarter. But the spot was not changed. Five plays later, Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin beat cornerback Sheldon Brown on a double move and caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to put the Cowboys in front for good.

The spot on McNabb's failed fourth-and-1 seemed to be incorrect, but Reid refused to criticize the officials after the game.

"I can't go into the challenges," he said. "I can't do that unless you're going to pay [the fines] for them. They called them the way they called them."

McNabb felt he clearly had picked the first down on the quarterback sneak.

"I did," McNabb said. "I felt like half of my body was past the marker, which I'd seen. I landed on top of one of our guys and just slid and kept on moving.

"We thought we had a first down, but unfortunately, i guess, twice we didn't."

The Eagles, who converted six of 11 third-down opportunities in last week's win over the Giants, were just 4-for-12 against the Cowboys. Failed on a third-and-1 in the first quarter when McNabb, who completed just 16 of 30 passes and threw two interceptions, was high with a short toss to tight end Alex Smith.

Had a third-and-2 at their own 41 in the third quarter. McNabb completed a pass to McCoy, but the ball was spotted short of the first-down mark. Reid challenged that spot as well, but the ruling was upheld.

"To be at home and have those kind of calls go against you [is disappointing]," said wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

The failed challenges left the Eagles without any timeouts. The Eagles managed to get within four points on a 52-yard field goal by David Akers with 4:33 left in the game. But the Cowboys picked up a pair of first downs on their next possession, which was enough to let them run the clock out.