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Corner Watch, Post-Denver

Corner is supposed to be a new strength on the team. How did they play, with Terence Newman out of the lineup:

Here are the six guys behind Newman in the pecking order:

Anthony Henry:

• Thrown at: 3
• Completions: 3
• Yards: 54

Eddie Royal blew up Henry’s line with a 32 yard catch where Henry got his hands on the ball but could not bat it away from the Bronco. Played soft on a Brandon Marshall comeback on the next play and surrendered a four yarder later.

Mike Jenkins

• Thrown at: 4
• Completions: 4
• Yards: 54

Welcome to the NFL rookie. Denver went after him on their opening drive. Brandon Marshall ran him off on a comeback; Jenkins was still running up the field when Marshall made his cut. Denver then crossed him up, running a stop and go to Royal that got Jenkins to bite. He slipped, letting Royal cruise for 35. Marshall ended Jenkins’ evening by executing Sprint Right Option, otherwise known to Dallas fans as “The Catch” play. Marshall ran what looked like a square in, then pivoted and took off for the deep right corner, where he caught Jay Cutler’s pass for a touchdown.

Evan Oglesby

• Thrown at: 6
• Completed: 3
• Yards: 37

A decent line, but it’s actually less than meets the eye. Twice he was beaten but saw his receivers drop the passes, at eight and 19 yards. Brandon Stokley beat him with ease when the Broncos starters were in. Oglesby’s good camp work may be eroding, because…

Adam Jones

• Thrown at: 4
• Completed: 3
• Yards: 6

How about that YPA of 1.5. Jones looked much more comfortable than he did in San Diego. His tackling was much better and he dropped an interception. He’ll likely start in the nickel on the right corner, with Newman playing the slot when teams go three wide. If Jones continues to play this way, Oglesby is back on the bench, and the fans will resume their chants to get Anthony Henry benched too.

Mike Lombardi said on last week’s show that Jones is not Deion Sanders. Who is these days? If Jones can play nickel corner like this, we’ll all be ecstatic. Jacques Reeves could never sub like this.

Orlando Scandrick

• Thrown at: 1
• Completed: 1
• Yards: 0

Scandrick’s lone throw was a memorable one. He blew up Broncos wideout Glenn Martinez on the goalline; Scandrick tracked his man into the end zone, saw Martinez cutting beneath him, released his original WR and rolled up to pop Martinez. The kid is making big hits on a regular basis. He also came within an eyelash of blocking a field goal and had a 32 yard kickoff return. Those are three good ways to keep yourself on the active roster on Sundays.

Alan Ball

• Thrown at: 4
• Completed: 1
• Yards: 20

Another less-than-meets-the-eye line. Ball took a penalty on one of the other plays, escaped a completion on another play because Marcus Smith tipped the ball and avoided being beaten for a TD on a fade when Patrick Ramsey’s pass floated wide and out of bounds. Ball looked lost on a couple of these plays and needs to make some positive plays to earn another year on the roster.

– Two weeks ago, Oglesby looked like he might force the coaches to keep six corners. He looked pretty good against San Diego but Adam Jones and Orlando Scandrick have probably jumped him in the pecking order. Oglesby still has a decent chance but he’ll need big games against Houston and Minnesota to turn momentum back in his favor. If the decision had to be made today, I think Dallas would keep five corners.

The Sports Doctors 08/19/08 Podcast

In today’s episode, The Sports Doctors discuss the Cowboys’ preseason game against the Denver Broncos from the past Saturday. Tune in and discuss and Rafael talks about the bright spots and low lights of the game.

Selective Perception is Alive and Well in Cowboys Land

“Nobody knows anything…”

– William Goldman

Goldman was a highly successful screenwriter and said that oft-quoted line about Hollywood, but it could apply today, given the knee-jerk reactions in some quarters after yesterday’s loss to Denver.

To those in Hype-land, last night’s perfromance by the first team was “pathetic,” “putrid” and worse. Yeah, so? And if it was, what would it mean? Those same guys were dominant against the Chargers, who will have a better year than Denver. Did the Cowboys become chopped liver in seven days? Did they lose the killer instinct for winning meaningless mid-August games?

For those who need reminding:

• Dallas’ record at this time in ‘07: 2-0.
• New England’s record at this time in ‘07: 0-2.
• Miami’s record at this time in ‘07: 2-0.

Nobody knows anything at this point, at least based on pre-season performances.

You can say the Cowboys hot start helped propel them to a strong season, but that would be logically inconsistent. Because:

Dallas went 0-2 in their last two pre-season games, finishing 2-2. After last year’s Broncos game, Denver was hot because the Cowboys were blitzing like mad. The third game is supposed to be “the dress rehearsal” and yet Dallas looked awful losing to the Texans.

Do we take the two early wins as being indicative of future performance, or the last two? Or concede that none of these games mean anything?

Last year Wade had “Camp Cupcake.” This year he’s had “Camp Marshmallow.” Yet he was 2-0 last year with the softies. And he’s 0-2 this year with the softies. Do we say that the softness made for a healthier, better team in ‘07 or a weaker, less disciplined team this year? Or again conclude that we can’t conclude anything from the results so far?

I’ll go off camp performance. I’ve watched the last four. In ‘05, Dallas had no pass rush, save for Demarcus Ware, and Bill Parcells was trying to make do with Rob Petitti at RT and Keith Davis at FS. Those gambles went snake eyes and his guys were a disappointing 9-7.

In ‘06, Parcells started with Drew Bledsoe, in spite of hot-shot Tony Romo’s hot camp. In one late camp practice, the Tuna took a long, slow walk to an empty end of the practice field after watching his guys blow assignment after assignment. He looked skywards, as if to say, “why me? Why am I still doing this?” That team lived down to his fears, with a maddening tendency to yo-yo from week to week, playing up to tougher opponents like Indy and playing down to mediocrities like that year’s Raiders.

Last year Romo looked razor sharp in San Antonio, T.O. was unstoppable and the defense showed more athleticism and speed. Those tells carried over to the season, not the up and down pre-season performances.

My point? Camp performances have been pretty consistent indicators of team performance. And this year’s camp was the best of the bunch. The one thing that concerned me was the over-aggressive play of the secondary, which drew a lot of laundry when the real refs arrived.

Seeing Adam Jones‘ play jump up made me feel a lot better. Anthony Henry gave up one big throw, but had his hands on the football that play. He’ll be there. So will Terence Newman. Getting Mike Jenkins farther along his learning curve will help. The special team’s overall performance last night matched the level of attention its received this summer.

Since everybody is tailoring the Cowboys performances to their own biases, I’m taking the liberty of staying calm. The first teamers looked good in Oxnard and they looked good in San Diego. That works for me, last night notwithstanding. The defense looked like it had more rush options and showed that against the Chargers. I’ll rely on those performances.

Hey, I know just as much as anybody else, which at this point is exactly nothing.

