Home > News > Cowboys prevail in Oakland 21 - 20.

I was able to watch this game, tape delayed via the NFL Network. The game aired on the NFL network at 2 am Monday morning, I did not get up early but instead recorded the game via TiVO! If I have not said this already, TiVO is the greatest thing since sliced bread, honest! I watched the game Monday night instead of ABC's MNF game between the Rams and Chiefs. It's nice to have choices and TiVO gives you that choice!

**Four Free months of programming + NFL Sunday Ticket + a Free DVD player!**

The Cowboys put forth a much better effort in the 2nd preseason game vs Oakland. Much better indeed. Although the first team offense was not able to get the ball in the end zone they did have 3 scoring drives (field goals) in the first half, never having to punt the ball.

Vinny Testaverde looked much better this time around, completing 13 of 17 passes for 124 yards. Eddie George also looked sharp in limited play. The top 3 receivers all caught multiple passes with Antonio Bryant leading the way with 5 catches for 51 yards. The first team defense however did not fair as well giving up a 75 yard drive on the Raiders first series, but they were able to limit the Raiders to a field goal. In the second quarter, with many of the Cowboys starters still on the field, the Raiders had a 73 yard drive capped off by a 6 yard touchdown run from Justin Fargas giving the Raiders the lead at half 10-9.

Drew Henson played most of the 2nd half and looked fairly sharp. He did not look as good as Vinny but still a good showing none the less. Drew was able to lead the Cowboys to a touchdown in the 3rd quarter but most of that drive was Julius Jones running the ball. Jones finally ended the Cowboys preseason Touchdown drought by scoring on a 3 yard touchdown run. Julius Jones looked better than anyone in this game rushing for 56 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Julius appeared to be in mid season form, making tacklers miss, putting his head down to squeeze out extra yards. He appears to be something special, fingers crossed.

Other players of note; Re Shard Lee (RB)had 21 yards on 8 carries, returned 2 kickoffs, and had 2 receptions. Dedric Ward (WR) had 6 catches for 38 yards, Sean Ryan (TE) had 2 catches including a catch late in the game on 4th and 10 to set up the game winning touchdown. Matt Bryant hit his only 2 field goal attempts and Billy Cundiff hit his only attempt. Ryan Flinn had only 1 punt for 41 yards and Mat McBriar had 2 punts averaging 43 yards with a long of 53. Zuriel Smith (WR) had a kickoff return of 55 yards but not much else. I did however notice that Zuriel was wearing #84 this year instead of #87 he wore last season.

The only standouts on defense were Bradie James(LB) and Keith O'Neil (LB). Both played a lot and were involved in a lot of plays. Again the defense was not able to record any sacks however they were able to flush the Raider QBs from the pocket on many occasions. Jameel Powell (CB) gave up a 89 yard touchdown pass and Jacques Reeves (CB) gave up a long pass on the other side field that could have easily been a touchdown if the pass had been thrown in some more. As it was the receiver caught the pass on the run and immediately stepped out of bounds.

The game had not been decided when 2nd Year QB Tony Romo took the field with just over 4 minutes left to play in the 4th quarter. The Raiders had a 20-15 lead at the time. Although the 3rd string quarterback seemed to struggle a little, he was able to move the ball down the field with the help of some timely penalties on the Raiders and nifty footwork on Romo's part. The Cowboys appeared to be on the verge of a 2nd straight loss when the faced their 2nd 4th down of the drive with less than 20 seconds remaining. Romo threw the ball over the middle to TE Sean Ryan who was tackled right at the goal line. The Cowboys had a 1st down but precious little time. Romo hurried the players to the line of scrimmage as the clocked ticked down. He appeared to motioning that he was going to spike the ball to stop the clock but when he got the snap, instead of spiking the ball, he ran a quarterback sneak which caught the Raiders a little off guard. Tony Romo scored the game winning TD and the Cowboys went home winners, a good night for the offense, not so for the defense.

Next game Monday (8/30/04) at Texas Stadium at 8:00 PM on ABC's Monday Night Football. If you can't watch it live, remember to set your TiVo to record!