Dallas had no major problems handing St. Louis a loss of 35-7 last week, and Buffalo was statistically ranked just as low, in fact, a little lower than the injured Rams. If sportscasters and analysists are any indication, Dallas had already won this game.
A few things stood in the way, however, as Buffalo was hosting their first Monday Night game in 13 years, and with that came a loud enough crowd to rival that at Arrowhead. The 12th man was in full effect, and it may have been the catalyst for 4 Tomo Romo interceptions in the first half, which had the 'Boys in a 17-10 hole heading into the half.
Back from the half and the Cowboys receive the kickoff. They drive down the field and end up with a field goal, bringing the score to 17-13.
The following kickoff would end up being devastating. A Nick Folk 73 yard kick to Terrance McGee was run back for 103 yards and a Touchdown for Buffalo. Now behind at 24-13, Dallas drove down the field and starting the 4th quarter with another field goal kick, bringing the game within reach at 24-16.
A Cowboys' fumble leads to a Buffalo drive which leads to an interception, which leads to a Cowboys' drive that leads to an interception. Luckily Buffalo couldn't make anything of it and punts away with a little under 4 minutes left in the game.
Romo finally rebounds from his horrific day by driving the ball to the Buffalo 4 yard line and completing the drive with a short pass to Patrick Crayton for a Touchdown. Dallas would need a 2 point conversion to tie up the game and take them into overtime, yet alas, a high toss to Terrell Owens resulted incomplete when it was stripped out of his hands before he even hit the ground.
There were :20 seconds left in the game, and judging by the eruption of the crowd, this game was over, and Buffalo finally got revenge for all those Super Bowls that Dallas dominated in. But even though the clock said :20, this game was far from over.
Rookie Kicker, Nick Folk, headed into the onside kick and executed perfectly. WR Sam Hurd deflected the ball just barely within 10 yards, and TE Tony Curtis ran like the wind and dropped on the ball, recovering the kick and giving the Cowboys one last shot.
Romo took the field again and shot a pass to T.O. at the Buffalo 25. He miraculously assembled his men and spiked the ball to stop the clock at :01 second, yet the T.O. catch had to be reviewed and it ended up being an incomplete pass. Back to the drawing board.
Romo again drops back into the shotgun and takes 2 shots to Barber and Crayton who both drop out of bounds to stop the clock with :02 seconds remaining and bringing the 'Boys to the Buffalo 35. It would be up to Rookie Kicker Nick Folk to complete the 53 yard field goal, and take the 'Boys to 5-0.
Folk steps up to the plate and nails a homerun, right down the middle, and right through the goal posts. The Cowboys win it!! The Cowboys w... wha..wha... what happened?! Ah... sneaky Bills' Head Coach Dick Jaraun used the infamous 'secret timeout' right before the snap, meaning the kick doesn't count and Folk's gotta do it again.
Have no fear, Folk is here. As calm and collective as a surgeon, Nick Folk does it again. And once again, with almost the same sureshot accuracy as the first kick, the ball clears the goal posts and the Cowboys do, in fact, win the game at 25-24.
Whew...
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