Cowboys Corner

Jerry Jones is "encouraged" about DeMarco Murray's return for the Falcons

There is no question the running game is suffering without starter DeMarco Murray, who missed the past two games with a sprained foot. Earlier in the week owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t commit to Murray being back for next week’s game against the Falcons.

But was singing a more encouraging tune in the dejected post game locker room Sunday.

“I’m encouraged,” Jones said. “I talked to him a little before the game, and I’m encouraged. He’s got a chance to be back.”

The Cowboys rushed for 19 yards on 17 carries against the Giants. Felix Jones had 13 carries for 19 yards and a touchdown, but he also lost a fumble.

Last week against the Panthers, the Cowboys had 85 yards on 31 carries.

-- Clarence Hill

Cowboys pass on the chance to run on second-and-1, third-and-1 and fourth-and-1

Monday Morning Quarterbacks will question Jason Garrett's decision to call three straight passing plays after reaching the New York 19-yard line in the final two minutes after gaining 9 yards on a pass to Jason Witten on first down. Two of those passes were incomplete, and the third was intercepted with 1:03 left.

But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn't one of those questioning Garrett's play calling.

"You can if you want to second-guess that," Jones said. "But by the same token, that [passing] was what was really moving the ball. We were getting it with Witten, and when they came in there and tried to cut that off, then we could go outside with it. That had every chance to work down there with second-and-a-yard. You look back on it, but what’d we rush for? So we know that short yardage wasn’t any given against these guys."

The Cowboys had 19 rushing yards on 17 carries. Felix Jones, who missed some practice time last week with a bruised knee, had 19 yards, a touchdown and a lost fumble on 13 carries. Phillip Tanner had two carries for no yards. Tony Romo also had two rushes.

“We threw it throughout the ball game on different situations whether it was second or third-and-short and converted first downs,” Garrett said. “They did a really job defending the run. They were committed to stopping the run throughout the game against all personnel and formations that we were in. They had a lot of guys in there. That’s why we had to throw the ball consistently throughout the ball game.”

-- Charean Williams

Twitter: @NFLCharean

 

 

Execution errors plague Cowboys' offense, continuing trend in home games

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw four interceptions Sunday among the team's six turnovers in a 29-24 loss to the New York Giants.

Three of Romo's interceptions came on the team's first four drives. So did a Dez Bryant fumbled punt that laid the groundwork for the Giants to take a 23-0 lead when Jason Pierre-Paul scored on Romo’s third pick-six of the season with 13:05 remaining in the first half.

The Cowboys have turned the ball over 11 times in three home games, a trend Romo contributes to recurring execution errors.

“You’ve got to do the little things right and you have to make the plays when they’re there. At the beginning of the game, we didn’t do the little things right,” Romo said. “We didn’t execute the plays. We didn’t run the right route. We didn’t throw it the right way. We didn’t block it the right way a couple of times. Those things are going to hurt you.”

But the Cowboys managed to come all the way back to take the lead, with Romo leaning on connections to tight end Jason Witten (18 catches, 167 yards), Bryant (5 catches, 110 yards) and Miles Austin (9 catches, 133 yards). Then, two more turnovers surfaced in the fourth quarter: a Felix Jones fumble near midfield, setting up a Giants’ field goal, and a Romo interception on a fourth-and-1 play from the New York 19-yard line with 1:03 remaining.

“You keep saying, ‘This is the drive where we’re going to turn it around,’” Witten said. “You stay the course and it keeps stacking up on you. It is frustrating. You can’t do that and expect to win. We’ve got to get it fixed.”

Linebacker DeMarcus Ware agreed. 

“The thing is, you can’t keep beating yourself in certain ways,” Ware said. "Now, it’s adverse times to where … you’ve got to get better from this,” Ware said. “We’ve got to always start the game off consistent and play well.”

_ Jimmy Burch

McCray comes through with first interception of season

Danny McCray intercepted his first NFL pass as a rookie in 2010, and had gone more than two seasons without one. 

