 The Dallas Cowboys missed the playoffs, leaving Cowboys fans lamenting missing the chance to see Tony Romo disappoint in the first round. The Cowboys enter the 2009 football season down a high profile with the rift between Terrell Owns and Romo widening so much that the sensitive receiver chose to escape to Buffalo, NY rather than stay in Dallas. This means that last season's late-season acquisition Roy Williams becomes the number one option and Patrick Crayton has to fend off Miles Austin to hold onto that number two receiver role. Else on the offense the team has to decide how to manage time in the backfield with Felix Jones and Marion Barber and has a fight at left guard. Basically the Cowboys have a lot to deal with, including the ever-doubted play of Tony Romo. The defense has a battle between Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins to decide who is going to be the second starting corner and who is going to the nickel back. Both players are second year guys, so this is going to be a pivotal career trend setting competition. The Cowboys would like to see Anthony Spencer develop as an outside linebacker. The Dallas defense was anything but vaunted last season, ending the year as the only team in the NFC East to allow more than 300 points (they allowed 365 to be exact). OnlineSeats will have the Dallas Cowboy tickets to sit and enjoy a football game live at Cowboys Stadium in its inaugural season. Peruse the inventory of seats and the season schedule and compare the prices with your budget, finding the best seat for you to enjoy an NFL game live. Week 1: Dallas Cowboys (1-0) 34 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) 21 The Cowboys showed that they could produce points with T.O. on the field. Tony Romo had a career high with 353 yards as he spread the three touchdowns out to Patrick Crayton, Roy Williams, and Mario Austin. Marion Barber may not have broken 100 yards, but he did average 5.6 yards a carry to prove that he deserves the starting role in the backfield. The defense looked a little iffy against the run, allowing 176 yards on just 31 carries. This could have major implications as the Cowboys play in the same division as the New York Giants. Week 2: New York Giants (2-0) 33 – Dallas Cowboys (1-1) 31 The Dallas Cowboys were about to pull off a win before the record setting crowd for the first regular season game at Cowboys Stadium when Eli Manning engineered an 11-play, 56 yard drive that set up the Giants Lawrence Tynes game-winning 37-yard field goal. Tony Romo followed his best game as a pro with his worst, completing 13 of 29 passes for just 127 yards and throwing three picks that overshadowed his one touchdown pass and one rushing touchdown. Running backs Marion Barber (124 yards on 18 carries) and Felix Jones (96 yards on seven carries) tried to cover for the struggling quarterback, but the defense just gave up too many yards (427 total yards) to stop the Giants from scoring. Week 3: Dallas Cowboys (2-1) 21 – Carolina Panthers (0-3) 7 The Dallas Cowboys struggled again in the first half at the new stadium. They trailed the Carolina Panthers 7-0 at half time. The billion dollar stadium's 90,000 plus crowd was preparing itself for another disappointing defeat, but the Cowboys came back in the second half with a 24-yard field goal and 5-yard Tashard Choice rushing touchdown to end he third quarter with a 10-7 lead. The Cowboys failed to score a touchdown on the goal line to start the fourth quarter, settling for a field goal. The fans were beginning to get unruly as flashbacks of Week 2's last minute loss to the Giants made their way around the crowd. The Cowboys much-criticized defense saved the day with a pick and a 27-yard return for a touchdown. The Cowboys completed the two-point conversion and reinstalled some confidence with the win safely in hand with five minutes left in the game. Week 4: Denver Broncos (4-0) 17 – Dallas Cowboys (2-2) 10 The Dallas Cowboys were hoping to prove that the first few weeks were just an aberration and that Tony Romo really is an All-Pro quarterback. The Boys were able to go into halftime with a 10-7 lead over a Denver Broncos team everyone outside of Colorado thought was the most undeserving 3-0 team in the NFL. Then, in the second half, Romo began his meltdown. He threw a pick, failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second game in a row, and was bested by cornerback Champ Bailey twice in the final seconds of the game. With two yard and goal to go Romo tried to go to the cross route twice, both times failing to get passed Bailey's outstretched hand. The Cowboys defense helped put Romo and the offense in the situation by allowing Brandon Marshall to make a leaping grab and having the entire secondary fail to tackle him