The Rams may have had the title earlier this decade, but the Cowboys are showing game after game that they have the greatest show on turf. Fueling rumors of his jedi knight status, Tony Romo smoked the Rams with 339 yards passing with three touchdowns, an interception, and another touchdown on the ground.

But T-Ro’s arguably best play was a thirty some odd yard scamper that ended in a four yard run for a first down. And, admit it, you were hoping he’d just fall on the ground. I know that’s what I was thinking. My first flash was of the play last year when he scooped up the ball and threw it for a completion, but after he juggled the scoop, I was quite fine with falling on the ball and punting it. Apparently, Romo had other plans.

That’s what T-Ro bring to the table. Every play, you are expecting him to do something good. It won’t always fall in Romo’s favor, just like trying to jam it into a well-covered Owens earlier in the first half ended in an interception, but so long as he continues along his path to becoming a Jedi Knight, it is worth it. The occasional bad plays are the price we pay for having a quarterback who can hoist the team on his shoulders.

And what about that Crayton? I often joke with my wife during the games that I’m going to cut a player after he makes a bad play. I said it when Marion Barber dropped a pass. I said it when Witten did the same. Then I went soft and said they would just be on my short list. But, after Crayton scored his first touchdown, I had to admit to her that Crayton would always have a spot on my team. Even when he dropped the pass for a touchdown last week, he’s got a spot on my team.

He’s not the biggest, and he’s not the fastest, but give me a receiver with sure hands that knows how to get open and I am happy. That’s Crayton. He won’t scare you, but his crisp route running is difficult to defend. And, after tonight’s performance, teams will realize that even if they cover up Owens and Witten there are other weapons to worry about.

But the play that stands out to me was Terrell Owens on a play where he didn’t even touch the ball. There Crayton was streaking down the sidelines and it looked like one of the Rams might have a good enough angle to catch him before he crosses the goal line when a Terrell Owens that is four yards behind Crayton puts it into that extra gear, rushes past Crayton, and gives a block that will ensure Crayton’s touchdown.

Say what you want about T.O., that type of play speaks volumes.

As for the weekly Marion vs. Julius watch, it looks like Julius finally showed up to the match. He’s had some pretty plays in the first few weeks, but the best were wiped out by penalties. He ran well against the Rams and finally found his way into the end zone.

And is it just me, or do NFL analysts have no clue about what they are talking about? They’ve been talking about how Jones gets taken out in goal line situations: wrong. They’ve been talking about how Jones is getting fewer carries while Barber is getting as the weeks pass: wrong.

It’s pretty simple: Jones is in for a couple of series, Barber is in for a couple of series. If it’s third down, the back stays in. If it is goal line, the back stays in. Obviously, they will occasionally be given a breather during these drives when needed, but the goal seems to be to distribute the ball as evenly as possible.

And while Marion had another great game, I think we’ll see this same distribution until someone slows down our running game. As it should be. If it ain’t broke, it probably ain’t a good idea to go fixing it.

Let’s not forget to mention Ellis. He finally hits the field and quickly makes his presence felt lining up opposite Ware. He’s not all the way back yet, but this is a good first step. The defense continues to improve week to week. I think many of us forget that, while they are still playing the 3-4, they are learning a new version of the 3-4. That means they will likely improve as the season goes along, which is what they have been doing over the first four games. As they get healthy, this should only help.

It wasn’t all good news today, though. Anthony Henry went out of the game with the dreaded “high ankle sprain”. Which means he could be back next week, or he could be out for several weeks. That’s the type of injury that can linger. Hopefully, he’ll be ready by the Patriots game. We’ll need everything we’ve got to go against the team that is arguably playing the best of any team in the NFL.

The final: Cowboys 35, Rams 7. And if it makes Isaac Bruce feel any better, the Rams were able to stop the Cowboys second stringers, though Tyson Thompson was able to rack up 47 yards on about 8 minutes of game time.

The Dallas Cowboys offense has been missing a couple of important ingredients ever since the 90’s. The defense, I haven’t been worried about. They’ve had their bumps in the road, but most years they have been among the NFL’s better defenses if not among the NFL’s best. But, the offense has been missing a couple of things.

The first thing that comes to mind, of course, is Quarterback. But I’m not talking about a specific position here, even though we have been in dire need of a quarterback from the time Troy Aikman decided to retire until, perhaps, the time Tony Romo took over for Drew Bledsoe.

