Capital City Sports Report

Cowboys tickets holders see sluggish 21-7 Dallas win

Cowboys tickets are still hot tickets, just not as hot as the first game. Still, an impressive crowd of  90,000, a $1 billion state-of-the-art stadium, and all the football world watching isn’t inspiration enough—at least not for a half. That was exactly the case for the Dallas Cowboys offense on Monday night who failed to score in the first half against the Carolina Panthers and had to rely on a defensive score in the second half to pull off the 21-7 victory.

Lethargic is too kind a description. Those who held Dallas Cowboys Stadium tickets had a few choice words of their own.

In the first half the Cowboys, who were without running back Marion Barber because of a bruised thigh, relied on the shifty feet of fill-in starter Felix Jones who had runs of 16, 18 and 20 yards on Dallas’ first couple of drives. Quarterback Tony Romo failed to turn any of those drives into points. The offense wasn’t helped by the fact that kicker Nick Folk missed a 40-yard attempt to snap his streak of 16 consecutive field goals.

The only score of the first half was pleasing to those who regularly buy Carolina Panthers tickets and it came in the waning moments as Carolina went on an eight-play, 90-yard drive that ended with 25-yard pass from quarterback Jake Delhomme to Dante Rosario.
In the second half the Dallas defense continued to play well and force Delhomme into numerous hurried throws. Carolina’s first four possessions of the second half all resulted in three-and-outs. The difference from the first to second half was the Dallas offense and Romo, who finished the game completing 22 of 33 for 255 yards, finally capitalized on the solid play of the defense.

In the third quarter the Cowboys took the lead 10-7 after a Folk 24-yard FG and a five-yard touchdown run by running back Tashard Choice, who finished with 82 yards on 18 carries, and capped a five-play 58-yard drive.

Dallas added another Folk field goal later in the third for a tenuous 13-7 lead. The game, appropriately enough, was put out of reach by the Cowboys defense when cornerback Terence Newman stepped in front of intended Carolina receiver Steve Smith and took the Delhomme pass 27 yards for the final score of the contest.

Posted in NFL Football