The First Place Cowboys-Six In A Row!

Photo by Willie Martin "Mr. Will"

Six wins in a row under Jason Garrett. The 6-1 Dallas Cowboys.

Still tough to fathom and harder to imagine after what we were privy to last year.

Yet we are at the end of Week 7 and the phrase being used is, 'First Place Cowboys'!

Even more fun was being able to watch it up close and personal. With a special thanks to my benefactors who made it possible. 

Sunday October 19 was a day that will go down in history as one the very few times this guy did not bring his camera to track the action taking picture after picture. Not by design I also forgot to charge up the phone for those moments you like to enjoy at a game.

It was at the last minute a phone call cane to me about wanting to go watch this game. Yes came quite easily to these lips. The last time I saw this matchup was the weekend of December 21st 2003-First season under Bill Parcells-when the Cowboys only needed to win at home to earn a playoff berth. 

That was the game when Quincy Carter tossed a 55 yard bomb to begin the game as Dallas rolled to a 19-3 victory. You may also recall that the Cowboys also defeated New York on September 15th that year in overtime on a Monday night 24-21.

For the first time since 2006-2007 has one of these teams won three games in a row against the other. 

Chalk one up for the Cowboys 31-21! The first team to get to six wins. The Big Three did it again.

On this day before a capacity crowd of 91,028 in Arlington Tony Romo would complete 17 of 23 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns.

Dez Bryant was huge with nine catches for 151 while bailing out Tony Romo time and again on third down without getting a touchdown. 

That grunt work was bestowed on the pride of San Diego State's Gavin Escobar who would twice find the end zone in a game that was all knotted up at 14 at the half.

DeMarco Murray became the first player in NFL history to have a 100 yard game for a seventh straight game with 128 yards on 28 carries with a touchdown. In keeping with the power football mantra Dallas kept the ball for over 19 minutes in the first half, 33 plus for the game.

While the big three were oiled and doing well the big surprise of the afternoon was the collective effort of the Cowboys defense. Two key fumbles (a third was disallowed by a forward progress whistle which could not be challenged) forced by Barry Church and Justin Durant helped stop drives where Eli Manning and the Giants were on the move.

Church and Durant each had eight tackles apiece while Rolando McClain was making life difficult for Manning in the pocket. 

Dallas took the lead for good on a six play 93 yard drive that took all of 198 seconds for a 21-14 lead when Tony Romo connected with Gavin Escobar on a 26 yard strike.

Just when Manning and the Giants looked to be coming back to forge a tie it was a jarring hit on what would have been a sure first drive catch knocking the ball loose.

Dallas recovered and took all of four plays, 27 yards-25 of those on a sideline toss to Dez to the 1 foot line-and a 1 yard plunge by Demarco Murray to increase the lead to 28-14 with under six minutes left in regulation.

Eli Manning went no-huddle as New York peeled off an 11 play 80 yard drive which led to an Odell Beckham Jr. 5 yard touchdown pass and a 28-21 deficit.

Tony under center? DeMarco to hand off to? Dez out in the flat?

No problem!

Continuing to play keep away and salting the clock the Cowboys proceeded to move the pigskin for ten plays as Dan Bailey added an insurance field goal from 49 yards away and a 31-21 victory.

This marks the first time under Jason Garrett that Dallas has won six in a row. It's the tenth time in their history the Cowboys begin the year 6-1. For all intents and purposes the Dallas Cowboys look to be a team with a set of pieces that seem to be clicking.

DeMarco Murray now sits at 913 yards on the season on pace to make a run at Eric Dickerson's 1984 season of magic.

"Anybody that's watched this team knows how he got them,'' Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said. "He got that through some good help from his teammates. But I don't know how you could really have any more of a personal accomplishment when it comes to the will to get that done.''

It was also a big day for Gavin Escobar with two touchdown grabs which seemed to surprise some people. Just not the Cowboys secondary.

“He’s kind of been in the dark because he’s had a great Hall of Famer in front of him,” Wilcox said of Escobar and Jason Witten, “But I knew what he could do. We got here the same year and the two of us have been battling it out ever since.

“He’s been a handful in practice and in the one-on-ones. He gives us a great look on the scout teams. He’s all over the place. It was just a matter of time. Now everyone else is finding out about him. He’s going to be a force in the future.”