The first ingredient I am talking about is fire. The offense has been playing without fire for the better part of a decade, ever since Michael Irvin went down with that injury in Philadelphia leading to his retirement. Without Irvin, Aikman brought his business-like approach to the offense, and that approach seems to have stuck around much longer than Troy did.

I’m sure most of you have noticed it. The offense mechanically steps up to the line and goes about their business. No swagger. No fire.

At least until last year. Tony Romo brings some swagger to the offense. He has an infectious confidence that gives the offense the sense that every play can be a big play. But he’s not alone in bringing this fire back to the Cowboys. Marion Barber and his run-as-if-its-your-last-play-ever attitude has also lit a fire in the huddle. Between the two of them, the Cowboys’ offense has their swagger back.

But, perhaps the most important ingredient is the go-for-their-throat play calling of Jason Garret. This is the same type of play calling that won three Super Bowls in the 90’s. The Cowboys are no longer content to get a lead late in the game and just run the ball to chew up the clock.

When you have your opponent down, you go for the throat. The Cowboys aren’t playing “not to lose” the game, they are playing to win the game. We saw it in the 90’s when the Cowboys would be up by a score late in the game and would still throw the ball downfield to Irvin or Harper looking to seal the deal.

We lost it after Norv Turner left for Washington, but Jason Garret has brought it back. And it’s that type of attitude that has the Cowboys at the top of the NFL in scoring. No longer are we content to take a one score lead in the fourth quarter and grind it out trying to make the clock the opponent’s enemy. The clock isn’t their enemy; the Cowboys offense is their enemy.

It’s like playing prevent defense. You play the entire game in a way that puts you ahead, and then you decide to play differently when the game is on the line? There is certainly a time and place for the prevent defense, but if the opponent only needs one score to win or tie, it’s not the time.

The same goes for offense. If we don’t have a two or three score lead, it’s not time to grind it out in clock management. Go for the throat, get the win, and then play clock management.

Those are the ingredients the Cowboys have been missing since the 90’s, and those are the ingredients that Jason Garrett, Tony Romo and Marion Barber bring to the table. If they can keep it up, it should be a good year for Cowboys fans.

I love the NFL channel. In fact, when Time Warner bought out Comcast in my area, and I found out Time Warner wouldn’t be carrying the NFL channel, I switched over to FIOS cable. Not having the NFL channel just didn’t cut it.

Its not for the news, mind you. I can get news by hitting Yahoo or watching ESPN. The NFL channel gives a very unique player-centric experience.

But, it is owned by the NFL, so being unbiased is probably something that would be a stretch for it. So, it didn’t come as too much of a surprise that, when it came time for them to do their weekly segment on the questionable calls with the head of NFL officiating, that they took a bye on asking about any of the blown calls in the Cowboys game.

There were at least three questionable calls in the first half alone. And that first half ending — well, that’s a head scratcher.

My guess: They looked at the end of the half and said, “Holy crap, we screwed up hard on that one.” And promptly decided to burn the tape.

I think Mickey said it best responding today to a Chicago journalist who (before Sunday night’s game) said that Romo may have played well last year but he didn’t face a defense like the Bears.

Mickey’s reply:

Maybe so, but in the end, so what? I still see me a QB rating of 100.8. Maybe that Bears defense was ranked so high because it didn’t face the likes of Tony Romo.

I couldn’t say it better myself, so I’m letting Mickey say it for me.

Think on this:

The Cowboys are 3-0 and neither Terry Glenn or Greg Ellis has stepped on the field. They are undefeated and Newman’s only been healthy enough to play on nickel situations. They are 3-0 playing half of that time without their starting nose tackle who is out for the season.

And it was that Cowboys team that beat the defending NFC champion.

What happens when Terry Glenn comes back with the speed able to stretch defenses and one more weapon for Tony Romo to throw to?

What happens when Greg Ellis is able to take some of the pressure off of DeMarcus Ware?

What happens when one of the best corners in the game is ready to resume his starting position?

Heck, what happens when Tank Johnson (love or hate the move) is giving Jay Ratliff a break instead of off-the-streets Remi Ayodele?

They might say it’s too early for optimisim, but just who are they anyway? We’re fans. We’re allowed to be optimistic. And, as far as I can see, there’s more to be optimistic about since Y2K came and went without so much as knocking out my night light.

