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ARLINGTON, Texas - Forgive me for the case of déjà vu, but it feels like I've written this before, and not too long ago.
Somewhat of a slow start, turns into an explosive second quarter, followed by a dominating second half, featuring a mixture of offense, defense and yes, special teams again.
Just like they did a week ago, the Cowboys put together yet another complete performance in waxing through the Seahawks here at Cowboys Stadium.
Don't look now, but maybe this wasn't just another complete performance. Maybe just maybe, the Cowboys are becoming a complete football team.
Yes, I realize the Seahawks aren't exactly the group that went to the Super Bowl just a few years back. Seattle is a struggling team, but then again, Kansas City was worse and the Cowboys found a way to keep the Chiefs around for way too long.
Good teams beat bad teams. Great teams dominate bad teams. And maybe the Cowboys are getting to that point of greatness.
Now before you go crazy on me, let me stress - they're not there yet.
The Cowboys are not a great football team right now. They certainly can get there, and we'll find out a lot more about this team in the next two weeks when they travel to Philadelphia and Green Bay. Next week's game against the Eagles should be for the NFC East lead.
Go up there and beat the Eagles and the word greatness will be used even more, and probably rightfully so. Until then, the Cowboys are just on the verge of that, but it's not a bad place to be.
Against Seattle on Sunday, the Cowboys were simply better - way better - in every phase of the game. That's nothing we didn't already know. Coming into this game, it was clear the Cowboys were head and shoulders better than Seattle and I think everyone I talked to this week around Valley Ranch predicted a huge blowout.
This one was easy to see. But not exactly because Seattle is that bad, just a combination of that, plus the Cowboys' ability to put all three phases of the game together for four quarters.
For the ones who are never satisfied and love to nitpick about something, go ahead and complain about Romo's fumble in the fourth quarter that led to an unnecessary touchdown. Not sure why the Cowboys were trying to throw the ball there anyways, other than Romo wanting to get to 300 yards passing.
But aside from a couple of drives the Seahawks sustained in the first half, and that fumble near the end, this was one of those fun games. Big plays on offense, sacks and turnovers on defense, with great special teams play. And the Cowboys didn't need Patrick Crayton's 82-yard punt return - his second in two games, which is a franchise first - to have a great special teams afternoon.
"I thought all three phases we did some good things," head coach Wade Phillips said. "I like that this team is explosive in that we're kind of rocking along and we're ahead. It was 14-10 for a while, and all of a sudden it was out of hand."
But something else that Phillips has said a few times this season just keeps ringing in my head, and it occurred here once again Sunday.
When teams take away the pass, the Cowboys run it. When they can't run anymore, they pass it. And when the deep stuff is taken away, the Cowboys find a way to dink and dunk with the short stuff.
I know it kills fans to do it, but how about a little credit for the offensive coordinator. He seems to be crucified during the losses but do we praise him enough after games like this?
Think about it - when an offense can react to adjustments the way the Cowboys have shown, it has to fall back to the quarterback, the play-calling, and subsequently, the play-caller.
Give a little credit to Garrett for again taking what the defense is giving. And you can do that when you're not trying to force the ball to one guy, or one direction on the field. You guys know me, I didn't really jump on board with the "Dump T.O." initiative. But I will say that having Owens around did prohibit that mindset. The mindset that getting Sam Hurd involved early in the game - just because he's open - helps the football team.
It doesn't matter about Hurd's stats, or getting him in the flow of the game. It just so happened that Romo had Hurd flying across the middle with a bad defensive matchup and he got him the ball. Even with Miles Austin playing the way he has lately, you didn't get the sense the Cowboys were trying to force the ball to him.
And the same goes with the running game. Obviously, Marion Barber hasn't had those Barbarian-like games here lately, making us all wonder if he's really 100 percent. He looked closer to that than he's been in a while. But even with that, the Cowboys did a much better job of mixing things up, splicing in some carries for Felix Jones and even Tashard Choice late in the game.
Talk about a balanced attack? Romo completed passes to 10 different players in the passing game. The only eligible players who didn't catches passes Sunday were fullback Deon Anderson and tailback Tashard Choice, who did have four carries.
"It was just the coverages," Romo said of spreading the ball around. "The things they were doing dictated it a little bit. They came in with the idea to pressure us and do it again. They were after it, and we handled it really well."
Overall, the Cowboys just handled Seattle really well, too. And this was a Seahawks team that was coming off a bye, a little bit healthier, although they've still had some big injuries, and getting to close to that desperation-mode.
But the Cowboys just answered it. They had a small lull early in the game, but like Phillips said, they struck fast. Like a boxer toying with an opponent for a few rounds just to justify the outrageous pay-per-view price, and them - Boom, it's over!
This is a good football team right now. As we stand here in the early stages of November, you can honestly say this team is playing very well.
But can they be great? We'll find out soon enough. A hunch tells me it may just happen next week in Philadelphia.
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Nick Eatman - 
