Cowboys get a grip, beat 'Skins
Source: Hometown Annapolis
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - Make no mistake, Tony Romo's return hardly transformed the Dallas Cowboys into an offensive juggernaut.
They still couldn't manage to score more than 14 points in a game. Romo passed for fewer than 200 yards and he threw two interceptions that thwarted long drives.
But all that really counts is this: With Romo starting at quarterback - splintered pinkie and all - and Terence Newman back at cornerback, Dallas pulled out a 14-10 victory over the Washington Redskins last night to renew its postseason hopes.
"We treated this as a playoff game in a lot of ways," said Romo, whose 25-yard touchdown pass to rookie Martellus Bennett with 10½ minutes to play provided the go-ahead points.
"I told the guys, 'The time is now.' It's a 'Show Me' game. We had to go out there and show ourselves and show each other that we can play good football - or play good enough to win against a really good team on the road."
The Cowboys tied the Redskins for second place in the NFC East at 6-4, and Marion Barber played as pivotal a role as anyone. He gained 114 yards on 24 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run a minute before halftime.
After Newman batted away a pass intended for Santana Moss on fourth-and-4 with a little more than 6½ minutes left, the Cowboys kept the ball the rest of the game by handing off to Barber.
On the game-closing drive, Romo made six handoffs in a row to Barber, followed by a pass over the middle on third down to Barber, then another four Barber runs. To recap: 11 plays, all to Barber.
Part of that was a fourth-and-1 at the Redskins' 17, when Romo pitched the ball to Barber, who earned 3 yards. After being tackled, he bounced up with a fist raised and jumped into the arms of tackle Marc Colombo.
"He's a tough back. He's always been a tough back," Redskins defensive end Andre Carter said. "And we couldn't get him down, unfortunately."
The Redskins couldn't get to Romo, either, failing to sack him.
And while he didn't put up any more points than backups Brad Johnson or Brooks Bollinger managed - Dallas scored 14, 13 and 14 points in the three games Romo missed - he did lend flexibility.
"He's got a good feel for the pocket. He's got a good feel for pressure,"
Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "He's a dimension within himself to that offense - he adds so much to it."
After having to learn a new way to grip a football - with four fingers only, leaving his heavily bandaged right pinkie out of the equation - and a new way to celebrate - with his healthy left hand, not his injured right hand - Romo went 19-for-27 for 198 yards.
"I felt like the most awkward individual, when I'm like 'Yeah!"' said Romo, raising his right hand and then lowering it quickly. On the follow-through, his very valuable hurt hand hit a reporter's tape recorder.
No additional damage, though.
"See?" Romo said with a laugh. "There it is."
On the other side of the ball, Dallas harassed Jason Campbell into going 22-for-34 for only 162 yards, a touchdown and Newman's second-half interception. Plus, the Cowboys were able to slow tailback Clinton Portis, the NFL's second-leading rusher, whose status was in doubt right up until about 1½ hours before kickoff because of a sprained left knee.
Portis began by gaining 29 yards on five carries during Washington's opening drive, which ended with Campbell's 2-yard TD pass to fullback Mike Sellers.
But the Redskins wouldn't reach the end zone again - and Portis finished with 68 yards on 15 carries. After five consecutive games with at least 120 yards, he now has failed to reach that total over the past two games combined - both losses.
Indeed, the Redskins have the first two-game losing streak of Jim Zorn's NFL head-coaching career - both at home, both at night, both on national TV - and have dropped three of five games following a 4-1 start.
"This is the time in the season where those teams that actually are going upward start making that climb, if you will," Zorn said, several minutes after opening his postgame news conference with a loud, extended sigh into the microphone.
"And we're not making - you know, we haven't made the climb."
NOTES: After seeing thousands of yellow Terrible Towels twirled by visiting Steelers fans at their previous game, the Redskins distributed 50,000 white-and-burgundy "Redskins Rally Rags." ... Both of Romo's INTs came on passes intended for WR Terrell Owens. New Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall grabbed the first, LB Rocky McIntosh the other. ... Owens had five catches for 38 yards, was stopped for no gain on a double-reverse and was upended by CB Fred Smoot at the end of a 2-yard pass. Smoot celebrated wildly, kicking at the turf.
COWBOYS 14, REDSKINS 10
Dallas 0 7 0 7-14
Washington 7 3 0 0-10
First Quarter
Was-Sellers 2 pass from J.Campbell (Suisham kick), 7:32.
Second Quarter
Dal-Barber 2 run (Folk kick), 1:01.
Was-FG Suisham, :04.
Fourth Quarter
Dal-Bennett 25 pass from Romo (Folk kick), 10:36.
A-90,830.
Dal Was
First downs 17 14
Total Net Yards 315 228
Rushes-yards 28-117 18-92
Passing 198 136
Punt Returns 3-26 2-14
Kickoff Returns 3-35 3-80
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 2-6
Comp-Att-Int 19-27-2 22-35-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 3-26
Punts 4-39.3 4-47.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-40 2-10
Time of Possession 31:14 28:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Dallas, Barber 24-114, Choice 1-6, Owens 1-0, Romo 2-(minus 3). Washington, Portis 15-68, J.Campbell 1-22, Betts 1-1, S.Alexander 1-1.
PASSING-Dallas, Romo 19-27-2-198. Washington, J.Campbell 22-34-1-162, Randle El 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Dallas, Barber 6-39, Owens 5-38, Roy E. Williams 3-36, Witten 2-34, Austin 2-26, Bennett 1-25. Washington, Cooley 7-47, Moss 5-29, D.Thomas 3-14, Betts 2-27, Sellers 2-15, Portis 2-6, Randle El 1-24.
MISSED FIELD GOAL-Dallas, Suisham 46 (SH).
