Week 4. Cowboys 35, Rams 7

There are certainly days over the course of the potentially special seasons when you spend a lot of time wondering where this ends. Does it end in Arizona with the Super Bowl? Or does it end with the sudden thud of a guillotine like in Seattle last January – where one moment, it is all going according to plan, and the next minute, your head is rolling around the platform while your body lays limp.

We can, on this first day of October, only wonder what this story will take us, but as of right now it looks like the sky may just be the limit.

The Cowboys were fairly unimpressive in the first half of the Rams game, and then in the 3rd quarter, they decided to snap the neck of their opponent, and prepare for the weeks that await. If they wanted, I am confident the Cowboys could have named their final score.

The Following are the observations and accounts from the Week 4 dismantling of the St Louis Rams.

• Greg Ellis was a nice story yesterday, as he jumped right back into action with 1.5 sacks. I did not know until this morning that he also got his contract re-done, and my first instinct was that Jerry shouldn’t have rewarded him for going about things the wrong way in the off-season. However, I still really think Greg is a great human, and he has been through a terrible injury, so if Jerry wants to reward that, then fine. Good to have that pass rush specialist back on the field. The Rams’ Adam Goldberg made him look real good yesterday, and although other Right Tackles will put up a better fight in the future, having Ellis back in the Nickel should really be a nice option.

• Seldom does a game change on one play, but this one did. Here it is, from the NFL.com play by play: 3-3-Stl 50 - (:56) (Shotgun) 9-T.Romo Aborted. 65-A.Gurode FUMBLES at STL 50, recovered by DAL-9-T.Romo at DAL 17. 9-T.Romo ran ob at STL 46 for 37 yards. I know that the Cowboys worked on that play countless times in practice, but it really looked like they had never run the play before. Boy, that Jason Garrett can really call some great plays. Seriously, has Romo ever been more “Jedi” than that play?

• Pam Oliver is large these days.

• When the Cowboys had a 3rd and 3 in the 1Q, and Romo drilled one right at Owens, how did the referees miss that the ball hit the ground? I realize this is why we have replay, but if they didn’t see that bounce off the turf with their naked eyes, I think vision tests may be in order.

• I can’t help it, but every time I look at Leonard Little, I think of how he killed a woman while drunk driving, then went on to drive drunk again. And we pretty much kicked Michael Vick out of the league for fighting dogs. Please explain justice to me when you get the chance.

• Steven Jackson is awesome. I still hate that the Cowboys passed on him in the draft in that trade down to get Julius Jones and Marcus Spears. But, without him, the Rams have so little going on in that offense. It really demonstrates how important a decent offensive line is. They have such chaos on the offensive line, that they can barely run a play.

• What did we learn on the big touchdown play to Patrick Crayton early on in the 3rd Quarter? Did we learn that he can turn a short hitch into a big TD? Yes. Did we learn that he is capable of filling in for Terry Glenn? Sure. Did we also learn that Terrell Owens is able to run down Crayton in a sprint? Absolutely. And maybe most importantly, did we see that Owens is interested in plays that aren’t going through him? Yep. He raced down the field in an effort to make sure Crayton made it to the end zone, and that further showed that Owens is very interested in helping this team win at every turn this season. I liked what that play showed me from many angles on Sunday.

• Anthony Henry has a high ankle sprain and should be ok, according to Wade Phillips. We shall see, but it was sure weird to see Terrence Newman check into the game as Henry’s substitute. That is good depth to have. I am pretty sure all of their depth will be tested when Brady, Moss, Welker, Watson and the rest of the gang check in 13 days from now.

• I thought Texas Stadium was pretty loud at the start yesterday. I think the Cowboys fans believe.

• Ken Hamlin was really good yesterday. Heck, I liked what I have seen all season, but his hits and his interception show me that he is a decent safety in coverage. You aren’t going to going to get them all right, but as a safety you have to get more right than not. And Hamlin is doing that so far.

• Ladies and Gentlemen, Marcus Spears grabbed half a sack! Half a sack! Stop the game. Get him a game ball. Perhaps a scoreboard message from Deacon Jones. He is now on pace for a 2 sack season, which would be a career high. Seriously, if you have played 3 seasons in the NFL, and 1.5 sacks is your career high despite playing almost all the meaningful snaps your entire career, would you celebrate when you did get to the QB like he does? I would be embarrassed to dance around like Shawne Merriman, but not Marcus. He dances.

• Jason Witten is so money. I cannot imagine there are 3 Tight Ends in the business who are better. Gates is better, Gonzalez was better (and may still be), but beyond that…Give me Witten over Heap, Shockey, Smith, Clark, and the rest of the bunch. He is just money.

• I guess Dante Hall is still capable of hurting you. Lucky that game wasn’t closer. Special Teams Touchdowns usually get you beat. Somehow, the Cowboys gave up a bad return for a TD, and still won by 28.

• Back to the most awesome play in the history of mankind (see above), what was Andre Gurode trying to do on that snap. If Tony Romo was 15 feet tall, the snap would still have been over his head. I sure hope that just slipped out of his hand.

• Todd Archer pointed out that the Cowboys have scored 151 points so far. He also pointed out that it took 10 games to score that much in 2001, and 12 games to do that in 2002! Wow. I forgot how lousy those seasons were.

• Buffalo week. You know how much we hate those guys. Wait a minute, no, we don't. Quick test: Name as many Bills right now as you can. If you can name more than 5 you are a sports expert in training.