It was truly heartwarming for me to watch Dallas defeat the Atlanta falcons in the way they did on Sunday. Not because it is any more meaningful than a win against  any other team outside the division, but because of the WAY they won.

First, some players made statements. First and foremost, Keith Brooking made a statement. I’ve never in my years of watching football seen a free agent signee, in their first year on a new team, become THE leader on either offense or defense…until now. Brooking is now the face of the Dallas Cowboys defense (apologies to DeMarcus, Bradie and Rat) and he is exactly the type of fierce competitor and passionate player this defense needed. Miles Austin made a statement. He’s now on the national radar as more than just a one-game wonder. He’s big, fast and strong but has nothing but the best attitude and it is good to see that from a wide receiver. Gerald Sensebaugh made a statement. Immobilized thumb and all, he showed yesterday why the Cowboys signed him. Tony Gonzalez was a no-show in that game, due in large part to him. Even Patrick Crayton, whose star has fallen more so than any other Cowboy in recent memory, made the play that turned the game from contested into a rousing victory. He made a statement. Most of all, Tony Romo made a statement. On a stage in which he was pitted against an opposing QB who had is being mentioned in the same sentences with Peyton, Brady and Big Ben, yesterday was Tony Romo’s day. Despite the O-line’s continued trouble handling the blitz, Romo made good choices with the football, taking sacks and protecting the ball instead of turning the ball over. Romo was more accurate than at any time in his last nine regular season games and, aside from not clicking at all with Roy Williams, he played a terrific game.

It wasn’t just players who made a statement. Jason Garrett made a statement. He rediscovered Martellus Bennett as a receiver. He didn’t abandon the run. He put the running backs into the pattern and he had Romo feeling and looking more comfortable than in quite some time with the play calling. Joe DeCamilis made a statement. Aside from the TD by Crayton, the coverage was solid on punts and kicks. McBriar’s directional kicking was error-free, Buehler’s kicks were deep and Nick Folk was dead center. At the top of the list, though, was Wade Phillips (the DC) who made a statement. The pressure on the QB was the best in 6 games and players seemed to know (except for that TD by Weems) where to be and what to do. Save for the first drive of the game, the defense controlled the tempo of the game and kept Matt Ryan on his heels all day.  

The real question…

Did the Dallas Cowboys make a statement to the league that they are a team to be reckoned with going into these ten remaining games? I won’t go that far. We have a tendency as fans to want to see one great game and say, "okay, that’s it, all of our problems are solved". I’m not going to do that, knowing what I already know.

Nonetheless, this was the best Cowboys football I’ve seen played in the Wade Phillips era and it made me remember what it feels like to be a fan of a team that could dominate a highly regarded foe and batter them into submission. The image of this game won’t last forever. We have an underrated Seattle team coming to town next week (note: it will be my first time seeing a game at the new stadium) before a brutal stretch of games against division foes and playoff teams from last year.

Dallas made some kind of statement against Atlanta, and it was a big one on a big stage. The real question is, will we hear it echo down the stretch?

GO COWBOYS