Cowboys Take Down Jets 34-3, As New York Gutting Ensues

About the only suspense involved in the Dallas Cowboys’ throttling of the New York Jets, 34-3 in front of a Thanksgiving Day crowd at Texas Stadium was how many tired turkey jokes the commentators would make, whether or not the particles falling from the sky could be construed as snow bringing up memories of the Leon Lett 1993 Thanksgiving Day game against the Dolphins and whether or not the Cowboys would be in danger of being accused of running up the score.

The game was essentially over at halftime with the Cowboys leading 21-3. Wade Phillips called for the dink and dunk you to death offense for basically the entire second half. It got so bad that there were times where you’d think that the Jones brothers (Julius for the Cowboys and Thomas for the Jets) had bribed the others’ run defense to let each have their running goals for the day. For those who care, Julius asked Santa for a 100-yard game while Thomas wanted his first TD of the season. Neither got their wish. By the third quarter, thoughts were already on the upcoming NFC showdown against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

Tony Romo had a sub par, by his standards, game finishing with 195 yards on 21 for 28 passing with 2 TDs and 1 INT. One TD went to Jason Witten in the second quarter and the other went to T.O in the fourth. Saying that is sub par is just another example that Romo’s bar has been raised. We’re not surprised anymore when he does this. Now, he’s the franchise QB and he’s expected to do it. Incidentally Romo’s 2 TDs got him to 29 TDs for the season, which ties him with Danny White for most TDs in a season by a Cowboys QB. Let that sink in for a minute.  The running game, which had been dormant the last three weeks, had a resurgence today with Marion Barber running for 103 yards and a TD. Julius Jones finished with 64 yards.  T.O. had his first human game in three weeks with just 6 catches for 65 yards and a fourth quarter TD but again, like Romo; he has raised the bar for himself this season.  

The defense was the star today as they made life miserable for Jets QB Kellen Clemens and the Jets offense. Clemens finished with a putrid 142 yards on 12 for 27 passing with no TDs and 1 INT. To put it simply, the Jets offense could get no rhythm going and three and outs were the call of the afternoon.  The run game was nonexistent, Thomas Jones finished with just 40 yards on the ground, and the passing game wasn’t stellar either (someone named Jerricho Cotchery finished with 2 receptions for a team high 43 yards.)Cornerback Terence Newman, who gets better each week, ran back Clemens’ INT 50 yards for six in the second quarter and the Cowboys pass rush sacked Clemens three times and had him on the run all day. 

All in all, this was what the Cowboys were supposed to do. The Jets, despite their shocking win against the Steelers last weekend, are a bad team. Great teams are supposed to win these games in this fashion. The 2007 Dallas Cowboys are one of the few great teams in the NFL. While you don’t want to read too much into a game like this, there are some positives here, those being that the Cowboys secondary didn’t give up any big plays, everyone got out healthy, and the Cowboys run game made a special guest appearance.

However the special teams coverage is still a problem. The Cowboys aren’t going to beat Brett Favre giving him the ball at his own 30 or 35. Also, Kellen Clemens isn’t experienced enough to exploit a defense. Brett Favre is going to be looking to get Roy Williams in coverage every chance he gets unless Wade Phillips uses the specialized nickel defense that he used today to start the game that had three corners on the field and NOT Roy Williams. 

But with the win against the Jets, the Cowboys moved to 10-1, the best record ever for a Cowboys team after 11 games and now anxiously wait, as do we all for the NFC regular season game of the year when Favre and the 10-1 Packers come calling to Texas Stadium where home field in the NFC playoffs is up for grabs. You can consider this an early playoff game. It’s just too bad that most of America can’t watch it. We all need to put Time Warner out of business for this.