On Second Thought...

The good, the bad, and the ugly, with a clear head, two days after an ugly opener. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Some of you may have been wondering why I didn't post a full review of the Cowboy game Sunday night. My anger at the time would have prevented me from writing a clear and coherent article, so I knew I had to wait - and it took two days to cool-off.

Here are some of my thoughts 48 hours after the Dallas Cowboys season-opening stinker against the Washington Redskins:

The Good:

Miles Austin

The Cowboys breakout receiver from a year ago began Sunday night on a mission to prove that his monster 2009 campaign was no fluke.
Austin made a good first impression against Washington as he was the only offensive player to have any consistent impact for Dallas. Austin led all receivers with 10 catches for 146 yards, and scored the only Cowboys' touchdown for the game on an excellent four-yard pitch and catch from Tony Romo on a crossing pattern in the end zone. He made defenders miss after the catch, showed soft hands, and even bowled a few cornerbacks over to get some extra yards - I think it's safe to say this guy is for real.

The Dallas D

The defense was dominant at times against the Skins, the epitome of a bend but don't break defense. Dallas held Redskins' running backs to less than 3.5 yards per carry for the game, and quarterback Donovan McNabb completed less than half of his passed (15-32) for 171 yards and no touchdowns - a 63.4 QB rating. The Cowboys defense didn't allow a touchdown for the game, as Washington was 0 for 2 in the red zone on the night.

Mike Jenkins

Cornerback Mike Jenkins excelled, making a case as the best defender on the field at times during the course of the game. On back-to-back plays with the Redskins in the red zone and threatening to score in the third quarter, Jenkins single-handedly prevented a touchdown for the Redskins. The third-year corner broke up two-straight passes in the corner of the end-zone, forcing Washington to kick the field goal. The Skins subsequently botched the snap, and came away with no points on the drive.

The Bad:

Lack of Discipline

Dallas accumulated 12 penalties for a whopping 91 yards on the night as they shot themselves in the foot time and time again. The Cowboys outdid the Redskins in every offensive category, accumulating over 130 more total yards, and holding the ball nearly nine minutes longer for the game. It didn't matter though. Every time the Cowboys would look like they were putting it all together and make a long drive, a penalty would derail it.

Jason Garrett

The Cowboys' offensive coordinator made some head-scratching calls throughout. Even though I know some of them were due to a beat-up offensive line, such as the myriad of screens and quick throws in the first half, other play calls were just plain dumb. Dallas ran a halfback pass play to Marion Barber that gained absolutely nothing, drives stalled out due to Garrett's need to be tricky, and other plays looked as though it was the first time the team had ever ran them. Like I said, I understand the restrictions due to two missing starters on the line, but that doesn't completely dismiss some dismal play-calling throughout.

Kicker David Buehler

Buehler came into camp as the only kicker on the Cowboys roster because the team viewed him as a player ready for prime-time. He was not that player on this night, missing a 34-yarder wide-right that would have tied the game at 3 to start the second quarter. Dallas has never put much stock in the kicking game, but having no competition in camp may come back to haunt them this season.

The Ugly:

Alex Barron

While this could also go under the lack of discipline category, I'd like to give Barron his own paragraph. When everyone is healthy, Barron is not a starter for the Cowboys team. Now, the 6-8, 316 lb lineman might have a better case for a career as a sumo-wrestler after opening night. On the final play of the game, Barron was beaten badly off the line by Skins' linebacker Brian Orakpo. The right tackle decided to grab Orakpo and literally close-line him across the lower-face mask and throat. Roy Williams was uncovered and caught a touchdown pass on what would have been the game-winner, but the judo take-down ended the game on an obvious holding penalty - Barron's second holding penalty of the game.

"You can't blame it on that one play," Williams said. "We had a bunch of opportunities, early in the game, in the middle of the game, at the end of the game, to drive down and get points and we couldn't do it."

He's right on here and it's certainly admirable of Williams take the high road in this situation, but here's an interesting question, especially after he had a chance to put away all demons in Dallas on one big play:

Is Roy Williams forever doomed to be the goat as a Cowboy? I'll explore this further in the next few days.

The End of the First Half

The blame for the seven-point sacrifice can be divided four ways, and at the individuals discretion, for who takes the biggest piece of the culpability pie. Choice, head coach Wade Phillips, Garrett, and Romo each should be held responsible for what would be the deciding touchdown of the game.

Garrett should have never called a bomb from his own 36-yard line with three seconds left in the half, in a division rival's stadium. Phillips should have overruled his offensive coordinator and decided to kneel the ball. Romo should have thrown the ball away, and Choice should have just gone down or got out of bounds.

Personally, I put the majority of the blame on Romo and Choice. The play was obviously designed to be a long, desperation bomb hurled down the field by Romo to try and salvage a touchdown going into the half. When he saw no one open, Romo should have ran a couple of yards forward and slid, or simply thrown the ball out of bounds.

Choice, fielding a reception on the sideline with two defenders in front of him and no time on the clock, should have just gone down. For some reason, the third-year player forgot that it was the end of the half, not the game, and was looking to lateral the ball back to, who, a lineman? We all know the rest; DeAngelo Hall then stripped Choice for the first fumble of his career and returned it all the way for a touchdown - the only one of the game for the Redskins.

"That was my fault before the half," Phillips said. "We should have taken a knee."

A strong statement by the coach to stick by his player. But, in his next breath, Phillips seemed to change his tone.

"Now, if you catch the ball with 4 seconds left, you don't need to make an extra yard or two, you go down with the ball," Phillips said. "Maybe that's our fault too."

Regardless of who's at fault, it was poor all the way around. Although I believe it's up to the players to make heads-up decisions on the field, and that didn't happen on this play or on this night as a whole.

Looking Ahead:

The good news in all this is that this is only the first game of the season. A loss against a division rival hurts but, based on the way they played Sunday night; it doesn't look like Washington is any kind of threat in the NFC East.

Unfortunately, on this night at least, neither did the Cowboys.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)