Dallas Cowboys at Buffalo Bills
DALLAS COWBOYS (4-0) @ BUFFALO BILLS (1-3)
October 8, 2007 - Monday Night Football
Press Box Pregame Notes - It’s been 13 years since the Buffalo Bills hosted a Monday Night Football game. And this game has been marked on my calendar since the NFL schedule came out back in April. I’m really honored and excited to be covering my first Monday Night game ….. I won’t sugar-coat this. The Bills are huge underdogs tonight. I don’t think many people outside the Bills’ locker room are giving this team much of a chance to win this game. And why would they? On paper, this looks like a mismatch. The Cowboys are undefeated and have the NFL’s best offense (440 ypg) against the 1-3, injury riddled Bills who have the league’s second-to-last defense (statistically in ypg). And it doesn’t look much better when you flip the chart. But the Bills are a team that plays hard. They’re a team that plays with a lot of pride. And with the home crowd behind them, they might just surprise some people tonight ….. I was just handed the list of inactives and lineup changes for tonight and Josh Reed will start at WR opposite Lee Evans (replacing the injured Peerless Price); Jabari Greer will start at CB (he was last week’s AFC Defensive Player-of-the-Week); George Wilson will start at FS; and Keith Ellison will start at the Will LB position. Other notes of interest: The Bills are in their throwback unis — in my opinion the best throwback look in the NFL ….. At halftime, former Bills RB Thurman Thomas will be presented with his Hall of Fame ring ….. Game time temp is 74 degrees. A brief shower passed over Ralph Wilson Stadium just after I arrived here in the Press Box around 6:30 p.m. but there’s no more rain in tonight’s forecast.
1st Quarter - After winning the coin toss, Buffalo pulled out all the stops on their first drive. In punt formation, Brian Moorman took off running on 4th and 4 and gained 10 yards on a nifty run for a first down. What a gutsy call ….. Three plays later Brian punted for real and it was the defense’s turn to take over. Brian punted out of bounds at the Cowboys’ 2-yard-line and after stuffing two runs for a one-yard loss, S George Wilson was playing center field and intercepted Tony Romo and returned it 25 yards for a TD. The Bills couldn’t ask for a better start to this game ….. The D just stepped up again. LB Angelo Crowell intercepted Tony Romo, but the Bills drive stalled despite another gutsy call as the Bills went for it on 4th and 1. I’m wondering if we’re going to see a huge momentum swing for the Cowboys ….. I’ll answer that now. Buffalo’s D held Dallas on downs again and the quarter ended with the Bills on top 7-0. Both defenses are playing very well.
2nd Quarter - In a drive continued from the 1st quarter, the Cowboys went 70 yards in 8 plays to tie the score at 7-7. Dallas TE Jason Witten is piling up the middle-of-the-field numbers with 4 catches for 57 yards. It looked like Jabari Greer had an INT go through his hands on a completion to Terrell Owens ….. On the ensuing drive, the Bills took 8:43 off the clock and went 73 yards in 15 plays only to settle for a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. I guess one knock on Trent (and this is being really picky because he is playing well) is that he takes sacks in field goal range and he did that on this drive as well ….. The Bills had Dallas pinned deep again as Chris Kelsay made an incredibly athletic play batting a Tony Romo pass up in the air and catching it for a score. The crowd is just out of control at this point as the Bills are up 17-7. This was Chris’ first career TD (Chris was our Bills player guest last week. Check out BPR Home Field Edition Chris Kelsay.) ….. More good things happening for the Bills’ D. Tony Romo just threw his 4th INT in this first half. Jabari Greer got this one. This is the first time in Bills history that they had four INTs in a half ….. The Bills missed a 54-yard FG which allowed Dallas to go 27 yards in 5 plays for 3 points as time expired. It’s a disappointing end to the half. It’s easy to second guess the call to go for such a long field goal. Head coach Dick Jauron was really gritting his teeth after the miss. Halftime score Bills 17, Cowboys 10. The Bills held Dallas to 33 rushing yards (132 total yards) in the first half. This is quite an effort against a team that averages well over 400 ypg as the NFL’s best offense.
