Cowboys Stumble to Improbable Victory, 7-6

Dallas Scores Game Winning Touchdown with Under Three Minutes Remaining. Patrick Crayton Spikes the Ball After Receiving Game Winning Touchdown. (AP Photo/ LM Otero)

The Dallas Cowboys had averaged 32 points per game at home so far this season but if you looked up at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, you saw that Dallas was still stuck on zero. In fact, the Cowboys (7-3) had scored only 7 points in the last seven and a half quarters before scoring their only touchdown Sunday (Nov.22) against the Washington Redskins (3-7), giving them their first lead of the ballgame.

The Play:

Late in the fourth quarter, on second-and-goal, Tony Romo narrowly avoided a sack by spinning away from the defensive-lineman, rolled to his left and threw a dart to Patrick Crayton for the game-winner. Romo completed 7 of 8 passes for 60 yards on the game-winning drive, after passing for only 98-yards on 8 for 19 passing up to that point. Dallas passed the ball eight times while only rushing the ball once, a 5-yard scamper by Romo for a 1^st down on third and four. Romo finished the game with 158 passing yards, his second fewest in a game this season, along with one touchdown and one interception. The Cowboys had run the ball 28 times compared to only 19 pass attempts leading up to the game winning drive.

"Everyone in the stands saw it coming," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said of Romo’s game-winning touchdown, "and he put it right in there."

A Terrible Start

Washington scored the first points of the game after the Cowboys’ Terrence Newman was called for illegal-hands to the face after the Cowboys had sacked Campbell for a 6-yard loss on first down. The Redskins used the momentum of that mindless penalty to drive to the Dallas 25-yard line where the drive stalled and they settled for a 45-yard field goal by ex-Cowboy Shaun Suisham. The Redskins got their second field goal late in the third quarter to make it 6-0 Redskins. Washington missed a huge opportunity to make it a two-score game as Suisham missed a 50-yarder (wide-right) late in the fourth quarter that gave Dallas good field position, and led to their first touchdown of the contest.

Calls to Run

After requests from fans, analysts and even Owner-GM Jerry Jones for Dallas to run the ball more after last week’s debacle at Lambeau Field, the Cowboys ran the ball 12 times and Marion Barber totaled 66 rushing yards in the first quarter. At the end of the half, Dallas has rushed the ball 20 times (compared to 13 passes) for 106 yards. Running the ball simply wasn’t the answer as Dallas was down 3-0 to end the half, and had been shut out for two consecutive games at halftime for the first time since December of 2002.

The Dallas rushing attack ended the contest with 33 rushes for 153 yards (4.6 yards per carry) and Barber led the team with 20 carries for 99 yards. Felix Jones had 49 yards on 10 carries, which tied for the most carries in a game for his career. But, when the offense absolutely needed a touchdown, they relied on Tony Romo's arm and it worked.

Jason Campbell

The Redskins kept the lead for the majority of the game thanks largely to their quarterback, Jason Campbell, and his effectiveness on third-and-long plays. Campbell was 11 for 11 on third downs for 143 of his 256 total yards and Washington was 7-15 on third-down conversions for the game. Campbell did have a miscue when the Redskins tried to respond after Dallas' first touchdown as he threw a pass, tipped at the line of scrimmage, that landed in Anthony Spencer's hands and sealed the game for the Cowboys.

What the Hell?

The Dallas Cowboys played a sloppy, undisciplined game against an injury plagued Washington Redskins team that was missing its starting defensive tackle (Albert Haynesworth), its starting tight-end (Chris Cooley), and its first and second string running backs (Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts). Fortunately for Dallas, they got hot at the right time and their defense held strong despite the offense putting them in unenviable situations. Drives keep being either sustained on defense or being killed on offense by careless penalties. Dallas had six penalties for 65 yards in the game and this simply will not cut it against a quality (or even mediocre) team in the NFL.

Dallas has a short turnaround after this one, as they play Thanksgiving Day at 3:15 p.m. against the Oakland Raiders on CBS.

News and Notes:

· Tony Romo suffered what was called a “hip contusion” while making a tackle in the first quarter on DeAngelo Williams after a Marion Barber fumble. Romo stayed in the game but seemed to throw too high to his receivers.

· Roy Williams was targeted four times by Romo during the game, but dropped three passes. Williams was shut out for an entire game for the first time in his career (80 games).

· Redskins third-string running-back Rock Cartwright had 140 total yards for the game which is the highest yardage total for a game in his career.

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