Why I’m Not Worried About The Special Teams — Yet

The late political pundit Molly Ivins was once asked how she became such a leftist firebrand when she was raised in a conservative Baptist household? “I was baptised several times as a child,” she said with a grin. “I was dropped in the water at least three times… but it never took.”

Molly could have been talking about the Cowboys punt coverage units. They were one of the trouble spots in 2007 and the team did not skimp on time or effort at Oxnard to prepare them for 2008. Every day several segments of each practice were devoted to special teams.

And in each drill, several coaches worked with the players to improve their techniques. Dallas broke every different special teams play into micro pieces, to allow every player to receive one-on-one prep with an assistant. Special teams has received as much attention as you could hope to see, which is why I’m staying far away from the panic button, even after the Cowboys’ woeful performance containing Darren Sproles Saturday night.

The fickle finger of fate will point at Bruce Read if the units don’t develop better consistency this year. However, at this point, I wonder if it’s the core guys on that group, the Justin Rogers, the Deon Andersons, the Kevin Burnetts, the Bobby Carpenters, the Pat Watkins and the like who might be having trouble getting those lessons to take?

Listen to Read’s descriptions of the team’s special teams teaching approach, the number of players he runs through, how much turnover occurs on special teams week to week and the many new return options Dallas has in ‘08:

G-Men Top the Raggedy Men, 21-17

A 94 yard drive? Not worth much.

A 20 play drive just before the half? Lost in the shuffle.

Tony Romo took the heat for going to Mexico, but it was his teammates who looked like they had too many margaritas by the pool this week.

Why?

Let’s see:

1. A Demarcus Ware offsides penalty wipes out an incompletion and a three and out on New York’s initial drive;
2. Two missed tackles on a short out to Amani Toomer two plays later turn a short gain into a 52 yard touchdown reception.
3. New York goes 71 yards in just 40 seconds after Dallas scored on a bludgeoning 20 play drive to take a 14-7 lead with 47 seconds left in the half.
4. Anthony Fasano lets a Tony Romo bullet bounce off his pads on the goaline on Dallas’ opening drive of the 3rd quarter.
5. Romo, who made several daring escapes and throws, overthrows an open Terrell Owens on the following play from scrimmage. Owens was free to make a first down, if not a touchdown. A fourteen play, 8:07 drive ends with a short field goal, not a touchdown. This sequence would prove fatal.
6. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Leonard Davis wipes out a ten yard pass to Jason Witten when Dallas was trying to march out of its own red zone;
7. Patrick Crayton drops a pass two plays later that would have converted a 3rd and 13 deep in Dallas territory. The drop wasted a great Romo scramble.
8. Two missed tackles, one by Patrick Watkins, give R.W. McQuarters room to run 25 yards to Dallas’ 37, setting up New York’s last scoring drive of the day.

Notes:

– Okay Marion Barber partisans, here are the splits:

• 1st half — 16 carries, 100 yards;
• 2nd half — 11 carries, 29 yards;

He’s not such a 4th quarter beast when he’s as tired as the defense, is he? Plus, he missed a blocking assignment on a key 4th quarter sack.

– When Patrick Crayton shot his mouth off after the Cowboys’ second win over New York, Deion Sanders shook his head in the NFL Network studios and said, “let your game do the talking.”

Perhaps today Patrick Crayton learned that he’s not Jerry Rice. A drop on after Romo made a key Houdini-like escape set up New York’s short TD drive.

Later, he pulled up on a fade route that would have been the game winner with sixteen seconds left. Let’s hope the big money didn’t turn him into a pumpkin.

– There will be lots of finger pointing and blame cast, but in my opinion there’s only one head I want — special teams coach Bruce Read’s. His units were poor all year and today had their worst game of the season. They didn’t tackle on coverage and their penalties on returns repeatedly left Dallas deep inside their own red zone.

Today, Sam Hurd took a holding penalty that pushed Dallas back to its own 10, a block in the back penalty put Dallas at its own 13, a 45 yard kickoff return was allowed and the 25 yard punt return meant New York only had to travel 37 yards to take its final lead. Dallas never got a kickoff past its 23, save for Miles Austin’s return to the 33 with one second left in the first half on a squib kick.

– It’s likely the last game for:

Jacques Reeves. How did the Giants go 71 yards in 40 seconds? Let’s see:

1. 22 yard completion on Reeves;
2. 11 yard completion on Reeves with a 15 yard facemask penalty tacked on;
3. 19 yard pass to Kevin Boss on Reeves to convert a 3rd and 10;

That’s 67 yards in three plays. New York scored on a short pass to Amani Toomer right after the Boss completion.

Does anybody still doubt that cornerback will be a priority for this team in the draft?

Patrick Watkins — the defensive version of Tyson Thompson. Can’t cover and can’t tackle. Made some key special teams whiffs today.

And sadly, Terry Glenn. The old veteran was inconsolable on the sideline after the game. He reportedly took some strands of field turf with him on his tear-stained walk off the field.

Sleepy, Sloppy, Spectacular. Dallas Shades Detroit 28-27

Shall we say they’re slow Witten?

The Dallas defense stumbled through four quarters today, looking slow, soft and spaced out. They let a league worst running attack rip their interior defense. They conceded comebacks on the left and right flanks over and over, allowing the Lions to convert third and longs repeatedly.

They got a little lucky, when the normally automatic Jason Hanson missed a short field goal early in the fourth quarter. Then, they applied their best pressure of the day on a key third and long after conceding two first downs after Jason Witten had fumbled the ball on the Detroit one with just over four minutes to go.

The sequence required that the offense drive 83 yards with 2:22 and no time outs left. Tony Romo succeeded, working short to Marion Barber, Sam Hurd and Witten, who redeemed his fumble with a 16 yard TD reception with 18 seconds left, completing a comeback from a 27-14 deficit. The final catch capped a fifteen catch, 138 yard day; with the Lions doubling and tripling Terrell Owens and daring Romo to beat them in other ways, Witten became the weapon of choice.

Longer game report later.

Game Balls

Up way too late. Have to work way too early, so here are my nominations for BB game balls, in no particular order. Make yours in the threads.

1. Miles Austin — finally! Consistent returns beyond the 30. He’s made Tyson Thompson an afterthought.

2. Marc Colombo — The guy goes against the NFC’s top pass rusher on a sprained ankle and keeps his QB’s jersey clean. Colombo is probably the least athletic member of the o-line but he’s probably the grittiest.

3. the rest of the o-line — What did John Lennon sing in Come Together — “got to be good looking ’cause he’s so hard to see…” We can say the same thing about Adams, Kosier, Gurode and Davis. Jason Garrett learned early that the Packers were stacking the line to stop the run and the short pass. He called lots of intermediate and deep routes. And the line gave Tony Romo the time to let these routes unfold.

4. Tony Romo — four TD games seem automatic now. And he should have had five, had T.O. not bungled a TD toss in the 4th. Romo has 33 TD passes on the year. He’s on pace to top 45.

