Yesterday Was a Good Day

Who knew that when a Japanese Destroyer hits a Japanese Cargo Ship the Destroyer gets the worst of it?



Hey look at that, all of a sudden the Cowboys have a big game on the horizon, who knew a few victories in a row would make the season interesting?

Cowboys' 38-17 win helps with Philadelphia trip looming

02:53 AM CST on Monday, November 2, 2009

Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com

ARLINGTON – With each Cowboys victory, the stakes increase and the stages grow larger. It just can't get much bigger than a battle for first place with the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday.

Unless maybe it was last year's battle there for second.

The Cowboys mostly like to forget about the season-ending 44-6 defeat that allowed the Eagles to reach the playoffs as the NFC's last wild-card team rather than Dallas. As coach Wade Phillips said about last season in training camp, "It is what it was."

But with a three-game winning streak after Sunday's 38-17 victory over Seattle, and with young playmakers enjoying new levels of success, the Cowboys may actually use the frustration of last year's elimination game as a springboard for success.

"Trust me, that 44-6 game is going to be in our heads," Patrick Crayton said after becoming the first Cowboy to return punts for touchdowns in back-to-back games.

In a league in which teams use free agency to fill gaps and collect draft picks to cut costs, rosters get overhauled quickly. Longstanding grudges don't hold.

But it's not necessarily the history of the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry that Sunday night's game at Lincoln Financial Field is all about.

"You couldn't talk about something that happened in a game two years ago or three years ago," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "There are not enough people in this room that were around. But a ton of players and coaches here remember last year.

"And I think we'll benefit from that."

The Cowboys will need any form of motivation they can find. The Eagles may be just two weeks removed from an inexplicable loss to Oakland. But after coasting through a Monday night win in Washington, the Eagles hit full speed with a 30-point first half in their 40-17 destruction of the New York Giants on Sunday.

If Marion Barber and Felix Jones were good in the Cowboys' backfield Sunday, first-round pick LeSean McCoy and unknown Leonard Weaver were even better in gaining more than 150 yards rushing against New York.

If Tony Romo was very solid in collecting his 256 passing yards and three touchdowns Sunday, Donovan McNabb was just as productive, reaching 240 and three TDs, but with 13 fewer attempts.

But if the Eagles' 23-point victory over the Giants was slightly more impressive than the Cowboys' 21-point win over Seattle, it makes no real difference. Both are 5-2, one-half game ahead of the Giants, and the team that plays better Sunday night hits the halfway point of the season in first place.

"Philly's gonna be a challenge because the last couple of weeks we haven't faced a defense like Philly's," tight end Martellus Bennett said. "But you've got to win three in a row to call it a streak, so we're hot right now."

A streak that began modestly enough with an overtime win at Kansas City now includes the finest run ever by a Cowboys wide receiver. The Eagles may feel like they struck wide receiver gold in the last two drafts with first-round picks DeSean Jackson of Cal and Jeremy Maclin of Missouri.

Both had touchdowns against the Giants on Sunday. But Miles Austin, undrafted out of Monmouth, takes a backseat to no one at the moment.

In his first three NFL starts, Austin has 21 catches for 482 yards and five touchdowns. By his standards, Sunday's production was modest – five for 61, one TD.

So, Miles Austin has a couple great games and now the officials are giving him the star treatment? I'm ok with that.

Officials making a case for Austin’s star status

By RANDY GALLOWAY
Ft. Worth Star Telegram

ARLINGTON — What’s this, another Miles-stone in the suddenly booming career of Mr. Austin?

On Sunday, it appeared Magical Miles had advanced to that next level, the one where all NFL receivers dream to reach.

Star treatment?

Yellow hankies hit green plastic on two separate possessions at the Big Yard in Arlington as defenders were whistled for committing pass interference on Miles.

Both came on third downs. Both led to touchdowns. Add another touchdown for Austin and he was directly involved in three TDs as the Dallas Cowboys, on their seventh Sunday of the season, rested their case.

Yes, an outmanned opponent — in this case, Seattle — was dispatched rather swiftly, erasing a local concern that if you’re going to be a good team, then act like it against the bad clubs.

Not so sure in today’s NFL that it’s a totally valid issue, but Cowboys by 38-17 (and it wasn’t really that close) was the season’s first blowout.

"Hopefully," smiled Austin, when asked if it was "star treatment" on those, well, somewhat borderline interference calls. "I’m just out there running the routes, and I thought both were, yes, the right calls.

"Anyway, they were called, and that was good. Sometimes, you don’t get those, so when you do, I’ll take ’em."

Tony Romo got a good postgame laugh out of the "star treatment" question.

"Now, really, I think those were good flags," Tony answered. "[Austin] put the double move on them. Either you give up the TD or you get a flag."

Austin didn’t go statistical crazy on this afternoon (five catches, 61 yards) but his impact was very vital again in the continuing resurgence of the Cowboys’ offense. In the last 10 quarters, plus an overtime, there have been 10 touchdowns from the offense, and you can say Miles figured in seven of them, catching five.

Not bad for an offense that in early October appeared to be a red-zone field goal waiting to happen.

"I like the way we can score in a hurry," coach Wade Phillips said. "Today, we were just kind of rocking along, then suddenly, we got way ahead."