How the Cards stole Christmas: Dal 26, Arz 27

Twas the night of Christmas out in Glendale,
A game between teams whose records showed fail.
WIth seconds to go, and a win oh so close,
Once again Dallas lost by a nose.

With no shot at the playoff, and McGee under center,
I don't see this team getting much better.
But if this was bad, Cowboys fans may shriek,
When they check the schedule and see Philly next week.

Ugh, what a brutal game. The Cowboys once again had a chance to lock up a win and failed to make the necessary plays. All too typical of a sub-.500 team. It's easy to go "glass half full" in a three-point loss to New Orleans, but when it's the 4-10, now 5-10 Arizona Cardinals, the pessimism oozes. The Dallas Cowboys used a collection of early catastrophes and late blunders to gift-wrap a Christmas win for the Arizona Cardinals, a 27-26 loss at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Saturday night.

Before all the oozing pessimism begins, let me just say it was nice to see Stephen McGee play efficiently and - frankly - at "back up quarterback" levels, not at the inept level of the typical third-string quarterback. Kitna has played so well this year as Romo's backup, and he should retain the job for 2011 (if there is a 2011 season, *gulp*), but McGee is certainly an asset. Maybe with a little more development, another team might want to trade for him to be their current backup and QB of the future. At the very least, when the 38-year-old Kitna retires - presumably soon - McGee would seem to be fit to slide into the backup role. Granted, all this is based on half of a football game's performance.

Last nugget of positivity before I get into the kicked-in-the-groin-ness of the game. Coming back from a 14-0 first quarter deficit, not to mention a 21-10 halftime deficit, showed a lot of resolve in this team. Only thing that hurt then was the NFL rule book that states a football game is 60 minutes, not 58 and a half.

Jon Kitna tossed a pair of interceptions for touchdowns in the first quarter, both could arguably be blamed on his receiving targets Miles Austin and Roy Williams. On the first possession, Austin slipped as the ball squirted into the awaiting arms of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who ran 32 yards for the opening score. Cardinals kick off, Cowboys start to drive, but another interception on a ball behind Williams gets batted up in the air and snagged by Greg Toler. After a 66-yard jog, it's 14-0 Cardinals. I'm not sure if the NFL keeps stats on this sort of thing or not - they probably do (the NFL keeps stats on everything) - but I've got to believe the 2010 Cowboys lead the NFL in tipped-ball interceptions. Jon Kitna might be setting some sort of NFL record by a backup QB for that particular category in the second half of this season. Then again, when you're a 5-10 team like the Cowboys are, you just don't get the gratuitous bounces of the 10-5 teams.

Frankly, the Cowboys dodged a bullet not going down 17-0 when Jay Feely missed on a long field goal attempt. If only that particular trend repeated itself. Unfortunately the Cardinals kicker made a pair of long fourth quarter field goals to win the game for Arizona.

It's a difficult balance, losing these games with the prospects of a higher draft pick hanging the balance doesn't make falling in the final seconds to stinkin Arizona that much more of an attractive option. Give me the win. Every. Single. Time.

Now is not the time to get into whether or not the Cowboys front office would wisely use that pick 4-6 spots higher based on one win like this could have been. But recent history outside of Dez Bryant isn't on their side. And when the head coach is trying to get an interim tag removed, these are games you cannot lose. Dropping a game to New Orleans on Thanksgiving when a big-money wide receiver fumbles away what should have been the game-clinching drive is one thing. That's a playoff-bound opponent and a fluky play. Losing a game to woefully bad Arizona and having a repeat of early-season gaffes like Marion Barber taking his helmet off to celebrate resulting in a 15-yard penalty is unacceptable.

Off with his Head Helmet
I'm more disturbed by Barber's blatant defiance of the rules, slinging his helmet off after a score while still on the field and costing his team 15 yards, than I am with David Buehler missing a crucial extra point with less than two minutes to go. I'll get into the reasons why I think Buehler should keep his job -- even though immediately after the game I was convinced he should be and would be released before Week 17 arrived. But first, Marion Barber.

Revenge, but barely: Dal 33, Was 30

The Dallas Cowboys continue to play encouraging and distressing football. At a point in the season where - as Bill Parcells would say - you are what your record says you are. The Jason Garrett Cowboys had a chance to take on what appeared to be a dysfunctional Washington Redskins team that was coming off the awkward announcement that head coach Mike Shanahan was rolling out Rex Grossman over Donovan McNabb at quarterback. The Redskins started off the season hot thanks in large part to the last time Alex Barron saw the field wins over the Cowboys and Eagles. It looked like the McNabb/Shanahan duo would be a force to be reckoned with within the always grueling NFC East.