5. Anthony Fasano — Got his first TD pass tonight. He made a textbook block on a Packers corner on a Marion Barber 9 yard sweep, flipping the guy into the air.

6. John Garrett — He’s the coach who’s finally taught Fasano and Jason Witten to be such devastating blockers this year. I cannot praise this guy enough.

7. Greg Ellis and Demarcus Ware — the old guy got two sacks tonight. Ware got one. Ware has 10 sacks now. Ellis is second in the NFL with 10.5 sacks and would be leading the league had he not missed some early games rehabbing his Achilles.

This is the type of bookend production you need from your 3-4 OLBs.

The Cowboys Make Turkeys of the Jets, 34-3

Thanksgiving Day games often play as if the teams had eaten their turkey and win before the kickoff.

Today’s game followed that profile. The Cowboys raced to a quick 7-0 lead off a grinding opening drive that mixed a big Julius Jones run with some short passes and a closing seven yard draw to Marion Barber, which was camouflaged by motioning Terrell Owens into the backfield as a tailback.

Then, the game settled into a rut, as Tony Romo began consistently underthrowing open receivers. One was read perfectly by Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, who snagged the pass in the end zone. Romo missed other receivers and just avoided another pick on a throw into tight slant coverage on T.O.

A quartet of punts by both teams slowed the game before Dallas dialed in a stubborn Jets defense and moved 56 yards for a second score. Two Julius Jones runs earned one first down before a 12 yard pass to Jason Witten earned another first down and put Dallas at the Jets 27. Two plays later Romo ran a seam route on a play when New York blitzed its strong safety. Witten was matched one-on-one versus a linebacker and had an early 25 yard TD reception for a 14-0 lead.

Meanwhile the Dallas defense was putting new Jets QB Kellen Clemens in a tight pocked. Chris Canty sacked him to end the Jets first drive and Greg Ellis used some inside push to notch two more.

Terence Newman blew the game open just minutes later when he jumped an out route out of the slot, taking the pick the route for a 21-0 lead.

The Jets made one extended run, marching 12 plays to the edge of the red zone before kicking a field goal, going to halftime trailing 21-3.

Dallas ran off two long third quarter drives but lacked the sharpness to close the deals, settling for two Nick Folk field goals that moved the lead to 27-3.

Dallas his their average midway through the fourth with a bludgeoning seven play, 71 yard drive. Marion Barber began the drive with four carries for four, eight, 10 and 12 yards. A short pass to Barber gained a dozen more. Two plays later, with the Jets set for another Barber touch, Romo dropped a perfect play action toss to T.O. in the front left corner of the end zone. Nick Folk’s conversion made the score 34-3.

The Jets made one last push for a touchdown and came within inches; Chris Baker caught a 4th and goal pass but was downed at the one foot line.

Notes:

– The Jets made throwing the ball tricky. They locked in on some of Dallas’ favorite plays and took them away. Romo had to make lots of checkdowns to his backs.

– The Cowboys are becoming more of a lefthanded team. I don’t know if its because Kyle Kosier had a better matchup, but he made the big run blocks today, rather than the bigger Leonard Davis.

– The Cowboys rewarded the left side of Flozell Adams and Kosier, giving Cory Procter and Pat McQuistan the final drive of the game.

– Throw early, run late. Dallas ran for 176 yards, with Marion Barber topping the 100 yard mark with some meaty 4th quarter runs.

A Win Is A Win Is A Win. Dallas Holds on 28-23

Take your shot of courage.

Washington rode that dink and dunk and sometimes intermediate out game plan just as they hoped to.

Their defense made Dallas stagger. A missed Nick Folk field goal and a poor first quarter Tony Romo pick helped the cause.

Romo calmed down, the defense bent but didn’t break and some guy named Terrell Owensblew the game open with three of his four TDs in a three drive span where Dallas went 90 yards, 87 yards and 70 yards for TDs, all ending on big Owens plays.

T.O. gathered in passes for 31, 46 and 52 yards to cap each drive. He tied Bob Hayes‘ team record for TDs in a game and added 173 yards to his stat line.

In the end, Owens final touch of the game brought a nail biter to an end, knocking a Jason Campbell prayer to the turf to preserve a 28-23 win. Owens knockdown was the second Dallas stop in the last two minutes. It was preceded by Terence Newman’s second pick of the season to stop Washington at the Dallas 20.

– The Dallas offense started with some moxie on its first two drives but scored nothing. A quick 29 yard opening drive ended at the Washington 32 when Andre Gurodesnapped a third down shotgun snap early and hit an unprepared Romo in the face. The ball bounced to Julius Jones, who prevented a turnover. Folk’s miss gave an early indication that the rivalry mojo would override any differences between the teams.

That feeling became stronger after Washington drove the length of the field for a touchdown on its opening drive. Joe Gibbs and Al Saunders took a page from Kevin Gilbride’s playbook, isolating Chris Cooley on Roy Williams to convert one first down and sending Cooley on a deep post for the score.

The bad feeling metastasized when Romo sabotaged Dallas promising second drive with a school yard throw. Gurode airmailed a shotgun snap over his shoulder and rather than throw it out of bounds Romo hurled the ball downfield towards Owens. T.O. tipped the underthrown ball away from a Redskins corner but had it snatched away from him by Rocky McIntosh.

The Cowboys continued to flail until they put a scoring drive together just before the half. A 23 yard flag route to T.O. converted a 3rd and 15 and moved Dallas from Washington’s 32 to their nine. Romo ended the campaign with a stop-fade to Owens in the short left corner of the end zone, inside Shawn Springs.

Washington responded with a quick field goal drive; Shaun Suisham nailed his kick and the Redskins had a 10-7 lead.

The game stalled in the early third until McIntosh made an apparent game turning play, diving in front of Jason Wittento intercept a Romo pass, which he returned inside the Dallas five.

Wade Phillips contested the call and replay found that McIntosh trapped the ball. Dallas took immediate advantage when Romo went deep to Patrick Crayton, who got behind FS Reed Doughty and drew a 51 yard interference penalty. Two plays later, Owens converted a third and 19, running up the left seam to catch his second TD of the game.

Washington mounted anther grinding drive that ended in a field goal, giving Dallas a one point lead. Dallas pushed the lead to eight in a hurry. A fourteen yard slant to Sam Hurd converted a 3rd and two to Dallas’ 34. Witten ran a deep seam on the next play for 24 yards. A Julius Jones run and a Flozell Adams penalty moved the Cowboys to Washington’s 46. Here, Owens lined up wide right, motioned inside Patrick Crayton and ran a stop and go up the right seam. The hesitation move froze MLB London Fletcher and when Owens continued upfield, neither of the Redskins safeties followed him. He got clear in the deep middle and Romo put the ball on target for a 21-13 lead.

Washington drove the field again and settled for a field goal when it faced a 4th and 2 deep in Dallas territory, cutting the lead to 21-16.