So, when McCray saw Giants quarterback Eli Manning throw a pass intended for Victor Cruz late in the third quarter, he leaped up to catch it. But he didn’t get a finger on it.

As McCray said, “I tried to jump and realized my vertical wasn’t as high as I thought it was."

Not to worry.

Cowboys safety Gerald Sensabaugh backed him up and broke up the play. The ball ricocheted upwards, and McCray had a second chance at the interception.

“I saw it and it hit my fingertips and I was like, ‘Oh, hope it doesn’t hit the ground,’” McCray said. “It just so happened to stay up long enough for me to scoop it.”

McCray had his first interception of the season, one of two forced by the defense on the day.

It was one of the many highlights by the defense, which held Manning without a touchdown pass for the first time this season.

-- Drew Davison

Cowboys' LB Connor leaves game with strained neck, status unclear for Atlanta

Dallas Cowboys inside linebacker Dan Connor, who replaced top tackler Sean Lee in Sunday’s starting lineup, left the game in the second quarter with a strained neck and did not return. X-rays were negative but Connor said he had a stinger and is scheduled to undergo more tests this week before being cleared to play next week at Atlanta.

Connor called it “beyond disappointing” to be knocked out of his first career start with the Cowboys.

“I was out there feeling good. It happened,” Connor said. “Your shoulder goes numb and you get burners down your arms. It’s too early to tell (about the Atlanta game), I think.”

Connor was replaced by Orie Lemon, a second-year pro from Oklahoma State who spent last season on the Cowboys’ practice squad. Lemon finished with three tackles on defense and one on special teams Sunday.

_ Jimmy Burch

Tony Romo takes a rollercoaster ride, but Jason Garrett never considered benching

Tony Romo threw three of his four interceptions in the first 16:55 that helped spot the Giants a 23-0 lead. At one point, his passer rating was a paltry 11.1.

Still, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said he never considered benching Romo in favor of backup Kyle Orton.

“Absolutely not, by just watching [Romo] play football for the last five years,” Garrett said. “He is an outstanding football player. I think everybody saw that. He did a great job overcoming a lot of different things in this game. We became one-dimensional, because of their commitment to stopping the run, and I think he did a great job giving us a chance at the end.”

Romo completed 36 of 62 passes for 437 yards. His attempts set a franchise record. His passing yards were a career-high and third in club history behind Don Meredith’s 460 yards against San Francisco in 1963 and Troy Aikman’s 455 against Minnesota in 1998.

He threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and almost threw the game-winning touchdown.

But his four interceptions tied for the third most in his career, and his 58.3 passing rating was the ninth-lowest of his 84 starts.

“Any time you give a team that many turnovers, especially a good ball club, it’s going to be tough to win the game,” Romo said. “We had our chance at the end, and obviously that was tough.”

Romo has thrown nine interceptions in the past two home games, losses to Chicago and the Giants, and has 13 for the season. He had only 10 interceptions last season and in only two seasons in his career has he had more than 13. He threw 14 picks in 2008 and 19 in 2007.

Worse, three have been returned for touchdowns. Jason Pierre-Paul’s 28-yard interception return in the second quarter Sunday gave the Giants a 23-0 lead.

-- Charean Williams

Twitter: @NFLCharean

Live blog: Giants 29, Cowboys 24 (F)

Jerry Jones says being owner leaves him free to risk losses as GM: 'I can ... come back for more'

One of the reasons Jerry Jones has job security as the Cowboys general manager is that he believes he is free to take risks, also being the owner.

“That is one of the luxuries of my position as owner as well as the ultimate decision maker, general manager and president – I can do that and take the losses and come back for more,” he said this week at Valley Ranch, talking about his management style.

“I have won with that style,” he said. “We are not managing a widow-woman’s retirement account here. In other words, to compete, I think we need to be aggressive. You play the game, you manage the game that way. You take some risks. When they don’t pay off, they look bad. That has happened.”

