majority of the night, but had a lapse late in the second quarter and before you knew it, found themselves dominating the first half and then trailing 10-7.
The touchdown drive allowed by the Cowboys had some 2008 feelings to it. Missed tackles, unnecessary facemasks and then blown coverages for the score. Actually, Wade Phillips said it was not Mike Jenkins' fault on the touchdown, but then wouldn't thrown Ken Hamlin under the bus for not getting over to make the play.
Like he always does, Phillips put the play on the coaching staff, for calling a Cover 2 defense that close to the goal line.
Is it just a case of nitpicking on a night that is supposed to be glorious? Maybe so, but we have to remember that despite all the glitz and glamour of this new house, it won't be flashy for long if the product is poor.
On this night, it was far from poor. The Cowboys were actually pretty good. The best part for head coach Wade Phillips is that he must have a better feeling about his backups, who not only held their own against the Titans, they stretched the game from a close, fourth-quarter affair into a 20-point blowout.
"I'm glad we made a step forward this week," Phillips said. "We didn't look good last week (in Oakland) - our backups didn't look that good. So I thought a lot of those guys came through."
Overall, it really was a good night. The Cowboys opened a glorious venue and did it in winning fashion, beating a solid Titans team by 20 points.
Certainly, the problems aren't fixed because the stadium is now open. Looking around at this magnificent piece of history in the making, it signifies so much that has changed about this football team.
Yet, the play on the field tells us that not everything has changed from last year. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing, is yet to be determined.
