Tony Romo pulls Cowboys to 38-17 victory over the Saints
Tony Romo pushed the Dallas Cowboys to a 38-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints, Sunday in Dallas.
The 34 year old QB proved to everyone that his surgically repaired back is coming along just fine. Infact, Romo threw three touchdowns passes and DeMarco Murray ran for a pair of scores in another 100 yard game — one of them after the longest scramble of Romo’s career.
“We’re just a different team than we were last year, and they weren’t expecting that,” — Cowboys QB Tony Romo
The Cowboys went up 31-3 when Romo broke free on third down and slid for the first down a play before Murray ran loose in the secondary, juked Saints’ safety Jarius Byrd and was pushed across the goal line by Saints’ corner back Corey White.
“It makes me feel pretty old and the fact that I haven’t gotten more than 21 yards is pretty pathetic,” the QB Romo, whose previous long run was 17 yards despite a career known for scrambles that keep plays alive, said. “But other than that, it feels pretty great.”
(SideNote: I despise Tony Romo…. so theres that.)
The Cowboys kept Drew Brees and the Saints scoreless the entire first half — a far cry from giving up an NFL record of 40 first downs in the 49-17 blowout loss to the Saints in New Orleans last year.
Score going into halftime: 0-24
The former Texas high school football star, Brees, threw for 340 yards, but had just 84 yards with an interception while Dallas was building their tremendous 24 point lead, after he had 838 yards with seven touchdowns and no picks in his previous two games against Dallas, both ending in victory.
“At the end of the day when you look at this game, the entire game, we got beat. We got beat in every facet of it.” – New Orleans QB Drew Brees
Brees had touchdown passes to Josh Hill and Jimmy Graham early in the fourth quarter getting the Saints to 31-17 before the Cowboys regained control again.
“We’re just a different team than we were last year, and they weren’t expecting that,” Romo said. “We were in the mindset to just win — you forget its the Saints and Drew Brees and you just go play some ball.”
(Yep I still hate him … sorry.)
The Saints fall to 1-3 after not being able to sustain the momentum from their win over Minnesota and as a result lost to the Cowboys in Texas for the first time since 1991.
Sep 28, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Nick Hayden (96) hits New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) as he throws a pass in the third quarter at AT&T Stadium. Dallas beat New Orleans 38-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
“There won’t be too much good to watch in this film,” New Orleans Coach Sean Peyton said. “We’re a 1-3 team right now and thats about how we’re playing.”
The Cowboys had 445 yards against former Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who directed the scheme that led to one of the franchise’s worst offensive performances in last years Saints victory only 10 months after the Cowboys had fired him.
Romo was 22 of 29 for 262 yards without an interception. He finished an 80 yard drive to open the game with a 6 yard pass to a leaping Terrance Williams in the end zone and found him again for a 23 yards to put Dallas up 24-0 with 19 seconds left in the half.
Williams then led Dallas with 77 yards receiving, and Bryant had an 18 yard scoring catch late in the fourth quarter to secure the second win for Dallas in the past 10 games against New Orleans…. devastating.
Murray’s first touchdown, a 15 yard run virtually untouched around right end, was set up due to a tipped pass by Bruce Carter from Brees and Justin Durant intercepted it at the New Orleans 39.
Brees had 256 yards passing after halftime, and the Saints ended up with 438 total yards. But New Orleans had three turnovers to none for Dallas.
“We had our chances in the second half,” Brees said. “But at the end of the day when you look at this game, the entire game, we got beat. We got beat in every facet of it.”
After pulling to 31-17 early in the fourth quarter, the Saints had a brief chance to close the gap, but a drive stalled and punter Thomas Morstead was tackled for a two yard loss while trying to throw a pass on a fake punt. That set up Bryant’s clinching touchdown.
“Hindsight’s probably 20-20,” Payton said. “It was on the harsh mark that we wanted, and they covered it pretty well.”