The Dallas Cowboys had 4-1 wrapped up. Then they gave it up. Then they got it back.
Do we expect anything different from this team ... ever?
The Cowboys finished off the Houston Texans in overtime 20-17, a game they most certainly should have won in regulation.
And in blowing a late lead, the
Cowboys will be dissected as a fool's-gold contender — and probably for
good reason. But do we overlook a mostly strong performance, the
Cowboys' fourth victory in a row, in lieu of a terrible final few
minutes?
Dez Bryant's incredible 37-yard catch in OT was the hammerblow to save Tony Romo's
bacon. Bryant ran a stop-and-go route and got open, but Romo's pass was
underthrown. Bryant reached over Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph's
head, bobbled the ball and somehow came down with a catch that easily
could be nominated for the play of the NFL season to this point.
Three plays later, Dan Bailey kicked a 49-yard field goal to win it. But it never should have gotten to that point.
Video Dez Bryant bails out 4-1 Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys led by 10 with just
under five minutes left and had the Texans down to a fourth down. A
wheel route to Arian Foster on fourth and two gained 14 yards, and four
plays later the Texans cut it to a seven-point lead with 2:31 left.
On the Cowboys' ensuing drive,
they should have put the game on ice. Romo was called for delay of game
and then intentional grounding, forcing Cowboys punter Chris Jones to
kick from his own end zone. The Cowboys were unable to get the clock
underneath the two-minute warning with the Texans only using two of
their three timeouts.
Simply inexcusable.
The Texans returned the punt 14
yards, and then hit on gains of 20 on a screen to Andre Johnson and 19
on a sideline pass to DeAndre Hopkins to set up an overtime-forcing
Foster touchdown run.
This had the feel of a classic
Cowboys choke job. As if Romo would have a better chance of blowing it
in regulation, with 36 seconds left, as he would to win it.
But this wasn't on Romo. He
mostly played brilliantly, save for a terrible red-zone interception
earlier in the game, and he connected on 16, 14 and eight yards on four
passes to set up a Bailey 53-yarder to win it in regulation. It missed
wide left.
The Texans had the ball first
and punted, and Romo, DeMarco Murray (31 rushes, 136 yards; six catches,
56 yards; no rest in sight) and Bryant took over. This time, Bailey
didn't miss: His 49-yarder — on third and nine, interestingly — won it.
The Cowboys still don't instill a
ton of confidence, and the 2008 team also started out 4-1 but missed
the postseason. But there is something really interesting going on here.
A dominant offensive line (J.J. Watt was kept in check), Murray,
Bryant, Romo and a game defense give them a chance every week. Of
course, Jason Garrett and Romo also give them a chance to lose games,
too, as could Murray if his fumbling problems are back (he had one at
the Texans' 10-yard line, his third of the season) or if his Herculean
workload comes back to bite the team in the tail.
Still, no one could have seen this team at this point right now. It's stunning and fascinating to watch.
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