Yeah... not so much these days.

Washington fell to 5-9 after the Cowboys edged them out, 33-30, on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium. And sadly for the Cowboys, there is no excuse for the game being that close.

Dallas was in a no-win situation really. Beat down the hapless 'Skins and it's simply an easy victory over a distressed football team. Lose to them and the once-encouraging Garrett-Cowboys are back to the laughing stock that got Wade Phillips fired, and any talk of Garrett as the next head coach comes to a screeching halt. The Cowboys had their blowout in hand, leading by 20 points in the second half, but somehow allowed Rex Grossman -- he of "Rex is our quarterback" fame -- to throw for more than 300 yards and bring Washington back from the brink to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Are. You. Kidding?

Perhaps we're at the point where

Saintsgiving: NO 30, Dal 27

It looked like the Saints would feast on the Cowboys this Thanksgiving. Dallas had its opportunity to win fall out of the arms of Roy Williams with less than four minutes to go in the game. And while there are no moral victories in the NFL, it is safe to say that the Wade Phillips Dallas Cowboys would have had zero chance to take a lead in that game after trailing 17-0 with just over 10 minutes gone by in the first quarter.

They could have folded. They didn't. At least not until the very end after coming back from a 20-3 deficit right before the half.

The Cowboys had Thanksgiving dinner spoiled by defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans, 30-27. Roy Williams will catch plenty of flack for his role in the loss, and rightfully so, but the Cowboys also caught plenty of breaks from the Saints. It was tough to tell if New Orleans took their foot off the gas in the third quarter or if Dallas simply ramped up their efforts, or perhaps some combination of the two, but after slogging through the first 29 minutes and 17 seconds of the game, the Cowboys finally showed some signs of life.

Interim head coach Jason Garrett missed out on starting his tenure 3-0, and while his first victory can be attributed to the emotional swell of his first week on the job, and his second win can be attributed to playing the Detroit Lions, this game would have been by far the most impressive victory he could have added to his resume in his personal quest to retain the job on a permanent basis next season.

Dallas drops now to 3-8 on the 2010 season and that should stop any hallucinating talk of a massive table run into the playoffs. After the loss, Jason Garrett spoke of how there are no moral wins. Can you imagine what we would have heard from Coach Wade after something like this. Yes, there were some strong efforts to praise, but Dallas also caught a few breaks down the stretch as well.

A few thoughts on a crazy game that appeared to breathe live back into the Cowboys just as quickly as it then fumbled that life away:

Yes we McCann: Dal 35, Det 19

Channelling my inner Lou Brown from Major League, "That's called a winning streak."

The Dallas Cowboys gunned the engines in the second half and stormed away from the Detroit Lions in a battle of 2-7 teams each playing their backup quarterback. The Jason Garrett era continued to impress, and players who had underachieved throughout the first eight games of the season appeared to hustle (what a novel concept!) throughout the game. Heck, Mike Jenkins even made a hard-hitting tackle in the game.

It's hard to get too excited with a 35-19 win over the lowly Lions, but sadly this was a game between two last place teams, two evenly matched teams, and that's where this Cowboys season is. Now, if they can topple the defending champion Saints on Thanksgiving, then by all means, go crazy Dallas. But the now 3-7 Cowboys are at the point where players must simply maintain the mindset of "I'm playing for my job this week" every week throughout the end of the season.

In 2008, the St. Louis Rams fired their head coach a few weeks into the season and Jim Haslett took over. The previously winless Rams under Haslett won his first two games, beating the Redskins on the road and then beating the Cowboys in St. Louis (and it wasn't pretty by any means). The Rams went on to lose their remaining 10 games, finish 2-14, and they brought in a new coach the next year, blowing up what they had in place and slogging through 2009 before getting top pick Sam Bradford out of OU to help them right the ship this season in 2010.

So this is just a cautionary tail that while the Cowboys under Garrett do have two wins, impressive in many aspects but also faulty in others, it is a weekly battle to prepare and execute and cannot be taken lightly the rest of the way. We saw this team take it lightly through the first eight games, resulting in inexcusable losses at Washington, at home to Tennessee and of course that embarrassing loss to the Jaguars. We've seen the team give up in Green Bay, resulting in Wade Phillips getting fired the next day. If they give up at this point, Garrett isn't getting fired before the end of the season, but he at least has to make the players believe that they could be cut loose or demoted if they don't give at least 100% each week.

