What We Learned: Redskins vs. Cowboys

Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com

Whatever they're doing in Dallas seems to be working well. And I know that makes a lot of my friends happy considering a lot of them, for whatever reason, like the Dallas Cowboys.

I'm not willing to say Tony Romo was masterful in Sunday night's game because, let's face it, he was facing the NFL's worst defense (based on yards per game). I will say that Romo has performed a heck of a lot better this season up to this point. This might be one of his best stretches so far. I could be wrong. You Cowboys fans would know better than I would. 

But we knew, based on Romo's performances this year, that he would do his part...okay, we had a decent idea that he would do his part. Here's what we learned about Dallas...

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo.com

DALLAS COWBOYS

While Romo did his thing, he certainly didn't throw for five touchdowns against the Redskins like he did a week ago against the Denver Broncos.  An 18-30 effort for 170 yards and a touchdown may not receive a lot of publicity, but consider this. Through six games, Romo has 13 touchdowns and two interceptions...just two. He's completed 71 percent of his passes for over 1,500 yards. Again, the most astounding number in this line is the two interceptions. This may be attributed to how the team game plans the offense or possibly Romo's ability to read his progressions having time to throw the ball, but whatever it is, Cowboys fans are happy to see it.

What was more noticeable was the Cowboys special teams unit. The name Dwayne Harris will now be in game plans across the league as Dallas goes through their schedule. Harris, the third-year man out of East Carolina, had 222 yards in returns and a punt return for a score. Granted, the Redskins didn't play all that well on special teams, but I'll get to that.

The other thing about Dallas's win is that the defense played a consistent four quarters throughout the night. Aside from Alfred Morris's 45-yard touchdown run, the night was for the most part, a success for the Cowboys. Yeah, Dallas allowed 433 yards on the night, but Washington did win the time of possession battle and forced the Redskins to go 0-3 in the red zone....with backups all over the defensive line. Kudos to those guys they just pulled off the street to come in and play.

Photo Courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Robert Griffin III did look better tonight than he has in past weeks, but I do have to clear something up. 

Late in the game, Cris Collinsworth virtually talked about how the loss couldn't be RGIII's fault and that the receivers were to blame. Something to that effect. May I submit to you Griffin's two fumbles (one lost) and his interception against a Cowboys defense that was shuffled seemingly every quarter due to a lack of depth up front. The game was a 15-point loss for the Redskins. Let's say they don't turn the ball over. They may score on those drives and you could be reading a differently written blog right now. 

I'm not saying it's all Griffin's fault because it's not. There's plenty to go around. The Redskins defense may have held the Cowboys to 213 yards, but the yards don't matter when you allow a team to score 30+ points. It's also pretty hard to win a game when you have 12 penalties for 104 yards. Griffin was also sacked three times. Like I said, there's plenty of blame to go around and Washington has a lot of work to do heading into next week's contest against Chicago...because, right now, Jay Cutler and that Bears offense are licking their chops.

Something will have to give for the Redskins if they don't want to end up in the Jadeveon Clowney Sweepstakes...like some other teams that will not be mentioned tonight.