Moore: Loss to Redskins could bite Cowboys down the road

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By DAVID MOORE Follow @DavidMooreDMN
DAVID MOORE The Dallas Morning News Staff Writer
dmoore@dallasnews.com
Published: 27 October 2014 11:13 PM



ARLINGTON — The evening can’t be considered a complete disaster since Tony Romo was upright at the game’s end.

The same can’t be said for that six-game winning streak.

A Cowboys team that hadn’t lost since the opener was done in by Washington. The team whose nickname shall not be spoken unleashed a fierce blitz that bruised and confused Romo and Co. and scraped together just enough offense Monday to leave AT&T Stadium with a 20-17 overtime victory.

What had been a surprisingly successful first half of the season for Dallas ended on a sour note. The Cowboys still lead the NFC East by a half-game over Philadelphia, but only because the Eagles have already absorbed a bye week.

A division loss at home to a Washington team that remains weeks away from .500 could bite the Cowboys going forward. Still, the Cowboys come away knowing it could have been much worse.

Romo lay motionless on the field for several minutes in the third quarter after he went down on a sack by Washington linebacker Keenan Robinson. He was taken to the locker room for X-rays, took a shot to return and was ineffective on the Cowboys final two possessions.

“The injury aspect of it, you feel you may have dodged one in that regard,” Romo conceded.

The Cowboys entered Monday night’s game having outscored opponents 103-55 at home since the first half of the regular-season opener against San Francisco. But it quickly became evident this game would not unfold like so many others in this streak.

Washington defensive coordinator Jim Haslett has long tormented Romo and the Cowboys offense. It was no different this evening. Haslett hit the Cowboys with a series of blitzes that kept the offense off balance for most of the evening.

“They always do new stuff,” Romo said. “I think that’s part of Washington’s history. At times they’ve gotten us. At times we’ve gotten them.

“You’ve got to give them credit.”

An offensive line that allowed only five sacks in the previous five games allowed five in this one. And these weren’t of the nickel-and-dime variety. The Cowboys lost 54 yards on those sacks as the team failed to convert at least 50 percent on third down (5-of-12) for the first time this season.

“Just a lot of all-out pressures,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “What happens when you play a team that does that is you have to make they pay.

“They made some critical sacks and critical disruptions at key moments.’’

The Cowboys didn’t make Washington pay nearly enough. DeMarco Murray did finish with his eighth consecutive game of 100 or more yards and finished with 221 yards in total offense. His 51-yard run on the Cowboys first offensive play after Romo’s departure set up a field goal.

Brandon Weeden came in for Romo and led the Cowboys to 10 points, finding Jason Witten with a 25-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 17-17.

Dez Bryant caught only three passes for 30 yards, but he made a spectacular, one-handed grab just inches off the ground and powered his way in for a 5-yard touchdown in the first half.

“I thought that was a pretty special play,’’ Garrett said.

But it wasn’t enough. The mistakes the Cowboys had overcome throughout this winning streak came back to haunt them. Back-to-back possessions in the first half ended on fumbles by Joseph Randle and Murray.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys defense began to show signs of wear and tear in the second half. Washington opened the third quarter with an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead. It came back with a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive two possessions later to again regain the lead, this time 17-10.

Then came overtime.

Washington won the toss and Colt McCoy, in his first start for Washington, led his group on a nine-play, 58-yard drive that consumed 5:17. Kai Forbath drilled a 40-yard field goal to give Washington the lead.

The Cowboys wound up with the ball for four plays in its attempt to answer. Murray picked up 8 yards on first down, but an ill-advised pass from Romo to Murray lost a yard.

“We expected a run front on second down, and they really didn’t give us that,’’ Romo said. “That was an example of one of a couple of calls that were risky but were rewarded for them. They took away deeper routes we thought we could get a chunk on.

“They just played it well.”

Witten dropped what would have been a first-down reception on third-and-3. On fourth-and-3 from the Dallas 27-yard line, Romo tried to find Bryant on the sideline. Rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who had an outstanding game, knocked the ball away to secure the victory.

The Cowboys had a chance to go 7-1 in the first half of the season for only the sixth time since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

Instead, the team carries a 6-2 record into Sunday’s game against a red-hot Arizona team that is much better than the team the Cowboys lost to this night.

“We’re disappointed about this game, but we have to get ready for Arizona,” Romo said. “It’s going to come up fast.”
 

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Imagine this team against Green Bay in the playoffs.

Colt McCoy is now Aaron Rodgers.

Jim Haslet is now Dom Capers.

NSFW
[video=youtube;xRwR-li5t_A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRwR-li5t_A[/video]
 
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