Newman Will Start At Green Bay; Spencer Sits Out

Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman, who only played about half of the plays during Monday Night's win over the Philadelphia Eagles, will probably be the starter at Green Bay on Sunday, said head coach Wade Phillips.

Newman had been out since early training camp when he suffered a slightly torn groin and was finally able to hit the field against the Cowboys' division rivals, in a limited role. Phillips said that Newman was rusty at the beginning but got stronger as the game progressed.

Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer did not participate in today's practice, but merely worked with trainers off to the side. Like Newman, Spencer made his season debut against the Eagles, spelling Greg Ellis from time to time.

He had his knee scoped the week following the team's first pre-season game against San Diego when he banged knees with another player, but has been a slow healer up to this point.

Six Flags

This decade has seen the Cowboys take part in many wild games on Monday Night Football. We take a look at the top six.

2003: (The Lucky Leg Of Cundiff) Cowboys 35 Giants 32

Bill Parcells' return to the Meadowlands was a thriller. The Cowboys had led 29 -14 at one point, but had watched as the Giants came back and retook the lead with 11 seconds left 32-29. On the kickoff, the ball went out of bounds, giving Dallas possession at their own 40 yard line. Quarterback Quincy Carter fired a 26 yard pass to receiver Antonio Bryant on the sideline to set up a 52 yard field goal. Billy Cundiff, who had already kicked five through the uprights, did it again, this time from 52 yards, in a driving rainstorm. Cundiff's seventh field goal, a 25 yarder in overtime, sent the Cowboys home winners for the first time under the Tuna.

2004: Week 3 (Anderson's Pass) Cowboys 21 Redskins 18

Joe Gibbs' first meeting with the hated Cowboys since his return, was a good one. With the Cowboys leading 7-0 near the end of the first half, Washington had a first and goal at the Dallas 1 yard line. After a sneak by quarterback Mark Brunell and a run by Clinton Portis was stuffed, linebacker Dexter Coakley finished off the stand by deflecting the third down pass, forcing a Washington Field goal. The play of the game came with 13:00 left in the fourth quarter and Dallas leading 14-10. Running back Richie Anderson took a handoff and then launched the ball into the end zone where Terry Glenn caught it for a 37 yard touchdown. The Redskins responded by scoring and then converting a two point conversion to bring them within three 21-18. On their final gasp play Brunell completed a 46 yard pass to Rod Gardner at the 21, but safety Roy Williams knocked him down inbounds which ran out the clock and let Dallas escape with a victory.

2004: Week 13 (Julius Goes Wild) Cowboys 43 Seahawks 39

A 4-7 Cowboys team came into Seattle and literally stole a victory. The Cowboys led 29-14 midway through the third period behind rookie Julius Jones' strong running. But after two Testaverde interceptions, the Seahawks found themselves leading 39-29 with 2:46 remaining. Testaverde quickly led a scoring drive which ended with a 34 yard pass to Keyshawn Johnson in the back of the end zone and cut the lead to 39-36. Replays showed that Johnson was out of bounds but still no official review was called for from upstairs. The call stood. Tight end Jason Witten recovered the onside kick from Billy Cundiff which allowed Dallas one final shot at redemption. Jones delivered. He ran for 33 yards on the final march, including covering the last 17 on a draw play and running untouched into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game. He finished the game with 198 yards rushing, which was the second best rushing performance by a rookie, behind only Tony Dorsett's 206 yards against Philadelphia in 1977.

2005: Week 2 (4th Quarter Collapse) Redskins 14 Cowboys 13

The Cowboys had dominated the whole way. But they saw a 13-0 lead disappear in almost a blink of an eye. The Redskins scored a touchdown on a 4th and 25 with less than five minutes left, and after a Dallas punt, Santana Moss got behind the defense for a 70 yard touchdown reception. It was the first time that a Bill Parcells coached team blew a 13 point lead in the fourth quarter.

2005: Week 10 (Roy's Timely Pick) Cowboys 21 Eagles 20

The Eagles had dominated the Cowboys all night long. Drew Bledsoe had been intercepted once, not to mention getting sacked and knocked down almost every dropback. But things all changed in the final 3:44. The battered Bledsoe somehow still had enough gumption to lead Dallas down the field for a touchdown in a matter of 40 seconds. The 72 yard drive was capped by a 20 yard touchdown pass to Terry Glenn. But they still had to stop Philadelphia. And they did. Well, you might say Donovan Mcnabb stopped the Eagles' momentum all by himself. On second and 7, Mcnabb lofted a pass towards Reggie Brown in the right flat, but woefully underthrew it. Safety Roy Williams was waiting for it and returned it 46 yards for the game winning touchdown.

2007: Week 5 (Folk: The Ice Man) Cowboys 25 Bills 24

The first Monday Night Football game in Buffalo in thirteen years was a rowdy affair. Tony Romo, who had been torching all opposition coming in, turned in his worst performance as a pro. Six turnovers were applied to Romo's tab, yet the Cowboys still had a chance for a comeback late. A touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton cut the Bills lead to 24-22 with 25 seconds remaining. The two point conversion pass fell incomplete after Terrell Owens had the ball ripped out of his hands.

The onside kick was recovered by tight end Tony Curtis. After two short completions, kicker Nick Folk trotted out onto the field to attempt the game winning 53 yard field goal. The snap was good, the hold was good and the kick was good!!! But wait...Bills coach Dick Jauron had called a timeout before the snap, so Folk would have to re-kick. After the timeout, Folk repeated the previous kick: Plenty of distance and right down the middle. The Dallas sideline erupted in celebration as the crowd stood dumbfounded. The win ran the Cowboys' record to 5-0 for the first time since 1995.

