Silence of the Rams Cowboys Rout St. Louis 35-7

The last time the Dallas Cowboys started a season 4-0, rooting tooting Barry Switzer was in town and I was just another freshman trying to score with coeds at the University of Texas at Austin.

That was also the last year that the Cowboys went to the Super Bowl. Quite simply, this is what the Cowboys are supposed to do if they are to be considered NFC contenders: beat the hell out of lesser, injured NFC teams.

That’s what they did Sunday, blowing out the walking hospital unit known as the St. Louis Rams 35-7. It shouldn’t be taken as anything more than the Cowboys doing what they are SUPPOSED to do.

That said, I do want to throw a word of caution out there to all Cowboys fans that might be getting a little ahead of themselves.

Despite the 4-0 start, it must be noted that those wins have come courtesy of 0-4 Miami, 0-4 St. Louis, a 2-2 New York Giants team and a 1-3 Chicago Bears team. That’s a combined 3-13.

Don't get me wrong: 4-0 is great. But the fact remains that this Cowboys team has yet to face a GOOD opponent.

This season is only a quarter of the way through. The Cowboys are not going to get respect unless they earn it —and in football, you earn respect by beating good teams.

There aren’t many good teams in a weak NFC. Green Bay is 4-0,  and they aren’t getting much credit either. I’m still not sold on them. After that you have 3-1 Detroit, 3-1 Tampa Bay, and 3-1 Seattle. With the exception of Seattle, let those other two teams’ records I just mentioned sink in.

You think any of those teams are getting respect? Do you think any of those teams could compete with the Colts or Patriots for four quarters and be competitive? 

Through the first quarter of the season, the Cowboys have CLEARLY established themselves as the best team in the NFC. There isn’t any question about that. They’re going to get better. There offensive can score at any time and leads the NFL in that category. After a rough start, the defense has steadily improved each week, and got Greg Ellis and Terence Newman back, two key members of that defense.

Incidentally, Greg Ellis is a sorry sumbitch that JUST HAPPENNED to get back on the field after Jerry Jones relented and reworked his contract. See, Greg has been bitching about his contract for TWO YEARS now and it appears that he was using his achilles injury as leverage. Mind you this is a contract that HE SIGNED. It’s good to have him back on the field, as he immediately made his presence felt with 1 ½ sacks in the game, but that is SORRY. That aside…

Bottom line: there is NO team in the NFC that scares me as a Cowboys fan—and I suspect that the Dallas locker room echoes that sentiment.

Respect will only be earned on October 14th.  It certainly won’t happen next week, as the Cowboys go on the road against a Buffalo Bills team that notched their first win yesterday to go to 1-3 on the year. It will happen only if—and that’s a BIG IF—they beat the Cheaters, formerly known as the New England Patriots, in two weeks.

Right now, all the Cowboys can do is beat Buffalo next Monday night, which will not be nearly as easy as this win was. Buffalo is a scrappy team that can make it an ugly, grind it out type of game for the Cowboys.

The Rams, to their credit, fought hard in the first half, mostly on the defensive side. The Cowboys had a difficult time moving the ball. They didn’t notch their first points until deep in the second quarter.

Then, what is so far THE PLAY of the year in the NFL—and what is sure to be shown OVER and OVER and OVER again on highlight shows happened. 

The Rams had just tied the game 7-7, courtesy of an 85 yard punt return from Dante Hall and had

momentum. The Cowboys got the ball back with 56 seconds remains before halftime.  At 3^rd and 3 and at the 50, center Andre Gurode snapped the ball WAAAAY over Tony Romo’s head. Romo turned around and raced after the ball. He tried to pick it up at the 27, bobbles it and kicked it toward his own end zone. He picked up the ball at the 17-yard line, turned left and headed upfield.

He faked out linebacker Raonall Smith at the 26-yardline, and kept running up the sideline. Romo kept running until he stepped out of bounds at the Rams 46 for what would show up as a four yard gain and a first down with 43 seconds remaining.  He would finish it off with 11 seconds left, running it in for a 15-yard TD. 

It is one of the most amazing plays I’ve ever seen. It defies logic. It defies sense. You just don’t see what could have been a disaster get scrambled into a 37 yard out of control run and a first down.

But Tony Romo is the real deal. He finished with another outstanding Pro Bowl day at the office, going 21 for 33 with 339 yards, 4 TDs (3 passing, 1 rushing) and one pick.  Patrick Crayton more than made up for his dropped TD pass last week against the Bears, having a career day with 184 yards on seven catches and 2 TDs.

Jason Witten had six catches for 71 yards and a TD, while Terrell Owens had 3 catches for 33 yards. His biggest contribution—and hopefully a sign that he is becoming a good teammate—came when he led the way for one of Crayton’s TDs, and laid a block on at the end zone so Crayton could march in. I’ve been critical of Baby Drop from time to time, but that was a beautifully unselfish play to make.

The offensive line was outstanding, as Romo had all day in the pocket and was only sacked once by Corey Chavous in the first quarter. Chavous then thought the game was over because he proceeded to do an extended jig afterwards.  Too bad Reggie Dunlap wasn’t coaching the Cowboys. Would’ve loved for him to put a bounty on that punk’s head.

The Cowboys continued their trend of starting out slow, then giving the opposition the gas in the second half. Sunday's second half was no different, as they wasted little time putting points on the board and knocking Marc Bulger around like a door mat. Romo would complete 8 of 13 passes for 193 yards and three TDs until the game was so far out of reach that BRAD FUCKING JOHNSON came in for some garbage time in the fourth quarter.

For what it's worth, the Cowboys defense had their best day of the season. They allowed no points, and limited Bulger to 114 yards on 11 of 24 passing with a pick in the end zone that was snatched up by Ken Hamlin. Even Marcus Spears, who has a big bag of NOTHING, got a half sack and danced on the field like he was Deacon Jones. 

The secondary did give up some slant plays, but nothing like in previous weeks. They have improved each week—but again, you have to look at who they are playing. If they think that keeping a wounded mut like the Rams scoreless is anything to get excited about, they are—as Principal Edward Rooney would say—“sorely mistaken.”

That secondary is still a concern in my mind.  And considering the Rams' offensive line was introducing themselves to each other throughout the game and learning what the other’s favorite movies were, the defense only got three sacks and six hurries. They should have done to Bulger what the Giants did to Donovan McNabb Sunday night. 

On a positive note, the Cowboys only added two penalties and ten yards to their league leading total, which is a vast improvement over last week’s 12 for 100.

Stephen Jackson was out. Half the Rams' offensive line was out. For the fourth consecutive week , they lost another offensive lineman that started the game. Marc Bulger was playing with two cracked ribs and it showed. Scott Linehan finally decided to do the humane thing—with 2:16 left in the third quarter, he replaced Bulger with Gus “Headbanger’s Ball” Frerotte.  Isaac Bruce, who threw out the tired guaranteed win a bit earlier in the week, didn’t even finish the game. He had one catch for 24 yards and left early with a hamstring injury. Some guarantee, ass wipe.

A win is a win and you can only play the teams on the schedule—so I’ll enjoy this one for a day before starting to worry about Buffalo. Even if they win (which they’ll be favored to no doubt) and are 5-0, the jury still doesn’t come out with its first half verdict on the Dallas Cowboys until October 14th.