Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: The Games

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Washington Redskins 26-24 on Sunday night and moved to 3-1. After the game Terrell Owens made some comments about not getting enough play-calls. He called the Cowboys offense "stagnant" when he didn't get the ball.

Funny, it looked like the offense was stagnant because it was trying to ram the ball down T.O.'s throat the entire game.

Now everyone is freaking out like the Cowboys have just lost three straight and are doomed to another disappointing season.

Just chill people. Take a deep breath and realize that if anyone learned a lesson from Sunday, it was probably Jason Garret - he learned catering to T.O. may not be the best way to keep him quiet.

This team wins when Owens can key off of Jason Witten and the legwork of Marion Barber. While Witten had a good game with seven catches and 90 yards, Barber got only eight carries for a measly 26 yards. He never developed a rhythm, and Felix Jones, who's scored touchdowns in all three of his NFL games so far, never got the ball.

It''s worth mentioning that the only reason Witten stayed double-team free was because across the field Owens was getting his lunch eaten by Washington cornerback Sean Springs and company.

Last week against Green Bay, Owens caught only two balls for 17 yards. Owens appeared genuine when he said he didn't care about that as long the team got the win. At least he knew not to gripe about that.

As Owens exited Memorial Stadium you could tell his demeanor was much like in Philadelphia, and was guaranteed to be volatile when questioned.

Now maybe Garret knows winning is the best medicine for T.O.'s lack of humility.

Out of Romo's 47 pass attempts, seventeen went to Owens. He caught seven of them for 77 yards and handled two runs for 11 yards. Almost half of the Cowboys offense was pointed in his direction. Even up to the onside debacle, it seemed like the 'Boys might pull of the last minute rally at home.

As the ball sailed through Sam Hurds hands, the same one who dropped several key balls last year during the divisional playoff loss against New York, I knew it wasn't meant to be.

Maybe it's better Cowboys fans get used to the occasional loss early this season. Last year we didn't experience this until week six against New England. We took that loss, and the next loss in week 15 against Philadelphia hard.

Maybe Cowboys fans don't handle losing much better than T.O. Lets give these guys some love and consider the history.

The Redskins give the Cowboys fits every year, just not at home. The teams play twice, and see a lot of film on each other throughout the year and especially during the off-season.

Washington reciever Santana Moss always torches Dallas. On Sunday apparently no defenders noticed him playing as he accumulated 145 yards in 8 catches. Terence Newman's pants are still smoking from the torching he got in the second half.

Last year 'Skins running back Clinton Portis was the only player to surpass 100 yards against Dallas all season. Portis had 121 yards on 21 carries on Sunday , much of which came during key third down situations. Portis may have lost a step in his seven year career, but he still gets tough yardage when you need it.

I'm going to lead by example in loving the Cowboys by saying I'm confident that it's the only 100 yard rushing performance they will allow again this season.

Going into Sunday, none of the NFC east team had lost outside the division. The New York Giants are one of four undefeated teams left in the NFL. The Cowboys dropped out of the undefeated column to Washington, who is also 3-1.

The way the NFL's playoffs are designed, one of the NFC east teams will get shafted at the end of the season. There are only two wild card spots in each conference, and both will not go to the east this year.

But luckily Dallas plays the winless Cincinnati Bengal's next week, the winless St. Lois Rams who just fired their head after that, and a 2-1 Arizona Cardinals with an offensive line made out of Swiss cheese in week 6.

Three weeks from now the 'Boys will be 6-1 and eyeballing Atlanta. Nobody will care about this loss and hopefully Dallas won't have to deal with another one when it really counts.

duncan_mcclain@yahoo.com

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