Cowboys team confuses me

Like many of you, I was watching Sunday Night Football when the Cowboys beat rival Washington 24-10, and beat them with ease. Like many of you I was watching the week before when the Cowboys lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-17 in a horrible display of football. Also like many of you, I am confused by this Dallas team and the two performances they have displayed.

Like many of you, I was shocked at the Cowboys performance in the home opener against the Washington Redskins. The defense was solid, recording six sacks on Washington quarterback Mark Brunell.

Linebackers Greg Ellis and De- Marcus Ware were unblockable, and the Cowboys secondary, led by safety Roy Williams, had little problems keeping up with the Redskins short and quick wideouts Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El. Neither of them were a match for Cowboys cornerbacks Terrence Newman and Anthony Henry.

The Cowboys defensive line got good penetration the whole game and recorded six sacks, one interception and forced a fumble.

Like many of you, I was shocked by how the Cowboys defense fell apart in the second quarter in week one against the tall but slow Jaguars receivers. The Cowboys secondary gave up 23 receptions for a total of 237 yards and a touchdown pass. The Cowboys frontline got pushed around, allowing 78 rushing yards and got only one sack. After holding the Jaguars to nothing in the first quarter, they allowed 24 unanswered points.

Jacksonville has one of the worst rated offenses in the league and, with the exception of wide receiver Matt Jones, they have no notable receivers.

Like many of you, I was calling for a quarterback change after watching Drew Bledsoe throw three picks (two of them were thrown almost right to a Jaguars player). After a solid first quarter, the Cowboys fell apart, not scoring on eight straight possessions. Dallas punted five times, had a missed field goal and two interceptions. Some bright spots were Terrell Owens' six receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown. Fellow receiver Terry Glenn had four catches for 80 yards.

Like many of you, I was amazed by how Bledsoe looked like the veteran quarterback by completing 19 of 38 passes for 237 yards and two touchdown passes, and had no interceptions (the Cowboys did drop eight passes). The Cowboys' front line stopped the Redskins allowing for 138 total rushing yards and allowed only one sack. The Cowboy receivers had a field day running all over the Washington secondary.

Terry Glenn had 94 yards and one touchdown. Owens had three catches for 19 yards, but he did have three dropped passes, which were blamed on a broken finger. Owens will be out for 2-4 weeks but I would expect him to be ready for the Oct. 8 game against his old team, the Eagles.

Like many of you, I feel that the next three games, at Tennessee and Philly then at home for the Texans, are very winnable.

— Matt Anderson is a journalism major.