The conversation began when reporters asked Jones why fans are divided about quarterback Tony Romo. Jones said it goes with the position, with the Cowboys, and with their image.

“We have a pattern of that. We have a precedent of that,” he said. “Aikman didn’t have to have it long because he won it pretty quickly, to his credit. He played at a high level  quickly. His predecessors had it, certainly with Roger Staubach. You had it with Danny White. And you had it as far back as Don Meredith. It was so intense, that the criticism probably contributed to an early retirement of Don Meredith.”

Asked why Cowboys quarterbacks get such criticism, perhaps more than quarterbacks on other teams, Jones said, “We push a lot on the table with the Cowboys. Picture going to Las Vegas and putting an inordinate amount on the table with every hand. We do that, and I am a part of that. When you do that and you don’t have the right hand, then you subject yourself to a lot more criticism.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Callahan says he has seen a lot of growth in Romo in short time with Cowboys

It hasn’t taken long for new offensive line coach Bill Callahan to be impressed by quarterback Tony Romo.

 “I’ve seen a lot of growth, and I’ve been here only for a very short time,” Callahan said this week at Valley Ranch. “I was thinking about the question before I answered. I was thinking about it. Well, I’ve just seen him for a very short period of time, and he’s really very impressive to me. How this plays out? We’ll see. We’ll take it a step at a time.”

Romo is in his sixth full season as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback. Callahan is in his 12th year of coaching in the NFL, including stops in Philadelphia, where he worked with Randall Cunningham, and Oakland, with Rich Gannon as the quarterback.

Romo has thrown for 1,636 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions this year. Since his five-interception game against Chicago, Romo has been intercepted once in two games.

“I think Tony’s done well in a lot of respects,” Callahan said. “He’s a player that gives us a chance to be in every game and to dominate every game. When I watch him perform, he has so many things at the line of scrimmage, so many things he’s really well versed in, aside from just throwing it. He manages every aspect of the offense whether it’s the check system or the protections, whether it’s to getting us into the right run or changing a pass to a another particular route vs. a coverage that he sees.”

Callahan said it has helped to simplify the offense in the past couple of games.

“Well, we’re always aggressive, we’re always attacking. It’s just a matter of how much we put into the attack,” Callahan said. “We have been a heavy-volume team, but we have simplified. That’s allowed us to execute better.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

Cowboys Stadium hosting Rally Day on Saturday, featuring cheerleader autographs, discount tours

COWBOYS STADIUM TO HOST RALLY DAY

 Cowboys Stadium is hosting a Rally Day on Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The event includes Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders appearances and autographs, Rowdy appearance, inflatables set up for kids, Warner Brothers Batmobile appearance, and photo opportunities with the Super Bowl trophies.

Tours of Cowboys Stadium will be open with free parking at Cowboys Stadium through the end of the day with the purchase of a tour ticket. Self-guided tours are available for purchase at the box office, $17.50 for adults and $14.50 for children.

Below are events scheduled for Rally Day:

·      Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders will sign autographs from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and rehearse for their halftime performance from 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

 

·      Martial Arts Day from 7:30 a.m. (before hours) -11:00 a.m. with world champion ToryDorsey.

 

·      Warner Brothers Batmobile appearance alongside the self-guided tour route as well as all the cars from the Bat Man Series.

 

·      Allied Electronic Recycling Event set up in Lot 10 and first 500 will receive free admission.

 

·      Wear Pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and receive $5.00 off any walk-up self-guided tour ticket.

 

·      Inflatables set up for kids on field.

 

·      Free Parking with purchase of a stadium tour.

 

The event is open to credentialed media. Media are asked to park in Lot 1 or 2 and enter the stadium at Gate A.

 

On-site media contact:

Angela Pagoria

480-221-5297

apagoria@dallascowboys.net

 

For more information on Cowboys Stadium Tours contact 817-892-8688 or check the web atwww.CowboysStadiumTours.com