I think everyone knew coming into this game that it would be hard fought.  The Dolpins are simply a tough out despite their record. Tony Sparano has them playing as hard as any team is playing right now. Excuses aside, I feel the Cowboys didn’t play that well.  The good news is, the Cowboys can play bad and still win. They didn’t play terribly as they did in Philly a month  ago but they simply were sloopy.  But just good enough to eek out a 20-19 win at home for their 4th straight win of the year.. i could get used to the wins, not the nail biters though!

2 early Tony Romo interceptions could have spelled disaster but the Cowboys defense responded and allowed only 3 points from those miscues.  This game was really a game of two halves. In the first half, the cowboys defense limited the Dolphins to 2 field goals on 3 attempts and created the Cowboys only TD by recovering a Matt Moore fumble inside their own 10 yard line.  The second half was an entirely different defense allowing the Dolphins to score on their first 3 possesions of the second half.  Albeit 2 of which were field goals. The story of the game was really the Dolphins ability to move the ball but their inability to score TDs vs field goals.  I watched the Cowboys defense, especially the secondary, play poorly. But the front 3 or 7 played well, forcing the Dolpins to settle for 4 field goals. 

Offensively the Cowboys moved the ball just enough to gain a 17-16 lead in the 4th quarter only to see it slip away midway through the 4th.  The Cowboys offense got the ball with only 3 plus minutes left trailing by 2 points 19-17.  I wasn’t sure which offense would show up when the Cowboys got the ball for seeming the last time. The one the struggled to move the ball for much of the game or the one that drove 77 yards in 9 plays in the 3rd quarter for their second TD.  Fortunately for Cowboy fans we got the latter.  After two early completions to Jason Witten to get the Cowboys on the edge of Dan Baileys range they went to their new found WELL, Demarco Murray. Murray did not disappoint giving Cowboy fans what they are starting to expect. 5 straght runs by Murray not only moved the Cowboys within chip shot range for Dan Bailey it also wound the clock down to ZERO by the time Dan Baileys game winning field goal went through the uprights. I am not sure you could have drawn up that game winning drive any better!

In the end the Cowboys added 1 to their win column which is starting to eek closer to that magical number of 10 or 11 that would certainly see them playing in January.  After a long weekend, the Cowboys will travel to Arizona to face a struggling Cardinals team.  Hopefully the long weekend will allow some of the Cowboys injured players to get healhier and allow them to suit up for the always dicey game in Arizona.