as he changed direction in the middle of the field. The game marked the fourth time in a row Denver has beaten Dallas and proved that maybe there is something to this Broncos team. Week 5: Dallas Cowboys (3-2) 26 – Kansas City (0-5) 20 OT Receiver Miles Austin will probably see a bump in the number of owners picking him up after his 10 reception, 250 yard performance in Week 5. He broke the record for most yards by a receiver in a game, surpassing Bob Hayes by four yards, and may have earned his way into the wide out rotation. He got his chance because Roy Williams was unable to start and made the best of it, scoring two long touchdowns (59, 60 yards) in the process. As a team, the Cowboys looked like they might be the Chiefs first victims of the season, trailing 13-10 at the half. Romo eventually overcame his tendency to overthrow his receivers and hit Austin twice for big scores, including the game winning 60-yard touchdown throw in overtime. Dallas was lucky to win after amassing 90 penalty yards and losing the ball on two fumbles. The Cowboys escaped despite their own attempts to shoot themselves in the foot and remain in the divisional race in the NFC East. The team will have to drastically improve if they want to catch the undefeated New York Giants. Week 6: Bye Week The Dallas Cowboys took the week off after barely beating the Kansas City Chiefs. The rest of the NFL East lost, so the Cowboys gained ground in the division without even taking the field. Week 7: Dallas Cowboys (4-2) 37 – Atlanta Falcons (4-2) 21 The Dallas Cowboys came out of the bye week and put a hurt on the Atlanta Falcons, demolishing them 37-21. The Cowboys were in a close game until the end of the third quarter when Tony Romo's second touchdown pass to Miles Austin signaled the end of a competitive contest. Dallas played well on both sides of the ball, allowing just 298 yards and forcing three turnovers on defense and amassing 414 yards, mostly through big plays in the air. Tony Romo silenced his critics this week with a 21/29, 311 yard, 3 TD-performance that gave him a near perfect QB rating of 141.6. There can be no doubt that Miles Austin has played his way into the starting rotation after catching two touchdowns and gaining 171 yards on six receptions. Dallas Cowboys tickets for next week are for a game against the Seattle Seahawks at home at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Week 8: Dallas Cowboys (5-2) 38 – Seattle Seahawks (2-5) 17 The Dallas Cowboys came through with the second big win in a row and now stand tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East. The key to this resurgence, just about everybody agrees, is that Tony Romo has stopped making mistakes. Instead he has passed on that disease to Eli Manning. Romo threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns, hitting 10 receivers in the process. Of course it helps when the passing game can coexist with a running game anchored by three (finally) healthy running backs. The defense did a decent job shutting down Matt Hasselbeck, the most unassuming Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback in the league. He threw for two touchdowns, but he is a very good player, so this is something that cannot necessarily be helped. He was limited to 5.9 yards a pass though. The Seahawks running game was alright, averaging 3.6 yards a carry. Next week the Cowboys have a big game to decide the division leader. They travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Cowboys tickets should be a treat as the team has battled back from mediocrity. Week 9: Dallas Cowboys (6-2) 20 – Philadelphia Eagles (5-3) 16 With a little more than eight minutes left in the game, Tony Romo pump faked off a defensive back and hit Mario Austin for the game winning 49-yard touchdown pass. The win gives the Dallas Cowboys the lone spot in first place in the NFC East and might have helped to destroy the fragile Eagles confidence in the process. The defense picked off Donovan McNabb twice and managed to harass the quarterback enough to help him only complete 16 of 30 passes. Romo was great, though throwing a pick for the first time in four games. He threw for 307 yards with one touchdown. The offense barely touched the running game, handing the ball off a mere 23 times. The win was a huge as their 44-6 loss to finish the 2008 season that eliminated them from the playoffs. Before a national audience the Cowboys have erased any doubt about their ability to win games. The Dallas Cowboys will travel to Green Bay in Week 10 to play the Packers at Lambeau. This will be an interesting game, as Romo will have to play in the tundra of Wisconsin right off a lake. Cowboys tickets are available for this game as Dallas tries to extend the winning streak to five games.
|