At times it looked like the Cowboys were going up against the officials as well as the Bears. One drive came to a halt after a very questionable call turned an eleven-yard screen to Julius Jones into a ten yard penalty. Another drive was in jeopardy after Owens was flagged for an equally questionable offensive pass interference penalty.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Cowboys sacked Rex Grossman on a fourth down play with six seconds left on the clock and the officials called the end of the half even though there were clearly two or three seconds left in the half.

But even the officials seemed unable to stop Tony Romo. After a few teasers to the running game early in the game, Dallas switched to a pass first, pass second offense and put the game on the shoulders of their quarterback. And Romo responded, at times throwing passes with Bears hanging off him.

The end result: Dallas 34 Chicago 10 much to the dismay of the officials who, no doubt, picked Chicago in Yahoo’s NFL Pick ‘em game.

If there were any doubts on whether Romo is the quarterback to lead this franchise into the future, he answered more than a few questions tonight. In a game that was going to be decided by the quarterback play — or, rather, the lack of bad quarterback play — Tony Romo showed that he was a match for perhaps the best defense in football.

Romo certainly has his detractors among the fans. In fact, some fans are so against Romo I think they might actually root against him during the games. But, I think Romo might have even won over a few of them. Maybe not Drew Bledsoe, but certainly those that have held out hope that he’s the franchise quarterback the Cowboys have been searching for so desperately for most of this decade.

He looked… Favre-like.

And in a game where the Jones vs Barber debate might have had a bye week, Marion Barber still found a way to make his case. He scored his first touchdown on a swing pass where he juked one defender then ran over another to reach the end zone. He then busted a long run towards the end of the game setting up a one-yard run into the end zone.

Meanwhile, Julius Jones found himself up against the Bears, the officials, and his own teammates. First, he catches a screen pass and breaks a Brian Urlacher tackle to reach a first down only for it to be called back for an illegal block in the side. (The officials deciding to make blocking in the side a penalty just for that play.) And later he made a good run up the middle called back on a Flozell Adams call.

I still have a feeling we are going to see the running back by committee continue until the running game breaks down. Right now, it falls under a don’t fix what isn’t broken rule. And it isn’t as if Julius has run poorly, even if his stats fall into the poor category.

But Marion Barber certainly does look like Steven Jackson in that commercial where he breaks tackle after tackle only to have a number of people gang up on him but he still finds a way to score. And, as that continues, I think it becomes tougher and tougher to keep to the running back by committee plan. At some point, you just have to see what Marion Barber can do as the primary back — especially with Julius Jones in the last year of his contract.

And let’s not forget Terrell Owens. T.O. had another solid night not letting the league’s best defense slow him down. Between Owens and Witten, Romo didn’t have to worry about finding an open receiver.

After watching the Cowboys win a shoot out with a not-so-great Giants team and then take out an also-not-so-great Dolphins team, it was nice watching them take down the reigning NFC champion.

If nothing else, this game announces to the league that the Cowboys are back. And they are dangerous.

The Cowboys-Bears game is the premier matchup this Sunday featuring a 2-0 Dallas team against a Chicago team that went to the Super Bowl last year. The Bears are built around a strong running game and a punishing defense while the Cowboys have displayed an explosive offense during their first two games.

But this game will be decided by the quarterbacks. Or, more accurately, which quarterback makes the fewest mistakes. Rex Grossman has been very inconsistent during his short career. He threw almost as many interceptions (20) as touchdowns (23) last year. And Tony Romo is known for taking a few gambles each game, which is something a hungry Bears defense feeds on.

Keys for Chicago

The Bears must win the battle at the line of scrimmage. It is important to shut down Julius Jones and Marion Barber to make Dallas one-dimensional, but with Terrell Owens and Pro-Bowl tight end Jason Witten ready to take advantage of any 8-man fronts, the Bears will have to shut down the running game without stacking the line of scrimmage.

Cedric Benson is the key on the offensive side of the ball. Benson has not found much running room in the first two games having rushed for only 143 yards and no touchdowns. He’ll need to reverse that trend to give the Bears an opportunity to win this game.

