Cowboys fans can breathe a sigh of relief...for now. The Cowboys avoided the dreaded 0-3 start and soundly beat a very strong Texans team that were sort of the flavor of the week for early Super Bowl contenders. The Cowboys played with a sense of urgency that they seemed to have lacked in their first two games. They finally put their egos aside, shut their mouths and let their playing do the talking for them. Prior to this game it looked as if the Cowboys thought they could just walk onto the field, that bright blue star shining on their helmets, and teams would just let them win the games. They finally realized that other teams are trying to get to the big show too. They played like their backs were to the wall and showed us what this team is capable of.
I think the first thing we have to look at when we break down how the Cowboys were able to be successful against the Texans is their offensive game plan. Finally, Jason Garrett listened to sensible reason and called an offensively balanced game. Neither Marion Barber nor Felix Jones had tremendous rushing days but both were very effective. Barber ran tough the whole day and Felix gashed the Texans D averaging 6.1 YPC. They rushed the ball 27 times for a combined 101 yards, which was enough to keep the Texans defense honest and allowed Romo to open up the passing game.
Roy Williams has been quietly having a decent year (minus that pitiful fumble last week). He has been catching tough balls and he finally earned his paycheck with a break out game. He consistently ran precise routes and burned the Texans secondary for 117 yards and 5 receptions and 2 huge touchdowns. Give that man a game ball. Although Miles Austin and Dez Bryant were relatively quiet on Sunday, they both had some clutch catches and just watching Dez's ability to haul in tough balls in tight coverage makes me think that he is a Brandon Marshall in the making. Jason Witten finally got involved in the offense catching 7 balls for 56 yards. Even Sam Hurd made a nice catch. Tony Romo was on all day and made intelligent reads and had a commanding presence in the pocket. I keep waiting for him step up and consistently be assertive in this offense. Sunday could be the first step.
One thing that you may or may not have noticed was Mario Williams and the rest of the Texans pass-rush, or lack thereof. Is it just me or are Doug Free and Marc Colombo playing out of their minds? Neither Julius Peppers or Mario Williams was able to get near Romo in the past two weeks and compared to Flozell Adams, there is a penalty drought with these two guys. They are both big, athletic and play with great tenacity. Neither is getting their name mentioned too much and that is a good thing. That means their doing their job, not getting penalized and keeping tough pass rushers at bay.
On the defensive side, Cowboys fans have to be extremely excited. They finally forced the turnovers that had been lacking with interceptions from Jenkins and rookie safety Danny McCray as well as a forced fumble. Demarcus Ware continues to show that he is one of if not the most dynamic defensive players in the game with 3 sacks, 2 more QB pressures and 5 tackles for a loss. The run defense bent but didn't break and the cowboys coverage was superb all around. They held perennial pro-bowl QB Matt Schuab in check and out of the end zone until the very end of the game when the outcome was no longer in question. Schuab threw for a modest 241 yards and posted an unimpressive 77.7 passer rating. Andre Johnson was also held in check, although his injured ankle played a factor in this.
It's unfortunate that the Cowboys get such a big win right before their early bye week. They will have to continue to have good practice weeks and come out for the week 5 match-up with the Titans with great intensity and purpose. It's nice that they had all of these private team meetings and player speeches last week but now they must take the proverbial ball and run with it. With the Eagles looking more and more like the real deal the Cowboys must furnish a great winning streak especially against all of their division opponents. (Technically the Cowboys are still in last place with the pathetic Giants).
There are reasons to be optimistic. The defense looked like a Super Bowl defense last week but then again, they looked like the complete opposite against a weaker Bears offense the week before. If they can continue to play at that high level, however, it will be tough for any team to have much success against this high-octane defense. Romo is starting to like he in synch with all his receivers. If Roy Williams can become a consistent threat in the offense it will be impossible for defenses to cover all three of the cowboys receivers and Witten and Martellus Bennett. Finally, the special teams also picked things up this week. The coverage was tighter and kicker David Buehler made 2 tough kicks, although I think the jury is still out on him.
It's only one game and this win really doesn't guarantee anything for the Cowboys season. They have to prove that they can play like that on a weekly basis. The running game is still weak and until Barber and Jones are running on full throttle the Cowboys offense will still be vulnerable to stall the way they did consistently during the first two games. It's a long season and the Cowboys have to keep the fire in their belly for the next 14 weeks.
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