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - Make no mistake, Tony Romo's return hardly transformed the Dallas Cowboys into an offensive juggernaut.
They still couldn't manage to score more than 14 points in a game. Romo passed for fewer than 200 yards and he threw two interceptions that thwarted long drives.
But all that really counts is this: With Romo starting at quarterback - splintered pinkie and all - and Terence Newman back at cornerback, Dallas pulled out a 14-10 victory over the Washington Redskins last night to renew its postseason hopes.
"We treated this as a playoff game in a lot of ways," said Romo, whose 25-yard touchdown pass to rookie Martellus Bennett with 10½ minutes to play provided the go-ahead points.
"I told the guys, 'The time is now.' It's a 'Show Me' game. We had to go out there and show ourselves and show each other that we can play good football - or play good enough to win against a really good team on the road."
The Cowboys tied the Redskins for second place in the NFC East at 6-4, and Marion Barber played as pivotal a role as anyone. He gained 114 yards on 24 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run a minute before halftime.
After Newman batted away a pass intended for Santana Moss on fourth-and-4 with a little more than 6½ minutes left, the Cowboys kept the ball the rest of the game by handing off to Barber.
On the game-closing drive, Romo made six handoffs in a row to Barber, followed by a pass over the middle on third down to Barber, then another four Barber runs. To recap: 11 plays, all to Barber.
Part of that was a fourth-and-1 at the Redskins' 17, when Romo pitched the ball to Barber, who earned 3 yards. After being tackled, he bounced up with a fist raised and jumped into the arms of tackle Marc Colombo.
"He's a tough back. He's always been a tough back," Redskins defensive end Andre Carter said. "And we couldn't get him down, unfortunately."
The Redskins couldn't get to Romo, either, failing to sack him.
And while he didn't put up any more points than backups Brad Johnson or Brooks Bollinger managed - Dallas scored 14, 13 and 14 points in the three games Romo missed - he did lend flexibility.
"He's got a good feel for the pocket. He's got a good feel for pressure,"
Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "He's a dimension within himself to that offense - he adds so much to it."
After having to learn a new way to grip a football - with four fingers only, leaving his heavily bandaged right pinkie out of the equation - and a new way to celebrate - with his healthy left hand, not his injured right hand - Romo went 19-for-27 for 198 yards.
"I felt like the most awkward individual, when I'm like 'Yeah!"' said Romo, raising his right hand and then lowering it quickly. On the follow-through, his very valuable hurt hand hit a reporter's tape recorder.
No additional damage, though.
"See?" Romo said with a laugh. "There it is."
On the other side of the ball, Dallas harassed Jason Campbell into going 22-for-34 for only 162 yards, a touchdown and Newman's second-half interception. Plus, the Cowboys were able to slow tailback Clinton Portis, the NFL's second-leading rusher, whose status was in doubt right up until about 1½ hours before kickoff because of a sprained left knee.
Portis began by gaining 29 yards on five carries during Washington's opening drive, which ended with Campbell's 2-yard TD pass to fullback Mike Sellers.
But the Redskins wouldn't reach the end zone again - and Portis finished with 68 yards on 15 carries. After five consecutive games with at least 120 yards, he now has failed to reach that total over the past two games combined - both losses.
Indeed, the Redskins have the first two-game losing streak of Jim Zorn's NFL head-coaching career - both at home, both at night, both on national TV - and have dropped three of five games following a 4-1 start.
"This is the time in the season where those teams that actually are going upward start making that climb, if you will," Zorn said, several minutes after opening his postgame news conference with a loud, extended sigh into the microphone.
"And we're not making - you know, we haven't made the climb."
NOTES: After seeing thousands of yellow Terrible Towels twirled by visiting Steelers fans at their previous game, the Redskins distributed 50,000 white-and-burgundy "Redskins Rally Rags." ... Both of Romo's INTs came on passes intended for WR Terrell Owens. New Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall grabbed the first, LB Rocky McIntosh the other. ... Owens had five catches for 38 yards, was stopped for no gain on a double-reverse and was upended by CB Fred Smoot at the end of a 2-yard pass. Smoot celebrated wildly, kicking at the turf.
COWBOYS 14, REDSKINS 10
Dallas 0 7 0 7-14
Washington 7 3 0 0-10
First Quarter
Was-Sellers 2 pass from J.Campbell (Suisham kick), 7:32.
Second Quarter
Dal-Barber 2 run (Folk kick), 1:01.
Was-FG Suisham, :04.
Fourth Quarter
Dal-Bennett 25 pass from Romo (Folk kick), 10:36.
A-90,830.
Dal Was
First downs 17 14
Total Net Yards 315 228
Rushes-yards 28-117 18-92
Passing 198 136
Punt Returns 3-26 2-14
Kickoff Returns 3-35 3-80
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 2-6
Comp-Att-Int 19-27-2 22-35-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 3-26
Punts 4-39.3 4-47.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-40 2-10
Time of Possession 31:14 28:46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Dallas, Barber 24-114, Choice 1-6, Owens 1-0, Romo 2-(minus 3). Washington, Portis 15-68, J.Campbell 1-22, Betts 1-1, S.Alexander 1-1.
PASSING-Dallas, Romo 19-27-2-198. Washington, J.Campbell 22-34-1-162, Randle El 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Dallas, Barber 6-39, Owens 5-38, Roy E. Williams 3-36, Witten 2-34, Austin 2-26, Bennett 1-25. Washington, Cooley 7-47, Moss 5-29, D.Thomas 3-14, Betts 2-27, Sellers 2-15, Portis 2-6, Randle El 1-24.
MISSED FIELD GOAL-Dallas, Suisham 46 (SH).
posted by The Gryphon at 7:23 PM
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