This team has made too many strides in the last two weeks under Garrett to regress to the Wade-levels they were at. But in watching the recent success, it's only more maddening to think that had they actually played to their abilities throughout the first half of the season, the now 3-7 Cowboys might be at least 5-5 if not better and still in the hunt for a playoff spot instead of solidly filling the role of spoiler the rest of the way. (And, yes, I realize they aren't mathematically eliminated, but winning out means going 9-7, and there are already six teams in the NFC with at least 7 wins, so let's table any playoff talk until Week 15 or so when we can definitely say if it's still likely at that time.)

What Garrett's new style has done is pushing players to get the best out of them. Plain and simple. The prime example is Jon Kitna. Garrett's offense looks revived, ready to attack, and Kitna leading the way has been more than impressive. When he took over, everyone in DFW held their breath fearing Brad Johnson 2.0, which was so bad that fans were calling for (and briefly got) Brooks Bollinger into a blowout loss against the Giants. Kitna is proving he can still play in this league, and he is more than capable to be a solid backup QB behind Romo in 2011 as well.

Defensively, the Cowboys are becoming ballhawk players, creating a pair of turnovers yesterday that helped solidify the win. Rookies Sean Lee and Bryan McCann, two guys who didn't really get a chance under Wade, are starting to make sure Cowboys fans -- and more importantly for them, the Cowboys front office -- know their names. Lee provided a big forced fumble moments after McCann added another long return TD to his resume. Meanwhile Terence Newman accepted the challenge of taking on Calvin Johnson and other than Detroit's first play from scrimmage in which Newman got tripped up, taking down Johnson through incidental contact, was is no real jeopardy of surrendering the big play throughout the game.

It's a short week until the Super Bowl Saints come marching in, and they'll be looking for payback against the team that ended their undefeated run in 2009 at the Superdome. The fact that these Cowboys of 2010 are not the 2009 Division winners that stormed New Orleans (poor choice of words) won in New Orleans is of little consequence to Drew Brees and company. As Garrett likes to say, they'll be ready at 3:15 on Thursday. Only difference is that, under Jason Garrett, I'm convinced the Cowboys can be as well.

A few other thoughts on Sunday's 2-7 showdown:

Garrett gets it done: Dal 33, NYG 20

Let me begin the "Jason Garrett era" with a quick reminder from the last Cowboys era that inspired the type of confidence that I'm feeling tonight:

Put the anointing oil away.

Bill Parcells' words regarding a new starting quarterback named Tony Romo in 2006 are just as fitting for the Dallas Cowboys' new interim head coach midway through 2010. Jason Garrett took over the franchise after an embarrassing 1-7 start to the season and was given less than a week to change the culture of a team that lost all discernible heart and will the previous two weeks and prepare them for "4:15pm [Eastern] Sunday" as he stated all week long. And while it is just one week, one game, 1/16th of the entire season, Jason Garrett got more out of this squad -- his squad -- than we'd seen in quite some time.

Dallas Cowboys 33, New York Giants 20. (recap) (highlights)

Again, I realize this one win doesn't put the now 2-7 Cowboys into the Super Bowl (which, if you hadn't heard, is actually going to be at Cowboys Stadium in February). But seeing the way Dallas played tonight, it's also hard not to be infuriated that they hadn't been playing like this all season; playing like that they could be 7-2. One win doesn't change the first eight games. It does, however, give the Cowboys a spark that they can use to ignite the rest of their season.

Garrett, entire roster have 8 week audition

Today is the day. Offensive coordinator-turned-head-coach Jason Garrett makes his debut for the Dallas Cowboys in the wake of Wade Phillips' firing. Garrett has had what seems to be an "impressive" week -- and that's impressive based on the recently lowered bar that has been set over then last three and a half years. The fiery redhead comes across pointed and stern in his press conferences. Will that translate to wins on the football field? It's no guarantee, but it's certainly refreshing.

People are making a big deal about the Cowboys practicing in full pads on Wednesday for the first time since pre-season, and sadly this is a big deal. Don't get me wrong, I think that at times giving players a chance to practice in just shoulder pads and shorts has its benefits. It's a long season, and players will wear down. As a result, sometimes an easier paced practice can help keep guys fresh. But when a team hasn't played football the last Sundays anyway (and, no, they weren't on the bye either, *sigh*), sometimes you need to run then ragged in practice. If they show up flat on Sunday, I'd rather it be because they are exhausted from a rougher week of practice than because they just lost the heart required to compete.

Packing it in: Dal 7, GB 45

After a third straight butt-kicking, it seems today will finally be the day embarrassed and desperate Dallas Cowboys fans get the bloodshed they have been craving since Alex Barron's holding penalty in Week 1. Jerry Jones and the team has a 4pm press conference today and the general thinking is that head coach Wade Phillips is not expected to survive the announcement.