The Cowboys again scored with speed. Starting at their 30, Jason Garrett got 18 yards from a Marion Barbersweep right and a cutback run left. A toss was stopped for no gain and then Garrett motioned Witten from a wide position into a strong right, I-set, with T.O. flanking him. He and Owens both ran routes up the field, freezing safety Pierson Priolieu; he did not know which target to cover. Owens got behind Shawn Springs, who assumed Priolieu would rotate behind him. Priolieu was late getting to Owens on the right sideline and T.O. easily broke his attempt at an arm tackle, cantering the remainder of the 52 yard scoring play.

Dallas was up twelve with eight minutes left and the game seemed over, but Campbell led a 12 play, 74 yard drive, converting a key 4th and 4 to Chris Cooley to the Dallas five. Campbell found Santana Moss behind a Dallas zone and the lead was just three with 3:45 to go.

Washington’s defense forced a three and out and after Antwaan Randle-El returned a punt to Dallas’ 40, it was white knuckle time. Campbell drove the Redskins to the Cowboys’ 20 but Newman saved the game on 3rd and 10 with his pick.

Notes:

– Forget style points, Dallas just went 3-0 through the division. Take it and move on to the Jets.

– And how about those Jets, who knocked off Pittsburgh today.

Owens the Unstoppable — The Cowboys Clobber New York 31-20

You can slow them for a while but you cannot stop them. The Giants learned that lesson — again — about the Dallas offense. The Cowboys shadow boxed with New York for 28 minutes, then hit them with three consecutive TD drives mid game to blow open a close matchup and seal a sweep of the second place Giants. The last two ended on big plays to Terrell Owens, who escaped bracket Giants coverage to score on 25 and 50 yard passes.

New York swapped opening drive TDs with the Cowboys, then stymied Dallas on four drives in the first and second quarters. Two went three and out, one was a one play drive that ended in a Tony Romo interception and the fourth saw the Giants hold Dallas to a long field goal after Ken Hamlin returned an Eli Manning pick to the New York 39.

In the span the Giants took a 14-10 lead and had possession of the ball with just over three minutes to go in the second quarter. New York had been running effectively, especially to its right behind Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie and by throwing short passes to its receivers and to TE Jeremy Shockey, who topped the 100 yard mark.

The Cowboys defense keyed the turnaround with an emphatic stop. The Giants had the ball on their own 42 but a Chris Canty sack, a Canty stop of Brandon Jacobs for a loss and an Anthony Spencer sack pushed New York back to its own 19.

Dallas got decent field position and time to make a two minute run at the lead. Romo moved the Cowboys from their own 31 to the Giants 20 with three short passes right, two to Patrick Crayton sandwiched between one to Sam Hurd. Romo then worked the left side with two stop-fades to Owens, who outfought Sam Madison for 10 and 11 yard gains.

With the Cowboys facing first and ten with just under 40 seconds left, the Cowboys went to a three receiver set with Owens left, Hurd right and Patrick Crayton in the right slot. Dallas kept the back and tight end in to block, sending only the receivers out on patterns.

The protection scheme was perfect for the Giants, who went all in, blitzing eight men, leaving the field as a three-on-three competition. Crayton beat Aaron Ross on a crossing route, sidestepped another Giants corner trying to recover from the left flank and walked in to the end zone to give Dallas a 17-14 lead with just over 30 left in the half.

The lead was short lived, due to a Kevin Burnett faux pas. The Giants had just 21 seconds left after the kickoff and gave up, running Jacobs into the line. Burnett got in Jacobs’ face and taunted him; the penalty stopped the clock and moved New York to midfield. Manning, who was very accurate on his deep balls down the sidelines yesterday, hit Shockey on a deep out for 28 yards to the Dallas 22. The Giants got the return field goal with one second left, taking a gift 17-17 tie into halftime.

Dallas’ defense adjusted at halftime, and gave better underneath help on Shockey’s patterns. The Cowboys stopped New York three and out on the initial series and forced a punt. Romo took over and used Julius Jones’ legs to move the ball near midfield. An 8 yard Jones run was followed by a five yarder, giving Dallas an initial first down. Three plays later, Dallas faced third and three and put Jones and Jason Witten in a split backfield around Romo, who lined up in the shotgun.Romo ran Jones on a draw and he followed Kyle Kosier and Witten for ten yards. This was the same play that Jones ran for a touchdown against the Eagles last week.

Three plays later, on third and seven, Dallas went three wide with Crayton now in the left slot. Romo floated left away from pressure and found Crayton on the left sideline for fourteen yards. Three plays later on third-and-eleven Crayton again lined up in the left slot but this time ran a crossing route over the middle for thirteen yards to the New York 25.

On the next play, Dallas went to a base I formation, drawing New York into an eight man front. T.O. got press coverage on the right side for one of the few times in the game. He blew past Sam Madison and caught a Romo fade in the right corner of the end zone for a 24-17 lead.

New York answered with a methodical drive that mixed runs with short passes. It ate up the remaining seven minutes of the third quarter and a minute and a half of the fourth. Two Giants penalties, a hold against Snee on an apparent Giants TD run and a delay of game pushed New York back from the Dallas six to the 21. A Terence Newman breakup of a Manning out and Jay Ratliff’s breakup of a screen forced New York to settle for a field goal and a 24-20 score.

The Cowboys took the fast road to scoring on the ensuring drive. After a return to the 30, Dallas got one first down on a Ross hands to the face penalty. After a slant to Witten left Dallas in third-and-one at the 44, Dallas went to a two TE set, putting both Witten and Anthony Fasano on the right flank. Dallas called a trap right, pulling Kosier right to lead Marion Barber.

The blockers sealed the right side, leaving Barber isolated on safety Michael Johnson. Johnson engaged Barber behind the line of scrimmage but the running back dropped him with a stiff arm and ran to midfield.

Dallas went for the kill on the following play. Jason Garrett went two tight ends, putting Fasano on the right side and Witten on the left. Owens flanked Witten. Crayton went in motion left and gave Dallas a slot formation, with Owens in the slot.

It was a slot formation plus, since Dallas two best threats were lined up side by side. At the snap Crayton, Owens and Witten all ran upfield. At about fifteen yards, Crayton ran an out and Witten broke for the middle of the field. Witten drew the FS Johnson with him and Crayton’s cut drew Aaron Ross his way.

Owens kept running and he outpaced safety Gibril Wilson. Romo put air under the ball since his receiver was three steps behind his man. Owens slowed, gathered the ball at the 20 and raced in for the final points of the game.

Because the initial Dallas and New York scoring drives had taken so much time only ten and a half minutes remained in the game. Dallas snuffed out New York’s next two drives, one on a Tank Johnson sack and the other on downs with an Anthony Henry breakup with just over three minutes left in the game.