For all the talk about Dez Bryant being double teamed is it possible that a Jason Witten double team could mean more touches for Gavin Escobar?

“The first touchdown they really clamped down on Wit,” Escobar said, “so that gave me an opportunity to get open down the middle of the field. On the second one Tony Romo did a good job of looking off the safety and then throwing it to me down the seam.”

Even though DeMarco Murray is in a contract year there's no arguing with his success in 2014. Many are suggesting Romo just keep handing off until the horse can no longer trot.

"I think every year I've been here has been a learning experience for me and for the offensive line," Murray said. "I'm still learning to this day, but I think they're doing a great job blocking and I'm doing a good job at reading things and making a few guys miss. I think we're all on the same page."

That current page reads 6-1. The only NFL team at that mark with a Monday Night Showdown against the Washington Redskins next week.

Tony Romo also very content with his key running back.

"I love that kid," Romo said after the two paired up to produce all four touchdowns in the Cowboys' sixth straight victory, 31-21 over the New York Giants on Sunday. "He really exemplifies everything you want in a player. He's hard-working. He's humble. He's a team-first guy. He's talented. He's explosive."

"You've heard me say this thousands of times," coach Jason Garrett said. "Bell cow, whatever you want to call him. We're going to hand him the ball. And we believe in that. He's certainly capable of handling that."

"I think our record is above what we could have expected, but we have it and it's a credit to a team that's building in their confidence," owner Jerry Jones said. "That wasn't the same team that went to Seattle, that came home from Seattle, and I know this team, the Giants, had a lot to say, a lot to prove today."

Noteworthy

Murray logged 128 rushing yards to reach 3,595 career rushing yards to top Julius Jones (3,484) and Herschel Walker (3,491) for eighth on the team’s all-time rushing yards list.

Murray’s 28 carries in today’s contest marked the 18th time of his career that he’s had 20-or-more carries, and with the win today, the club improved to 17-1 when Murray has 20-or-more carries.

Murray’s 913 rushing yards through the first seven games of the season are the most in team history and the sixth-most in NFL history.

After rushing for 118 yards against San Francisco (9/7), 167 yards at Tennessee (9/14), 100 yards at St. Louis (9/21), 149 yards against New Orleans (9/28), 136 yards against Houston (10/5), and 115 yards at Seattle (10/12), Murray’s 128 yards against the N.Y. Giants (10/19) allowed him to become the first rusher in NFL history to record a streak of seven consecutive games to open the season with 100 rushing yards.

After scoring seven points in the third quarter and 10 points in the fourth quarter, 2014 is the first time in team history the Dallas Cowboys scored in the third and fourth quarters of each of the first seven games of a season. In 1968, the club scored in the third and fourth quarters in each of the first six games of the season.

The Cowboys offense controlled the clock for 33:49 marking the fourth consecutive game with at least 33:00 minutes to mark the first time a Cowboys offense has held the ball for 33:00 minutes-or-more in four consecutive games since 1980 (Sept. 21-Oct. 12).

The Cowboys offense produced 423 total net yards today to mark the fourth consecutive game with 400-or-more yards following 445 yards against New Orleans (9/28), 456 yards against Houston (10/5) and 401 yards at Seattle (10/12) – tying the longest streak in team history. It is only the second time in team history a Dallas offense has posted a streak of four games with at least 400 total net yards during a single season since the 1976 team did it (445 vs. Philadelphia, 9/12; 423 at New Orleans, 9/19; 457 vs. Baltimore, 9/26; 411 at Seattle, 10/3).

The victory today was Jason Garrett’s 35^th win as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys (35-28), allowing him to break a tie with Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips (both have 34 wins) for the fourth-most regular season wins by a head coach in team history.

The win over the Giants today improved Dallas’ 2014 record to 6-1, the first time since the 2007 team started 6-1, and the 10th time overall.

Best of all was being able to enjoy the win amongst the whole Dallas Stars team. Sergei Gonchar, Jason Spezza, Brendan Dillon, Cody Eakin, Anders Lindback, Kari Lehtonen, Antoine Roussel, Shawn Horcoff, and Kevin Connauton among the many...Bradie James was also in the building signing autographs.

Over and out in Big D.

Mr. Will