I don't know what he could have done, being a completely impotent head man under Jones with no true authority of any kind. But it is clear that this team doesn't play hard for him. And if he's not even willing to bench people during games who aren't trying, then there is nothing left to do but to remove the head coach.

Jerry Jones said that people "will suffer" as a result of Sunday night's 45-7 loss in Green Bay. I should hope so.

At this point, the Cowboys need to wipe their personnel slate clean. Not just at the head coaching spot, but everyone on the field needs to realize that they are playing for their position on this club in the future.

Tashard Choice should be the No. 1 running back. Marion Barber is not what he used to be and Felix Jones looks lost. Other than Dez Bryant, is there anyone who isn't a starter that is clearly pushing for playing time? Don't think so.

With as bad as the offensive line is, let's just take them all out and throw the backups in. Let them try to earn their stripes. It's not like they can be any worse. The defense is terrible. Other than Demarcus Ware, not one of the other 10 starters is a lock to have a spot on this club in the future. Anthony Spencer and Mike Jenkins used to look like the future of this defense. This year, they are so bad it's embarrassing. Jenkins isn't even trying. We've seen him make "business decisions" before, but sadly he hasn't learned from that. HIT SOMEONE!

Today Wade Phillips is gone, but that in no way is going to fix the mentality of this team. Thank goodness Romo was already hurt because the last thing this organization needs is the false hope that Romo might provide under center. This season is a loss. It has been since the loss to Tennessee.

So while thing "quick fix" of firing a coach is only the first step, there are too many other steps that still need to be taken for this organization to show any sort of turnaround before the Cowboys wise up and hire a tougher head coach.

Shouldering the blame: NYG 41, Dal 35

Before I get into the smoldering rubble that is the Dallas Cowboys 2010 season, let me just point out that a win against the Giants yesterday would not constitute officially "saving the season" but merely the necessary first step in what would have needed to be at least three straight wins to get back within striking distance. So lets put the hallucinations of Dallas climbing out of the grave with this win to bed because it would have taken much, much more than a Monday Night win against New York to bring this club back from it's ugly 1-4 start.

When NYG linebacker busted through the offensive line untouched and drove Tony Romo to the ground, breaking his clavicle, that effectively ended the Cowboys season. As we learned in 2008, this is not a team with a strong backup quarterback since, what?, Bernie Kosar in 1993. There have been teams who have rallied behind a backup QB, but those typically aren't the teams that commit 10 penalties per game and drop to 1-5 despite having a 20-7 lead and forcing a bushel of takeaways.

Game over. Giants 41, Cowboys 35.

For the first time since 2005, the Cowboys won't be going down to the wire to determine their playoff positioning. Instead the 2010 campaign will focus on draft positioning more than anything. And just one year after winning a playoff game for the first time in over a decade, they officially will not have a chance to build on that accomplishment.

What is even more disappointing is that the Cowboys seemed to realize the trajectory of their season well before the clock hit zero. The "give up" was palpable and thus the season was over before the end of the game not because of Romo going down but also because of how the Cowboys responded to that challenge. If adversity is supposed to reveal the truth and character of a team, then the metroplex just got a rude awakening about America's Team.

With an opportunity to rally the troops, make a stand and fight off the division-leading Giants, instead the Cowboys defense crinkled, crumpled and crashed on five straight New York possessions, allowing four touchdowns and a field goal as the game -- and the season -- slipped away forever. It's not that the defense had to keep up their video-game pace of three takeaways on the Giants first four drives, but they allowed TD drives of 80, 56, 55 and 70 yards. The one time the defense effectively "held" was to turn a NYG short-field possession into only a field goal, but even by that point the handwriting was on the wall.

Must Win III: for reals this time

Monday night the Dallas Cowboys host the New York Giants at the Death Star in what will be the third straight MUST WIN game for the trendy North Texas pre-season Super Bowl pick. The 1-4 Cowboys get their second crack at a division opponent of the year, and while it seems no one is quite ready to pronounce the season over for this squad, a loss to the G-men should represent the end of 2010.

Dallas has been close in each defeat, losing by 6, 7, 7, and 3 points in their four losses. But they are officially out of life lines.

People talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed, and that's exactly how 2010 began with Alex Barron's holding penalty that negated the last-second game-winning touchdown in Washington in Week 1. It seems like life has spiraled out of control since that flag hit the turf at FedEx Field.

