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SEATTLE — There is no need to wonder about the legitimacy of the Dallas Cowboys anymore.
They are as real as they come.
Remember those questions you had in the back of your mind, wondering whether the Cowboys’ bad to middling 8-8 past would finally show up at their 2014 coming-out party like that drunk uncle embarrassing everybody at Thanksgiving Dinner?
Yeah, kill that noise.
These Cowboys are built to last in 2014.
That is the only conclusion you can come to after Sunday’s 30-23 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
The Cowboys (5-1) passed their final litmus test and proved they are a legitimate contender, extending their winning streak to five games and handing Seattle (5-1) its first loss of the season.
The Cowboys are so real that calling them possibly “super” is now part of the equation.
Yes, the Cowboys were that good and that dominant before 68,432 shocked fans at CenturyLink Field.
Owner Jerry Jones came into the game looking at the Seahawks as a measuring stick for his team.
Afterward, a giddy Jones said it was the type of win that could springboard the Cowboys to a possible Super Bowl run.
“The way we won this game, to have done it against a great team in a really, really adverse situation in this stadium, and everyone knows that, and then to handle adversity against a great team in this condition is a big plus for these guys,” Jones said. “It’s like sitting in a room that’s full of lighter fluid. It just takes something to flip the match over in it. This could do it. They can build off this.”
Doing it in Seattle, where the Seahawks were 19-1 since the start of the 2012 season, is one thing.
Doing it by way of a physical beatdown of the biggest bully in the NFL says something else entirely.
The Cowboys dominated in yards, 401-206.
They controlled the ball and clock by more than 15 minutes as they ran for 162 yards against a Seattle defense that came into the game yielding just 62 per contest.
Running back DeMarco Murray tied Hall of Famer Jim Brown with his sixth-straight 100-yard game, rushing 29 times for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Seattle had just 126 yards passing and was limited to only nine first downs by this supposedly undermanned Cowboys defense.
The only reason the game was close was because the Cowboys gifted the Seahawks 17 points, thanks to a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, a muffed punt in the red zone that resulted in a touchdown and a fumbled snap in the red zone that Seattle turned into a field goal.
That the Cowboys overcame all that speaks volumes about their mental toughness and resiliency.
These are no longer the Cowboys that melt down in key moments.
It also says there is room to get better.
“We are not going to back down from anybody,” cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. “We stood up on defense. They got 17 points off of turnovers. There was no watching; there was playing. That is the team we are. We are going to run it at you, and we are going to be physical. There is no exposing, man, we are just good. Both teams have talent. I mean, we are good.”
The Cowboys already knew they were good. Now the rest of the NFL knows it.
The win certainly validated the philosophy and plan under coach Jason Garrett, while proving that their winning formula of physical, run-oriented football can succeed anywhere.
“This is the kind of team we want to be,” Garrett said. “We feel good about it. When you play this style of football, it allows you to go on the road in tough environments and have some success.”
Garrett has no interest in litmus tests or measuring sticks. He just wants the Cowboys to be the best team they can be.
The Cowboys now have real hope they can be the best team in the NFL and possibly “super.”
All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...
They are as real as they come.
Remember those questions you had in the back of your mind, wondering whether the Cowboys’ bad to middling 8-8 past would finally show up at their 2014 coming-out party like that drunk uncle embarrassing everybody at Thanksgiving Dinner?
Yeah, kill that noise.
These Cowboys are built to last in 2014.
That is the only conclusion you can come to after Sunday’s 30-23 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
The Cowboys (5-1) passed their final litmus test and proved they are a legitimate contender, extending their winning streak to five games and handing Seattle (5-1) its first loss of the season.
The Cowboys are so real that calling them possibly “super” is now part of the equation.
Yes, the Cowboys were that good and that dominant before 68,432 shocked fans at CenturyLink Field.
Owner Jerry Jones came into the game looking at the Seahawks as a measuring stick for his team.
Afterward, a giddy Jones said it was the type of win that could springboard the Cowboys to a possible Super Bowl run.
“The way we won this game, to have done it against a great team in a really, really adverse situation in this stadium, and everyone knows that, and then to handle adversity against a great team in this condition is a big plus for these guys,” Jones said. “It’s like sitting in a room that’s full of lighter fluid. It just takes something to flip the match over in it. This could do it. They can build off this.”
Doing it in Seattle, where the Seahawks were 19-1 since the start of the 2012 season, is one thing.
Doing it by way of a physical beatdown of the biggest bully in the NFL says something else entirely.
The Cowboys dominated in yards, 401-206.
They controlled the ball and clock by more than 15 minutes as they ran for 162 yards against a Seattle defense that came into the game yielding just 62 per contest.
Running back DeMarco Murray tied Hall of Famer Jim Brown with his sixth-straight 100-yard game, rushing 29 times for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Seattle had just 126 yards passing and was limited to only nine first downs by this supposedly undermanned Cowboys defense.
The only reason the game was close was because the Cowboys gifted the Seahawks 17 points, thanks to a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, a muffed punt in the red zone that resulted in a touchdown and a fumbled snap in the red zone that Seattle turned into a field goal.
That the Cowboys overcame all that speaks volumes about their mental toughness and resiliency.
These are no longer the Cowboys that melt down in key moments.
It also says there is room to get better.
“We are not going to back down from anybody,” cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. “We stood up on defense. They got 17 points off of turnovers. There was no watching; there was playing. That is the team we are. We are going to run it at you, and we are going to be physical. There is no exposing, man, we are just good. Both teams have talent. I mean, we are good.”
The Cowboys already knew they were good. Now the rest of the NFL knows it.
The win certainly validated the philosophy and plan under coach Jason Garrett, while proving that their winning formula of physical, run-oriented football can succeed anywhere.
“This is the kind of team we want to be,” Garrett said. “We feel good about it. When you play this style of football, it allows you to go on the road in tough environments and have some success.”
Garrett has no interest in litmus tests or measuring sticks. He just wants the Cowboys to be the best team they can be.
The Cowboys now have real hope they can be the best team in the NFL and possibly “super.”
All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...