Dallas Cowboys 35, St. Louis Rams 7

The Cowboys completely dominated the Rams on Sunday. Tony Romo completed 21 of 33 passes for 339 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception. He also carried the ball 3 times for 24 yards (8.0 ypc) with 1 TD run. Julius Jones (13 car, 52 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 11 yards. Marion Barber carried the ball 8 times for 50 yards (6.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg). Tyson Thompson finished up the game for the Cowboys rushing for 47 yards on 8 carries (5.9 ypc). WR Patrick Crayton had an outstanding game with 7 catches for 184 yards (26.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also returned 2 punts for 45 yards (22.5 avg). TE Jason Witten (6 rec, 71 yards, TD) and Terrell Owens (3 rec, 33 yards) each pitched in on the passing game. The Cowboys finished up with 171 yards rushing on 33 carries (5.2 ypc) and they completed 21 of 33 passes for 331 yards.

The Cowboys defense was outstanding against the Rams. They held them to 62 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.0 ypc) and the Rams completed 14 of 30 passes for 125 yards.

NFL Quarterly Report ? The World?s Upside Down

We talk a lot on The ‘Boys Blog about the turnover in the NFL. We introduced the four losers to the playoffs trend that’s been in place this decade.

Four games into the season and that tendency looks conservative. Let’s take a look at last year’s playoff field and their current records:

NFC

Division Champs

East - Philadelphia was 10-6, is 1-3 in ‘07
North — Chicago was 13-3 in ‘06, is 1-3 in ‘07
South — New Orleans was 10-6 in ‘06, is 0-3 in ‘07
West — Seattle was 9-7 in ‘06, is 3-1 in ‘07

Wild Cards

Dallas was 9-7 in ‘06, is 4-0 in ‘07
New York was 8-8 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07

AFC

Division Champs

East — New England was 12-4 in ‘06, is 3-0 in ‘07
North — Baltimore was 13-3 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07
South — Indianapolis was 12-4 in ‘06, is 4-0 in ‘07
West — San Diego was 14-2 in ‘06, is 1-3 in ‘07

Wild Cards

New York was 10-6 in ‘06, is 1-3 in ‘07
Kansas City was 9-7 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07

Meanwhile, look at the teams that picked first in the ‘07 draft:

Oakland was 3-13 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07
Detroit was 3-13 in ‘06, is 3-1 in ‘07
Cleveland was 4-12 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07
Tampa Bay was 4-12 in ‘06, is 3-1 in ‘07
Arizona was 4-12 in ‘06, is 2-2 in ‘07
Washington was 5-11 in ‘06, is 2-1 in ‘07

None of these teams have losing records and some of them look like legitimate playoff contenders.

Only four of last year’s field look like strong bets to remain in the playoffs, Seattle and Dallas in the NFC and the old standards New England and Indy in the AFC. That’s not to say that more members of the ‘06 field won’t claw their way back, but we could see a lot more new faces come January.

Right now four new playoff teams looks like too few.

Notes:

A University of Philadelphia redshirt may need another year. LT Winston Justice was supposed to be one of the top prospects who would help the Eagles reload and maintain their winning ways. Philadelphia’s 2nd round pick was inactive almost all of last year but was pressed into service when William Thomas was injured last week.

Justice may still have a stellar career but he’s smarting tonight after Osi Umenyiora gave him a schooling. Umenyiora sacked Donovan McNabb six times tonight, going around and through the overmatched Eagles’ lineman. The Giants bagged McNabb twelve times, dropping the division champs to 1-3.

COWBOYS WIN!

There might be something special about this team. I cant explain it, but this is a very similiar feeling I remember having in the early 90s. It is the feeling that you know the Cowboys are the superior team while watching the game and you actually get upset that they dont keep running the score up. I believe this team could have scored 60 points today if they had started faster and kept the pressure on.

I remember having that feeling while watching Emmit grind the clock away with a 21 point lead. I remember thinking we should throw it deep and try to win by more. I imagine redskins fans watching the score and having that “oh shit” feeling when they see the boys controling their opponent.

