Felix Jones Breaks Off a 40-Yard Run In the Second Half. Jones had 94 yards for the game but injured his knee on the play.
Cowboys Shut Down Panthers in the Second Half to Win First Game in New Stadium, 21-7
The Dallas Cowboys rebounded after a slow start to steal a victory at home over the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, Sept. 28. Dallas increased their overall record to 2-1 on the season even though they were being shut out at halftime 7-0. The Panthers (0-3) struggled mightily in the second half as the Cowboys scored 21 unanswered points on their way to victory.
Dallas’ running game was unstoppable again as they became the first Cowboys’ team since 1979 to record 2 straight 200+ yard rushing games. Felix Jones had 94 yards on 8 carries (11.8 yards per carry) and Tashard Choice had 82 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys’ averaged 6.2 yards per carry as a team. Felix Jones became the first running back since Bo Jackson to achieve 400 career yards in less than 50 attempts. The offensive line was once again dominant at the line of scrimmage, bullying the Panthers’ defenders all game long.
The Dallas defense played a high-quality game for the first time all season. After going the first two games without recording a sack or causing a turnover; the Cowboys’ had three sacks, two forced fumbles (one recovery), and two interceptions. Two of those sacks, the fumble recovery, and one of those interceptions were a part of a second half in which the Dallas defense completed dominated the Panthers’ offense. The interception was Terrence Newman’s first of the season, and the 27-yard return for a touchdown was the second of his career. This put Dallas up 21-7 with 5:07 left in regulation. Rookie linebacker Victor Butler accounted for the two sacks (the first sacks of his 3 game career), including the forced fumble with 1:07 left to seal the victory. Carolina failed to register a first down in the second half until under 5 minutes left in the game.
Tony Romo had a bounce-back game, although he mostly just played the role of facilitator. Romo went 22-33 for 255 with no touchdowns or interceptions. Jason Witten led the way receiving for the Cowboys with 9 catches for 77 yard and Roy Williams had 4 catches for 75 yards in an overall balanced offensive effort.
It definitely wasn’t pretty, but the Dallas Cowboys badly needed this win as a second consecutive loss to break-in the new stadium would be nothing less than an embarrassment for a team with Super Bowl aspirations – especially to a struggling 0-2 Panthers’ team. But Dallas’ responded and gutted it out in the second half using a superior running game along with suffocating defense to pull out a desperately needed win.
The Cowboys’ are tied for second in the division with the Philadelphia Eagles at 2-1. Dallas’ next game is Oct. 4 at 3:15 pm, in Denver, against the Broncos.
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