The Cowboys started the game against Tampa sluggish, pedestrian, and uninspired. First few drives only yielded field goals and the defense had more than a few holes in it.
After the 1st quarter the score was a shock to most as the Bucs stuck with the ‘Boys as they only trailed 6-0.
The second quarter was even more ordinary as both teams seemed to maneuver their way around the field about as good as a blind person. Tony Romo threw in front, behind, and over receivers as they marched to an eventual 13-7 halftime lead after a 42 yard pitch and catch between Romo and Miles Austin ended in a touchdown.
Going into halftime the team still seemed to be finding its way as the defensive secondary looked confused and out of sync.
But the second half was a different story.
Bum’s son must have fired the troops up in the locker room because the Cowboys emerged more focused in the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Immediately out the gate the ‘Boys were swinging as Romo tossed a 66 yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams and the Cowboys went up 20-7.
Seemed as if Dallas was about to blow the doors off, but Leftwich marched the Bucs back down the field and newly acquired running back Derrick Ward scored on a one yard touchdown run.
That was pretty much the last ray of hope for the pirates as the Cowboys took control from there and never looked back.
Touchdown for Crayton? Check.
Running score for Marion Barber? Check.
It’s on now; the Cowboys are riding on “28’s with the windows down on a 2010 all blue Range Rover.
Romo finally pulled his head out of the clouds and the defense patched the holes in the submarine.
All in all it turned out to be a great day for the Cowboys. Tony Romo ended up with 353 passing yards (a career high), three touchdowns, and no turnovers. Now if he could only go on a run of zero turnovers for more than one game.
Romo also completed 66% of his passes thrown over ten yards and had a healthy 149 quarterback rating.
For Roy Williams, he ended up with a solid outing. He caught three balls for 86 yards and one touchdown.
Terrell who?
The worrisome part of the game was the Dallas defense actually. The Bucs ran for over 170 yards and scored two touchdowns, racking up 5.6 yards a carry. The Cowboys cannot play that way against the Giants and expect to win, not with Brandon Jacobs in the backfield.
Cowboys secondary gave up a few big plays down the middle, something Bum’s son will have to address this upcoming week in practice.
The Cowboys beat the Bucs 34-21 and head back home to face the Giants to open their new billion dollar stadium.
Injury note: Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says that he injured his right ankle during Sundays game, the ankle will be re-examined on Tuesday. Cowboys new starting safety Gerald Sensabaugh was helped off the field after a big hit on Buccaneers wide receiver Michael Clayton, no word on if he’ll return next week.
-JH
“It’s on now; the Cowboys are riding on “28’s with the windows down on a 2010 all blue Range Rover.”
You forgot the silver trim! Great analogy, nonetheless.
Normally, I’d have something to add, but you pretty much covered everything I wanted to say. Great contribution…you hit the nail right on the head, when you said they can’t expect to yield similar results against the Giants with a slow start. They need to come out and hit our interdivisional foes right in the mouth on a regular and consistent basis throughout the game.
Oh, I just thought of something you didn’t touch on: Though our offense and defense very rarely took advantage, Special Team’s did excellent. And while Michael Irvin stated in the pre-game show that the Cowboy’s might be sucking wind in the 4th due to our lack of acclimation vs. the Bucs, it actually seemed like the Cowboy’s were going strong still in the 4th and the Bucs were the one’s sucking wind. Hat’s off to their conditioning. Hopefully they can keep it up throughout the season and into the play-offs!!!
Thanks for the comment Jonathan.
We seemed to be doing pretty well 4th quarter. The Bucs never could keep that sped up tempo against our defense, which was great.
I’m still a little disappointed with how we handled the run, especially against a running back that’s coming off of two major knee surgery’s.
It’ll be interesting to see how we manage against the Giants, they looked pretty good yesterday.
Their offense sputtered at times, but did you see that defense?
-JH
I didn’t see it, but I’ve read enough to know that the Defensive Line is what we thought they would be: a brick wall.
I called for screen’s to thrwart the Bucs blitz, but I think Jason recognized we wouldn’t have to pull that out of our bag of tricks to win against the Bucs, and he may have wanted to throw off the Giants when they watch our gametape. I’m hoping we take advantage of this useful blitz-killer against the Giants. Nothing frustrate’s a defensive line like an effective screen.
Brandon Jacobs averaged 2.9 yards per carry. The secret to keeping him in check is not allowing him to get to top speed. If we can, at least, hit him in the backfield to slow progress, we should be able to keep him in check. It’s Ahmad Bradshaw that scares me the most; he average 5 yards per carry. Their receiving unit is alot like ours, inexperienced, but plenty of talent to be dangerous.