I mean no disrespect to the Rams and the Dolphins, but they simply did not belong on the same field. Have you ever seen two offenses that looked as much like they did not want to be on the field. Our defense is incredible. Our offensive firepower actually helps the defense by deflating the spirits of our opponents.

Can you imagine trying to put together a 10 play scoring drive against the Cowboys while you are down by 21 points and knowing in the back of your mind that Romo will answer your touchdown before you get a shot of gatoraid? Why bother?

If I would have told you that Terrell Owens, Marion Barber and Jason Witten would only score one touchdown between them, would you have believed that we would have scored 35 points in a blow out? How many weapons do we have?

I’m just still feeling good about the win, but wishing we would have put up 60 points. Cant Romo do anything right?

Keep up the good work boys! My MVP for this game is the defense. I could have picked everyone on the list.

Who is your MVP for week 4?

WHO IS YOUR WEEK 4 MPV?

Open thread - Cowboys go 4-0 edition

OK, is Tony Romo a freaking magician or what? On that play where the ball was going over his head I kept thinking, "Just fall on it Tony. Don’t let them recover and don’t get hurt." Turns out Romo was thinking the same thing.

"Don't give up a touchdown," [Romo] said, "and don't get killed."

Good thing he didn’t listen to either of us. The guy is walking miracle waiting to happen.

Issac Bruce’s guarantee didn’t sit well with some of the Cowboys.

"I think the (Rams' defensive backs) hate that he made that statement," Crayton said of Bruce's comments. "Because they were the ones that had to pay for that. He didn't play against our offense. Their defense played against our offense. So they had to pay for what he said. I think you should always be careful for what you say when you go to another man's yard."

But leave it to T.O. to provide the best quote on that issue.

"Roger Goodell, you might want to get him drug tested," T.O. said, "because I don't know what he was thinking about."

Anthony Henry has a high ankle sprain, which is not good. Those things are tricky, but at least he wasn’t in a boot.

CB Anthony Henry has a high ankle sprain. No official timetable yet, but those are the nasty kind that tend to take a while to go away.

On the bright side, it wasn't so severe that Henry had to put a walking boot on his foot. He watched the second half in street clothes and regular, old shoes. He didn't appear to be limping as he walked off the field.

Feel free to use this as an open thread for comments on the Cowboys as they are 4-0 on the season. Also, use this as an open thread for the Sunday night game between the Giants and the Eagles.

Dallas 35, St. Louis 7: Second Half Domination Continues

If the Cowboys needed to dominate a clearly weaker opponent in order to prove something, they did it. Tony Romo’s legs allowed Dallas to score near the end of the first half, and the game was really never close after that.

I don’t know how to describe Romo’s play near the end of the half, but I will give it a shot. Facing a 3rd-and-3 from the 50, the snap from center sailed over Romo’s head. Romo bobbled the ball trying to pick it up and did not finally retrieve it until the ball reached the Dallas 17. Two Ram defenders had a chance stop Romo there, but Romo got out of the tackle. Romo broke another tackle, then found a running lane up the left sideline. He made it all the way back to the St. Louis 46, giving the Cowboys a first down.

Here is the link to the video, and below is a shot of it.

Five plays later, Romo ran the ball again, this time with Dallas facing a 3rd-and-10 from the St. Louis 15. Romo scored, giving Dallas a 14-7 halftime lead.

Romo’s arm helped the Cowboys to put the game away in the second half. Patrick Crayton had a career day with seven receptions, 184 yards, and 2 TDs, including a 59-yard touchdown grab that gave the Cowboys a 21-7 lead. Crayton had a second touchdown later in the quarter, as did Jason Witten.

A few notes:

* Romo has already tied the team record for most 300-yard games in a season, with three. He had three last year as well.
* Crayton’s 184 yards were the most for a Dallas receiver since Michael Irvin had 198 against Arizona on December 8, 1996.
* The last time that Dallas beat the St. Louis or Los Angeles Rams at Texas Stadium was October 18, 1981 in a 29-17 win. Since that time, the Cowboys have hosted the Rams five times, losing the previous four.
* Dallas is now 2-1 vs. the Rams since the Rams moved to St. Louis.

