Cowboys win NFL’s Hall of Fame exhibition
The regular season begins in 31 days on Thursday, September 9 and in six months time, the Super Bowl will be played at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a long road ahead, but the Cowboys took their first step defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 16-7 in the NFL's Hall of Fame game Sunday night at Canton, Ohio.
Quarterback Tony Romo, coming off his best season as a pro, led his team down the field in the opening drive by completing passes to Miles Austin and Roy Williams. Add a little bit of running from Marion Barber and Felix Jones and the Cowboys high octane offence had no difficulty arching down the field against the Bengals defence, who were showing signs of rust and gasping for air.
But the Bengals’ defence stiffened and the Cowboys’ red-zone woes continued from last year, as they were unable to punch the ball in from a few yards out. Former Cowboy safety, Roy Williams, delivered a jarring hit to Jones, and the running back fumbled the ball in the end zone and it was recovered by Cincinnati. But a defensive penalty negated the play and Dallas was lucky to escape with a field goal.
"You just have to continue to work on the things we've been doing through the off-season and in training camp," Romo said. "You're never sure until you get into a game-like mode, and some of the new stuff, it was nice to see it work out really well. It's a start. We have to build off of it, but we still have a ways to go, and we're on the way."
Romo departed after the opening drive and completed five passes in 10 attempts for a total of 59 yards. Backup John Kitna came in the Cowboys’ second offensive possession, and then third string quarterback Stephen McGee came in and finished the game completing 12 of 22 passes for 122 yards.
Although this was the preseason opener, Sunday’s game had a lot of hype and big names. The Cowboys may have the stars on their helmets, but the Bengals are the ones with the headliners since adding Terrell Owens to their roster and teaming him with Chad Johnson.
Owens got involved in the game early, making his first reception as a Bengal on Carson Palmer’s second throw of the night. He looked in Owens direction four times in the first quarter and completed another short pass to his new receiver for 18 yards in his debut.
Palmer was unable to connect with Johnson and the quarterback finished with only two for 18 yards.
The Bengals, who finished undefeated last season in the AFC North, got off to a slow start against the Cowboys, but they will have time to find their offensive groove in the next couple of weeks leading up to the regular season.
"We're a work in progress," Owens said. "We're getting there. It felt just like practice."
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