ARLINGTON, Texas — It was just a little dump-off pass, the kind that quarterbacks throw when they have no place else to go with the ball.
You've seen Tony Romo do it a hundred times, maybe more.
Nothing open there.
Nothing open here.
OK, time to check down to the back, who had stayed home to block, and hope for the best.
It was just desperation, really. No place else for Romo to go, except down. Certainly nothing particularly special about it.
Except that Felix Jones caught it.
That's when it became special.
Under Jerry's Big Top, the immense dangling scoreboard is a huge star, certainly the biggest in the NFL. It even blocked a Tennessee punt Friday night, something that may happen quite often this season. (The Titans got to punt it again.)
But that amazing scoreboard won't help Dallas win in December. It won't get the Cowboys to the postseason or win a playoff game.
Jones just might.
Two codicils to that declaration:
1) The former Arkansas Razorback has to stay healthy.
2) The Cowboys have to understand - and I think (hope) they do- just how special Jones can be and use him accordingly.
The Cowboys opened Jerry's Big Top in near spectacular fashion, dominating the Tennessee Titans 30-10 in their second exhibition game of the season and first ever played in Arlington.
With the second- and third-teamers redeeming themselves from last week's poor performance in Oakland, the Cowboys held a whopping 40:57-19:03 edge in time of possession.
"We want to be able to control the football," Phillips said. "Part of it's the running game, part of it's Tony being able to throw the ball and make first downs. He throws it to a lot of different receivers.
"He was hitting [Roy] Williams and [Jason] Witten. He looks like he can go to them and make first downs in critical situations."
There were times in the first half when the Cowboys' offense looked like it was just toying with the Titans.On Dallas' second series of the game, Romo drove the first-team offense 90 yards in 15 plays, capped by Marion Barber's 1-yard burst up the middle. The drive chewed 9 minutes, 11 seconds off the clock.
Romo twice hit tight end Witten with key passes for 14 and 19 yards, the two longest plays in the drive.
"Our rhythm and tempo [were] good," Romo said. "We are just going out and playing. Whatever the defense gives us, we are going to take, and that's what we are going to try to do all year."
A 14-play drive early in the second quarter produced zero points when Nick Folk's 49-yard field-goal attempt caromed off the right upright after a penalty on fourth-and-1 stalled the drive.
But it was the Romo-to-Jones play in the Cowboys' two-minute offense near the end of the first half that electrified the crowd and sent shivers down the spine of every Cowboys fan at the thought of what could be.
Barber: Thunder.
Jones: Lightning.
Starting at his 21 with 54 seconds left in the half and trailing 10-7, Romo hit Secret Weapon No. 2, tight end Martellus Bennett, for 17 yards.
On first down from the 38, with no huddle and out of the Shotgun, Romo looked downfield, once, twice, then under pressure, flipped the ball slightly left to Jones.
Felix juked left, juked right and then was gone down the left sideline, until Tennessee's Donnie Nickey shoved him out of bounds 42 yards later at the Titans' 20.
"It was a good throw from Tony," Jones said. "He passed it to me and I just tried to make two people miss. Miles Austin had a great block on the outside."
Five plays later, Jones spurted over the right side from the 1-yard line for the touchdown that put the Cowboys up for good.
"It feels great [after] going through all the hard work in training camp," Jones said.
Romo had full-game type stats injust the first two quarters, completing 18 of 24 passes for 192 yards.
Barber had 10 carries for 32 yards and Jones five for 17, but they were also among nine receivers who caught passes in the first half.
Jones' 42-yarder was the biggest of the night. He brings another dimension to the Cowboys' offense, one of immediate volatility and speed.
"You can see how explosive he is and how explosive our offense can be," Phillips said. "We had the ball with about a minute left in the half and went right down the field. Of course, [Jones] made a big play and then scored with five seconds left."
That Jones touchdown was intriguing because it showed how confident the Cowboys are with their running game. On first down, most teams would have thrown the ball in hopes that if it fell incomplete, they might still get another play off.
"We decided to run the ball with five seconds left," Phillips said.
"We did have a timeout, but the chances of not making it and having another play are not good. But we have a lot of confidence in our offensive line, especially the right side there and Felix running the ball."
Jones raced in over the right side standing up.
On this night, there's no question that the biggest star was the stadium itself, but Jones was a very close second.
Just don't expect him to finish there very often.
Sports, Pages 24 on 08/23/2009