3rd Quarter - As Dallas opened the half with the ball, the Bills made an unusual challenge on a first-down run by Julius Jones. They gained two yards in their favor on the spot, but the result of the play was still a first down for Dallas ….. Great defensive plays by Terrence McGee, one on a slightly underthrown deep pass to T.O. and a couple plays later, he did it again in the endzone, saving a TD ….. John DiGiorgio just made a great diving stop of a Romo pass. Cowboys settle for a FG ….. Terrence McGee just electrified the sellout crowd. He returned a kickoff 103 yards for a TD. I really felt like the Cowboys had taken the momentum back, but Terrence McGee and the Bills’ special teams answered. It has been a game of huge plays on defense and special teams for the Bills ….. After a Dallas punt, some nice completions by Trent of 11, 18 and 8 yards. He’s really standing in the pocket and taking some big hits tonight. An ugly and unsuccessful double-reverse with a holding call ended the drive …. The Bills have an 11-point lead, but because the offense just can’t get the running game going, I have the feeling the defense is going to have to make another play ….. Aaron Schobel was called for tackling Tony Romo by the back of his helmet, a tough 15-yard penalty considering he was just making an aggressive play ….. Angelo Crowell just missed an INT. I cannot believe how many times the Bills D is getting their hands on the football tonight.
4th Quarter - Dallas settled for a FG to start the final quarter. Bills lead 24-16. Now is the time to get the running game going and control the clock ….. Roscoe Parrish is returning this kickoff. Where’s Terrence McGee? ….. A bad series of events. Marshawn Lynch limped off and Trent was sacked twice for a total loss of 19 yards and time to punt again ….. That previous big play that I thought the defense needed to come up with may have just happened. Aaron Schobel just stripped Tony Romo, forcing a fumble recovered at the Cowboys 48 by Kyle Williams ….. Two missed calls on one play. Marshawn was horse-collared by Roy Williams and hit helmet-to-helmet by another Dallas defender but the Bills only got a five-yard penalty out of it ….. Huge mistake by Trent. Well into FG range, Terrence Newman picks off a pass and returns it 70 yards to the Bills’ 17 …. Again, the defense. You almost can’t believe what is happening. John DiGiorgio intercepts at the goal line. This is unbelievable. Tony Romo has thrown five INTs. 5:21 left and I’m headed to the tunnel for the postgame interviews ….. The Bills couldn’t move the ball and punted, so the Cowboys very methodically went 85 yards in 12 plays to draw to close the gap. A two-point conversion would tie the game, but Jabari Greer broke up a jump ball to Terrell Owens to thwart the effort! What a great (perhaps game saving) play by Jabari. Onside kick forthcoming ….. After a review, the Cowboys somehow recovered the onside kick at the Bills’ 47. The worst case scenario has just come true for Buffalo ….. Two completions later, Dallas is at the Bills’ 35 with two seconds left ….. Nick Folk’s kick is good, but the Bills had called a timeout. Try again ….. Again from 53 yards. The kick is good ….. Cowboys win 25-24. I am in shock.
Final Thoughts - I just got back from the locker room and postgame interviews. It was a pretty somber bunch as you can imagine. It’s no fun doing interviews after a loss. I have not been this emotionally involved in a game since the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings lost the NFC Championship game to the Atlanta Falcons after a 15-1 season back in 1998. I still can’t figure out how the Bills lost this game. When it seemed like it just wasn’t possible for the defense to make any more plays, they did. As it turns out, though, they needed to make one more play and it didn’t happen. The offense sputtered tonight. There were no deep throws to speak of so the Cowboys’ D has everything in front of them. Aside from one crucial mistake (which was offset by another Dallas turnover), I thought QB Trent Edwards played well. And again I’ll say, especially for a rookie under these conditions. This experience will only make him a better quarterback ….. It’s almost 1 a.m. and this press box is buzzing with activity. I’m exhausted ….. Tonight’s sellout attendance was 71,575 ….. Season ticket holder Ronald Cassidy from Rochester won a 2007 Toyota Tundra in the Bills Toyota Kickoff Contest after Terrence McGee’s 103-yard return for a TD. During each game, the Bills randomly select one fan based on seat location and if the Bills return a KO for a TD in the 3rd quarter, that fan wins a new truck.
PODCAST: BPR Home Team Edition Jabari Greer
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