Key Plays

1st Quarter

1-10-DAL 26 (:07) 9-T.Romo pass deep left intended for 81-T.Owens INTERCEPTED by 21-O.Atogwe at STL 43. 21-O.Atogwe to DAL 26 for 31 yards (65-A.Gurode).

On the final play of the first quarter, Romo lofted a pass that was picked off by O.J. Atogwe, who returned the ball to the Dallas 26. It looked as if the Rams would get on the board first, until…

2nd Quarter

4-5-DAL 10 (12:04) (Field Goal formation) 14-J.Wilkins 28 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Right, Center-45-C.Massey, Holder-89-D.Looker.

The Rams reminded me of the Cowboys of the early decade. And it wasn’t a fond reminder.

1-10-STL 23 (8:03) 9-T.Romo pass deep right to 84-P.Crayton to STL 2 for 21 yards (27-L.Walls; 21-O.Atogwe). Pass completion after Romo scrambles right.

Crayton and Witten started coming up huge. The Rams were so focused on stopping Terrell Owens that the others found open space. Julius Jones scored his first touchdown on the next play.

4-1-DAL 29 (2:32) (Punt formation) 1-M.McBriar punts 56 yards to STL 15, Center-91-L.Ladouceur. 82-D.Hall for 85 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

After stopping Devin Hester last week, the Dallas punt team had a bit of a breakdown. Hall made some good cuts and was a problem for much of the day.

3-3-STL 50 (:56) (Shotgun) 9-T.Romo Aborted. 65-A.Gurode FUMBLES at STL 50, recovered by DAL-9-T.Romo at DAL 17. 9-T.Romo ran ob at STL 46 for 37 yards.

This should make the highlight reels. For about the next 30 years.

3rd Quarter

3-10-DAL 41 (12:52) (Shotgun) 9-T.Romo pass short right to 84-P.Crayton for 59 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The rout begins.

1-10-STL 37 (9:46) 9-T.Romo pass deep right to 84-P.Crayton for 37 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Starts getting ugly.

2-10-DAL 10 (5:14) 10-M.Bulger pass deep middle intended for 83-D.Bennett INTERCEPTED by 26-K.Hamlin at DAL -9. Touchback.

The Rams were trying to make a game of it, but Bulger floated a pass in the end zone that was easily picked off by Ken Hamlin.

2-9-STL 17 (2:30) 9-T.Romo pass deep right to 82-J.Witten for 17 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Dallas followed Hamlin’s interception with the final touchdown of the day.

Our Compliments

Tony Romo

Wow. He is running up his stats– 21/33, 339 yards, 3 TD, 1 Int.– and running more effectively than most running quarterbacks. Simply amazing performance.

Patrick Crayton

We really don’t need to be in a hurry about getting Terry Glenn back.

Jason Witten

In each of the first four games, Witten has been the player who stepped up first on offense. Another good game today.

Dallas Defense

Greg Ellis made his first appearance of the year and looked very good. Terence Newman replaced an injured Anthony Henry and looked pretty good. The Rams did not do very much.

Needs Some Work

There isn’t much to be concerned about. Here are a couple of items, though:

* The Cowboys did not contain Dante Hall in the manner that they contained Devin Hester. The Rams had good field position for much of the game but could not do much with it.
* Dallas had four dropped passes in the first half and once again started slowly in general. Fortunately, there are always two halves of football.

Stay Tuned

Monday (10/1): Instant Trivia: Cowboys vs. Rams
Tuesday (10/2): Answers to Questions Waiting for Answers
Wednesday (10/3): Way Too Much Information Wednesday
Thursday (10/4) Questions Waiting for Answers
Friday (10/5): Know Your Dallas Cowboys: The Show
Saturday (10/6): Preview of Monday’s Game
Sunday (10/7): More Previews, History, and Trivia
Monday (10/8): Dallas vs. Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

Mythbusting

Give ‘Em Hell Norm

Norm Hitzges put a loud and emphatic ban on whiny fans who called to complain the Cowboys are not getting respect for their strong start.