Keys for Dallas

Stop Cedric Benson and beware of Devin Hester. If the Cowboys can bottle Benson up and limit his yards it will put more pressure on Grossman to make something happen, and Grossman has shown a propensity toward making ill-advised throws when the game is on his shoulders. Punter Matt McBriar will also need to kick shorter, higher punts instead of just booming it into the arms of the most dangerous returner in football.

On offense, Romo will need to play conservatively. Chicago lives by making teams turn the ball over, so throwing into double-coverage and holding the ball haphazardly in one hand while scrambling will give the Bears defense on opportunity to do what they do best.

My Prediction

Dallas 17 Chicago 9

I expect to see some turnovers by both teams, but Dallas has the offense to take advantage of them.

It sounds like Terrell Owens is planning his next touchdown celebration and the guys over at SSNN (Serious Sports News Network) have the scoop. I’d suggest heading over and checking out what T.O. has planned, but brace yourself — it sounds like Owens is ready to start using his touchdowns as a political movement.

While you are there be sure to browse around. It’s got some funny stuff on it and the only requirements for reading are a love of sports and a sense of humor.

Terrell Owens plans minimalist TD celebration full of symbolism and anti-NFL sentiment

Former Chicago Bears DT Tank Johnson will be visiting the Cowboy’s facility on Tuesday to work out a possible deal. Johnson is currently serving an 8-game suspension and wouldn’t be available to play in a game until November.

It’s a good move for the Cowboys who were forced to resign Remi Ayodele after Jason Ferguson was placed on injured reserve with a torn bicep. Johnson was cut by the Bears after being arrested for driving under the influence, but it turned out that he was within the legal limit.

Tank Johnson will provide a good insurance policy for the last half of the season. Wade Phillips seems happy with the play of Jay Ratliff, but Johnson can help out by giving Ratliff a break and provide a safety cushion should Ratliff get injured.

Johnson has never played in the 3-4 defense, but he is 6-3 and 300 pounds, so size shouldn’t be too much of a problem. He had 3 1/2 sacks last year with Chicago.

Dallas Defense Key to 37-20 Victory Over Miami

The Cowboys defense re-emerged Sunday playing perhaps their best game since Greg Ellis went down with a torn ACL last year. And, surprisingly, they did it without three key starters: Greg Ellis (still recovering from the torn ACL), Terence Newman (foot injury), and Jason Ferguson (torn biceps — out for the year).

The defense did give up 287 passing yards, but they also managed to pick off Trent Green four times. The run defense was also able to hold Ronnie Brown to just 33 yards on 11 attempts, bringing a sigh of relief to a team wondering how Jay Ratliff would hold up in Ferguson’s absence.

It was a solid effort with Dallas playing well on all three sides of the ball: offense, defense, and special teams which not only limited Ted Gin Jr but ripped off a great punt return after Patrick Crayton got a second chance following a Miami penalty.

Tony Romo had a solid outing 14 of 29 for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns. His numbers might have been better if Terrell Owens had not dropped a couple of passes in the first quarter, but the key stats were zero interceptions and zero fumbles. Romo had his moments, the best being a nifty two yard throw to Tony Curtis for a touchdown after Romo was going to the ground in the hands of a greedy Miami defender, and the worst being when he tried to squeeze the ball into Witten’s hands between two defenders. Luckily, the linebacker who had good coverage on Witten did not turn his head to make a play on the ball.

One thing really stood out: defenses respect T-Ro’s ability to scramble. On several occasions, the defensive end played containment rather than going for the sack, allowing Romo to scramble around a buy time to make a play. It’s odd, really, because while Romo might resemble Vince Young in shiftiness, there is certainly no confusing the two in running ability. And since Romo isn’t likely to run around the end and go for forty yards, the end should be playing more aggressively.

Chalk that one up to the perception that Romo throws better when moving outside of the pocket. Certainly, it is to Dallas’s advantage that the ends play containment and giving Romo time to use his legs to evade them.

Julius Jones ran better than I’ve seen all season and perhaps all of last season, though it doesn’t show in the stats. He ended up with 15 attempts for 32 yards, but his best run of the night — a ten yard run in which he evaded a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then powered through two defenders to pick up a first down — was called back because of a holding penalty. He also caught a swing pass and took it for twenty-four yards while make three or four Dolphins look completely silly.

