Cowboys 27, Redskins 24 (OT): My Top 10 CBS Contemplations
10. On Rob Ryan's play sheet this week: Facebook logo, photo of The White House and a pair of dice. Who knows? On Rob Ryan's face this week: Egg. How did his defense get shredded by Rex Grossman? Trailing by seven, the Redskins drove 89 yards for the tying touchdown. Washington gouged Dallas with big plays from guys named Darrell Young, Logan Paulsen and David Anderson. The Cowboys allowed a horrendous offense – the Redskins entered with one offensive touchdown in 12 quarters – to drive 12 plays to lose the lead. An ensuing 10-play drive almost lost them the game.
9. I've been tough on Martellus Bennett, but give him some credit on this day. The dude practiced one-hand catches every day in training camp and it finally paid off. And his 14-yard catch in which he dragged a couple of tacklers set the tone for Dallas' game-winning drive in overtime.
8. Cowboys' best phase Sunday: Field. Goal. Defense. Graham Gano was wide right from 49 in the third quarter and 52 in overtime.
7. Couple things about Tony Romo: He's good when rolls to his left. And he's great in November. I didn't think he was particularly good yesterday as far as accuracy or pocket presence, but at key times he spun left away from pressure and completed three huge passes to Laurent Robinson (to tie the game at 17), to Jason Witten (on a 59-yard score to provide a late 7-point lead) and to Dez Bryant (for the 26-yarder that set up Dan Bailey's game-winning field goal). And in November Romo is now 18-2, with 49 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions.
6. Boy did Tashard Choice ever exact his revenge on the team that cut him? After his first carry – for nine yards – he hopped up and glared/yelled at Dallas' bench. His next five carries netted minus-2 yards, including getting flattened by Jay Ratliff and losing his mouthpiece on another goal-line collision. And to think, a 105.3 The Fan listener actually bet me that Choice would rush for 100 yards against Dallas. Easiest money I've ever made.
5. Couple of colorful commercial caught my eye Sunday. I used to be in awe of the spaciousness of Pam Oliver's forehead, but anyone see her in that Fox charity ad? Her expansive hips draped in a yellow skirt looked like a taxi wrapped in a thousand Livestrong bracelets. And about those people carrying around green Gout juice in giant beakers: Would you accept a job paying $200,000 a year and your only responsibility was to always – every second of every day – have the beaker not only in your possession but in contact with your body? Keep it close and you're wealthy. Lose it and you immediately get incurable Gout. Deal?
4. The Cowboys were good at times but, let's face it, this win had a lot to do with luck. Gano misses in OT and then Redskins' coach Mike Shanahan saves Romo from a Chris Webber moment. With the play clock winding down to :03 as Bailey lined up his 39-yard field goal, Romo stood up and called timeout. Problem. The Cowboys didn't have any left, and the resulting "unsportsmanlike conduct penalty" would have been 15 precious yards. Dallas would have either been faced with a 54-yard field goal attempt or 3rd-and-23from the Washington 36. Instead, in his attempt to ice Dallas' rookie kicker, Shanahan beat Romo to the punch with his own timeout.
3. I know Jason Garrett gets monotonous with all his "football" and "process" and single-minded, narrow-field focus, but it just may be paying off. Because the Cowboys don't get caught up in the big picture and within games because they are coached to not get too high or too low, they are now 3-0 in overtime games (all on the road) under Garrett with a win last year at the Colts and two this year at San Francisco and Washington.
2. Whew. If ever there was a game where relief trumps joy, this was it. The Cowboys' destination was achieved, but the journey was both frustrating and exhausting. Bottom line: the Cowboys are 6-4 and lead the NFC East heading into Thanksgiving. Those of us who boldly promised 8-4 in the wake of the 27-point loss in Philly on Oct. 30 are on track. Barely.
1. I'll be honest, the immediate reaction amongst friends and family in my house upon watching Bailey's overtime field goal was a collective "Oh %^$#@*, he missed it!" He barely sneaked that sucker inside the right upright. Which got me to thinking, after watching Oklahoma State's field goal against Iowa State Friday night and then Bailey's appear to both sail directly over the goal post, why don't we make field-goal uprights as tall as baseball foul poles so there is no mystery? Or maybe shoot a beam of light up to help the visual clarity? There's too much at stake in the NFL to leave anything to human guesswork. But then again, this is the league that still uses archaic chains to measure first downs.
