The Skinny:
The Bills went down to Big D and just didn't put up a fight as the Cowboys destroyed the Bills 44-7. The Cowboys scored touchdowns on their first four possessions while the Bills defense struggled mightily with the Cowboys blitz package. Tony Romo was just about perfect in this game as he only threw three incompletions going 23 of 26 for 270 yards while throwing three touchdown passes. DeMarco Murray ran for a score and finished with 135 yards on the ground. David Nelson scored for the Bills when the Cowboys already had a 21-0 lead. The Cowboys added three straight field goal drives and Terrence Newman put the exclamation point on the rout with a 43 yard interception return for a score.
The Turning Point:
We could say the opening kickoff but will settle on a big play in their first drive. Dallas faced a third and four from the Bills 41 when Romo hit Jesse Holley for a 25 yard completion when he burned Terrence McGee. On the next play Romo hit Dez Bryant for a 34 yard touchdown and the rout was on.
The Big Drive:
The Cowboys 2nd drive put the game away. It came on their second possession and took 12 plays to go the 78 yards to gain a 14-0 lead. Dallas converted two third downs on the drive including the five yard TD pass to Laurent Robinson.
Stat I Did Like:
Fred Jackson ran for 114 yards on 13 carries. It meant nothing but it was nice for him to have good stats in his old backyard.
Stat I Didn't Like:
There are so many too choose from. How about third down conversions. The Cowboys converted their first 7 third downs in the first half.
Quick Slants:
- Fred Jackson played this game literally in his childhood backyard. He grew up in a home that stood where one of the parking lots of the new Cowboys stadium is now.
- David Nelson played against the team he grew up rooting for in Texas as well. His girlfriend is a Cowboys cheerleader making for an interesting side note on the game.
- When Nelson scored a touchdown he went all the way to the other side of the field and gave the ball to his girlfriend and hugged her. This would have been nicer if the Bills weren't trailing 21-7.
- The Cowboys scored on their first 4 first half possessions. Four drives, four touchdown drives of 80, 78, 58, and 80 yards. The only thing that kept the half from being perfect was they ran out of time when they were actually driving while trying to run out the clock.
My Take:
If you follow me on twitter you know how angry this game made me. I thought the team would bounce back after last week's dismal performance against the Jets, well they topped that horrible performance in Dallas. The defense is pathetic when they don't force turnovers. Thanks to the Ryan brothers the league has seemed to catch up to the spread offense. Changes need to be made fast or this season will go down the drain like it did after the quick start in 2008. I'm afraid it may be too late already.
What's Ahead:
The Bills try to get back on track when they continue their road trip with a visit to Miami. The Dolphins have played much better as of late winning their last two games and will be the team coming in to this game with more confidence.
