D
Deuce
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ARLINGTON — Even if you hated the Cowboys, you wouldn't write an opening day script quite like this.
Tyron Smith, the newly rich left tackle, opens the season with a false start. On the third snap, 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver takes a DeMarco Murray fumble and rambles 35 yards for a touchdown. The 49ers offense — once it gets on the field — goes 80 yards in four plays. Three of Tony Romo’s first 14 passes are intercepted, one of them on a first-and-goal at the 5.
By the end, a 28-17 final score didn’t look so bad to the home folks since, along the way, the Cowboys had reached their largest halftime deficit ever (25 points) for a season opener. The 49ers’ 28-3 advantage just eclipsed the Saints’ 21-0 halftime lead in 1989.
You may remember 1989. The year Jerry Jones bought the team and took losing to a new low (1-15) before ascending to unimagined heights three years later.
News flash: There are no rookies or young players on this roster destined to do what Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Daryl Johnston, Ken Norton Jr., Tony Tolbert and others were in place to do back in 1989.
But if you have grown weary of 8-8 seasons, hey, that trilogy is over. I was convinced long before kickoff Sunday that this Cowboys team couldn’t get near the 8-8 mark in 2014, and nothing that happened in San Francisco's 28-17 win would send the message that a 5-11 prediction (or something worse) was misguided.
“We are not good enough to come back from that start,” Jones said. “We won’t be coming back from any starts like that.”
Romo was downcast after the game, still confident of good things to come but apologetic for such an inauspicious start following back surgery.
“I didn't perform to my level, and that’s disappointing,”' he said.
The anti-Romo faction would say he always performs to that level, but we know statistically that’s not true. Still, this offense bears the burden of serving as a point-scoring machine while playing opposite a defense that I don’t believe could truly be described as “rebuilding” so much as “betting against the odds.”
I don’t know that anyone was trying to denigrate Romo — there's not a real option on the bench — but it tends to come out that way regardless.
Terrance Williams said it’s his job to get open, and he can’t control where Romo throws it. Dwayne Harris said, “Every quarterback’s not gonna have a great game. Unfortunately, today wasn't a great game for him.”
Asked if he were surprised that Romo, at 34, is still throwing first-and-goal interceptions, Jones said, “I don't think that's a word I would use, surprised. If you had it back, you'd like to try to run it.”'
As for the standing-room-only crowd of 91,174, you’d be lying if you said they all drove home unhappy. As is increasingly the case these days, AT&T Stadium is the friendliest of venues for visitors. Producing splashes of red in every section and a sea of red in some, the 49ers fans may have captured the secondary ticket market as efficiently as Steelers and Packers fans have done the last two years.
You know it’s a strange situation when the video replay on the giant screen causes a roar two minutes into the game — and it’s from the 49ers fans cheering the evidence that Murray’s fumble for a touchdown would be upheld.
“Pregame and throughout the game, there was quite a bit of cheering for the 49ers,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Much appreciated. Means a lot.”
It’s not the last time it will happen in 2014, either. You build a giant stadium and put a mediocre product in it, then tickets to fans of the opposing team will be available on a regular basis.
It’s just another hurdle for this team, though it’s not as big as overcoming a young, talent-deficient roster.
This is the Cowboys’ sixth season here, and it’s bound to be unlike any other. The only losing record (7-9 in 2010) produced a mid-season coaching change, and while I fully expect Jason Garrett to be strolling the sidelines in December, I can’t imagine this team possessing even the ray of hope that the downtrodden NFC East tends to offer.
Jones, the eternal optimist, said he liked some things he saw in the defense but added that the score and “San Francisco's strategy” in the second half may have sent a false message.
The Cowboys are in trouble. And even Jones has shown an awareness of that this summer. It was simply spelled out in rich detail for the rest of the nation Sunday afternoon.
Tyron Smith, the newly rich left tackle, opens the season with a false start. On the third snap, 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver takes a DeMarco Murray fumble and rambles 35 yards for a touchdown. The 49ers offense — once it gets on the field — goes 80 yards in four plays. Three of Tony Romo’s first 14 passes are intercepted, one of them on a first-and-goal at the 5.