The Cowboys went on to get picked apart by Jay Cutler -- the same guy who thew four interceptions today -- in a Week 2 loss to Chicago. And any spark from the Week 3 win at Houston was extinguished during the ensuing bye week, kicking off a string of every game is a must win game for Dallas. And they are responding to that pressure about as well as Terrell Owens responds to not getting the ball. Then came a string of "must win" malfunctions...

Same old stupidity: Dal 21, Min 24

The Dallas Cowboys are consistent. They can move the ball offensively to the delight of many a fantasy football owner, but they also make the aggravating, kick-to-the-groin mistakes that has rendered this franchise helpless at 1-4 on the season.

This team isn't finding new ways to lose. They are losing the same way each and every time: bogged down in penalties and missing out on a win by just one possession. This week, the Cowboys fell 24-21 in Minnesota, the site of last year's playoff exit and this season's essential elimination from any meaningful contention.

Dallas is now 2.5 games behind third-place Washington (3-3) with both New York and Philadelphia leading the NFC East at 4-2. It's no longer a case of Dallas fading fast. They have pretty much faded out, and barring one of the most meteoric rises in a second half of an NFL season, Dallas can look ahead to 2011 (if in fact there will be a 2011 NFL season).

Fast Felix jumps the Barbarian

I have a hard time believing today's report that Wade Phillips is keeping Marion Barber as the starting running back for the Dallas Cowboys over back up Felix Jones. It's not a matter of is this the right call or not -- on the surface it's not -- but rather the true issue is does this really matter?

The answer: No.

Marion Barber can be the "starting" running back in 2010, that's fine, just as long has he is the "starter" the same way that Julius Jones was the Cowboys "starting" running back in 2007. He can be on the first on the first play of the game. Good for him. But at the end of the day, it isn't a question who will receive the bulk of the carries.

In 2007...

Plethora of Penalties: Ten 34, Dal 27

No, the Cowboys season isn't over, but the trendy pre-season Super Bowl pick took a catastrophic step backward in a penalty-filled and defensively-lacking game at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Dallas committed 12 penalties for 133 yards as the Tennessee Titans took advantage of continuous Cowboy miscues, dropping the Cowboys 34-27.

Dallas (1-3) had its chances to win, but much like their neighbors at the Ballpark in Arlington, they came up short and extremely disappointing. Perhaps the most glaring of what became a comedy of errors was Mike Jenkins nearly allowing a quick-strike touchdown after a Tony Romo interception in the end zone. Romo's pass off Martellus Bennett's fingertips finding its way into Michael Griffin's hands was fluky, but Jenkins failing to make sure he touched down Kenny Britt was a microcosm for the entire game.

Vince Young completed what appeared to be an 80-yard touchdown pass to Britt before the Cowboys successfully challenged that he was down by contact, with Jenkins placing a gentle hand into his back before clutching at Britt's jersey as he went to the ground. Jenkins then meandered on without any regard for Britt, who got up and sprinted to the end zone. Maybe Jenkins *just knew* that he had him down, but the fact that he stopped playing because he thought the play was over is basically what the Cowboys did all game, and frankly all season, long.

Dallas isn't playing it out, playing until the whistle, and now they are going to be playing from behind in the NFC East as they try to secure what will most likely be a wild card berth at best into the 2010 playoffs. Several Cowboys defenders bounced away on tackling attempts and failed to wrap up on too many occasions leading to plenty of extra yards for the Titans.

Tennessee intercepted Tony Romo three times, the final pick coming with less than a minute left after the Dallas defense made a late stop to give the offense one last-gasp breath to try to tie the game. The defense failed to take the ball away at all for the third time in four games this season, and at the times when Dallas came up with big stops to halt Tennessee drives, the Cowboys offense came up short going the other way.

Dallas is quickly going from Super Bowl favorite to playoff outsider before the season's midway point. They could potentially turn it around, but the spark required to start that fire doesn't appear to currently be a part of the organization in any way. There are no easy fixes; only hard work and added hustle can fix what the Cowboys are ailing from. Finish plays, maintain focus, and cut down on penalties, and maybe just maybe this team can play a few extra games in January. If not, Dallas can watch the playoffs pass them by as the Super Bowl makes it way to Arlington without them.

A few other thoughts on a game that increased the sales of Rogaine in the DFW area:

Houston, you have a problem: Dal 27, Hou 13

The Dallas Cowboys were courteous enough to allow their neighbors in Arlington a moment in the sun yesterday as baseball's Texas Rangers clinched their first AL West crown in 11 seasons. But after allowing the metroplex less than 24 hours to celebrate the return of post-season baseball, the Cowboys returned the area's focus to football yet again.

