Back On Track

The Cowboys got a much needed victory versus their longtime arch rivals, the Washington Redskins, last night, 27-10, evening their record at 1-1. It never gets old beating Little Daniel Snyder. The game had a little bit of everything from a Dallas standpoint. On offense, Drew Bledsoe bounced back, the offensive line provided solid protection, Julius Jones ran with purpose, the defense got tons of pressure on Mark Brunell, and even Mike Vanderjagt got into the act, making good on two field goals, one a booming 50-yarder to put the game on ice. And Aussie P Mat McBriar showed why his strong leg may be a lethal weapon this year, leading the league after two weeks with a 50.8 average. LB DeMarcus Ware was a force, so much so that John Madden was continuously singing his praises. Maybe the player Dallas passed up in the 2005 draft to take Ware, San Diego LB Shawn Merriman, has a slight edge so far in sacks, but I think we saw enuf out of Ware last nite to be satisfied with what we got, even if the Sporting News recently ranked Merriman 11th, offense and defense, in their poll of the NFL's 101 best players.

Terrell Owens caught only 3 passes, all in the first quarter, and his timing with Bledsoe is nowhere close to what the QB enjoys with Terry Glenn, still one of the more dangerous and sure-handed deep threats in the game, despite being on the other side of 30 now. Unfortunately, Owens left the game late with a broken finger, so it's good timing that the Cowboys have a bye week before their next game at Tennessee, followed by the much-anticipated October 8th showdown at Philadelphia.