By the end, a 28-17 final score didn’t look so bad to the home folks since, along the way, the Cowboys had reached their largest halftime deficit ever (25 points) for a season opener. The 49ers’ 28-3 advantage just eclipsed the Saints’ 21-0 halftime lead in 1989.
You may remember 1989. The year Jerry Jones bought the team and took losing to a new low (1-15) before ascending to unimagined heights three years later.
News flash: There are no rookies or young players on this roster destined to do what Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Daryl Johnston, Ken Norton Jr., Tony Tolbert and others were in place to do back in 1989.
But if you have grown weary of 8-8 seasons, hey, that trilogy is over. I was convinced long before kickoff Sunday that this Cowboys team couldn’t get near the 8-8 mark in 2014, and nothing that happened in San Francisco's 28-17 win would send the message that a 5-11 prediction (or something worse) was misguided.
“We are not good enough to come back from that start,” Jones said. “We won’t be coming back from any starts like that.”
Romo was downcast after the game, still confident of good things to come but apologetic for such an inauspicious start following back surgery.
“I didn't perform to my level, and that’s disappointing,”' he said.
The anti-Romo faction would say he always performs to that level, but we know statistically that’s not true. Still, this offense bears the burden of serving as a point-scoring machine while playing opposite a defense that I don’t believe could truly be described as “rebuilding” so much as “betting against the odds.”
I don’t know that anyone was trying to denigrate Romo — there's not a real option on the bench — but it tends to come out that way regardless.
Terrance Williams said it’s his job to get open, and he can’t control where Romo throws it. Dwayne Harris said, “Every quarterback’s not gonna have a great game. Unfortunately, today wasn't a great game for him.”
Asked if he were surprised that Romo, at 34, is still throwing first-and-goal interceptions, Jones said, “I don't think that's a word I would use, surprised. If you had it back, you'd like to try to run it.”'
As for the standing-room-only crowd of 91,174, you’d be lying if you said they all drove home unhappy. As is increasingly the case these days, AT&T Stadium is the friendliest of venues for visitors. Producing splashes of red in every section and a sea of red in some, the 49ers fans may have captured the secondary ticket market as efficiently as Steelers and Packers fans have done the last two years.
You know it’s a strange situation when the video replay on the giant screen causes a roar two minutes into the game — and it’s from the 49ers fans cheering the evidence that Murray’s fumble for a touchdown would be upheld.
“Pregame and throughout the game, there was quite a bit of cheering for the 49ers,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Much appreciated. Means a lot.”
It’s not the last time it will happen in 2014, either. You build a giant stadium and put a mediocre product in it, then tickets to fans of the opposing team will be available on a regular basis.
It’s just another hurdle for this team, though it’s not as big as overcoming a young, talent-deficient roster.
This is the Cowboys’ sixth season here, and it’s bound to be unlike any other. The only losing record (7-9 in 2010) produced a mid-season coaching change, and while I fully expect Jason Garrett to be strolling the sidelines in December, I can’t imagine this team possessing even the ray of hope that the downtrodden NFC East tends to offer.
Jones, the eternal optimist, said he liked some things he saw in the defense but added that the score and “San Francisco's strategy” in the second half may have sent a false message.
The Cowboys are in trouble. And even Jones has shown an awareness of that this summer. It was simply spelled out in rich detail for the rest of the nation Sunday afternoon.
Cowboys coaches in openers | |||
How the eight Cowboys coaches have fared on opening day: | |||
Coach | Years | W-L-T | Pct. |
Tom Landry | 1960-88 | 22-6-1 | .776 |
Jimmy Johnson | 1989-93 | 3-2-0 | .600 |
Barry Switzer | 1994-97 | 3-1-0 | .750 |
Chan Gailey | 1998-99 | 2-0-0 | 1.000 |
Dave Campo | 2000-02 | 0-3-0 | .000 |
Bill Parcells | 2003-06 | 1-3-0 | .250 |
Wade Phillips | 2007-10 | 3-1-0 | .750 |
Jason Garrett* | 2010-14 | 2-2-0 | .500 |
*Took over in November 2010 |
. So true.
