- The Cowboys claimed just their second win in Tampa ever, and first since 1990 when they beat the Bucs 17-13. * The Cowboys won their first-ever game at Raymond James Stadium after losing their only two meetings in 2000 and 2003. * Sunday's win gives the Cowboys a season-opening win for the third consecutive year - the longest such streak since winning three straight from 1997-99. * The win also gave the Cowboys their third straight over Tampa Bay and fourth straight over teams from the NFC South. * Wade Phillips upped his opening day win streak to four games and his opening day record as a head coach to 5-3 * David Buehler made his NFL debut as Dallas' kickoff specialist. He notched three touchbacks on seven kickoffs to mark the first time a Dallas kicker had more than two touchbacks in a game since Toby Gowin had four at Denver (9/13/98). * Patrick Crayton's 80-yard touchdown grab was the longest catch of his career. His previous was a 63-yard scoring catch at Oakland (10/2/05). * Crayton finished the game with 135 yards - the second-most yards in a game in his career and his third career 100-yard outing. * Nick Folk converted two-of-two field goals giving him a streak of 15 consecutive field goals made. His streak started against Tampa Bay (10/26/08) last season. * Folk was also true on four PATs and has now converted 99 straight to tie Mike Clark (99 from 1969-71) for the second-longest streak in club history. Danny Villanueva owns the club record with 100 straight (1965-67). * Tony Romo became the first quarterback in club history to win the first three season-openers of his starting career. He also joined Don Meredith (four, 1965-68), Roger Staubach (seven, 1973-79) and Troy Aikman (1990-92 and 1997-99) to win three consecutive season openers. * Romo upped his career attempts total to 1,334 and passed Craig Morton (1,308) for fifth in club history on the club's all-time pass attempts list. * Romo threw for 353 yards to increase his club record of career 300-yard games to 17. It also marked his third straight 300-yard outing on opening day. * Romo's 80-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton was the longest completion of his career. His previous long was a 75-yard touchdown toss to Terrell Owens against San Francisco (11/23/08). It was also the longest pass completion for the club since Quincy Carter's 80-yard scoring toss to Joey Galloway against Carolina (10/13/02). * Romo's 66-yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams in the third quarter was the fifth-longest pass completion of his career. * Gerald Sensabaugh made his Dallas debut and blocked a first quarter field goal. It was his third career blocked kick - second field goal - and the first blocked field goal by the Cowboys since Chris Canty blocked one against Minnesota (10/21/07). * Roy Williams' 66-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was the second-longest catch of his career behind his 91-yard touchdown catch at Philadelphia (9/23/07) while with the Detroit Lions. * With his 71 receiving yards, Jason Witten (5,006) became the sixth pass catcher in team history to reach 5,000 career receiving yards. * After leading the NFL in sacks last season with 59, the Cowboys did not record a sack Sunday in Tampa. The Cowboys had at least one sack in all 16 games last year. * Wide receiver Sam Hurd didn't have a reception, but was credited with a team-high three tackles on special teams. * In his first game since suffering a broken foot in the middle of last season, punter Mat McBriar returned to action, averaging 54.8 yards on four attempts. * The Cowboys had just four penalties for 41 yards Sunday in Tampa. Last season, the Cowboys only had one game with fewer penalties, with just three flags for 15 yards in a home loss to the Redskins. * The Cowboys lost the time-of-possession battle against the Bucs, holding the ball for just 26:28 of the clock. Last year, the Cowboys were 3-5 in the eight games they didn't claim the time of possession.
By The Numbers - Quick Notes From Tampa
Sep 13, 2009 at 12:20 PM
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