pass of the game and Vanderjagt missing the 26-yarder - forcing Tennessee to do what it didn't want to do: Open up the offense.
They made Young pay for his inexperience, picking him off twice, causing him to lose one fumble, sacking him twice and sending him home with a 47.3 quarterback rating.
And if all that were not good enough, they left with only that uncalled for injury, Gurode's, and knowing Owens was able to play through whatever residual pain there was from fracturing his fourth metacarpal two weeks ago heading into Philly next Sunday.
"That's a pretty good day in the NFL," Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells said, and it must have been for him to playfully tap one of the stadium female security guards on the top of her head as he strode back toward the locker room following the game, as if touching off her electric smile.
"A good win for us," said Bledsoe, who was only needed to throw for 179 yards (two touchdowns) in what turned out to be this team's largest margin victory since the identical 31-point laugher over Detroit (38-7) in 2003.
"We did what we needed to do," said Owens, who did far more I'm guessing than most of you thought he would do back around, oh, say 8 a.m. (CDT) Wednesday when reports flooded the nation with T.O.'s supposed attempted suicide.
"I told (Bledsoe during warmups) don't be scared to throw it, let's play ball," Owens said. "I think I exceeded everyone's expectations."
Must have ate his Wheaties during that morning breakfast he had with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who said before the game Owens thought he could play just two weeks removed from having that plate surgically screwed over the fractured bone - the owner's only concern with Owens.
"It's his hand is what I'm interested in," said Jones, trying to minimize whatever might have happened Tuesday evening with Owens taking his painkillers.
Now you are going to hear all about Owens from this game, Young, the Cowboys' defense, Terry Glenn catching two touchdown passes, Gurode's face and Aaron Glenn's diving interception.
But most of all, and as far as the Cowboys must be concerned considering their summer trepidation, best of all must be the performance of this offensive line. The Cowboys, 217 yards rushing. Julius Jones, 122 yards rushing. Marion Barber, 55 yards rushing. After that first series, holes after holes after holes, even Tyson Thompson scoring his first NFL touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a bullet of a seven-yard run up the gut.
And Bledsoe? No sacks. Only four quarterback hurries. Why he had the time of day in the pocket on Glenn's second touchdown grab, a 13-yarder Bledsoe waited patiently in the pocket for Glenn to go from the far right all the way across the back of the end zone left to clear the traffic for the catch.
"I don't know," Parcells said at first when asked about the play of his offensive line, trying to be a little obstinate, but finally giving in to say, "but they're playing pretty good in case you didn't notice."
Hey coach, that's why I asked.
But as is the case with these guys of a different breed, the offensive linemen chose this day to boycott the media afterward, something about one of them saying something earlier in the week they weren't supposed to, so they conducted a self-imposed embargo on speaking after the game.
Go figure.
That kind of day, right?
So how fitting would it be that Owens came in the locker room after the game in his stocking feet. No shoes. No shoes?
Evidently, Tennessee's motor-mouth corner Pacman Jones, in somewhat of an odd request, asked Owens for his game shoes afterward, I'm guessing a lasting momento for having worked one-on-one against The T.O.
"He'll need to put some tissue in there," Owens deadpanned. "Pretty big there."
Ha, exactly, just more of what you'd expect on a day laced with the unexpected.