I wouldn’t read too much into the 2.1 yard average. After all, LaDainian Tomlinson was only able to produce a 2.4 yard average. It does seem that Julius Jones is hit at or behind the line of scrimmage more often than Marion Barber. I was talking with a friend about this and we both agreed this was the case — the line does seem to block better for MB3. Not intentionally, of course, but I would not be surprised if they get a little more fired up when Barber is in the lineup simply because of Barber’s bring-it-all attitude and running style.

And, while I wouldn’t say it is time to regulate Julius Jones to the bench, it certainly seems like a good idea to get Marion Barber some more carries. He looks much improved from last year, and he was pretty good last year. There is a distinct advantage to having a two back system beyond just keeping both backs fresh. If one goes down, you have another solid back to replace him. But, it might be time to see what Barber can do if he’s given the opportunity to touch the ball 20+ times in the game.

Terrell Owens played well even though he dropped a couple of early passes. He was also flagged twice for celebrations in defiance of me writing about his good behavior thus far this year. I have to say, though, that the first penalty probably wouldn’t have been thrown had it been Marvin Harrison and not Owens. He certainly looked more like he was pitching the ball to where he thought a ref might be rather than celebrating. (And, while I’m a fan of acting like you’ve been there, I do think the league has become too hyper-sensitive to this stuff.) The second penalty was well-deserved and went a long way to helping Miami score their second touchdown — luckily we had Barber ready to even the score on the next drive.

Sam Hurd also had a solid game playing in Crayton’s place after Crayton dislocated his pinky finger. Crayton should be able to go next week, but it is always good to have a receiver that can come in off the bench and be a solid replacement.

But the real story was the play of the secondary. It was certainly helped out by a Trent Green that hadn’t cleaned off all the rust on his arm, but they played a solid game. Anthony Henry’s first interception came because of great coverage and was a ball that really shouldn’t have been thrown. His second interception was just a great play by Henry who read the route and jumped in front of it. Hamlin’s interception was a gift-wrapped overthrow by Green, and Roy got one of those late-in-the-game just throw it up there picks. Jacques Reeves also had a solid day breaking up a pass and generally covering his receiver well, though he did give up a touchdown.

About the only thing missing were a ton of sacks, though the Cowboys were able to put Green on the turf twice. They were also able to get some good pressure at times to rush some throws, but, generally, I thought Green had a little bit too much time in the pocket more often than I would like to see. However, this is due in some part to Newman’s absence from the defense. Once he returns, he will free up another defender that can be used to bring the pressure or play a robber zone.

The best thing about going 2-0 is that it makes it easier to rest Newman for another week if his foot isn’t ready to go. Certainly, if the Cowboys were sitting at 0-2 there would be a lot of pressure to get him on the field if at all possible, but I think most people, including the staff, would think a 2-1 record and a healthy Newman was better than a 3-0 record and a gimpy Newman. But, hopefully, skipping the first two games is all his foot needs.

Terrell Owens didn’t catch a single pass in the first half of the Giants game, and ended up with only three catches, but he made the most of them with two going for touchdowns. But, if the Cowboys are going to be successful this year, the Tony Romo to Terrell Owens connection is going to need to get going earlier.

With Terry Glenn out for several more weeks with a knee injury, Terrell Owens becomes the only real threat among the receivers. Patrick Crayton has a knack for getting open, but he isn’t a deep threat. And while Sam Hurd has a lot of potential, he doesn’t have deep threat speed either.

The Cowboys will continue to jab opponents with Crayton and Jason Witten when the defense focuses on Terrell Owens, but they’ll also need to get the running game going if they are going to get T.O. into the game earlier. Football is a game that plays into itself with one part of the team helping out another part of the team. And just like a good secondary can allow a team to put more pressure on a quarterback by bringing more players, a good running game can help the passing game by forcing teams to defend with more players in the box.

It’s a safe bet that teams will focus on Terrell Owens early. He has a reputation for becoming inattentive if he is taken out of the first half. And this can be used as a weapon too. I’ve always said that if a player is being double-teamed — whether he’s a receiver or a defensive lineman — he’s doing his job. He’s already taken two players out of the play.

And, no doubt, T.O. will provide that type of help to the offense. But the best bet is to find ways to get the ball into his hands, even if it is something like running an wide receiver reverse.

We’ll see what they can do against Miami. The Dolphins lost safety Yeremiah Bell in their opening game, so their ability to defend against the pass has taken a hit. Dallas will need to take advantage of it.