DMN Blog: Cowboys 13, Buccaneers 9: One outstanding, ugly win

by Tim MacMahon

This isn't the kind of ugly win that you complain about.

This is the kind of ugly win that might save a season.

Who cares whether it's pretty when a team in a tailspin finds a way to beat a good team? That's what the Cowboys did today - without Tony Romo, Terence Newman, Felix Jones, Jason Witten and others. That means the Cowboys will be above .500 when the cavalry (hopefully) comes after the bye week.

After a week of gloom and doom, the Cowboys came up with their best defensive effort of the season, which allowed Dallas to get away with poor quarterback play. And Dallas did it with two rookies and a second-year seventh-rounder playing cornerback for the entire fourth quarter.

Wade Phillips deserved all the heat that came his way the last month. He deserves a lot of praise for this performance - for putting together an outstanding defensive game plan and keeping a troubled team together.

Much, much more to come after returning from the winners' locker room.