Cowboys Corner

Cowboys now alone in first place after Saints blast Giants

A perfect Thanksgiving weekend wrapped up in grand fashion for the streaking Cowboys Monday night when the Saints blasted the Giants, leaving the Cowboys all alone atop the NFC East standings.

The Cowboys (7-4) have won four straight games and are now a full game ahead of a reeling Giants team (6-5), now losers of three straight.

Add that to losses by the NFC East rival Eagles and the Chicago Bears, who would be a competitor for the wild card playoff spot if somehow the Cowboys didn't win the division.

But the wild card option could soon be moot for a Cowboys team that controls its on destiny in the NFC East and now has a seemingly friendly December path awaiting them.

The Cowboys play at 4-7 Cardinals on Sunday. The Giants host the undefeated Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers come off 10 days rest. 

They could be riding a four-game losing streak and trailing by two games in the division when they come to Dallas for the much anticipated showdown on Dec. 11.

If the Cowboys get by the Giants, they then play at the 4-7 Buccaneers who are now riding a five game losing streak before meeting the 4-7 Eagles who look nothing like the team that beat the Cowboys 34-7 in Oct.  

They would then end the season against a Giants team with possibly nothing to play for if they don't find a way to beat the Cowboys Dec. 11. 

That showdown at Cowboys Stadium will determine it all. 

But the Giants have a tough closing schedule with a game against a playoff contending Jets team in addition to the Packers and Cowboys.

 

Clarence Hill

 

 

After two first-half shutouts, even Jason Witten reminds himself to stay cool

Jason Witten is as veteran as they come. But even the seven-time Pro Bowl tight end says he has to remind himself to keep his poise.

He’s been shut out in the first half of each of the past two games, and that’s not something he’s used to.

“We’re always talking to the young guys about poise. That was something we had to do ourselves,” Witten said of himself and quarterback Tony Romo following last week’s 20-19 victory against Miami. “I didn’t have a catch in the first half. It was something you’re not used to having. A couple of picks that were different looks for him. You keep your poise. That’s what winners do.”

Witten was held without a catch in the first half at Washington but came back with three catches for 85 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown catch. Against Miami, Witten again had no catches in the first half but finished with four for 43 yards.

“That last two weeks, it’s been tough to get things going,” Witten said. “They were familiar with us, and they did a good job, and there really wasn’t a whole lot of options.”

Witten has 56 catches for 713 yards and five touchdowns, numbers that have him on a pace for 81 catches for 1,037 yards and seven touchdowns – pretty typical for him.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Sensabaugh plays against Dolphins, but says foot 'hurt the whole game'

Free safety Gerald Sensabaugh played against the Dolphins despite a sprained foot that kept him out of practice all week.

He made four tackles in the Cowboys' 20-19 victory on Thursday, and he said the foot hurt the whole game.

"It's on the back on the ball of my foot," he said. "Any time I tried to put pressure on it, it hurt. The training staff gave me a chance to go out there and let it out. They did an awesome job. They pretty much got the swelling out in three days. It hurt the whole game. I'm just glad I was able to be out there."

Sensabaugh said the victory wasn't perfect, but it was a team effort.

"We have to keep closing out games like that," he said. "We've had two recently where the defense has gotten teh ball back in the offense's hands and they've made last-second drives. I think we've done a good job as a team. It wasn't a perfect game, but it was great to get a win."

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

 

Lee says he's getting better with cast, but wrapping up still tough

Sean Lee said he’s getting better at playing with the gigantic cast on his left hand, but it’s still tough to pick up a loose ball.

“There were some points when I thought it was a fumble, I tried to pick it up, and it just shot away,” he said with a smile after the Cowboys’ 20-19 victory against the Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day. “Things like that. You actually start playing, you don’t think about it. That’s the thing I’ve tried to concentrate on, that even though it’s wrapped, I can still do everything.”

Wrapping up on tackles remains the No. 1 hurdle, Lee said.

That’s probably the hardest thing,” he said. “But I think I’m getting better each week. Hopefully there’s not too many more weeks where I’ll have to wear it.”

Lee had a sack and seven tackles, including a tackle for loss in which he knifed through a toss sweep and leveled Dolphins running back Reggie Bush.

“I found the gap and shot it,” Lee said. “Yeah, that’s a good Thanksgiving Day hit right there.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Dez, Felix added to return game

Dez Bryant has been asking for a chance to return punts, and he finally got his wish in the fourth quarter Thursday.

Bryant, who hasn’t returned a punt since Miles Austin injured his hamstring against Seattle on Nov. 6, came in to field the Dolphins’ final punt with just over three minutes left in the game. Bryant dodged several tacklers on his way to a 20-yard return to the Cowboys 36-yard line, giving the team a spark before its 54-yard drive for the game-winning field goal.

“The way he competed and got that return in was a significant play for us,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.

The Cowboys also used Felix Jones on kickoff returns, although he didn’t have any carries against the Dolphins. Jones averaged 18.5 yards on four returns.

“We’re looking for spots,” coach Jason Garrett said. “… Those are play-making type guys. … They certainly have a significant role on our offense. But when you get the ball I their hands, that’s a good thing … and I thought Dez did a really nice job handling that.”

