WASHINGTON — This is the preamble I never want to write.
As a guy who grew up a D.C. sports fan, it pains me to see good things happen to Philly and/or Dallas in just about any sport. So just imagine how much I’m stewing over the two-way tie atop the NFC East between the Eagles and Cowboys.
We expected Philly to be here. But Dallas? Inconceivable.
Yet, here we are. The Cowboys went into Seattle and knocked off the defending champs, something a non-NFC West team hasn’t done since 2011.
It wasn’t just that they did it. It’s how they did it. Dallas lost the turnover battle, gave up a special teams touchdown, and got little in the return game. Plus, hanging 30 points on the Seahawks in Seattle is like scoring 50 anywhere else.
DeMarco Murray tied a league record with 6 straight 100-yard games to start the season, something only Jim Brown has done before him. And in very un- Cowboy like fashion, he dodged the media to avoid soaking up all the glory after the game.
If Tony Romo’s back is bothering him, it’s not even close to obvious. The Legion of Boom came close once or twice, but never got a Romo interception. This season, he’s completed over 68 percent of his throws and has an 11-to-5 TD-to-INT ratio. He’s on top of his game.
It’s hard not to be with one of the best 1-2 punches at wide receiver (Dez Bryant and Terence Williams–who had a sick sideline catch on a late 3rd-and- long) and a cinch Hall of Famer at tight end (Jason Witten).
I’m sure you read my NFL preview, where I had Dallas at 6-10 with the caveat that things spiral even further down to three wins. A big reason why was their defense.
Well, what looked like an epic awful defense on paper is instead a bend-but- don’t break unit led in part by a guy who looked to be done just a few months ago. Rolando McLain has salvaged his career to help fill the void at middle linebacker and keep the Cowboys defense ranked in the top 10 in scoring.
This is despite losing Sean Lee for the season and with DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher playing elsewhere.
So much for cratering.
Trust me…I’ve seen enough of Jason Garrett’s Dallas Cowboys to know that a good start doesn’t necessarily beget a good finish. A crucial Romo pick to lose a game is coming. So too is a Garrett brain fart that’ll cost Dallas a victory. These stars tend not to shine in December, so I’m not buying into the notion they’re the best team in the NFC.
But this unexpectedly hot start means the Cowboys need only play their .500 brand of football over the next 10 games to finish 10-6. That should be good enough to pull a wild card in the playoffs, if not the division title.
So Jerry Jones might get that return to the glory hole days after all.
Ok, let’s just get to the Week 6 recap before I throw up in my mouth again:
Colts 33
Texans 28
J.J. Watt has joined William “Refrigerator” Perry in NFL annals. Houston is hoping he’ll add a Super Bowl Shuffle to his dance repertoire.
Ravens 48
Bucs 17
In a battle of the last two teams to win a Super Bowl without an elite quarterback, Joe Flacco threw for a franchise-record 5 TDs. The only other QB to do that for Baltimore? Tony Banks. Great reminder of just how mediocre Ravens QBs are historically.
Jaguars 14
Titans 16
Who cares?
Broncos 31
Jets 17
Considering the three worst losses of Peyton Manning’s career all came in New York, this might have been his most impressive performance of the season to date.
Lions 17
Vikings 3
It’s hard to tell who had the who had the worst performance from this game: Teddy Bridgewater on the field, Joique Bell in the locker room, or Mike Goldberg in the booth.
Patriots 37
Bills 22
Somewhere, Tom Brady is walking around in his Uggs wearing a Belichick hoodie while spitting the lyrics to “Mama Said Knock You Out”…
Panthers 37
Bengals 37 (OT)
I’ve ranted on this for years: ties should never happen. Playing 75 minutes of football without an outcome is mindnumbingly stupid and wholly unacceptable. There is no worse outcome in football.
Steelers 10
Browns 31
Biggest win over Pittsburgh in 25 years. First division victory of 20 points or more since 2003. It’s actually not a bad time to be a Cleveland fan.
Packers 27
Dolphins 24
Aaron Rodgers took his talents to South Beach and beat Dan Marino’s old team with the play made famous by Dan: the fake spike pass. Rodgers’ swag is off the charts right now.
Redskins
␎ 
A reflection of the Redskins’ season so far, in one photo. (AP Images/Ross D. Franklin)
Redskins 20
Cardinals 30
Four 4th quarter turnovers that led to 10 points. Just 2-for-10 on 3rd down. Talk of turning to Colt McCoy at QB. Boy, it’s getting ugly really early in Washington…
Chargers 31
Raiders 28
Interim coach Tony Sparano may have buried the Raiders’ 0-4 start, but there’s apparently a zombie apocalypse in Oakland. Which could really only happen in The Black Hole, right?
Bears 27
Falcons 13
Pretty sure there won’t be any “twitter terrorists” in Chicago this week.
Cowboys 30
Seahawks 23
The difference between the Redskins and Seahawks? Seattle takes losses much harder. If you dare to read Doug Baldwin’s postgame comments, be sure to hide your kids, hide your wife…
Giants 0
Eagles 27
This game was so lopsided we didn’t really learn anything about either team. All we know is each fate was altered moving forward after Victor Cruz and Darren Sproles were lost to injury.
Niners 31
Rams 17
San Fran won its seventh straight Monday Nighter in the 700th game on MNF. Does that bode well for the Giants in the NLCS? No. The two aren’t related. It’s just fun to point out.
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