ARLINGTON, Texas — Escorted by security, Marion Barber didn’t have any problem slipping by the media and into the elevator at Cowboys Stadium. The Chargers, though, were a different story on the goal line, even with 1,640 pounds of offensive linemen in front of him.

San Diego stopped Barber on four runs from inside the 5-yard line, including three tries from the 1. The Chargers’ second-quarter goal-line stand was a huge momentum swing in the game, allowing San Diego to take a 10-3 lead into the locker room at halftime on their way to a 20-17 victory.
“Those certainly will take the air out of any team,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “Any team that can come back from that has to overcome. We didn’t do it, and I know it gave them quite a lift.”
The Cowboys had 58 plays Sunday. They ran 33 of them in San Diego territory, including 14 in the red zone. They had 347 yards. They scored only 17 points.
“The biggest thing we talked about all throughout the week against a team that plays offensive football as well as these guys do, you have to take advantage of our opportunities,” Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. “Every series is important. Every opportunity to score is important. There were a couple of times in particular we didn’t do that, and those things come back and get you in a game like this.”
The Cowboys chewed up yards and clock on their second-quarter drive that took them to the doorstep of the end zone. On the 15-play drive, the Cowboys ran it 14 times. Their three running backs combined to gain 68 yards. That got the Cowboys to the 1-yard line.
In goal-to-go possessions this season, Dallas had scored touchdowns on 18 of 27 possessions inside the opponents’ 10-yard line. They had scored field goals on seven others. Only twice previously this season had the Cowboys come away with no points after getting inside the opponents’ 10-yard line. Denver stopped the Cowboys on downs inside the 10 in the waning seconds, including three stops at the 2-yard line, to beat Dallas 17-10. And Packers cornerback Charles Woodson intercepted a Tony Romo pass at the 1-yard line with 5:57 to play in the Cowboys’ 17-7 loss to Green Bay.
“We usually score when we’re down that close,” Cowboys guard Leonard Davis said. “Today was one of the times when it didn’t happen.”
Chargers inside linebacker Tim Dobbins was credited with stops on all three Barber runs from the 1, though outside linebacker Shaun Phillips also got penetration on the fourth-down try.
“They knew what we were going to do,” Cowboys fullback Deon Anderson said. “A couple of guys penetrated inside, and we weren’t able to get in. It (stinks).”
Monday morning quarterbacks surely will second-guess Garrett’s play calls on the goal line, but he pointed out the Cowboys had thrown only one pass—an incompletion—in the drive.
“In hindsight, you say, ’Yeah, we could have done this; we could have done that,”’ Garrett said. “But the way we got the ball down there was we physically dominated them up front, and it made sense to us to continue that trend. They stood firm, and they did a nice job down there, and again, that was a big sequence.”
The Cowboys did get another opportunity to score before the half after Terence Newman got Dallas the ball back with an interception of Philip Rivers. He gave the Cowboys the ball at the San Diego 27 with 1:46 left in the first half. But the Cowboys gained only 3 yards, and Nick Folk missed the 42-yard field-goal attempt.
“A team that controls the ball as well as they do, you are only going to have so many possessions in a game like this, and it all comes back to haunt you,” Romo said. “They always do. That’s why getting points and executing when you are down there is very important.”