Agreed. Two weeks ago, I urged fans not to be figure skating judges, trying to assign style points for wins. Today, I want to examine a new practice in NFL coverage that’s tainting team assessments in my opinions.

I’m talking about NCAA-style rankings. Fans gnash their teeth because CNNSi or ESPN or some source they watch doesn’t rank their team high enough.

Get - over - it.

The Cowboys fate does not rest with some bowl selection committee or with sportswriters or coaches. It’s solely in their hands.

People are trying to rip teams apart, based on their schedules. Dallas’ opponents have won two games at 4:00 pm Sunday and will have won three at most by day’s end. It simply doesn’t matter. Yes, the Cowboys have played weak teams, but they didn’t make the schedule. What’s more, how many teams thought their first quarter would be so weak? The Giants won eight games last year. The Bears won thirteen. St. Louis won eight and the Dolphins six. Is it Dallas’ fault they’ve all collapsed early?

This is the NFL. The league sets the schedules, not AD Jerry Jones. The Cowboys can only play the teams put in front of them. And I’d say they’re done a good job of it. When you face bad teams and you fancy yourself a good one, you need to beat them decisively. Let’s look at points allowed and margin of victory:

New York — 35 points allowed; 10 point win;
Miami — 20 points allowed; 17 point win;
Chicago — 10 points allowed; 24 point win;
St. Louis — 7 points allowed; 28 point win;

The Cowboys are allowing fewer points every week and winning by a bigger margin each week. They’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.

And no matter how weak your regular season schedule might be, you don’t get a cheap path to the Super Bowl. You still have to beat playoff-caliber teams in the post season.

Pull your chairs ups up, whipper snappers, and let this old hand tell you about the ‘72 Miami Dolphins. Everybody knows they’re the only undefeated team in modern NFL history. But those who were not watching back then don’t know how much second guessing and qualifying their record endured during their perfect season.

The Dolphins did not play a playoff team during the season. In fact, Miami played only two teams that finished with winning records, the 8-6 Chiefs, whom Miami had beaten in an epic six quarter playoff game the year before and the 8-6 New York Giants.

When they made the Super Bowl, Miami was just a one point favorite over the 11-3 Redskins. Many experts favored Washington, arguing that Miami had not beaten anybody all year.

Does anybody cite Miami’s schedule strength these days? Does anybody besides numbers geeks like me even know their opponents’ records? No. Those Dolphins are considered one of the top teams ever.

I’m not comparing the Cowboys to the ‘72 Dolphins. They’ve won four games, which is small potatoes in the grander scheme of things. They have not even qualified for the playoffs, never mind won a playoff game. Nevertheless, Dallas and its fans should take a lesson from that pantheon team. You can only beat who you face and as long as Dallas keeps working and winning, who cares what any media naysayers think?

Browns Watch –

We’re at the quarter pole, let’s take stock of Cleveland.

They’re 2-2. They’re top-10 skill position draft picks, Kellen Winslow Jr. and Braylon Edwards, have put their injury problems behind them and are playing like big money players. They beat the Ravens today, straight up. Baltimore moved the ball, but their offense broke down completely in the Cleveland red zone. They look like pretenders to their 13-3 record.

The Browns were opportunistic. They scored 14 points off Baltimore turnovers. Winslow beat Ed Reed on Cleveland’s opening TD drive. It’s early and they’ve got holes, but the Browns pick does not look like a top-5 pick today. Not even close.

Dallas Cowboys toy with Rams before winning 35-7

The Dallas Cowboys must be getting paid to carry their opponents for a few rounds before delivering a quick combination of power punches and flooring the opposition. Once again, Dallas teased a team with thoughts of victory after a slow start to the game, this time going into halftime with only a 14-7 lead. Tony Romo and Patrick Crayton soon got rid of any suspense with a couple of straight right hands to the chin of the Rams defense. The Cowboys blew out St. Louis in the second half and won 35-7. The Cowboys were so dominating that even after starting slow they put up over 500 yards on offense.

