for the Cowboys in this game was to have Romo throw to Owens. Romo did so on second-and-goal at the four, rifling a perfect back-shoulder bullet to No. 81 when his Redskins shadow, Shawn Springs, was expecting a fade to wipe out a 7-0 Washington lead.
Romo did so again on third-and-19 from the Redskins 31 when they tried to play quarters over the top, but Owens blew by Leigh Torrence and Springs failed to rotate back over the top for the touchdown to wipe out the 10-7 Washington lead.
Romo did so again on second-and-13 from the Washington 46 with the Redskins trying to play some combo coverage since manning Owens didn't work so well and neither did zoning him and taking their chances with other guys. But credit offensive coordinator Jason Garrett for foiling the Redskins' scheme, having Owens go in motion from wide right to inside Crayton, now forcing linebacker London Fletcher to run underneath him knowing he had safety help over the top.
But when Pierson Prioleau got caught looking at the outside receiver, as Owens said, "I was too fast for (the safety)," and bingo, 21-13 Cowboys.
And as if that were not enough, after the Redskins trimmed the lead to 21-16 with less than 10 minutes remaining, Romo caught the Redskins in zone again, Springs not trailing close enough underneath, allowing enough room for Romo to fit a sideline pass in to Owens in front of Prioleau. And when Owens busted his tackle, touchdown - the Cowboys had scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives.
This means Owens now has 12 touchdown catches, one short of last year's sparkling total with six games to go and just two short of matching the team's 46-year old single-season record. This means Romo has thrown 27 touchdown passes this season, one more than Troy Aikman ever threw in a season; as many as Roger Staubach ever threw in a season; and just two short of Danny White's single-season record of 29 (1983).
"When you have a guy like Owens you can call a few plays - we called a play three, four, five times that we didn't even get the look, and then finally we got the look," Romo said. "The team did a great job and Owens did a great job of making the plays. But we are only going to get a look like that once or twice a game and when you get it you have to connect, you have to make a good throw, you have to make the catch and you have to run the run and the guys have to block.
"It's a testament to Owens that he can get open downfield."
But it's a testament to Romo that he can throw those passes.
Now there will be those who will minimize Romo to Owens because the Redskins lost free safety Sean Taylor this week with a sprained ankle, not an excuse they would give the Cowboys playing less than 100 percent in the secondary this entire season.
But check this out, and these won't show up in Campbell's 348 yards passing: On third-and-one at the Cowboys' 26, the Redskins tried to go play-action, sending Clinton Portis out to the left, sending Antwaan Randle El deep to the right and tight end Chris Cooley (eight catches, 89 yards, one TD) down the seam. Campbell had his choice. Randle El burned Newman on a fly route. Portis was uncovered to his left. And Cooley beat the coverage down the seam as he had all day.
But Campbell, unlike Romo, didn't see the two wide open guys to the outside, and although Cooley wasn't a bad choice, his pass was. Field goal, and the Cowboys still led, 21-16.
Then there was his beautiful, two-minute, no-huddle drive trailing just 28-23. He moved the Redskins from the Cowboys' 40 to the 19 in three plays, still 2:00 remaining. Then it came: A post route to Santana Moss right to left in the back of the end zone. The Redskins' crafty receiver had beaten Jacques Reeves by two steps.
But Campbell, unlike Romo, led Moss too much. Incomplete, leading to Newman's interception two plays later.
There's your difference.
"With this offense I stood here every weekend and told you we could strike at any given point of time throughout the course of the game, whether it is me, Patrick, Witten, Sam Hurd making the big plays," Owens said. "Everybody made big plays today."
But the biggest were reserved for Romo to Owens.
That combo of