The Cowboys had scored early, just before the half, early in the third and early in the fourth. They adjusted, they attacked and ultimately put the Giants three games behind them in the NFC East standings, tie-breakers considered. That’s not a bad place to be eleven days into November.

Notes:

– A big tip of the hat to the big LT. Flozell Adams has shut out Trent Cole and Osi Umenyiora in consecutive weeks. He’s on a salary drive. I don’t know if Dallas will pay him but he’ll get Leonard Davis money from somebody next year.

– Give another hand to Kyle Kosier who has teamed with Andre Gurode the past couple of weeks to pave the way for some huge short yardage and goalline runs. Notice that Dallas is going more and more to its left, behind Adams, Kosier and Gurode, when its needs a key two or three yards. Kosier’s run blocking is at its best and he made a vital save of a Tony Romo fumble in the second quarter.

– Heavy rushing. Dallas is now using all three OLBs in its nickel package. Wade Phillips has taken a page from Dave Campo’s book and is using Greg Ellis as a nickel DT, along with Jason Hatcher. Demarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer are putting their hands down and playing DE. Ellis made a huge play from DT early in the second quarter, hitting Eli Manning’s arm as he threw, forcing an overthrow that Ken Hamlin picked off.

– Nick Folk kicks like an old pro. His long attempt in the second quarter showed he had no fear of the Meadowlands winds. He knocked it straight and hard.

– Welcome to Dallas, Tank Johnson. Johnson got in the books with a nice spin move around Chris Snee for a 4th quarter sack.

– Can you feel the love between T.O. and Tony Romo? The kid is the first QB Owens has liked since Steve Young.

Dallas Beats New York 31-20, Skip Bayless’ Head Explodes

A Hazmat unit was summoned to ESPN studios to clear the toxic detritus from Skip Bayless’ exploded head.

The Washington General of pundits has been predicting failure for Tony Romo on a weekly basis and was hoping this would be the week Romo finally failed.

Skip was wrong.

In a related story, Rick Gosselin is reportedly planning trips to Green Bay and Detroit, looking for new teams to promote against Dallas.

Game report later.

35 Minute Men — Pats Pound Dallas 48-27

The Cowboys offensive and defensive weaknesses caught up to them against a Patriots team that has its offense running full rich. The slow starting offense opened with three three-and-outs, letting Tom Brady and his receivers to run out to a 14-0 lead.

The defense meanwhile, suffered from its biggest issue; the Cowboys have put teams into 3rd-and-long situations all year but have let teams off the hook far too often. They suffered against the Pats, though we can’t really fault short comings in execution. Dallas simply did not have the cornerback depth to keep the receiving corps under control.

The result was a 48-27 final of a game that was 31-24 New England at the start of the 4th, with Dallas driving.  The Patriots were stopped here and there but maintained their attack for 60 minutes.  The Cowboys, as is their wont, waited fifteen minutes to awaken on offense and then self-destructed with offensive penalties in the 4th.  This 35 minute performance left a game defense on the field way too long and it gave the New England coaches too many opportunities to locate and then exploit mismatches in the Cowboys’ secondary.

The Cowboys nickel packages the past two years have consisted of Anthony Henry and Aaron Glenn outside with Terence Newman moving inside to handle the opposition’s slot receiver. The package worked because many teams move their #1 inside on 3rd downs to create mismatches against a team’s #3.  This year, Jacques Reeves has replaced Glenn but Dallas has yet to use Newman regularly in the slot, because he and Henry have both been healthy a total of five quarters.

Today, the Cowboys’ game plan consisted of stopping the Patriots’ running attack and taking away deep throws to Randy Moss.  The plan held in the second and third quarters, as the Cowboys forced a key turnover and a couple of New England punts, allowed the suddenly active offense to roar back and take a 24-21 lead early in the 3rd quarter.

Henry’s absence meant that Dallas was only able to take away one or two of the Patriot’s receiving options.  The Cowboys tried working Newman on the right and gave Jacques Reeves over the top on the other side.

The Cowboys were shorthanded inside and Wes Welker ran wild inside the Cowboys’ zones.  The Patriots matched Welker on linebackers on short crossing routes and the results were ugly.  Welker converted 3rd-and-10 and 3rd-and-7 on New England’s opening TD drive.  He converted a 3rd-and-7 two drives later with a stop and go move up the right slot that drew Ken Hamlin forward and left Nate Jones in his wake.  The 35 yard reception gave the Pats the 14-0 lead.  He later scored New England’s third TD on a stop and go crossing route that isolated him on Greg Ellis.  The big LB didn’t have a chance.

The Cowboys tightened their coverage on Welker in the second half but this meant leaving Reeves with no deep help.  Reeves played well through three but he was beaten by Donte Stallworth on a deep post after the Cowboys had botched a 4th-and-1 situation on their side of midfield just after the teams changed sides.  Reeves compounded the problem by missing the tackle, giving New England a 38-24 lead that blew open a see-saw second half.  Dallas was not able to get back on serve a second time and the runaway was in motion.

The Cowboys were in effect playing a game of whack a mole, where they could stop two of the three Patriots receiving options but could never get all three under control.

A third foible, one seemingly left in the Parcells Era returned to bedevil the offense.   Dallas committed 12 penalties for 98 yards.  Two early 4th quarter miscues were particularly damaging.  They came after the defense had held New England to a field goal for a 31-24 lead late in the third.

The offense had gotten rolling at this point, scoring a touchdown on its last drive of the first half and on its opening drive of the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead.  There were ominous in these sequences.  Jason Garrett had to overcome three offensive penalties on the Cowboys first TD drive.  And while the Cowboys had gone up on the next play, the Cowboys’ subsequent drive was blown up by a Flozell Adams’ holding penalty.

New England had responded with a methodical TD drive and had added a field goal for the seven point advantage.  Dallas was in a must-score situation but looked capable.  The Cowboys had begun the second half by running the ball, with Julius Jones gaining 43 yards on Dallas first two runs of the half.  The instant ground game had given Dallas’ play action plays more room to work.

Now, with 12:51 in the game, Dallas went back to the ground.  Starting at his 21, Marion Barber followed excellent Adams, Witten and Deon Anderson blocks around left end for 17 yards.   Two plays later, Romo faked a run to Barber and round T.O. steaking across the middle for a 23 yard gain to New England’s 38.  The big play was nullified by an illegal shift;  Jason Witten had not set when Owens began his motion towards the middle of the formation.

Dallas appeared to have overcome the penalties yet again.  A 13 yard pass to Owens left Dallas in 4th and one at its own 47.   Dallas called Marion Barber’s number off left tackle and he gained eight.  The play was nullified by a needless Kyle Kosier holding call.  The left guard had fired off and engaged Tedy Bruschi on the Pats side of the line of scrimmage.  Kosier lost his balance and perhaps feared Bruschi would slide off him and made the play.  He grabbed the linebacker around the leg and was caught by an official.

