Cowboys 38, Eagles 33: My Top 10 CBS Contemplations
10. Kudos to the crowd of over 81,000. They were lathered and loud. They booed when necessary, cheered Emmitt Smith's appearance on JumboJerry and even – unprompted, mind you – broke into a "Let's go Cow-boys!" chant in the 4th quarter.
9. If you're still grousing about a lack of style points, you clearly haven't been watching this Cowboys team this season. Any win is stylish. In 3 home consecutive home games against sub-.500 teams with rookie QBs, the Cowboys trailed 13-0, 28-3 and 14-3. Somehow they went 2-1.
8. Safe to say Dez Bryant has arrived. He's on the same page with Tony Romo, evidenced by his smoke-route TD in which he got the audible at the line and out-muscled Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. It is, however, inexcusable that Dez didn't have a pass thrown his way in the game's first 27 minutes.
7. You think the Cowboys' season is disappointing at 6-6, try the Eagles on for size. They began the season as NFC Super Bowl favorites, and have now lost 8 in a row for the 1st time since 1968. And the latest? Defensive line coach Jim Washburn was fired after Sunday night's loss.
6. Doug Free should have been benched at halftime. His 1st half was along the lines of Phil Pozderac in the '80s. Epically horrendous. Free had 2 holding penalties, gave up 1.5 sacks and generally looked out of his league. Jeremy Parnell couldn't have possibly been worse. I don't think. For the season Free leads the NFL with 13 penalties. So, congrats?
5. Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel watched the game from a leather-backed chair in a suite. What the what? Shouldn't mild, unassuming Johnny "Football" watch from the stands with the average folks? Appears simple ol' Johnny Football has already morphed into Johnny Privilege.
4. DeMarco Murray's return was significant, in that he has the vision – and ability – to cut running plays back to the weak side or even bounce to the outside. In his 6.5-week absence we forgot how good he was didn't we?
3. Congrats to Romo for becoming the Cowboys' all-time leader in passing TDs. He's thrown more touchdowns than Troy Aikman, and he's done so in 76 fewer games. Romo was perfect Sunday night, going 10 of 10 in the 2nd half. When he has time and all his weapons healthy, he's still a Top 10 quarterback in the NFL.
2. If you wagered on the Cowboys -10.5 points. My sympathies. Ouch. That one stung. Leading by 11 in the final minute, the Cowboys surrendered a 98-yard punt return to Damaris Johnson, tying the longest vs. Dallas originally set by Atlanta's Terance Mathis in '90. Major mistake by the special teams. And, for what it's worth, that ball has to be punted out of bounds. Right?
1. The win certainly helps the Cowboys in the standings, but it does little to bolster hope of them competing with the Bengals and Steelers the next two weeks. You trail the Eagles by 11, allow 423 yards of offense and permit Philly a season-high in points and, sorry, you're not playing playoff-caliber football. But with this organization, any win in December is momentous.
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