IRVING, Texas - So Miles Austin fills in for Roy Williams and has the game of his life and the best receiving day in Cowboys history.
Now what?
The emails have flooded the inboxes and the calls lit up phone lines on the radio shows. It seems that 250 yards by Austin - a new single-game Cowboys record - has the pundits calling for the fourth-year receiver to be inserted into the starting lineup.
Whether it's for Williams, who is expected to return next week from the rib injury that kept him home, or Patrick Crayton, it appears the Cowboys agree that it's time for Austin to get an increased role.
In essence, head coach Wade Phillips all but said Austin would now be a starter, without saying it.
"He's going to play. I mean, he played 58 plays in this game and I'm saying he's going to play 50-something plays in the next game too," Phillips said. "We're going to get him on the field. A guy has a game like that and shows that he can do the things we thought he could do."
So Wade, are you saying Austin is now a starter?
"Well, we're going to play him as much as he played the last game," Phillips said. "I'll say that."
If Austin is going to produce anywhere close to the game he had Sunday, then the move absolutely makes sense. The Cowboys have been lacking big plays in the passing game, and Austin showed Sunday he can deliver.
Thanks to his performance against the Chiefs, Austin now leads the Cowboys with 331 receiving yards and three touchdowns, along with his 22.1 yards per catch average. He's also tied with Crayton for second in catches with 15, behind Jason Witten's 28.
But consistency has always been Austin's problem, especially making the tough catches. On three separate possessions, Austin had the ball hit his hands, or even go through them, in the end zone.
"He didn't catch every ball now, which is pretty amazing for having 250 yards," Phillips said. "But his run after the catch is so strong that you get him the football and he's liable to make a big play. He obviously did and he showed that he can do that, so we've got to get him in the game.
"He's got to get his touches in the ball game. That's just the bottom line. Give him a chance to do it again. He's not going to make 250, but give him a chance to make big plays again. Those big plays certainly add to your offense and to what you can do."
Austin becomes just the 15th player in NFL history to record 250 receiving yards in a game and the first in Cowboys history. Austin surpassed Bob Hayes' 43-year-old record set in 1966, when the "Bullet" had 246 yards against the Redskins. In that game, Hayes recorded a 95-yard touchdown, the longest in Cowboys' history to date.
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