Tony Romo pulled some more magic out of his hat with a brilliant play just before halftime when Andre Gurode snapped a ball over his head and Romo chased it backwards at least 30 yards. Romo kicked it once, scooped it up, spun around two Rams defenders, juked another and ran all the way back past the line of scrimmage and picking up the three yards needed for a first down. The Cowboys paid off the drive with a Romo rushing TD. In the second half, he was money in the passing game and the Dallas offense just punished the Rams. He finished 21 of 33 for 339 yards and 3 TD’s with one interception.

But the player of the game on offense was Patrick Crayton who scored a 59-yard TD and a 37-yard TD and ended up with 7 catches for 184 yards. Crayton wasn’t happy about dropping a sure touchdown last week, so he made up for it this week. The normally sure-handed Crayton was just that again, plus he added playmaker to his collection of labels. He also had a nice day returning punts.

The Cowboys defense is starting to look more like what the fans imagined going into the season. The Rams only scored one touchdown and that was courtesy of the special teams when Dante Hall returned a punt for a TD. DeMarcus Ware continued his strong play by getting another sack and hitting QB Marc Bulger multiple times as well as playing strong against the run. Greg Ellis returned to the lineup and immediately paid dividends by getting 1.5 sacks. The one downer on defense was the ankle injury to Anthony Henry, his status is unknown but the x-rays came back negative.

The Cowboys offensive line continues to pass block better than it run blocks early in games, and the Cowboys struggled again to develop a consistent rushing attack. But with Tony Romo’s arm (and occasionally his legs) leading the way, later in the game their bulk tends to wear down the defense and the Cowboys can start running the ball to grind out the clock.

The Dallas Cowboys and Wade Phillips are off to a 4-0 start and have looked dominating. With the defense coming around while getting Terrence Newman and Greg Ellis back means that the Cowboys are becoming a complete team. They probably need to start games with a little more urgency because there are teams that will take advantage of a slow start but up until this point, the Cowboys have covered that with crushing second half play. Jerry Jones should take his own advice though, and give his team some Pepsi Max before the start of the game. Because once the Cowboys wake up in a game, the other team starts having nightmares.

Box score

Romo Sparks Cowboys to 35-7 Route of Rams

Once again the Cowboys started out lethargic in the first half, but thanks to some terrific plays with his legs by QB Tony Romo, they got things going late in the second quarter. After a snap from the shotgun formation went well over his head on a third and three play, Romo mangaged to pick up the ball on his own 9-yard line and scamper 37-yards to make the first down and keep the drive going. Then on a third and three from the Rams fifteen, he scrambled in for the touchdown to give the Cowboys a 14-7 half-time lead.

The depleted Rams offense wasn’t able to get much going against the Cowboy defense either, and the biggest play of the game for them came on a Dante Hall 85-yard punt return for a touchdown mid-way through the second quarter. DeMarcus Ware had a sack on Marc Bulger in the first quarter and put tremendous pressure on the Rams QB all day and Gregg Ellis had his first sack of the year in the third quarter followed by a 1/2 sack along with Marcus Spears. Bulger was visibly favoring his ribs and shoulder for almost the entire game and left late in the fourth quarter handing over the reigns to Gus Frerotte.

But the Cowboys exploded for 21 points in the third quarter on two touchdown passes to WR Patrick Crayton and one to TE Jason Witten to seal the victory and once again putting up 35 points. The resemblances of QB Tony Romo’s play to that of Roger Staubach are going to start mounting up again as he made play after play on the move against an impressive Rams defense. But the second touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton was nothing but spectacular as he stood in a well-protected pocket and threw a perfect strike to Crayton who had beaten his man down the sideline.

As usual, the Cowboys were able to control the ball with the running game for most of the fourth quarter as the Rams were unable to mount any type of a comeback. The 4-0 start is the first one for the Cowboys since they won the Super Bowl in the 95-96 season. It would be hard to imagine them not playing deep into the playoffs this season if they can continue the momentum they have developed so far this year.