![]() It was a dispiriting loss in every manner. Romo completed only 13-of-36 passes with zero touchdowns, three interceptions and 22.2 rating. Dallas converted only one of thirteen first downs. The Eagles caused three turnovers, held the Cowboys to only 240 yards, held the ball for 33 minutes and kept the high-powered Cowboys’ offense out of the end zone. ![]() The following week the Cowboys suffered a humiliating, late-season home defeat to the Eagles, eerily similar to the prior season.(Witten had 15 catches on 18 targets for 138 yards and the lone touchdown). He did exactly that, with Witten atoning for his error with a 16-yard touchdown catch with 18 seconds remaining to win the game. Romo then took over with 2:15 left, needing to go 83 yards for a touchdown to win the game. Romo then marched the team 74 yards in nine plays only for Jason Witten to fumble on the Lions’ 1-yard line, leaving the team down six points with 3:32 to play. The team first went 56 yards in 10 plays for a 1-yard Marion Barber touchdown. Tony Romo then engineered three consecutive long drives. Any win on the road is good but the Cowboys defense surrendered 390 yards and the Lions led 27-14 entering the fourth quarter. First came a 28-27 defeat of the 6-6 Detroit Lions on the road.That 12-point differential per game would have been fifth best in team history and better than any of the 90’s teams.īut it would be fool’s gold as the team never again came close to playing as well in December/January as it had September through November. At that point the Cowboys had outscored opponents 395-248, or 33-21 per game. Third-year QB Aaron Rodgers saw his first NFL action, filling in for an injured Brett Favre.ĭallas fans were rightly enthusiastic about the team’s prospects moving forward. Dallas would defeat the Packers 37-27 that night. Week 13 featured a match-up of 10-1 teams that would likely decide homefield advantage through the NFC playoffs. The team seemed like a well-run machine through the team’s first 12 games, compiling an 11-1 record (the only defeat a 48-27 loss to a Patriot’s team that would win all 16 regular season games). Teamed with the explosive offense the 2007 Cowboys team was by far the best, most promising team since the mid 90’s. But they did record 46 sacks (14 from DeMarcus Ware) and forced 19 interceptions. The defense wasn’t as good (13th in point, ninth in yards). In short, the team was an offensive juggernaut. The offense would rank second in the NFL in points and thirdrd in yards. Terrell Owens was as good as hoped for, catching 15 touchdowns and more than 1,300 yards. Tony Romo emerged as a legitimate star, starting all 13 games, tossing a franchise-record 36 touchdowns and more than 4,200 yards. The team’s 13 regular season wins tied the 1992 Super Bowl champion for best in team history. Shockingly to many (well, me anyway) the 2007 team jumped out of the gate and basically ran uncontested to the team’s first division title since 1998. This was clear to all from his first day on the job. More importantly, he also seemed happy to simply be coach of the Cowboys and represented absolutely no threat to Jerry’s status as the main decision-maker. Where Parcells was a demanding control-freak who at times rubbed players, coaches, staff and the media the wrong way, Phillips was a laid-back, non-threatening presence. Phillips was a very successful coordinator who’d had decent, but not great, results as a head coach. The decision was not universally embraced. Finally, on Februay 9th Jones introduced Wade Phillips as the seventh head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He interviewed ten candidates and most thought former Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Norv Turner would get the job. Second, Jones seemed in no hurry to find a head coach. ![]() This was a highly questionable move because it would mean any incoming coach wouldn’t be able to name his own coordinator, severely limiting the pool of head coaching candidates. Garrett had interviewed for the Cowboys’ head coaching position and was also in contention for a potential head coaching gig with the Ravens. First, in a highly unorthodox move, Jones re-signed offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Usually, by the Super Bowl, teams have named their head coach and he’s assembled both his coordinators and parts of his staff (unless they’re pursuing a coach in the Super Bowl). That’s why the weeks before the Super Bowl are a hive of activity for NFL coaches. Normally when an NFL team is looking for a head coach they go about pursuing him immediately so he can start assembling his own staff. Part one focused on 2006 and here we’ll look at 2007.īill Parcells’ retirement following the 2006 season meant Jerry Jones was running free again and he immediately descended into the chaotic, dysfunctional ways that had plagued the team before Parcells’ arrival. ![]() This is part two of the tenth chapter in our History of the Dallas Cowboys series.
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