Dallas reduced the Houston Texans to stepchild status in the battle for the Lone Star State with a 27-13 win, giving Dallas its first victory of the season while Houston suffered its first loss. Tony Romo connected with Roy Williams for two TDs, first-year placekicker David Buehler quieted his critics with a pair of long field goals, and the defense snatched its first three takeaways of 2010.

It's more than just the first win of the season. It's the all-around good game the Cowboys needed if they want to fulfill the dream of playing a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Let's be clear, however. Realizing that dream is still a long way away, and with 13 regular season games to go, Dallas is merely a fraction of the way there. Still, returning to the top of the division is a lot easier when you avoid falling to 0-3 to start the season.

It might be easy to get caught up in the return of what was an offseason full of Super Bowl hype surrounding the Cowboys. There will certainly be plenty of talking heads proclaiming the Cowboys to be officially back on track, but it takes more than a Week 3 win to earn a playoff berth. Dallas needs to put the blinders on and ignore that hype, ignore that talk which might be tough considering it will build for two weeks through the bye until the next game on October 10.

The Cowboys have three of their next four games at home and can realistically win all four games to find themselves at 5-2 at the end of October. They could also flounder in those games with only a home date with Jacksonville on Oct. 31 as what you could call a "sure thing" win. (Then again, didn't we think that about the Rams game a few years ago?)

There's a lot of potential for the Cowboys on the road ahead. Today they were fortunate to realize some of that potential while erasing the sour taste left by a pair of losses to Washington and Chicago.

A few thoughts and notes from a must-win game in which the Cowboys came through:

+ Roy Williams has needed a game like this since the trade that brought him to Dallas from Detroit in 2008. The former Longhorn caught five balls for 117 yards -- a personal best since joining the Cowboys -- and a pair of touchdowns, including a 63-yard breakaway that helped put Houston away with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Williams has endured plenty of criticism since joining Dallas and signing a big contract extension with little results. A game like this will hush the talk of Miles Austin and Dez Bryant being the No. 1 and No. 2 receivers for Dallas.

+ While Miles Austin had a quiet afternoon (2 catches for 20 yards), the rookie Dez Bryant continued to cause match up problems for smaller defensive backs. Bryant caught four balls for 50 yards, bringing him to 14 catches and 158 yards through three games. Glass half full, he nearly had a pair of TD catches against Houston except he was called for illegal touching when he was forced out of bounds and came back in on a 37-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Bryant came down with another deep ball from Romo but was out of bounds on the front pylon of the end zone when he made the catch. It's two plays where as Bryant become more aware in the NFL, he will be sure not to allow defensive backs to use the sideline as an extra defender. For now, it's still progress for #88.

+ After losing the turnover battle the first two weeks of the season (-1 in Washington, and -3 against Chicago), it looked like Dallas may have to endure another season where the defense can limit its opponents on the scoreboard but can't provide the offense with a short field. The Cowboys took the ball away from the Texans three times to be +3 in turnovers, picking off Matt Schaub twice and forcing a fumble from the NFL's leading rusher Arian Foster. Mike Jenkins made the first INT which helped wipe away the memory of his illegal contact penalty that gave the Texans a fresh set of downs around midfield. It was on an overthrown ball from Schaub, but Jenkins was able to stay with it to ensure the Cowboys kept Houston off the board on that drive.

+ The Cowboys were able to generate 101 yards on the ground this week after running for only 36 against the Bears in Week 2. It's still not enough of a ground game to truly make opponents bite on play fakes. Instead the Cowboys were able to victimize a younger secondary through the air more despite what the ground game was doing rather than as a result of it. For now, that's fine, but perhaps Jason Garrett should pick one running back and let him get some moment as a feature back instead of going with this tricycle.

Dallas Rushing
	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
M. Barber	17	55	3.2	1	12
F. Jones	7	43	6.1	0	15
T. Choice	2	4	2.0	0	3
T. Romo	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Team	27	101	3.7	1	15

Felix Jones provided a healthy yards per carry average, and maybe he can be what Julius Jones was not in 2007 when the Cowboys used Julius to start and Marion Barber as primarily at the end of each half to wear down an opponent. If we're not going to see Felix more prominently in the backfield, it'd be nice to see him back on the kick return team as he has already proven he is capable of taking a kick off to the house.

+ Just a funny moment from the referee asking the fans to "excuse me for a minute" when he needed to confirm the numbers of penalized players on the kickoff following Houston's fourth quarter field goal. I've never seen a ref more tempted to say, "Ah, $#@& it," instead of announcing the actual penalties.

