Cowboys vs. Jets: 9 Things We've Learned from Both Teams on Sunday

If you’re a Cowboys fan, then going to sleep on Sunday night was tough. Dallas entered the fourth quarter of their match-up against the Jets leading 24-10 with all of the momentum in their favor. Then Dallas fell victim to the wolf still on their backs: Mistakes, turnovers, and costly penalties.

The Cowboys lost to the Jets 27-24 on the back of a terrible Tony Romo interception and a terrible Tony Romo fumble.

Dallas played extraordinarily well on Sunday with a patchwork defensive backfield and a young offensive line. The Cowboys were poised at times and look inexperienced at others. The Cowboys performance was a mixed bag of good and bad surprises capped by the play of Antonio Ramiro Romo.

As the Cowboys fall to 0-1 on the season, they have no other choice but to regroup for their Week 2 match-up against the 49ers out in California. Before they jet set for a trip out west, here are six things we learned from the Cowboys loss to the Jets on Sunday night.

Dez Bryant Is Good but May Be Injury-Prone

Dez Bryant came out of the gate strong as he caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter. He’s a physical receiver and showed his power early against the Jets vaunted cornerback tandem of Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie.

But Bryant hurt himself and missed a large chunk of the third quarter. The initial word out of New York was that he just cramped up, but Bryant looked slow for the remainder of the contest and his speed was severely diminished.  

Hopefully he did just cramp up, but Dez looked as if something else was bothering him.

The Cowboys Offensive Line Still Has a Lot to Learn

The Cowboys offensive line will be just fine. They handled themselves well against an experienced Jets defense and kept Tony Romo upright for the majority of the game.

Romo was sacked four times and hit and harassed even more than that. But with two rookies and a brand-new center protecting Tony, I say that the guys did a bang-up job. Tyron Smith looked overwhelmed on certain plays, but what rookie wouldn’t?

The line will have to give Tony more time to throw, but they shouldn’t face a defense as exotic and angry as the Jets this season.

In the end it was not the O-line that did the Cowboys in; it was dumb mistakes. But Smith, Kosier, Free, and the rest of the men up front still have a lot of room to grow.

Tony Romo Is Just Mistake-Prone

There is debate as to whether Dez ran the wrong route or if Tony just threw a bad pass when he tossed that costly interception in the fourth quarter of last night’s contest. Either way Tony cannot, I repeat, cannot make dumb decisions like that anymore.

All throughout the game, color guy Cris Collinsworth kept saying how Tony told them that he can’t force throws and place the Cowboys in bad situations.

Fast forward to Sunday night, and that’s exactly what Tony did. He fumbled near the goal line and threw an interception in the fourth quarter.

I hear a lot of fans say that its time to replace Romo after that pick. I won’t go that far, but I will say that Tony will have to do a lot to regain the trust of the Cowboys fanbase.

His final stat line: 23/36 342 yards 2 touchdowns 1 interception

The Cowboys Defense Grew by Leaps and Bounds

What a difference a year makes, right?

Rob Ryan called a hell of a game against the Jets and his team responded. Linebacker Sean Lee had a breakout performance and DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer had three combined sacks of Mark Sanchez.

They looked confident, fresh, and aggressive.

Dallas’ Secondary Is in Big Trouble

Mike Jenkins left with multiple injuries, Terence Newman was out with an injury, and Orlando Scandrick sprained his ankle. Dallas worked with a patchwork set of players, and Sanchez, Burress, and Holmes went to work on them.

The Cowboys will have to sign or trade for another cornerback to add depth and experience to the defensive backfield.

Jenkins played much better than he did last season, but Dallas will need more from the little guy next week in San Fran.

Dallas Still Makes Dumb Mistakes

A simple headline is a mirror for this Cowboys team. Dallas had seven penalties for 40 yards, while the Jets had zero. The Cowboys had three turnovers, and the Jets capitalized off of their mistakes.

Garrett will have to tighten a few loose ends in practice this week, as I don’t think this Cowboys team will turn out to be as undisciplined as the Wade Phillips version.

But the forced and unforced mistakes need to become a thing of the past in Dallas.

On the other hand, the Jets were able to take advantage of said mistakes. Revis saw his legend grow on Sunday night after he picked off Tony Romo late in the fourth quarter.

The Jets defense is potent, and no team can afford to make mistakes against such a great defense.

The Shonn Green Era in NY Is over

Shonn Greene had 10 carries for 26 yards against the Cowboys on Sunday. But LaDainian Tomlinson seems to be the featured back in NY, as Greene could never get going.

I think the Jets will look elsewhere for a featured runner either this season or next, but Greene is obviously not the answer.

Keith Brooking Will Never Regain His Starting Job

Sean Lee is a full-grown man as we saw last night. He had nine tackles with one interception and a fumble recovery. Brooking will be used still but his days as a starter are all but done in Dallas.

Lee looked faster, quicker, and stronger than Brooking, and now the job should be his to lose.

The Jets Are 1-0

Sounds simple, but its true. The Jets are 1-0 and the Cowboys are 0-1 right now. I'm sure the Jets head coach Rex Ryan will have a list of things that his team can improve upon and he'll get after it this week in practice.

But as tough as the AFC East will be this season, the Jets did themselves a favor by starting the season on a high note. They also came back from a 24-10 deficit to win, which says a lot about their team.