If you look at the stat sheet from last night’s game, the Cowboys were beaten plain and simple. This is why they play the games because you don’t win on paper, just ask the Houston Texans. The Cowboys defense has been riddled with injury after injury and last night would be no difference. DeMarcus Ware went down with a quad injury in the first half and would return to the sideline with street clothes on. However it seemed Kyle Wilber, Jason Hatcher and company were up to the task of containing the former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
Feeding off the fire of defensive line coach Rob Marinelli, Wilber would strip sack Griffin at the five yard line to set up a Joseph Randle touchdown. This is where I believe that Monte Kiffin and his staff make the difference. Last season the injuries piled up on this defense and Rob Ryan couldn’t make the necessary adjustments to win with the backups provided. Ryan’s runs a very complex system and trying to learn that in the short term spells disaster.
Players of the Game:
On offense was a tough one to point out but Cole Beasley gets the nod this week. Beasley just catches everything thrown his way even if he has to jump up to snag it. Those little plays seem to make the big difference.
Game Stats: Four Receptions for 44 yards
Defensively it is without question the leader of this unit in Sean Lee. He finished the game with ten tackles. Most importantly his ability to shed blockers and stop Griffin from scoring on a draw play to force a field goal attempt. With the way the offense has been going as of late field goals won’t particularly beat them, so you could classify this as a “moral victory”.
No question the special teams star was Dwayne Harris. He accounted for 223 yards in the return game, 86 yards came on a punt return for a touchdown when Washington was forced to re-kick after a penalty. His 223 yards were not only more than the offense combined but it was the third best output in team history behind Reggie Swinton and Mel Renfro. Offensively this team struggled to sustain drives when the annual injury bug hit DeMarco Murray, but Harris put this team on his back and carried them to a victory over the hated Redskins.
This was difficult to watch at time but all in all Dallas is proving that they are head and shoulders above the rest of the weak NFC East.