+ Speaking of penalties, the Cowboys earned a win despite plenty of ugly penalties. Dallas was fortunate in holding Houston to a fourth quarter field goal which kept the Cowboys out in front by 11 after a Keith Brooking pass interference penalty was offset by a Texans holding penalty. Here is a look at the Cowboys penalties and penalty yards through the first three games:

Week	Opponent	Penalties	Yards
Week 1	@Washington	12	81
Week 2	CHICAGO	6	50
Week 3	@Houston	8	49

+ Kicker David Buehler, in his first year as placekicker, made a 49-yard field goal to close the first half and tacked on a 40-yard kick in the fourth quarter. After starting the year 2-for-4 with a pair of misses that changed how the Cowboys approached the end of each of the first two games, Buehler first-half ender was a nice appetizer for later this season when he will be called upon for more important kicks. It was good to see him get this opportunity after the Cowboys passed on long field goal attempts on their opening drive, opting to go for it on fourth down twice.

---

The Cowboys are 1-2 on the year, and with three of their next four games at home -- and the one road trip at what doesn't look like the intimidating return to the Metrodome in Minnesota that we might have been expecting before the season -- Dallas has a legitimate chance for a 5-2 record. Here's a look at what lies ahead for the Cowboys after next week's bye:

Date	Opponent	Time (CT)
Oct. 3	BYE	--
Oct. 10	TENNESSEE	3:15 pm
Oct. 17	@Minnesota	3:15 pm
Monday Oct. 25	NEW YORK GIANTS	8:30pm
Oct. 31	JACKSONVILLE	12 pm
Nov. 7	@Green Bay	8:20 pm

Can't Bear it: Chi 27, Dal 20

Another week of mistakes mixed with some bad bounces (well, bad tipped passes) that led to an 0-2 start for the Dallas Cowboys. Chicago nabbed their third takeaway of the game in the fourth quarter when Charles Tillman stripped Roy Williams on a play where his forward progress appeared to be stopped, halting what Cowboys fans thought might be a game-changing drive. The Bears came to Cowboys Stadium and left with a 27-20 win, dropping Dallas harder than the Big D defensive line dropped Jay Cutler in the first quarter.

The Bears led 20-17 in the fourth quarter when David Buehler, a second-year player but in his first season as a place-kicker, hooked a 44-yard field goal attempt (we've seen this before in Dallas) that could have tied the game with seven minutes to spare. Instead, Chicago took over at their own 34 and Cutler passed them into the endzone for what would end up being the winning points for Chicago.

My initial thought - especially after in the Cowboys last-ditch drive saw the refs wind the clock on a Martellus Bennett catch where he got out of bounds but his forward progress was in bounds - was that Williams had his forward progress stopped on the fumble, but it's not a challengeable play, and the ball was clearly out before Williams was down. Forward progress or not, Williams has to hold onto the ball, and it's the second straight week a Cowboys player has been stood up as the defense flocked to him to force a fumble. Last week it was Tashard Choice on the ill-advised play to end the first half.

Dallas was the first team to ever reach the Super Bowl after an 0-2 start, reaching the big game in 1993 after Emmitt Smith held out during the first two weeks of the season. That Dallas team was able to overcome the preseason hype of being a Super Bowl team to make it to the Super Bowl. That Dallas team also had (at least) three future Hall of Famers on the offensive side of the ball. The 2010 version should not be confused with that 1993 incarnation until they prove otherwise.

Yes, two of Dallas' turnovers were tipped balls, some of those flukey bounces that happen in the game of football. Sometimes the ball will bounce the other way and into a Cowboys arms for an ill-deserved first down. Other times, like on this Sunday, it falls into the unsuspecting hands of a defensive back, which is how DJ Moore finished the game with two interceptions for the Bears.

For the second straight week, the Cowboys did not take away the football, losing the turnover battle (-3) and the game. And despite what seemed like relentless pressure from the defensive line against Cutler in the first quarter, the Cowboys had only one sack in the game and failed to keep that pressure on him into the second half. Defensively the Cowboys had some flashes of strong plays, but overall they couldn't make the game-changing plays the team desperately needed a close game. Special teams had the big punt-return TD but another season with a shaky kicker is not something a team with Super Bowl aspirations can sit on.

Last season, the Cowboys were 2-2 through the first four weeks, not righting the ship until Miles Austin's breakout game in an overtime victory in Kansas City, a game that started a string of six Cowboys wins in seven games taking them through Thanksgiving. The Cowboys are facing a tougher schedule this season, and are going to need a similar defibrillator-game like the Kansas City game to jump-start this season.

