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| Tony Romo goes 3-for-3 for 33 yards, hitting Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton with easy completions. |
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SAN DIEGO - Preseason or not, the Cowboys wanted to win this
game.
There was no doubt about that. They might not have sacrificed injuries or the
opportunity to evaluate younger players, but the Cowboys definitely wanted to
leave San Diego with a win in the preseason opener.
So there was some disappointment in the fact the Chargers turned back the
Cowboys, 31-17, here at Qualcomm Stadium. Ultimately, it lets the coaching staff
give us that "we've got work to do" quote and point out several areas of need.
That's a preseason game staple.
But time to push the panic button on these so-called Super Bowl favorites?
Absolutely not.
And the reason is simple: the first-teamers did their job.
You want to see if Tony Romo and this offense can the move ball. OK, check.
He goes 3-for-3 for 33 yards, hitting Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton with easy
completions. Marion Barber was again tough to bring down, running through the
Chargers defense and the drive ends with fullback Deon Anderson finding the end
zone.
One drive, one touchdown. That's it. Get Romo and Terrell Owens and call it a
night for them.
"It was kind of like practice, really," Romo said after the game. "We went
out there and executed and did the thing that we've been doing well in practice
throughout training camp. So I'm glad we were able to take it and do it in the
game."
On defense, it was just as good. How about a three-and-out to start the game,
including a sack by Tank Johnson.
The defense forced another punt, and it was fumbled away by rookie Danny
Amendola.
Tough spot for the defense, with the Chargers going downhill at the Cowboys'
33. San Diego might have had nothing more than a field goal attempt had it not
been for a pass interference penalty in the end zone by Ken Hamlin, putting the
ball on the 1.
The Chargers needed three plays, but finally found the end zone on rookie
Jacob Hester's 1-yard touchdown run.
From there, the Chargers really took over, scoring 24 points en route to a
24-10 halftime lead. Both teams traded a touchdown in the second half, including
a nice 19-yard scoring run by rookie Tashard Choice.
All in all, the running game was rather impressive, with the team averaging
exactly 5.0 yards per carry, totaling 111 yards on 22 attempts.
That was one aspect of the game that didn't falter once the first-teamers
left.
Felix Jones had a few nice plays, rushing for 32 yards on six carries. Choice
totaled 40 yards on seven attempts.
"I thought Felix and Tashard ran like they did in college," Phillips said.
"We ran the ball well tonight. That was one thing I was pleased about."
Now, Phillips probably will have a list two pages long on the things that
bothered him about this game.
Special teams - allowing 20.5 yards per punt return by the Chargers and the
fumbled punt by Amendola.
Pass interference penalties - how about three big ones that were all called
inside the 10-yard line, setting up three Chargers touchdowns.
Penalties as a whole were a bit lopsided too. The Cowboys were flagged seven
times for 96 yards. The Chargers had one penalty for 10 yards.
Sure, the Cowboys have a few problem areas that were exposed in this game.
But the good part is that a lot of occurred after the first-teamers were off the
field.
Let's take a closer look at what happened in those first few series
involving the starters.
Here are some quick observations from the |
Nick Eatman - 
