Since Jason Garrett took over as Cowboys' Head Coach, every game has been decided by 4 points or less, which means they have always been competitive enough to potentially win, but the results were just about split 50/50.
This game threw that 4 points stat out the window. Although it may have been against the winless Rams, who were without their star QB Sam Bradford (A.J. Feeley was in at QB,) but even so, Dallas didn't make mistakes, they took a lead and ran with it, putting their foot on St. Louis' throats and not giving up. That's all I've ever wanted them do. If anything, this should serve as a confidence builder as they get ready to head into Philly next week.
But let's get back to the game... 34-7 and that score very much reflects how the game went.
First, Tony Romo who has been a bit inconsistent the first 4 games was on-point yesterday... nothing over the top or crazy but he managed the game very well with 14 of 24 completions, 166 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Romo didn't need to throw as much for this game, mostly thanks to DeMarco Murray, who was playing for injured Felix Jones. On the first Dallas drive, Murray's first carry was a 91 yard touchdown run, one of the longest in Cowboys history, and his historic day didn't stop there. Let's just say that even if you took away the 91 yard run from Murray's stats, he still managed 162 yards rushing (that's a total of 253 for those who don't want to do the math and that beats the highest rushing total in Cowboys history (by Emmitt Smith with 237 yards.))
Dez Bryant also had a pretty good game, with 5
receptions for 90 yards and 1 touchdown. For the games he played this year, he always was productive during the first half of the game and pretty much fell off in the second half, but he redeemed himself and made most of his clutch plays in the second half, including a stellar catch in the end zone over the pylon.Witten was, well, Witten. He made catches when he needed to and got an early touchdown to help build up Dallas' lead.
Dan Bailey was again the lone kicker, even though Buehler said he was good to go all week (I think/hope Buehler's days are numbered... although he's a good kickoff guy, he is just not needed anymore, especially with the new kickoff rule.)
Anyway, Bailey was 100% on extra points and nailed two field goals, including a 51 yarder with ease.The defense was ON-POINT... everybody seemed to be contributing, especially Abe Elam, who was exceptional, forcing and recovering a fumble. Mike Jenkins played great at corner and pulled in a beautiful interception. Sean Lee played well, and DeMarcus got lots of pressure on A.J. Feeley and close to the end of the game finally grabbed another sack for his stat sheet.
Overall, this was how I expected Dallas to play every game, and they may have looked good because St. Louis is so bad, but a lot of times good teams don't show up and lose to bad teams. This was a great rebound game from the Detroit and Patriots losses, and will hopefully serve as a reminder of how good they can be.
Dallas heads to Philly next Sunday night, a game that is always exciting. I just hope Dallas treats Philly just like they treated The Rams.