Facing a 4th and 11, Dallas had to punt.  Brady hit Stallworth on the bomb four plays later and Dallas’ plans of grinding down the Pats in the waning minutes had to be shelved.

Notes:

– Bring on the bye.   I know it’s two weeks away, but the penalties were killers.  Almost all were on the offense today.  Illegal shifts.  Illegal motion penalties.  These were spread across the units; the receivers made some and the linemen made some.  There’s no crowd noise excuse.  The offense needed to be at peak efficiency today and it played the first quarter and the last ten minutes like a pre-season game.  That got them killed against a polished, disciplined Patriots team.

– Romo is good but right now,  Brady is better.  Brady’s simply in a zone.  There were several plays where Dallas covered well and Brady made the throws anyway.

– It may be time to end the Tyson Thompson experiment at kick returner.  He did have a 72 yard return in the 4th that set up Dallas’ last points but he repeatedly tried to return kicks that went into the end zone.  He had not returned a kickoff past the Dallas 20 to that point.   His judgment is poor and his acceleration is too.  He takes a loooooong time to get from 1st to 5th gear.

– This was not a fun result but let’s keep things in perspective.  The Redskins lost.  If Dallas takes care of business at home against Minnesota it can sit back during the bye and watch the Redskins try to steal one at Foxborough in two weeks.  The Pats will likely take one from the rest of the division so as long as the Cowboys tend to their own business, this loss won’t hurt too much.

Folk Heroes. Dallas Bests Buffalo 25-24

You could see the story lines forming like a storm front late in the fourth quarter.

Tony Romo is overrated.

Terrell Owens is angry at not getting the ball. Is this the time for him to explode the Dallas locker room?

Dallas is overrated.

The Cowboys at several points were one play away from tasting defeat against an inspired Bills team, surrendering 14 points on two interception returns for touchdowns and a 103 yard kickoff return for Buffalo’s third TD.

Instead, it became a night for redemption and cohesiveness.

– Romo shook off six turnovers to go 9-of-11 on an 85 yard TD drive that pulled the Cowboys to within 24-22 at the 20 second mark. Romo had been baited by the Buffalo two deep zone all night and got into trouble by forcing throws into the second and third levels. The last and worst example came two plays after Terence Newman had set up Dallas at the Buffalo 17 with a 70 yard interception return with just under six minutes remaining Facing a second and 9, Romo overlooked T.O. who was wide open at the Buffalo 9 running a shallow cross and forced a pass towards a triple-covered Jason Witten. John DiGiorgio intercepted and it appeared Romo’s chances were gone.

Romo finally got the message in the waning minutes, taking the short crossing routes and delays to his receivers and backs, netting Dallas the final 9 winning points.

– After missing on a two point conversion the special teams units that had given up a second return TD in two weeks executed a perfect onsides kick, with Sam Hurd tipping a Folk looper at ten and a half yards towards Buffalo’s side of the field, where Tony Curtis recovered. That extra bakers’ dozen of yards helped set up Nick Folk for the 53 yard game winner at the final gun.

Romo also factored in this sequence, just missing on a deep throw to T.O. that was downed at the Buffalo 25. The pass was ruled incomplete after replay review, keeping Dallas at the Bills 47 with just 13 seconds left. Romo made two quick throws to Marion Barber and Patrick Crayton, getting Dallas to Buffalo’s 35. Folk did the rest.

– Both the offense and the defense were backed up by a defense that again bent but didn’t break. The defenders have not played the ‘99 Rams or the ‘91 Bills the past two weeks, but they have limited the current Rams and Bills to three points. Tonight the defense made the key stop of the game when Buffalo was one snap from locking the victory away. Demarcus Ware’s Wilt Chamberlain-like leap let him tip a Trent Edwards’ pass into Newman’s hands inside the Dallas ten.

The defense had its best statistical night of the season, keeping a well disciplined Bills offense from big plays. The line sacked Edwards three times and limited the Bills attack to 229 total yards. Star wideout Lee Evans was held to one catch for 12 yards. The impressive rookie Marshawn Lynch had an impressive catch and run for 23 yards and crossed up a Dallas run blitz for 15 more. That was Buffalo’s night.

The game rode for the longest time on the Buffalo D’s ability to thwart Dallas drives. Romo gifted them a touchdown on the Cowboys’ third offensive play of the game, airmailing a pass well over Witten’s head to safety George Wilson, who returned the gift 25 yards for the game’s first score.

Later, end Chris Kelsay made an impressive play, batting a Romo rollout throw into the air and catching it for Buffalo’s second TD, which gave the Bills a 17-7 lead.

The Bills used their own version of the Cowboys Chaos package, unveiling a set where only one of the front seven set in a three point stance. Buffalo played a lot of overloaded fronts on run downs, stopping the Cowboys’ running attack cold. Dallas finished with just 76 yards on the ground.

Buffalo then faked man coverage and dropped into different zone packages, which lured Romo into a couple of picks.

The Bills rush tired in the second half, when Dallas ran 48 plays from scrimmage to Buffalo’s 20. By the fourth quarter, Romo was able to set and scan the field, leading to better throws and better movement of the ball. Buffalo still managed to frustrate him, forcing field goals on Dallas first two second half scoring drives and forcing a fumble and a pick on two others.

Romo and his offensive mates kept plugging away and finally got the results they were looking for on their last two possessions. They came soon enough.

Good Teams Win

– Dallas got field goals on the final play of each half. The Cowboys drove 27 yards to set up Folk’s 47 yarder at the second quarter gun and moved 12 more to set up his 53 yard game winner in the fourth.

– Dallas performed its spike drills flawlessly. The offense ran 22 yards upfield and set quickly enough so Romo could spike the ball with three seconds left on the first half clock. In the fourth, Dallas completed an apparent 22 yard pass to the Buffalo 25 immediately after the onside kick and spiked the ball with one second remaining. The play was overturned on review, but that does not diminish the offense’s exectution.

And Bad Teams Lose

– With 41 seconds left in the 2nd quarter holding and a 17-7 lead, Buffalo eschewed a punt and let Rian Lindell attempt a 54 yard kick for a 20-7 lead. His miss gave Dallas great field position to get their own field goal.

– Newman’s interception came when Buffalo had 3rd-and-8 on the Dallas 11 with 6:05 left. A running play would have let Lindell take his chance to push Buffalo’s lead to 27-16 with roughly six minutes left in the game. The Buffalo staff will no doubt be second-guessed for this.

Notes:

– Dallas did not lead until the game clock read 0:00 in the 4th.

– The final Cowboys TD came on the exact same pass play that Patrick Crayton dropped for a score against Chicago.

– Flozell Adams didn’t false start once in a raucous Bills’ stadium.

– The Cowboys are 3-0 on the road, their first such start since 2003.

– Any complaints about the kicker? Nick Folk is 10 of 11 and 4 of 4 from 40 and beyond. He’s the first kicker to nail the followup after having his first successful kick wiped out by a late time out. Sebastian Janikowski blasted his second kick off the upright in Denver, costing the Raiders a win and Phil Dawson missed his chance at a game winner in Oakland the following week.

