Posted 6:21 am Monday, November 02, 2009
Consistent Cowboys Roll Over Seahawks
By CHASE COLSTON
Staff Writer
ARLINGTON -- Last week was the statement game. Sunday was the in-between win before next week's game, one everyone in the Dallas Cowboys locker room takes personally.
Staff Writer
ARLINGTON -- Last week was the statement game. Sunday was the in-between win before next week's game, one everyone in the Dallas Cowboys locker room takes personally.
Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes, Patrick Crayton returned another punt for a touchdown and the Cowboys reached a tie for first in the NFC East with a dominating 38-17 win over Seattle on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium.
The win was the third straight for the Cowboys, whose focus almost immediately shifted to Sunday night's prime time game at Philadelphia. The Eagles squashed the Cowboys' playoff hopes in last season's finale with a 44-6 beat-down, a score that hung with Dallas through the offseason, and still does in some cases.
"Our confidence level is good (right now) but there is always stuff we can do better," said Crayton, who became the first Cowboy since Bob Hayes in 1968 to return a punt for a touchdown in consecutive games. "Last year we had a chance for the playoffs and lost 44-6 -- 44-6, dude. It was the worst feeling in the world."
Dallas' 37-21 win over Atlanta last week was the Cowboys' most complete win, and the win over Seattle was the most dominant.
Dallas scored 24 unanswered points after Seattle cut the Cowboys' lead to 14-10 on a 23-yard TD pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Deion Branch early in the second quarter.
Romo connected with seemingly forgotten Roy Williams for a 7-yard touchdown 35 seconds before halftime and found new fan-favorite Miles Austin for a 3-yard score late in the third to make the score 28-10.
His other touchdown might have been the most exciting for the Cowboys offense -- a 36-yard catch-and-run by Sam Hurd, who outran five Seahawks defenders and found the end zone to give Dallas a lead it never relinquished.
And for another game, it made Cowboys fans forget about Terrell Owens.
"(Austin and Hurd) have been fighting for a long time to get out there," Romo said. "It's good to see they're making plays."
Romo completed 21 of 36 passes for 256 yards and for the first time in his career did not throw an interception in three straight games. He lost a fumble on a sack that led to Seattle's final touchdown, a 4-yard pass from Hasselbeck to Justin Griffith, but otherwise was near-flawless.
"They sent a lot of pressure today. It was probably the most we've seen in one game this year," Romo said. "I think we handled it pretty well."
After Crayton's punt return, the Dallas defense frustrated the Seahawks. Bobby Carpenter and DeMarcus Ware sacked Hasselbeck on consecutive plays. Ware's was his fifth in three games after going the first four games without a sack. The Cowboys totaled three sacks and forced two turnovers in the win.
"I like that this team is explosive in that we're kind of rocking along and then we're ahead big. The ability to do that can make you a good football team," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "I feel good about the progress we've made but we've got a long way to go. The more you win the bigger (the games) get."
And there might not be a more important game than Sunday's in Philadelphia.
The Eagles hammered division-rival New York, 40-17, on Sunday and are tied with Dallas atop the division standings. A potential taste of revenge, and doing so in a place like Lincoln Financial Field had Crayton excited already.
"I love getting booed (in Philadelphia), having eggs thrown at the bus," Crayton said. "It's a wonderful football atmosphere."
