Cowboys Game-Plan Way To Late Win
By Mike Fisher | @fishsports
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSDFW.COM) - Sunday Night Football on the road means a day of thumb-twidling, waiting, football-watching, napping, waiting, meeting... and more waiting.
As the Cowboys filled their day in The Big Apple with anxious inactivity, they were also able to review the game plan they hoped would give them just this result: a 31-28 last-breath victory over the Giants.
That game plan? We had seven pregame glimpses of it on 105.3 The Fan. Let's see how FishTips played out:
1) We said: This is a run-first night for the Cowboys. But not because of the weather. A Giants-beating game plan insists you get 190 rush yards every week vs. NY if you simply go get it.
RESULT: DeMarco Murray rushed for 121 yards, meaning he has 1,354 yards, passing Emmitt Smith (1,347) for most in the first 11 games of a season in Cowboys history.
2) We said: Josh Brent spent the week on the scout team. He was even up to second-team yet. A lot was written about Brent by those not in the know, but there were five DTs ahead of him all week on the depth chart. Josh Brent is a story. But he's not a scheduled to be a factor.
RESULT: Josh Brent was indeed a healthy scratch. The Cowboys put some pressure on Eli Manning without his blocker-occupying help. Brent's time will come. But it wasn't going to be here.
The defensive guy worth highlighting? Rolando McClain made the game-saving tackle on 4th-and-2 and finished the game with 10 solo tackles and two tackles for a loss.
3) We said: Cowboys have installed a 'special' package to get Terrance Williams involved. Heads-up!
RESULT: There were pass-catching contributors beyond eventual hero Dez Bryant, including Cole Beasley and Lance Dunbar. So we'll keep out T-Will thoughts under our hats, maybe to be revealed on Thanksgiving against an Eagles team locked in NFC East battle with 8-3 Dallas.
4) We said: The O-line that cleans up its holding problem, wins. The Cowboys are leading the league with 18 offensive holding penalties. Tied for fourth-most are the Giants with 15.
RESULT: Not only was Dallas' blue-chip line pretty clean, it was astoundingly impenetrable when it was time for Tony Romo to find Dez Bryant for the 13-yard game-winner with 61 seconds remaining.
5) We said: Dez Bryant needs 207 yards and two TDs to join Terrell Owens as just the second Cowboy to have three consecutive seasons with 1,000+ yards and 10+ TDs. Dez also needs two TDs this year to be on very short list of fastest-to-50 TD receivers But tonight: he needs patience, because the Giants will try to take him away and pick another poison. So Dez's turn might take a sec.
RESULT: It did take awhile for Dez to emerge as the premium guy, especially with Giants rookie Odell Beckham performing at such a "did-you-see-that?" level. But Dez got the two scores in the one night, putting him in that same fast-to-50 club with Gronk, Alworth, Moss, Rice and company.
"That's cool," said Dez when we told him of the milestone.
6) We said: This is Tony Romo's time and place. His fourth-quarter QB rating at METLife is an incredible 111.4. His overall rating here is 104. He's 7-0 in the Cowboys' last seven pre-Thanksgiving games.
This, we predicted, was his time.
RESULT: Yup.
We also noted in our pregame that Dallas' last eight receiving TDs included seven from tight ends. Jason Witten made it eight out of nine with a crafty shovel-pass score from Romo, one of his four TD throws.
It added up to Tony having an amazing QB rating in this game of 143.4.
Romo's last nine games: 21 TDs and just three picks in his last nine games, and Dallas with an 8-1 mark in those games. "Pretty remarkable," Witten said. "But Romo does that all the time. ... A lot of things he does that are under-appreciated."
7) We said: Since 2000, 39 of the 42 teams that have reached 8-3 have made the postseason, with 15 of the 39 ultimately securing a first-round bye. Translation? This is a 'you-are-what-your-record-says-you are' game.
RESULT: "We don't believe in pressure," Dez said. "That's being together, having each others' back. The standards that we have for each other ... We stick together."
And together they are 8-3.
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