– In the second quarter ESPN flashed a stat on Tony Romo that simply read, “Aaaaaaag.” Maybe they were on to something.

– For all of Buffalo’s stunting the line did not allow a sack in 50 pass attempts.

– Jerry Jones had Michael Irvin in his suite. I’ll bet they’re still partying right now.

Stepping On the Gassed, Dallas Melts Miami 37-20

The Cowboys’ defense took a step forward today, keying another second half blowout and a 37-20 win. The unit was charactered in some quarters as a “sieve” last week. It had some trouble with a hot Giants offense defending the run and the pass.

This week, it shut down Miami’s running game. Trent Green was able to beat Dallas zone coverages for sizable intermediate passes here and there, finishing with 259 yards passing. He was unable, however to hit bombs, as Eli Manning did last week.

When he tried, a more combative Cowboys secondary picked him off four times, with three quarters of the unit getting an interception. Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams had one apiece while Anthony Henry got two. Henry’s day was indicative of Dallas’; he gave up a 24 yard pass and a 15 yarder on his side and looked to be playing more of last week’s soft edge coverage. He alternated these completions with two well times picks, one of a Green bomb and another of a deep comeback.

The defense is still a work in progress, but the progress was there this week. The Cowboys still blew coverages on 3rd and long plays, but had a much better sense of what Miami wanted to do and where they needed to be to combat the Dolphins’ game plan.

After blowing some tackles and giving fans some Giants’ game heartburn the defense picked Green off and forced a three and out. Miami then had its two best drives of the game, rolling to three first downs and a field goal just before halftime and a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to start the second half that mixed strong inside runs and quick outside passes.

After regrouping the defense notching this line:

1. three and out;
2. three plays and an interception;
3. two plays and a recovered fumble;
4. three and out;
5. two plays and an interception;

Dallas scored 20 points in this span, turning a 13-10 deficit into a 30-13 lead. The Dolphins did get one more touchdown on a drive aided by a Terrell Owens penalty (which helped Miami start at the Dallas 49) and a Green prayer that bounced off Ken Hamlin’s hands in the end zone. For the most part, Dallas adjusted and Miami could not respond in kind.

On offense, the Dolphins provided much tougher coverage than New York. Tony Romo had to stand and search out secondary and tertiary targets. His throwing windows were much smaller. Many times he had to run for first downs. Romo kept his patience, did not try to force the game and used his magical wand when necessary. A spinning touchdown throw to Tony Curtis while in a Dolphins linebackers’ grasps looked to my eyes like a young Brett Favre, who pulled this trick on the Cowboys more than once in his prime.

A sideline scramble where Romo faked out Jason Taylor twice looked more like some other guy named Staubach. We’re only two games into ‘07 but Romo looks a lot more like the early ‘06 Romo than the late ‘06 gunslinger. He’s avoided mistakes and today that proved just as important as his big plays did last week.

Game Balls

– Patrick Crayton — He walked to the sideline in the second quarter with a little finger that was at a 90 degree angle to the adjacent ring finger. Minutes later, Fox announcer Daryl Johnston said that Crayton had “broken a finger.”

Don’t think so. Crayton returned to the field and made a game-changing punt return in the third quarter. With Dallas trailing 13-10 Crayton returned a Dolphins’ punt 49 yards to the Miami 30. The Cowboys scored a touchdown four plays later to regain the lead for good.

Jason Allen — His penalty made Miami punt a second time. The first kick was fielded by Crayton for no gain at the Dallas 16. The second was the 49 yarder.

Terry Glenn did something similar in Carolina two years ago, returning to the game after dislocating a finger and making some key catches. Crayton did his part to replace Glenn by emulating him.

– Jason Garrett — his ingenious plan of the week was going against expectations with his play calls and gassing the Dolphins front line in the process.

Fans and analysts looked at the Redskins 191 yard rushing day against Miami last week and figured that Dallas would try to emulate them, especially with hot, humid weather forecast today.

Garrett understood the true nature of playing defensive line — it’s far more exhausting for big, heavy linemen to rush than it is to defend runs. Note the difference. When you defend runs, you have to hit, engage and defend a gap or gaps. When you rush you make eight to ten yard sprints up the field.  And if you’re chasing a Tony Romo around, your sprints could cover 30-40 yards and you’re at risk of being blindsided on any play.

Try this in your front yard on your next hot Saturday — get in a four point stance, squat there for a ten seconds and then run a ten yard sprint, as fast as you can.  Then, 30 seconds later, do it again, only turn and run 30 additional yards towards an imaginary sideline.  Repeat till you’ve done it six times.  Wait five minutes and then do it again.  Repeat until you’ve rushed 24 times.

Unless you’re in good shape, you’re going to be winded.  Now, imagine you’re 330 lbs, wearing 15-20 lbs. of gear and you’re being whacked by another 330 lb.  And you’re chasing your quick, elusive teenage son.  And that you can’t touch him when you finally get close to him because he’s let go of the football. That’s a frustrating, exhausting and demoralizing job, all at the same time.

He’s a smart guy that Jason Garrett.

Garrett started with a balance, going roughly 1:1 in his run pass mix on Dallas’ first two drives. In the second and third quarters, he called 19 passes and 11 runs, an almost two to one ratio. Miami does not have a deep line rotation and the Dolphins front was drooping entering the locker room. They had more bounce starting the second half but a steady diet of passes quickly got them huffing and puffing again.

– Jacques Reeves — Dallas took a calculated gamble when it cut Aaron Glenn and may have won. Reeves was much better this week, playing a far more aggressive left corner. The Dolphins set him up on their one sustained TD drive of the day, throwing two quick 8 yard outs and then going over the top with an 18 yard fade to Marty Booker.

Reeves did not back off his aggressive play and measured Booker the rest of the game, breaking up one pass and coming close to an interception.

The bottom line is whether Reeves was or could become a better player than Glenn was the last two years. Last week he was not. This week he was. He can get better. If Terence Newman comes back healthy, Dallas will have a better 3rd CB than it did last year.

– Nick Folk — Why did Dallas draft a kicker? To end the kicking circus once and for all. He was 3-for-3 today. His kickoffs were fair caught at the 20, two yards deep into the end zone; four yards deep into the end zone; two yards deep into the end zone; the Miami ten; the Miami six; the Miami 31 and the Miami nine.

The kick to the 31 was due to kicking off from his 15 after T.O. was penalized for an excessive end zone celebration.

Of his kicks from the 30, none were returned to the Dallas 30 because of his hang time.

– Jay Ratliff — Miami had 61 yards rushing on 21 attempts, a 2.9 yard average. Ronnie Brown got 20 yards on his first two runs on Miami’s TD drive right after halftime but the Dolphins averaged just 2.1 YPA the rest of the game. He wasn’t being overrun inside.

