America's Team Has a Jolly Ole Time in London England My 5 Points

My 5 Points: Cowboys vs. Jaguars
by William C. Walker Jr.

G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) runs past Jacksonville Jaguars strong safety Johnathan Cyprien on his way to a touchdown during the first half of their game Sunday, November 9, 2014 at Wembley Stadium in London. (G.J. McCarthy/The Dallas Morning News)

November 10, 2014

After the horrendous showing last week by Brandon Weeden, Cowboys fans had to be jumping for joy to see Tony Romo back at quarterback.  A lot of questions had been asked about the Cowboys this week.  The number one question was should Romo play this game?  Romo silenced the doubters with a great welcome back performance in London, England. The Cowboys get back on track with the win and move to 7-3 going into the bye, here are my 5 Points of Cowboys vs. Jaguars.

5. Special Teams not Special: With a dominating performance there isn't too much negative you can take from the game. However for the 2nd straight week the Cowboys allowed a Dan Bailey field goal to be blocked.  On an attempted punt from out of the end zone linebacker Kyle Wilbur gets called for a hold that results in a safety.  None of these miscues cost Dallas in the end, but the special teams for Dallas has been lacking this year.  It's an issue you hope gets cleaned up for the rest of the season.

4. Another Game Another 100: DeMarco Murray for the 9th time this year rushes for over 100 yards. With the performance against Jacksonville DeMarco is the first Cowboy since Emmitt Smith in 1999 to have 9 100 yard rushing games. Falling a mere 21 yards shy from rushing for 100 yards last week versus Arizona caused Murray to miss out on 10 straight 100 yard rushing games.  The last 3 games Murray has yet to get over 20 carries, which is good in sparing him some wear.  Yet it's still mind boggling when the team is 18-1 when Murray gets 20 carries or more.  The lower carry count can continue as long as Murray remains effective and the centerpiece for the offense. With the offensive line healthy again and Romo still healing look for Murray's heavy workload to pick up.

3. Romo barely touched: In spite of the 1-8 record going into the game, the Jacksonville Jaguars defense were 3rd in the NFL in sacking the quarterback.  That's a legitimate cause for concern when you have a quarterback with two small fractures in his back.  With right tackle Doug Free and left guard Ron Leary back from injury the offensive line shined.  Romo stood upright for the majority of the game.  Constantly having a clean pocket to throw from, Jacksonville didn't get a sack until the 4th Quarter once the game was already out of hand.  Why Romo was still in the game with a 4 score lead is puzzling, but props to the O-line for keeping Romo generally unscathed.

2. Pay the Man: Dez Bryant is in a contract year, if he continues to put in performances like he did Sunday he won't be without a new contract for long.  After only getting 5 catches for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns over the last 2 games, Bryant surpassed those numbers in the 1st half alone.  Dez finished with 6 grabs for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The X-Factor was in full effect in London.  On Dez's first catch he showed why he's a beast, catching the ball 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage Bryant cut up field breaking tackles for a 35 yard touchdown.  Bryant's second touchdown was just as spectacular, with only 31 seconds left in the 1st half Romo threw a bomb deep to Dez that had his man beat.  Bryant made the catch again breaking tackles to take it for a 68 yard score to give Dallas a 24-7 lead at the half.  Bryant told Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin this week that he was going to set the league on fire in the 2nd half of this season, looks like Bryant's on his way to backing up his words.

1. Welcome Back Romo!: A question had been asked after Romo had got hurt in the Redskins game.  Was a 70% Romo better than a 100% Brandon Weeden?  The answer after Weedon's first start was yes, after Romo's game in London the answer was a 100%, stone cold lock, resounding YES.  Romo showed the contrast to Weeden the entire game.  Evading pass rushers stepping up in the pocket, surveying the field and hitting the open man.  With limited amount of practice this week Romo came back with a great performance.  He showed a little bit of rust on the Cowboys first drive missing a wide open Jason Witten for a touchdown by overthrowing him by an eyelash. That with a bit of an under throw to Terrance Williams in the 3rd quarter were Romo's only poor throws.  The difference with Romo back under center was crystal clear.  If teams want to stack 8 or 9 in the box with Romo under center to stop Murray, you'll be sure that he'll make them pay.  Especially with Dez Bryant on the outside and Jason Witten still making plays in the red zone. Romo finished the day going 20-27 for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns.

What a great way to go into the bye. The Cowboys are 7-3 and back on track, Romo improves to 7-1 since the first game of the season.  If the Cowboys can keep this formula look for the Boys to finish off the month of November strong.