NY TIMES: Cowboys Step on Jets, Then Look Past Them
By TOM SPOUSTA
Published: November 23, 2007
IRVING, Tex., Nov. 22 — Maybe the Dallas Cowboys have set the bar too close to perfection. Maybe they were simply peeking ahead to next week’s showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
Or perhaps playing the plucky-but-overmatched Jets on Thursday allowed the Cowboys to look anything but dominant, unless the final score is considered.
No matter, the Jets were an afterthought even before the final seconds ticked away on Dallas’s 34-3 rout, a victory that began the official countdown to facing the Packers in a clash of 10-1 teams considered second only to the undefeated New England Patriots next Thursday at Texas Stadium.
Green Bay upheld its end of the deal earlier Thursday with a 37-26 victory against the Detroit Lions. But the Cowboys were not given much time to savor the best start in the franchise’s 48-year history. They immediately faced questions about the Packers.
“If we win next week, does it help us reach our goal? Yes,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “But if we lose, does it completely derail it? No.”
Romo added: “It doesn’t end your season. It doesn’t put you in the Super Bowl.”
The Cowboys defense picked a timely moment to allow the fewest points by an opponent this season, a performance Jerry Jones called the best since he became the owner of the team in 1989. The Cowboys were giving up an average of 311 total yards, but they held the Jets to 180.
“I thought we left some points out there offensively, but we still got 34 points,” Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips said. “The team has to play well enough to win, and that’s what we have done and continue to do. Part of that was the defense and special teams.”
Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owens did not post the gaudy numbers of previous games, a testament to Dallas’s overall ability to win convincingly without great performances from its stars.
Romo completed 21 of 28 passes for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. Owens caught 6 passes for 65 yards, scoring once on a 22-yard pass. Both continued their assaults on season and career records.
Romo tied the Cowboys’ season record for touchdown passes with 29, set by Danny White in 1983. Owens further polished his Hall of Fame résumé, moving to 9th in career receptions with 865 and 10th in receiving yards with 12,808.
“We want to get that Super Bowl championship,” Owens said. “So just being 10-1, we’re grateful for it and we made history, but it doesn’t stop there.”
With Green Bay looming next Thursday, some thought the Cowboys were standing on a trapdoor against the lowly Jets, who had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime last Sunday.
“It’s been the next game every game,” Phillips said, trying to deflect at least some talk of facing Green Bay.
“I try to give them reasons to play and all that, but it’s up to them to focus on the next play and next game.”
Dallas appeared to dispel that notion on its first possession, marching 63 yards for a 7-0 lead on Marion Barber III’s 7-yard run. The tone for that drive was set on third-and-9, which Romo converted with a 17-yard completion to the third-string receiver Miles Austin.
The Cowboys built a 21-3 halftime lead with two touchdowns in the second quarter en route to winning by double digits for the eighth time this season.
A 50-yard interception return by cornerback Terence Newman boosted the confidence of a pass defense that entered the game ranked 24th in yards allowed this season. Romo’s 25-yard pass to tight end Jason Witten made it 14 games in a row in which Romo has thrown a touchdown pass, two behind Troy Aikman’s team record.
Still, the Cowboys looked sluggish at times.
After recovering Leon Washington’s fumble on a kickoff at the Jets’ 35, Dallas misfired while trying to display the big-play arrogance that only the Patriots seem to have mastered this season.
The Cowboys immediately looked toward the end zone, with Romo trying to fire a bullet between two defenders converging on Owens at the goal line. The pass was thrown late and short, allowing Kerry Rhodes to make an easy interception.
Romo nearly had two other passes picked off while throwing into tight coverages, before settling down and finishing the first half 7 for 11 for 70 yards. His longest completion was the 25-yard scoring pass to Witten.
Published: November 23, 2007
IRVING, Tex., Nov. 22 — Maybe the Dallas Cowboys have set the bar too close to perfection. Maybe they were simply peeking ahead to next week’s showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
Or perhaps playing the plucky-but-overmatched Jets on Thursday allowed the Cowboys to look anything but dominant, unless the final score is considered.
No matter, the Jets were an afterthought even before the final seconds ticked away on Dallas’s 34-3 rout, a victory that began the official countdown to facing the Packers in a clash of 10-1 teams considered second only to the undefeated New England Patriots next Thursday at Texas Stadium.
Green Bay upheld its end of the deal earlier Thursday with a 37-26 victory against the Detroit Lions. But the Cowboys were not given much time to savor the best start in the franchise’s 48-year history. They immediately faced questions about the Packers.
“If we win next week, does it help us reach our goal? Yes,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “But if we lose, does it completely derail it? No.”
Romo added: “It doesn’t end your season. It doesn’t put you in the Super Bowl.”
The Cowboys defense picked a timely moment to allow the fewest points by an opponent this season, a performance Jerry Jones called the best since he became the owner of the team in 1989. The Cowboys were giving up an average of 311 total yards, but they held the Jets to 180.
“I thought we left some points out there offensively, but we still got 34 points,” Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips said. “The team has to play well enough to win, and that’s what we have done and continue to do. Part of that was the defense and special teams.”
Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owens did not post the gaudy numbers of previous games, a testament to Dallas’s overall ability to win convincingly without great performances from its stars.
Romo completed 21 of 28 passes for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. Owens caught 6 passes for 65 yards, scoring once on a 22-yard pass. Both continued their assaults on season and career records.
Romo tied the Cowboys’ season record for touchdown passes with 29, set by Danny White in 1983. Owens further polished his Hall of Fame résumé, moving to 9th in career receptions with 865 and 10th in receiving yards with 12,808.
“We want to get that Super Bowl championship,” Owens said. “So just being 10-1, we’re grateful for it and we made history, but it doesn’t stop there.”
With Green Bay looming next Thursday, some thought the Cowboys were standing on a trapdoor against the lowly Jets, who had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime last Sunday.
“It’s been the next game every game,” Phillips said, trying to deflect at least some talk of facing Green Bay.
“I try to give them reasons to play and all that, but it’s up to them to focus on the next play and next game.”
Dallas appeared to dispel that notion on its first possession, marching 63 yards for a 7-0 lead on Marion Barber III’s 7-yard run. The tone for that drive was set on third-and-9, which Romo converted with a 17-yard completion to the third-string receiver Miles Austin.
The Cowboys built a 21-3 halftime lead with two touchdowns in the second quarter en route to winning by double digits for the eighth time this season.
A 50-yard interception return by cornerback Terence Newman boosted the confidence of a pass defense that entered the game ranked 24th in yards allowed this season. Romo’s 25-yard pass to tight end Jason Witten made it 14 games in a row in which Romo has thrown a touchdown pass, two behind Troy Aikman’s team record.
Still, the Cowboys looked sluggish at times.
After recovering Leon Washington’s fumble on a kickoff at the Jets’ 35, Dallas misfired while trying to display the big-play arrogance that only the Patriots seem to have mastered this season.
The Cowboys immediately looked toward the end zone, with Romo trying to fire a bullet between two defenders converging on Owens at the goal line. The pass was thrown late and short, allowing Kerry Rhodes to make an easy interception.
Romo nearly had two other passes picked off while throwing into tight coverages, before settling down and finishing the first half 7 for 11 for 70 yards. His longest completion was the 25-yard scoring pass to Witten.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:29 AM
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