Breaking it down, here's a few notes from the second loss of the season (something that Dallas didn't suffer until Week 15 three years ago):

+ Let's try to get a little glass-half-full to start things off. Two rookies came up with a couple of big plays for the Cowboys, notably the two Dallas TDs. Dez Bryant put the Cowboys on the board in the first quarter with a 62-yard punt return TD, his first career TD, that shaw him burst up the left side and put a nice shake move on the punter to get past him for the final 20 yards. Last season, Patrick Crayton took back a pair of punts for touchdowns while serving as a reliable No. 3 receiver. Through the first two games, it's safe to say Bryant has what it takes to fill that void (not to mention the ability to unseat Roy Williams as the No. 2 receiver if he keeps it up). The first-round pick finished with a pair of catches for 52 yards as well.

Chris Gronkowski, a rookie tight end, introduced himself to Cowboys fans with three catches for 31 yards and a second quarter touchdown that gave the Cowboys a 14-10 lead. Depending on Jason Witten's status after being knocked out of this week's game, Gronkowski might see added responsibilities in upcoming weeks.

+ Speaking of Witten being knocked from the game, as much as it would have been great to see him come back to the game, if the Cowboys are going to recover from an 0-2 start, they will need a healthy and lucid Jason Witten to do so, not a Jason Witten doing a Troy-Aikman-four-concussions-later impersonation. That one doc on the Dallas sideline certainly seemed to take an earful from Witten, but they kept him from returning to the field, which is - big picture - the right move.

+ The offensive line looked dramatically better this week. Perhaps that's because Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier were back in the fold after missing last week's game. If Alex Barron is on the bench, most Cowboys fans will most likely be happy with that. Colombo did get flagged for a false start in the game, but he's not costing you a game by holding on the last play so I can live with those 5 yards coming back.

+ When the Cowboys needed a well-timed three pointer, Buehler could not connect on a 44-yard field goal attempt to tie the game. He is now 2-for-4 on the season. It's a small sample size, but both misses have been late in games and changed how the Cowboys would have to approach the fourth quarter. Instead of a tied game with the Bears scoring a TD to go up by seven, their touchdown put them up by 10, making it a two-possession game and putting much more pressure on an offense that was able to move the ball but not move it into the endzone when it needed to. And if Cowboys fans aren't already sick of what appears to be the second straight season of "kickergate," Nick Folk made a 49-yarder for the Jets already today. Yes, that Nick Folk. Buehler is an asset for kickoffs as he proved last season when he led the NFL in touchbacks, but when Dallas has already lost a pair of 1-possession games this season, I'd take the reliable place kicker over a long leg on kickoffs every day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

+ Sticking with kicking. Buehler's pop-up kickoff attempt after the first Cowboys TD seemed like a nice gamble in theory, but if you're going to try a surprise onside kick, why not go for a true onside where the kicker drills the ball into the ground for a high bounce instead of a popup that can be fair-caught? Gotta believe that's on the coaches. I don't disagree with the gamble, but there's a reason that late-game onside kicks aren't of the pop-up variety.

+ Dallas looked like they'd be able to run the ball in this game, especially after three straight Marion Barber runs in the first half where the offensive line opened holes large enough that Nate Newton could fit through them. Barber gained 22 yards on those three consecutive first-half runs, which is almost three-quarters of the Cowboys total rushing yards (30) on the day.

+ The Cowboys defense had pressured the Bears early but the turning point seemed to be the first Chicago TD when Cutler found Greg Olson over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown against the Dallas blitz up the middle. After that point, the Cowboys seemed to sit back a bit on defense, giving Cutler the time to go to work.

+ By the way, did anyone get a very awkward feeling watching Joe Buck introduce the broadcast by saying "...and that's Troy Aikman. Old number 8. The old quarterback. Eight-rock. Eight-ball. Just stop me anytime you want." Maybe the teleprompter died, or maybe he just had a stroke. I haven't felt more uncomfortable because of a broadcaster since Bryant Gumble was calling games on the NFL Network.

Cowboys travel to Houston next week in the battle for the Lone Star State. Watching Houston beat Indianapolis in Week 1 and to see them battling the Redskins, and just now blocking a field goal, here in Week 2, this certainly won't be an easy match up for the Cowboys. The Texans are susceptible to deep passes, which means Jason Garrett should have a chance to stretch the field with deep routes to Miles Austin and Dez Bryant. It's tough to have a "must win" game in Week 3, but when you are 0-2 and realize that none of last season's 12 playoff teams began the year 0-2, the Cowboys need to take a win out of Reliant Stadium next week.