COWBOYS 21
COLTS 14
IRVING, Texas-When someone asked Tony Romo late yesterday if he had outplayed the great Peyton Manning, he shrugged his shoulders and in an awshucks manner said: “I was just trying to win the game. I don’t worry about all that stuff.” Fact is, Romo did outplay Manning yesterday at Texas Stadium. The rest of the Cowboys outdueled the mighty Colts, especially in the fourth quarter when Dallas scored a pair of touchdowns to erase a seven-point deficit and earn a 21-14 victory, handing Indianapolis its first loss of the season after nine straight wins.
This was one of those statement games that will reverberate through the rest of the NFC East. The Eagles lost quarterback Donovan McNabb to injury and the Giants are banged up, while the Cowboys (6-4) are bursting with renewed confidence behind their young quarterback and a defense that ravaged the normally unflappableManning.
“We’ve played our best football the last month of the season,” said Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, who didn’t kiss anyone on the sidelines, but offered plenty of verbal bouquets.
“We’ve got six [games] to go, but if we keep playing like this, we’re going to have a chance to do something.” Romo may act as if he’s just happy to be here, but it’s clear he belongs. Making his Texas Stadium debut as the Cowboys starting quarterback, he completed 19 of 23 passes for 226 yards with one interception and no TDs for the game. But he was 10 of 11 for 130 yards in the second half and was especially sharp in the fourth quarter.
That’s when the Cowboys finished a 15-play, 68-yard drive to the tie the game on a 5-yard run by Marion Barber, and then crafted a 7-play, 80-yard march, with the margin of victory coming on a 1-yard Barber run.
Romo, 3-1 since taking over for Drew Bledsoe, outplayed Manning because he got his team in the end zone, something the Colts quarterback didn’t do enough. Credit the Cowboys defense for that. It pressured Manning throughout the game, forcing him to throw two interceptions and lose two fumbles when he lost the ball while being sacked. One of the interceptions was returned 39 yards by Cowboys linebacker Kevin Burnett to tie the game 7-7 early in the third quarter.
But the signature moment of the Cowboys’ defensive effort came late in the fourth quarter with Manning trying to rally his team. He faced fourth-and-2 at the Dallas 8, needing a TD to tie the game. But Manning’s pass to the back of the end zone didn’t come close to anyone as the Cowboys smothered all of his receivers.
Romo then killed the final 2:59 of the clock, completing a key third-down pass to Terry Glenn.
“It’s hard to turn it over that many times on the road against a good team like Dallas,” said Manning, who completed 20 of 39 for 254 yards and two touchdowns along with the two interceptions.
“They outplayed us.
Our execution was not as good as it needed to be.” Glenn didn’t have a single catch in the first half, but caught six balls for 78 yards in the final two quarters. His final grab converted a thirdand7 situation and allowed the Cowboys to run the final two minutes off the clock, denying Manning a final chance to tie the game.
“Thank goodness the ball didn’t go back into Peyton Manning’s hands,” Parcells said.
The Cowboys don’t have much time to savor the victory.
They’ll meet early today to begin preparation to face the Buccaneers here on Thanksgiving Day.