– Bradie James — He was around the ball all game. He missed a key tackle on Miami’s opening FG drive but missed nothing else. He got Dallas’ first sack and cleaned up several early Miami tosses, when the Dolphins unsuccessfully tried attacking Anthony Spencer.

– Oliver Hoyte, Marion Barber and Jason Witten — if Witten keeps blocking like this, he’ll be the best TE in football, hands down. He bent Zack Thomas backwards a couple of times. Barber made Thomas do the limbo on a blitz pickup early in the 3rd quarter. Hoyte continues to blow up people and his edge block opened a huge lane for Barber’s game-sealing TD run.

– Flozell Adams — The Cowboys gave him help against Taylor early but by the second half Adams was able to handle last year’s defensive MVP by himself.

Little Cowboys, Big Boots — Cowboys 21, Colts 14

With daddy Greg Ellis out with a torn Achilles, the challenge for the young front seven was daunting. Peyton Manning and his aerial circus were en route, and who would supply the rush?

Sunday afternoon the answer was clear — everybody. The stat sheet shows only two sacks on the day, one for Demarcus Ware and one for Jay Ratliff. The cold numbers don’t reveal the heat the kiddie Cowboys put on Manning in a solid 21-14 win. Ware’s sack produced a fumble that Indy recovered. Ratliff’s produced a second that Dallas recovered.

Dallas produced four takeaways, the biggest a second quarter Roy Williams interception at the Dallas goal line when the game was scoreless. They produced pressure inside and off the edges, most of the time with four men. They harassed Manning into a 20 of 39 day, forcing numerous errant throws.

Most importantly, they scored a touchdown. Kevin Burnett snagged a deflected Manning pass, leapt to his feet and meandered 39 yards through traffic on the opening series of the second half. The score drew the game even and put Dallas back on serve at a time when Indy threatened to expand on a 7-0 halftime lead.

The stout defensive play gave the offense time to figure out a tricky Colts front. Indianapolis looped and stunted effectively on early run downs, keeping the Dallas backs under control. They forced an interception on the first series and picked off Romo on Dallas’ third series then smirked when Mike Vanderjagt missed 43 and 46 yard kicks on the three series of the first half.

The offense could make big plays here and there, but could not string together series until the Colts took a 14-7 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. Dallas answered the Colts score with a sixteen play, 68 yard drive, most of it coming on the legs of Julius Jones, who mixed six runs around two Terry Glenn slants. Jones 36 yards moved Dallas inside the Colts’ red zone, where Tony Romo converted a 4th and one with a sneak on the 4th quarter’s first play. Another Jones run and Glenn reception moved Dallas inside the Colts’ ten. A holding penalty on third and goal gave Dallas a new set of downs and Dallas tied the game one play later when Marion Barber followed Oliver Hoyte off left tackle for five yards.

The defense forced a three and out and Dallas crossed up the Colts’ defense on the game deciding drive. Indianapolis expected more running after the previous drive, so Romo crossed them up with two long Glenn passes. From their 20, Dallas lined up Glenn and Terrell Owens in a slot formation left. With Owens keeping the safety occurpied up the left hash, Glenn broke outside Jason David for nineteen yards. On the next play, Romo ran a play action and floated a 33 yard pass to Glenn, who smoked Marlin Jackson on a stop-and-go route.

Two Jones runs gave Dallas another first down at the Indy fifteen. Two plays later OC Tony Sparano baited RE Dwight Freeney, throwing a halfback screen under him to Jones, who got solid Kyle Kosier and Andre Gurode blocks before carrying a Colts defender the final five yards to the one foot line. Barber scored one play later to give Dallas a touchdown lead at the 6:00 mark.

The defense needed one more stop against Manning, who threw a perfect 38 yard strike to Marvin Harrison at the Dallas sixteen. Two Joseph Addai runs gained eight yards before the Cowboys forced two incompletions. Manning complained that Reggie Wayne was knocked down on a shallow cross at the Dallas five. The referees missed a clear hit on Wayne, but also missed LT Tarik Glenn’s facemask grab of Cowboys RE Jason Hatcher. The misses nullified each other and Dallas took over with 2:59 left.

The Colts still had all three time outs, so Dallas could not afford to run three dives and punt Manning the ball again. Barber moved Dallas out of their red zone with a 20 yard run off left tackle. A fifteen yard facemask pushed the ball to the 43. Romo then faked a Barber plunge and floated a pass down the right sideline, where Anthony Fasano stretched for a 22 yard grab. The Colts challenged whether Fasano had been touched before he left the ball on the ground and lost, forfeiting a timeout in the process. Two Barber runs burned their final two timeouts. Romo put the game beyond their reach with an eight yard stike to Glenn on third and seven. Glenn was the wide man in a three receiver formation and sliced inside Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton to make the grab.

Dallas had run plays like this in critical situations this year and had been undone by offensive interference penalties. On this day however, Bill’s Boys showed they are finally maturing into men. The big boots, for once, fit.

Notes:

– Dallas gained 215 of its 342 yards on its final three possessions. The Cowboys had only 127 total yards through the first 40 minutes.

– A game ball to Aaron Glenn, who replaced Terence Newman in the second quarter after Newman was knocked woozy on a punt return. Glenn covered Marvin Harrison ably until Newman returned to the game late in the third quarter. Glenn’s tip of a Manning pass led to Burnett’s key interception.

– I said in the game preview that holding Indy under 17 points was an event. Well break out the champagne and celebrate it. Dallas played contain outside. Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison had their normal solid games; Wayne had 111 yards receiving and Harrison had 94. However, neither had a breakout game. Each made only one big catch.

Dallas’ subdued the rest of the Colts’ attack. Dallas Clark had only one reception, a four yard TD catch in the third quarter. The Colts backs combined for only 80 yards rushing.

– Romo showed encouraging resilience, quickly forgetting a underthrow to Glenn that was picked off in the second quarter.

– A tip of the hat to the Cowboys’ offensive tackles. Flozell Adams was beaten badly by Dwight Freeney on Dallas’ opening series. Freeney forced a fumble and made Adams look overmatched. Adams rebounded and shut Freeney down the rest of the way. He got running back help on occasion but kept his QB clean. RT Marc Colombo pitched a shutout at Colts’ LE Robert Mathis. Indy had one sack all day.

– Sometimes a pointless review is not so pointless. Immediately after Manning’s 38 yard bomb to Harrison, Bill Parcells threw his red flag, challenging the call. The play seemed like a clear catch and the replay confirmed it. However, the stoppage in play seemed to throw off Manning’s rhythm. The referees blew the whistle to nullify a throw to Dallas Clark at the Dallas goal line. Had the play been allowed to proceed, Indy may well have tied the game right there. Instead, the Colts went to the run and were stopped when Manning tried throwing two plays later.

The challenge cost Dallas a time out, but cooling a red hot Manning down made the flag worthwhile.