Dallas ends drama early

By Anthony Bialy  |   Wednesday, November 07, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Dallas Cowboys
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Yawning through victory is fine. It may be more exciting to watch your guys snag a win when the clock's at all zeros, but the chance for both failure and cardiac arrest outweigh the benefits of a thorough blowout where the result one desires is achieved fairly rapidly. Case in point: Dallas' systematically methodical demolition of the Eagles last Sunday night, which put both teams in their respective proper places, should have made Cowboys fans very happy, as the victor looked like a division kingpin playing on two weeks' rest.

The fact that they were physically refreshed was apparent from the very start. It took Dallas' lively defense about a quarter of a minute to make a difference, as end Marcus Spears created a turnover by punching the ball free from Donovan McNabb on the evening's first offensive play.

Having the football released from his possession as the game opened was a bad omen for the Philadelphia leader, as his impressive 27 completions belied the fact that the Eagles only gained 264 air yards. Factor in two interceptions along with the fumble, and it's likely that, fairly or unfairly, the Kevin Kolb kids are going to be emboldened this week when they call Philadelphia's sports-talk radio programs.

The liberation led to a relatively easy Julius Jones touchdown on the ensuing drive; most importantly, it put the Cowboys up when the game was only a handful of minutes old. This is a team that tends to adjust well at the half and score later in the game, but it didn't bother to follow form and instead busted things open before many viewers even found the couch.

That said, Dallas maintained its ability to dominate after coming out of the locker room for the second time, too, reaching the end zone before the same slacker fans made it back to their sofas from halftime commercials. Most notably, beloved former Eagle Terrell Owens exploded for a 45-yard touchdown reception a little over two minutes into the third quarter. Ten catches and 174 yards for T.O. combined with the runaway Dallas win equaled the worst of both worlds for Philadelphia fans, who could have tolerated maybe one of those two but not both.

Of course, wide receivers are going to pray for passes thrown their way when a quarterback is playing as well as Tony Romo did. Dallas' followers can also enjoy knowing they'll get to see many more completions like the one the recently re-signed quarterback made to conclude their second touchdown drive of the first quarter to tight end Tony Curtis.

The well-covered Curtis' only chance to make a reception was to field a ball ostensibly aimed too high for an easy grab; of course, at 6-foot-5, he easily leaped above his defenders and came down with a jump ball that was actually well-placed. It was the kind of pass that typified the play of the utterly focused quarterback, who completed 20 of his 25 throws.

In addition to plays like the 1-yard TD throw to Curtis, Romo also stretched the field both lengthwise and laterally, as when he hit another tight end, Jason Witten this time, for the Cowboys' fifth touchdown of the evening in the third quarter. The versatile Witten basically ran a straight wide receiver's route, as he brought in a perfectly directed Romo pass along the end zone's sideline for six.

That pass accounted for 20 of Romo's 324 yards, as he was as efficient as he was proficient. After three straight performances that fell short of high expectations and standards, Dallas made sure its rival wasn't going to even tread water for a few minutes. Best of all for the Cowboys, Romo wasn't weighed down by newly inflated expectations or his fattened wallet.
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