Cowboys Lead Dolphins at Half, 14-7

With just over a minute left in the half, Tannehill drove the Dolphins down the field and capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron to cut the deficit to 14-7 going into half.

Romo’s return is like the old saying, “a rising tide lifts all boats”. Throughout their seven-game losing streak, Dallas has been far from flawless, but many of those losses have come as a direct result of the Cowboys’ inability adapt to their mistakes. They squandered leads in the fourth quarter on a regular basis while being led by the combination of Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel. Darren McFadden ran for 129, and Robert Turbin, who joined the Cowboys on Wednesday, added 35 yards on seven carries.

At 3-7, a playoff berth is still unlikely. They threw five touchdowns each in a couple of blowouts over NFC East teams. They are only 2.5 games behind the Giants and no other team in the division is playing particularly inspired football. They get to have 11 days off before a Monday night game against the Redskins.

None of that happened during the seven-game losing streak. “We didn’t do a good enough job in that area”.

“Winning”, Romo said, “is going to put a little more pep in everyone’s step”. New coverage packages the Cowboys weren’t expecting from Miami (4-6) that included the use of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as an end.

Now that Tony Romo has shaken off the rust, he’s ready to take on unbeaten Carolina. He also suffered two interceptions. He completed 18 for 227 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. It’s raining. We’ve got gusting winds. “It just comes down to execution”.

The Cowboys’ first scoring threat ended with an interception by Brent Grimes, but Romo soon settled down and showed his characteristic creativity. Although that score had the same impact on the scoreboard as a Romo touchdown pass, it obviously wasn’t the same for the returning quarterback.

Miami (4-6) was led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who threw two touchdown passes.

“Tony is outstanding.” said Bryant. “I was on the same page as him”.

Bryant can consistently adjust to slightly off-target throws and make plays against contact, so this type of play from Romo is still hugely valuable.

“Obviously as a player you have extreme confidence in your defense to go out there and try to get a stop, force a punt”, receiver Jarvis Landry said.

“Wasn’t that brilliant? It’s the best one I’ve ever done. This team never let up”.

The words meant something to a unit that had come under heavy scrutiny as the season began slipping away.

“We don’t want a flag”, he said, “but that strikes confidence”.

This wasn’t the way Tony Romo envisioned his return to action.

None of those plays was as impressive as a 3rd-and-7 conversion close to midfield that went to Bryant. “We have to continue to keep fighting”.

Goodell took part in a question-and-answer session with 75 selected season-ticket holders in the morning at the team’s preview center across from the construction site.

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