Still Alive

Baby Steps. They looked like a team who needed a win but wasn't quite in sync enough to do it comfortably. But character was evident most definitely for Dallas in a hard earned 14-10 win over the Redskins at a hostile Fed Ex field. The Cowboys came from behind in the 4th quarter in what turned into a chess match of a game on Marion Barber's running and Romo's field general leadership. The winning points came with about 10 minutes left on a 25 yard pass from Romo (19-27 198 yds 1 td 2 int) to rookie TE Martellus Bennett. Then the Redskins got the ball for what turned out to be their last sniff and marched to the Cowboys 39 bringing up a fourh down and four around the six minute mark of the fourth quarter. Washington opted to go for it and Newman broke up a pass intended for Santana Moss right in front of a cheering Cowboys sideline and you knew right then that it was theirs. And then it was Marion Barber time. He ran for 9 times for 38 yards and caught the one pass on the drive on a third and eight from Romo for 10 yards and a first down at the Redskin 24. The Redskins burned all of their timeouts on the drive and with 1:08 left on the clock and facing a fourth and two at the Washington 17. Opting to go for it instead of kicking a field goal to push the margin to 17-10, Barber got three yards and turned out the lights for good on the Redskins. Romo then went into victory formation with a pair of kneel downs and Dallas had gutted out a much needed win in Washington, their first win there since 2004. And the Cowboys improved to 6-4 on the year, tied with the Redskins and ahead of the 5-4-1 Eagles, who were in a rare tie earlier today against Cincinnati. The Cowboys ended up winning the battle in overall statistics and the defense came to play tonight, and harrassed Campbell in key situations. Romo's two interceptions came on back to back first half drives where the Cowboys were on the march, both times right around the Redskins 25 yard line. But the fact of the matter is that Romo spent nearly the first half knocking off some rust, the defense held down the fort and then preserved the game at the end when the offense finally busted ahead in the late going. Dallas isn't firing on all cylinders yet and Felix Jones sat out again tonight. Hopefully he'll be back perhaps next week. But they found a way to get it done against a good team in their building. Their backs were to the wall and they were basically in a must win situation. But THEY DID IT. It's a start at least. There's still a long ways to go. San Francisco might be 3-7 but don't overlook them or else. Great win tonight. Cowboys, still alive.