NFL Highlights: Garret Leads Cowboys To Second Straight Win
Weeks ago, no Dallas Cowboys fans thought that their team would have any chance of getting to the playoffs this year, under their incompetent head coach, Wade Philips.
But now, the Cowboys are playing less like Philips’ team and more like the Super Bowl material that they are. Under their new head coach, Jason Garrett, they defeated the Detroit Lions on Sunday, 19-35.
It seems that their new in-charge has a simple strategy to win. Get the ball to Bryan McCann and they will be victorious.
At the beginning of the month, McCann was on the practice squad. But last week, the undrafted rookie returned an interception 101 yards for a TD in an incredible win over the New York Giants, who were the NFL’s number one team at the time.
In this game, he was nonetheless amazing. He returned a batted punt 97 yards for a TD. Dallas’ John Welding swatted the ball after the punt which was going into the end zone, and would have resulted in them having to start play from their own 5 yard line
for the fourth time this game.
Luckily, the ball was swatted right into the capable hands of McCann, who knew exactly what to do with it. Run!
"I saw the edge," he said, "and kept running."
Dallas QB Jon Kitna also added three TDs and increased the team to a 3-7 record, up from 1-7 a mere two weeks ago. They are 2-0 under their new interim head coach.
Garrett has done it again, putting life and a new flame into the team, who were down by 5 in this game and starting to fall apart, or as team owner Jerry Jones puts it, “seeing the Grim Reaper.”
After leading 14-12, the Cowboys defense came to work. They forced a turnover from the Lions two plays later and then started a scoring frenzy, with three straight TDs on three straight drives.
Kitna, a 38-year-old backup QB, also seemed to play like his younger days, running 29 yards for his longest TD run of his 14 years in the NFL.
"When you are looking for crumbs, it doesn't take but a little piece to get you to smile, and these [wins] have been a couple of nice little pieces," Jones said.
But now, the Cowboys are going to have a much harder game to play. They will be facing last year’s Super Bowl opponents successively, at home against the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving and then at the Indianapolis Colts the week after.
The Lions blew their lead of 12-7 due to a series of misplays and a penalty, including McCann’s TD punt return. They fumble two plays later and were subjected to a penalty when rookie Ndamukong Suh pulled Cowboys’ Marion Barber down by his hair, which, interestingly
enough, is legal. That penalty made way for the Cowboys’ to score another TD to put them two scores ahead, since instead of starting on 3rd and goal from the 11 yard line, they started on 1st and goal from the 5.
"They said he didn't pull his hair, that they got a horse-collar. I saw what you saw," Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said.
On Dallas’ first possession, Kitna led the team 98 yards for a TD, after a punt was downed at their own 2 yard line.
Next came six possessions of the kind that got Philips fired. They fumbled at the 12 yard line, allowing Detroit to score, had no first downs, and had an overall yardage of minus 10.
However, everything changed on their seventh possession, with McCann’s TD.
"Every game in this league is different, but this one was a little weird," said Lions quarterback Shaun Hill. He completed 32 of 47 attempts for 289 yards, which included two TDs and an interception.
In comparison, Kitna went 18 for 24 for only 147 yards but had three TDs.
"The people I'm playing with allow me to play at this level," Kitna said. "When they're playing like that, the quarterback position becomes easy."
Also, former Cowboys star Emmitt Smith received his Hall of Fame ring during halftime.
The Lions’ next game will be on Thursday against the New England Patriots, who are the NFL leaders in terms of wins with an 8-2 record.
Stay tuned!
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