"That's the silver lining," center Mark Stepnoski said after the Cowboys lost 22-21 to the New York Jets on Sunday.

The Cowboys (7-7) could have taken control of the NFC East with two games to play. Instead, they blew that opportunity just hours after division-leading Washington and the New York Giants lost their games.

"This is a tough loss to handle, but there is still some light at the end of the tunnel," cornerback Kevin Smith said.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones, who has three Super Bowl championships since buying the team in 1989, found little solace in the loss.

"Everyone knew what was at stake," Jones said. "This was a playoff-type reward if we could have gotten it done. That makes this one of the toughest losses that we've had in the time I've been here."

After losing at home for the first time this season, Dallas has just four days to prepare for Friday's game at New Orleans (2-12). The Cowboys have lost six straight road games this season, and last year lost 22-3 at New Orleans.

"Anytime you lose when you're in a situation when you can gain ground in the division, it's disappointing. It's certainly a dark day for us," said tight end Eric Bjornson, who had a 20-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal.

"I don't know the whole situation, but I know we are not completely out of it. We have got to pick it up and turn it around quickly. There's a lot of reasons to put this behind us real quick."

The Cowboys have blown leads in all of their losses but one. They led 21-13 midway through the third quarter against the Jets (6-8), who won with John Hall's 37-yard field with 1:35 to play.

"It's very frustrating. We're up 21-13 in the third quarter and we can't close the deal," Stepnoski said. "It's the same thing that has been getting us all season."

Washington leads the division at 8-6, but the Cowboys swept their two games against the Redskins this season. Dallas lost 13-10 at the Giants (7-7) in October.

The Redskins play at San Francisco and finish the regular season at home against Miami. Before coming to Dallas, the Giants play their home finale against Minnesota.