them to drive 74 yards for the tying touchdown thanks to a third-and-14 conversion and then, of all things, a 16-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-seven with just 24 seconds remaining to force overtime, a play which caused me to utter those famous broadcasting words of one Frank Brolyles, "Where's the safety man?"
You're kidding, right? That bad? At that point? Again? Remember Denver . . . remember the Giants.
"So you just had to get ready," Romo said of what was going through his mind after the blown lead. And he was, since the very same defense that basically choked away the final drive of regulation then came up with two overtime stops, the second a vital three-and-out from the Kansas City 49, giving up just one yard.
And then it happened, the two-faced Cowboys putting on their good one once again.
Romo to Austin after another hold, he breaks a tackle and runs 60 yards to a smiling victory, and into the Cowboys record books, erasing the late Bob Hayes' 43-year-old single-game receiving-yards record by totaling 250 on 10 catches, and ending up on the bottom of the victorious dog pile. Good thing the game was over, otherwise the Cowboys would have been penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration.
Since it was, knock yourselves out. Enjoy - but not too long.
Because after five weeks we must ask, just who are these Cowboys? What are these Cowboys?
Are they the team that piled up 498 total yards and lead the league in offense?
Are they the team Romo throws 351 yards for, his second 350-plus performance in four weeks? Is he the guy throwing for a career-high 353 against Carolina and 351 on this day, or is he the three-interception dude against the Giants and the one who put up a frightening 67.1 QB rating against the Broncos?
Is Austin for real, totaling two touchdowns worth 119 yards, or is he the guy running a bad route leading to that interception at Denver? Is he the guy Romo almost exclusively turned to in the second half with Patrick Crayton producing an uneven performance, Roy Williams out and Sam Hurd disappearing?
Is this the defense which bagged four more sacks Sunday, giving it seven in the past two games, or the one with nary a sack through the first three games?
Are the Cowboys the first-half offense, like the one which reared it's ugly head in last week's 17-10 loss to Denver and put up only one touchdown against Carolina and none that first half against KC? Or are they the second-half offense and the one which put up more than 30 points in the first two games?
Are they this defense that basically shut down the past three opponents for 3 3/4 of the game, or the one that couldn't put away Denver in the end or these Chiefs, allowing them to gain 112 of their 304 yards on the final two drives of the fourth quarter?
Here is about the only 3-2 conclusion we can draw:
"Our guys fight the whole game," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "Our guys fight.
"We continued to battle," Romo said.
"We had to fight," Spears said.
"All week I told Jerry we'll find a way to win the game," Romo said.
And they did fight and they did win, and since Phillips is a bottom line kind of guy, no surprise he would say, "The most important thing was winning that ball game."
And moving to 3-2.
But . . . .
The three wins have been over three teams with a combined 1-13 record, and in two of those games they struggled. So who really knows?
The two losses have been handed to them by two teams with a combined 10-0 record, and one of those by two points as time expired after committing four turnovers, and the other by seven with the Cowboys sitting second-and-goal from the two in the final seconds. So who really knows?
By time they play again, against possibly a 4-1 Atlanta team at Cowboys Stadium after the bye, maybe they will have Felix Jones back. Maybe they will have Roy Williams back. Maybe Gerald Sensabaugh will be able to resume playing with his surgically-repaired broken right thumb. Maybe Marion Barber will be completely healthy by then. Same with Flozell Adams and Terence Newman.
Maybe the team will grow and learn while idling. Improve. Become consistent instead of so
