The buzz from Dallas

Dallas Morning News Columnist comments

From BREAKING DOWN A DISASTER, by Matt Mosley:
"LANDOVER, Md. – I normally have a pretty good idea what to say to a player after a tough loss or a particularly poor individual performance. Well, nothing appropriate came to mind as I approached left tackle Torrin Tucker's locker moments after the Cowboys' 35-7 loss to the Redskins on Sunday.
"What happened?" is not really my style. "Tough day, Torrin," seemed trite. So I just showed up at his locker and sort of stared at him. This is a good approach to use when you want to make someone feel really awkward.
Tucker appeared to be fighting back tears, although I can't say that for sure. The third-year player had just given up at least four sacks to the Redskins. I use that number because I started to lose count.
'I let everyone down,' Tucker whispered after a long silence. "

"Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn has never been a quote machine. He normally leaves that to Keyshawn Johnson.
But after the crowd of reporters around Johnson had dispersed, I stopped by Glenn's locker for a few minutes. The funny thing is that I've always found him more willing to talk after a loss than a win. Other guys won't even look at you, but for some reason, the introverted Glenn sort of comes alive at those times.
A week after making six catches for 138 yards and a touchdown, Glenn only had two catches for 25 yards against the Redskins.
'We didn't really take it to heart,' he said. 'They wanted it more than we did.'"

PARCELLS AT A LOSS FOR ANSWERS
"A day after his team suffered a devastating loss in Washington, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells wasn't able to provide many answers. "It wasn't good," Parcells said of Sunday's 35-7 loss to the Redskins. "That game just got further and further away." He blamed some of it on the "immaturity" of his young players, noting their performances in recent NFC East road losses to the Giants and Redskins. Asked what personnel changes he might make in response to Sunday's lopsided loss, Parcells said he didn't have many options."

From sportinglife.com:

COWBOYS CRASH TO REDSKINS
"....

It was the largest margin of victory for the Redskins against their bitter NFC East rivals and marked the first time they completed a sweep of the season series since 1995. The Cowboys had dominated the rivalry, winning 14 of 15 meetings before the Redskins rallied for a stunning 14-13 victory at Dallas on September 19 as Brunell hit Santana Moss with scoring passes of 39 and 70 yards in the final four minutes.

This time, the Redskins clearly proved they were the superior team, dominating both sides of the line of scrimmage. Led by Daniels, the Redskins sacked Drew Bledsoe seven times and forced the veteran quarterback to commit four turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Redskins' offensive line kept the Cowboys' pass rushers away from Brunell, who was not sacked once, and created holes for Clinton Portis, who rushed for 112 yards on 23 carries."

From dallascowboys.com:

Capital Punishment: Cowboys Whipped In Every Fashion By Revved Up Skins, by Nick Eatman

"'Nobody played good today . . . nobody,' said linebacker Bradie James. 'We were just terrible. There's nothing more you can say. When nobody steps up and makes any plays, you're not going to win any games. And you're probably going to get beat pretty bad.'

"The defense, which had shut down the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander and even Redskins tailback Clinton Portis the first time around, didn't put up much of a fight Sunday.

Not only did the Cowboys surrender 171 rushing yards, including 112 to Portis, but their tackling was slopping and they often looked confused on pass defense. Now the defense wasn't exactly playing at full strength, as cornerbacks Anthony Henry (groin) and Aaron Glenn (ankle in the game) rotated frequently at right corner in the first half. Left cornerback Terence Newman missed several plays after getting dinged, and even linebacker Mike Barrow, who played two straight series on defense, left the game shortly after with a sprained knee. This didn't even account for defensive end Chris Canty, who tried to play through a sprained ankle."

"Healthy or not, the Cowboys were no match for the Redskins, who have now won three straight games and have an outside shot to win the division as they play host to the Giants next week."