INSIDE SLANT
In his first 11 games as head coach, it’s becoming crystal clear that Jason Garrett has made all the difference for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys are 7-4 since he took over for Wade Philllips after a 1-7 start last season. He led the team to a 5-3 finish and now they are 2-1 to start the 2011 season.
A Cowboys team that finished an embarrassing 6-10 season is now in first place in the NFC East three games into 2011 thanks to back-to-back comeback wins over the 49ers and Redskins.
Owner Jerry Jones credits Garrett for his leadership and management of a team that has faced adversity tied to injuries, mental and unforced mistakes and various other breakdowns. Simply put, under Garrett, the Cowboys have eliminated foolish mistakes to give themselves chances to win.
Tony Romo and the Cowboys were filleted for crumbling late in the season-opening loss to the Jets. They did, in point of fact, blow a 14-point lead and Romo committed two very costly turnovers.
The last two weeks, it was the Cowboys who made plays at the end of the game to win.
They came back from 14-0 and 24-14 deficits to beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime last week. They rallied from a 16-9 deficit to beat the Redskins 18-16 Monday night at far short of full health.
“It’s a credit to our team, a credit to Jason Garrett, that we get our act together, get back down here and win a ballgame,” Jones said. “And so, I can’t praise Jason Garrett enough for how he’s handling the team. He represents the spirit of the team, and we’re just excited about getting these two wins.”
NOTES, QUOTES
• The last nine Cowboys games have been decided by three points or less, which is the longest streak of games with a point differential of three or less in NFL history. The previous long was held by the Raiders (six) from 2004-05.
• Monday’s win was the Cowboys’ 41st game without a touchdown.
• Of the 41, the Week 3 win over Washington was just the sixth time Dallas won a game without scoring a touchdown. Dallas won without a touchdown, 9-7, in 2001 against Washington.
• Rookie kicker Dan Bailey has had some tense moments in his early career, but the youngster from Oklahoma State now has game-winning kicks in back-to-back games.
He made all six of his field goal attempts in Monday’s win to establish a club rookie single-game record for field goals. Roger Ruzek made five field goals against the Los Angeles Rams in 1987 and Richie Cunningham did it twice in 1997.
Bailey said he had no doubt about the 40-yard game winner with 1:52 left in the game.
“When you can string 2, 3, 4 kicks together—it’s rare to have that many attempts, but when you string that many together it kind of gives you the confidence to go out and make it,” Bailey said.
Bailey became the third rookie since 1960 to convert six field goals in one game. The first was Garo Yepremian (Detroit, at Minnesota in 1966) and Jeff Reed did it for the Steelers in 2002.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Player Notes
• RB Felix Jones played through a dislocated shoulder and then had to leave the game because of the injury. But he rushed for 115 yards on 14 carries for an average of 8.2 tonight. It marked Jones’ single-game career high yardage total and his second career 100-yard outing. His average of 8.2 yards-per-carry was also a career-best when rushing more than 10 times.
• LB Sean Lee intercepted his second pass of the season—and fourth of his career—against the Redskins. His two interceptions through three weeks ties Brian Urlacher for the most picks by a linebacker. He also recovered a fumble to seal the win late in the fourth quarter, his second game of the season with multiple takeaways. He provided the same takeaway stat line (one interception and a fumble recovery in the season opener at the N.Y. Jets.
• QB Tony Romo didn’t throw a touchdown pass against the Redskins. His streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass was stopped at 20, which was the second-longest active streak in the league. Drew Brees upped his league-leading streak to 30 games.
• FS Gerald Sensabaugh blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter against the Redskins. He has four career blocked kicks.
• LB Anthony Spencer’s fourth-quarter sack against the Redskins gave him a sack in his fourth straight game, the longest streak of his career. He also had a forced fumble on the fourth quarter sack of Rex Grossman. Spencer is playing like he did for much of 2009 after he seemingly slept through the 2010 season.
• LB DeMarcus Ware’s sack against the Redskins was his sixth straight game with a sack—the third-longest streak of his career (he’s also had streaks of 10 and seven). He has sacks in each of the first three games of a season for the second time in his career. The first was in 2008 when he opened the season with at least one sack in each of the first seven games.
Report Card Vs . REDSKINS
Passing Offense: C—Tony Romo didn’t throw a touchdown pass. He tossed an interception. He had to deal with young receivers running the wrong routes. He had to endure four bad shot gun snaps. But he survived and made enough plays in the end to lead the Cowboys to victory.
Rushing Offense: B—Felix Jones had 14 carries for a career-high 115 yards against the Redskins but had to leave the game in the fourth quarter because of a dislocated shoulder. He initially suffered the injury last week at San Francisco. Jones was replaced by DeMarco Murray and Tashard Choice. They combined for nine carries for 11 yards.
Pass Defense: A—The Cowboys sacked Rex Grossman three times, intercepted him once and forced him to fumble after a sack. Lee had the interception and recovered the fumble after a sack by Anthony Spencer to end the game. Cornerback Terence Newman played for the first time all year and had a pass deflection.
Run Defense: A—The Cowboys defense held the Redskins to 65 yards rushing after they came into the game averaging over 120 per game. Tim Hightower had just 41 yards on 14 carries. Linebacker Sean Lee led the way for the Cowboys with eight tackles.
Special Teams: A—What can be said about a rookie kicker who makes six field goals including the game winner to lead the Cowboys to victory. Dan Bailey did it all for the Cowboys.The situation was not too big for him.
Coaching: A—Credit Jason Garrett for the team’s ability to continue to play in spite of adversity and through tough times. The Cowboys have now had nine straight games decided by three points or less. The Cowboy can handle tight situaitons even though things aren’t always perfect.