Cowboys & Eagles Look To Be Class Of NFC

Let's give credit to where credit is due. Let's give a hand to the Dallas Cowboys for finally winning a big game. At last, the monkey is off their back. It's off. So take that monkey and throw him off into the wild blue yonder.

No question as to how critical this game was for the Cowboys psyche. The Eagles had come in to Texas Stadium and ripped the wheels off the Cowboys wagon in that 10-6 game last December. Not just ripped them off, but threw them off the cliff as well. A team that could post 24 points in a blink of an eye was held without a touchdown for the first time in over 3 seasons.

And last week the Green Birds dismantled the Rams 38-3 and sounded plenty cocky coming into Monday's game. The usual barbs were traded through the media by best friends Terrell Owens and Donovan Mcnabb. No surprise there. And really, it wasn't any surprise to hear Adam Jones talking again either. For a guy that's been out of the league for a year, it's like he never missed a beat. Oh there was plenty of jabbering going on in the days leading up to the first division game. What else did you expect?

But tell me, if I told you that Dallas would get 37 points hung on them, would you mark that down as a win for America's Team?

If I told you that Terrell Owens wouldn't catch a pass in the second half, would you think that Romo could consistently find anyone else to throw to?

If I told you that the Cowboys would turn the ball over twice in a matter of 20 seconds, what would you think about Dallas' chances then?

The Cowboys overcame themselves after a 20 second display of misplay turned a 14-6 Cowboys lead into a 20-14 lead for the Eagles. Tony Romo threw for his 12th 300 yard game as a Cowboy and Terrell Owens torched the Eagles in the first half for 89 yards on 3 receptions, including a 72 yard touchdown. And the defense that had been getting pushed around all night came up big in the fourth quarter, stopping the Eagles three times.

This wasn't one of those games like last year against Green Bay when the Cowboys roared out to a big lead then had to hang on for a win. This time the Cowboys kept the pedal to the metal the entire way. Of course, they really had to, but it still shows you what this offense is capable of doing. Beating up on the Eagles defense hasn't come easy this century.

Rookie running back Felix Jones set a club record for most kickoff return yards in a single game, with 247 yards on six returns. Jones returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Let me say what all of America has been saying, only they didn't have any facts to back it up. The Cowboys look good.
While that statement isn't turning any heads for originality, the fact that Dallas just beat the second best team in the NFC might.

This is a good Eagles team right now. Mcnabb is playing his best football since the days when he was throwing to a certain No. 81 while leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl. The offensive line is playing well and Westbrook is a threat out of the backfield (as if that wasn't already known). But the key is Desean Jackson. Jackson brings what the Eagles' offense badly needed: speed. Westbrook was the team's only major threat, so defenses would key on him and try to bottle the 5 year veteran up. It didn't always work out, Westbrook still broke some big gainers, but the Eagles offense was still too inconsistent to keep up with the big boys.

Notice that Dallas rarely came with more than four pass rushers last night. Wade Phillips and Brian Stewart felt like the secondary needed all the help it could get to slow down the speedster from California.

And with a big, talented offensive line, that's what the Eagles want to see. Against Dallas, four rushers is an equal playing field. We saw in last year's Sunday night game Dallas simply come after Mcnabb, and the result was a Philly offense that looked absolutely horrid. The return of Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown shortly will elevate this offense to even greater heights. Don't be fooled by last night. Jim Johnson's defense is very good. Johnson's unit might still be suffering from the whiplash effect of having had to play the worst offense in Week 1 (Rams) and then turn around and play the most prolific offense in the league only eight days later. So don't read into the defensive stats too much.

Sure, Philadelphia lost last night, but they shouldn't be hanging their heads over it. Some mistakes were made in the fourth quarter, that's for sure, but they are very easily corrected. Donovan Mcnabb should know better than to double pump a handoff. If the ball is going to BrianWestbrook, then give it to him. Apparently, all that happened there was that Mcnabb forgot the play call. Yeah, I'd say that's fixable.

Tell me of another team that can hang with the Cowboys.

Green Bay? The Pack have looked impressive so far. We'll see just how far Aaron Rodgers has progressed when he faces the Cowboys on Sunday Night. Through two games he still hasn't faced a pass defense that ranks midpack.

New York? We know Phillips likes to come after Eli Manning, and do you really think that Manning can keep his head screwed on tight the whole game again? Oh yeah, he beat them last season in that playoff game, but only had to put up 21 points to do it. Washington? You know, I find the Redskins a really entertaining team. It's early, but so far the team looks too mistake prone. But you never know. As many magic potions as Daniel Snyder has cooked up, it's possible that Jim Zorn is the perfect one. Arizona? Please, let's not even consider them unless they actually get into the postseason. Carolina? Before I say yes it would be nice to see them win a game by more than 4 points, but before I say no I'd like to see them get beat once. Playing close games historically comes back to haunt you in the end.

Notice I only listed five teams. The NFC is sporting little that's impressive right now, which leads me to conclude that the two best teams in the conference were on display last night.

And they did not disappoint.

How Will Tony Romo Fare This Time Around?

The Eagles' annual visit to Texas Stadium has been a nightmare for Cowboys QB Tony Romo.
No matter what kind of hot streak Dallas is on, when the Green Birds show up in Irving, Romo seems to lose that magic touch.

In two starts against Philly at Texas Stadium, he has completed 27 of 65 passes for 278 yards, with 1 TD and 5 interceptions. He also has been sacked 7 times.

Will tonight be the night that he finally figures out Jim Johnson's defense? Will the third time be the charm?

Or will it just be another day that Romo and the Cowboys would like to forget?