— Lori Dann

Four sacks, but none from Ware

The Cowboys collected four sacks against Matt Moore, but none came from the team’s leader in that category. DeMarcus Ware, who came into the game with 14 sacks, appeared to have his 15^th early in the fourth quarter, but the play was negated by an illegal contact penalty against Abram Elam.

Victor Butler registered his third sack, tying a season high, and Kenyon Coleman had his first sack in five years. The other sacks came from Orlando Scandrick and Sean Lee.

Ware said he also was impressed by the play of Anthony Spencer, who was in the Dolphins backfield all afternoon, finishing with a team-high eight tackles, including three for losses.

“I don’t know he gets back there, but he finds ways to make those tackles and make them third and 5, second and 12,” Ware said. “Those are the plays that we need.”

— Lori Dann

 

Sparano impressed by Romo's escapes, but he's seen them before

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano has seen the Tony Romo escape act before.

In his days as offensive line coach for the Cowboys, Sparano appreciated up close Romo's ability to escape pressure and make plays on the move. He saw it again Thursday in the Cowboys' 20-19 victory over the Dolphins.

He wasn't surprised.

"I mean, that's what he does," Sparano said. "It's not the first time. I've seen Tony do that, and I've been part of him doing that. The guy made a couple of courageous plays. He hung in there. Karlos Dansby hit him one time and really hit him hard, and he made a throw to Witten there. And then another time, Randy Starks had him and he threw the ball up, and it ends up in one of their guys' hands for a first down. ... Obviously, on that one drive there at the end of the game, Tony did a nice job."

Sparano said Jason Witten makes Romo's scrambles more effective because the two have a strong connection, as he knows.

"Jason and Tony kind of get into street ball a little bit when Tony gets on a run," he said. "And that's the guy he finds, and it's been the guy he's found ever since the day the kid came into this league."

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

 

Murray finishes strong

DeMarco Murray may not have had another 100-yard game, but what he did in the final three minutes earned even more respect from his teammates.

After back-to-back catches by Jason Witten moved the ball the Dolphins 35-yard line, Murray got the ball five consecutive times and picked up a pair of critical first downs to move the Cowboys in position for a short field goal.

“That right there, to me, is more meaningful than the 150 yards he’s had in previous weeks because things are tough running there,” tight end Jason Witten said, noting how the Dolphins were stacking eight and nine men in the box. “He understands what he’s got to do there: stay in bounds, keep the clock running, get the hard yards. It’s a sign of a really good back.”

Murray passed the credit to the offensive line, which struggled much of the day with penalties but came through in the end.

“It was a tough defensive line,” he said. “They definitely gave us all we could handle, but we definitely finished.”

— Lori Dann

Robinson takes blame for interception

Tony Romo wasn’t the only Cowboy who had to overcome a shaky start Thursday.

Laurent Robinson said Romo’s second interception actually wasn’t the quarterback’s fault. Although it appeared that Romo underthrew Robinson on the sideline route, the receiver took full responsibility.

“I was supposed to stop right there, but I was reading something on the run, and I thought I was supposed to go deep,” Robinson said. “I made a bad play. I’ve got to watch the film to see what happened and do better than that.”

It didn’t stop Romo from looking his way. Robinson was targeted 12 times, twice as much as any Cowboys receiver, and he responded by catching seven passes for 79 yards with two touchdowns.

He has now caught a touchdown pass in five consecutive games and has a total of seven during that span.

“He seems like he always finds me. It’s kind of crazy,” Robinson said. “I call it a little I-AA connection because he went to Eastern Illinois and I went to Illinois State.”

Robinson made a nice grab on the first 5-yard touchdown pass, which was low and a bit behind him. Then, in the fourth quarter, as Romo scrambled away from defenders, he raced all the way across the back of the end zone and hauled in an 18-yard pass in the left corner.

“When I see him scramble, I’m scrambling,” Robinson said. “I’m running the same direction as him so he can see me. He made a great throw, and it was an easy catch for me because he put the throw right on the money.”

— Lori Dann

Romo says he missed on first pick, miscommunication the problem on second

Quarterback Tony Romo said he was off by a yard on his first interception in Thursday’s game against the Dolphins, the ball intended for tight end Martellus Bennett on the sideline.

 “I just missed to Martellus by about a yard,” Romo said. “If I just throw it more upfield, with a little more arm, the guy’s underneath it. I just missed. That was disappointing.”

He said the second interception, headed for Laurent Robinson, was a miscommunication. “We’ll get that right,” he said.

Robinson said, "I was supposed to stop right there, but I was reading something on the run, and I thought I was supposed to go deep. I made a bad play. I’ve got to do better and got to watch the film to see what happened and do better than that."

From there, Romo said he tried not to let the interceptions affect him the rest of the game. He didn’t have another turnover and he didn’t take a sack over the final three quarters.

“As a quarterback, you have to be able to keep playing the next play like you’ve made three touchdowns or three interceptions. It doesn’t matter,” he said. “This play needs to be executed at the best level after that. That’s a hard thing to do.”

Romo said the Dolphins made it tough to throw.

“There are not a lot of wide-open people ever against that team,” he said. “I felt like 90 percent of the throws today, guys were right on the hip of our guys. They’re big, they’re tall, they’re strong, they’re aggressive. I can see why they’ve won three in a row and haven’t been scored on very much recently.”

The Dolphins didn’t allow a touchdown during their three-game winning streak.

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez