Geoausch

As a Cowboys’ fan, you can’t really complain about much from Sunday’s 28-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns, yet I find myself thinking about missed scoring opportunities and I hear other fans wanting more intensity from the team. 

Are we spoiled fans? Probably, but it also means we have plenty to talk about regarding the game.

Let’s start with the good. I’ve always contended that football games are won in the trenches. Unfortunately, many are oblivious to the nuances involved with the offensive and defensive lines, but even the most casual of football fans knew the Cowboys offensive line dominated the Browns defensive line. We knew this line was special, but we saw shades of the early 90′s yesterday with that offensive performance. Many fans worried that the loss of Kyle Kosier would hinder the performance of the line; however, Cory Procter stepped in and filled in nicely. The offensive line not only gave Tony Romo time to read the Brown’s defense, but gave him enough time to read the newspaper as well.

Romo took full advantage of the time, picking the Browns secondary apart.  Going into the game, many pundits expressed their concern about the Cowboys’ depleted receiving corps, but Romo even managed to get Tony Curtis and an injured Isaiah Stanback, in addition to Terrell Owens, Patrick Crayton and Jason Witten.

A wise man once said that if you run the ball and stop the run, you will win the game. A dominant line and dynamic backs make running the ball look easy. Marion Barber showed that he’s ready to step into the starting role. When bruised ribs sidelined him in the 3rd quarter, rookie Felix Jones stepped in and showed why the Cowboys chose him over Rashard Mendenhall, scoring on his first touch. Fourth round draft pick, Tashard Choice, showed he can carry the rock as well, effectively running the clock out in what some backs would have considered “junk time.”

Defensively, nothing during the game really screamed, “dominance,” but in the end, we limited that averaged 351 yards in offense and 25 points a game, to roughly 200 yards and 10 points, a serviceable performance any night. Zach Thomas looks like he will make a seamless transition to the 3-4 defense and Marcus Spears showed signes that his impressive pre-season was not a fluke.

However, I think I am not alone in saying that I would have liked to see some more pressure from our front 7. While we didn’t look nearly as bad as Cleveland’s front 7, we managed only one sack and forced no turnovers, though Adam Jones was close to having a couple of interceptions. In addition, penalties hurt our defense far more than our offense. If it weren’t for penalties, the Browns very could have only put 3 points on the board.

All in all, the Cowboys proved worthy of the pre-season hype. I look forward to Monday night’s showdown with the Eagles where Terence Newman should make his season debut. Additionally, it appears that both Miles Austin and Anthony Spencer will return to practice this week and Sam Hurd is out of his walking boot. In a few short weeks, we could be at full strength.  I hope the Cowboys can give me a big victory for my 30th birthday.

Until next week, Phuck Philly!