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By Mark Francescutti
mfrancescutti@dallasnews.com
5:06 pm on September 22, 2013 | Permalink
Tony Romo after the Cowboys’ 31-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams
Q: Is that the best football you’ve played this season?: Yeah, we had great balance tonight. I thought eh guys up front did a great job of opening and creating holes for DeMarco and he did a great job seeing where it was at and putting his foot in the ground and getting vertical. It was a great day out there.
Q: What did the running game do to help you?: Well, it just helps everything. It minimized coverages. They have to be gap sound. They started out the game trying to play some inverted type coverages and they had to get away from that. So I think a lot of their plan was minimized because of it.
Q: Starting fast has been an issue. Did this game help that?: Yeah, it was good last week, too, when we did it. It was good again this week and in the Giant game. So, it’s been nice to just kind of come out and get points up on the board. Last year we didn’t do a very god job of that and we were behind in I think every game. So it’s nice to do what we’ve been doing. It helps play-calling and everything else.
Q: Did the Giants’ score surprise you?: I just heard that, so that is surprising. But it’s he NFL, it’s hard every week, especially when you’re on the road. I think they played on the road in this game. That’s a tough thing. It’s always going to be hard. You can’t take anything for granted.
Q: Did you get any sense from DeMarco that he was looking forward to this game?: Yeah, I think more than anything, we turn off the noise more than anything. The television, the writers, the story’s going to be written again every week. And we understand that. Some weeks you throw it better, and some weeks you run it better. It’s a long season. You just have to keep getting better and you have to find out what your team is going to be real good at and how you can attack teams in different ways and what you’re going to do in certain situations that you execute at a high level. I don’t know that there was anything that stood out to me. Other than it was just the same commitment and drive and work ethic he’s shown all year in the offseason and the first two games.
Q: Are the ribs continuing to feel better?: Yeah, they’re feeling good. And I think the next game, they’ll be fine.
Q: Did you sense the running game would be this successful today?: I don’t know that you ever go in thinking…I don’t know how many yards we rushed for? Yeah, that’s almost 200 yards, I mean that’s a lot at any level, especially the NFL. That’s just a credit to the guys up front and DeMarco and what they did today. That makes my job and everyone else’s much easier. We wanted to run the football today, and we did a good job of obviously having production to make it easy to do so.
Q: How well did the offensive line play?: They did great. They created some big holes and they also gave me time throughout the game to do some different things and get to some certain guys that you normally wouldn’t get to. Like I said before, it makes everyone’s job easier when you have some good guys up front.
Q: How do you feel Gavin Escobar is coming along?: He’s young. He almost had the one [touchdown] earlier in the game, like you said. I thin he lost his shoe against New York on one where I think he would have had one. So, it was just a matter of time. He did a good job on the route today. He’s a big target, so that helps.
Q: Do games like this, where the running game is working, help open up things?: I think any time you only have to attempt however many passes we did today, your job is easier. Just the number of coverages are dwindled that you go up against. But each game is going to come up different. You’ll have one or two game like this and you’ll have one slanted the other way and you have to throw it more times than you want to. That’s going to be part of the season. But it’s nice today to just give them the ball and just let those guys go.
Q: Were you trying to go with a more vertical passing game?: Yeah, I think we did a good job. It’s all dictated on coverages. If you run the ball like that, you’re going to push the ball downfield because of the nature of what they’re going to have to play. If you’re not running it well, they’re going to be able to keep things in front of them. We’re not going to force the ball downfield when two people are covering a guy. It’s just not smart.
Q: Are Mondays easier after game like this?: No. You feel god when you win and it doesn’t feel good when you lose. That’s probably the after effect. This Monday will feel good. Last Monday probably didn’t feel as good.
Q: Was it important to score after halftime and send a message?: Yeah, that was big. Obviously the game wasn’t over at that point, but it’s a tough one to come back from that amount. We knew getting that ball, we had a chance to really put some pressure on them to make them become one dimensional right away. We talked about at halftime it was time to call some of the things we really felt strongly in and go out and do it.
Q: Did you miss an opportunity there late in the first half?: The two-minute opportunity? Yeah we had an opportunity there. I think we got to second-and-2, and one of their pass rushers did a good job and made me have to move. I think I threw to DeMarco for like a yard. That was a pretty good job. That play, we would have gotten a few yards on that specific play, because the coverage dictated that the guy was going to come open. And then third down, they did a good job and made it a tough throw and catch.
Q: Were you aware when Waters or Mackenzy are in the game?: I’ll see them in the huddle sometimes. I think more than anything, you just play and go through your progressions and such.
Q: How much did you change the plays this week vs. last week?: Eh, they’re probably pretty similar. I don’t think changing the play means anything. A lot of it’s just dictated on what you’re seeing that day and the coverages that are coming in. But it’s probably pretty close.
mfrancescutti@dallasnews.com
5:06 pm on September 22, 2013 | Permalink
Tony Romo after the Cowboys’ 31-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams
Q: Is that the best football you’ve played this season?: Yeah, we had great balance tonight. I thought eh guys up front did a great job of opening and creating holes for DeMarco and he did a great job seeing where it was at and putting his foot in the ground and getting vertical. It was a great day out there.
Q: What did the running game do to help you?: Well, it just helps everything. It minimized coverages. They have to be gap sound. They started out the game trying to play some inverted type coverages and they had to get away from that. So I think a lot of their plan was minimized because of it.
Q: Starting fast has been an issue. Did this game help that?: Yeah, it was good last week, too, when we did it. It was good again this week and in the Giant game. So, it’s been nice to just kind of come out and get points up on the board. Last year we didn’t do a very god job of that and we were behind in I think every game. So it’s nice to do what we’ve been doing. It helps play-calling and everything else.
Q: Did the Giants’ score surprise you?: I just heard that, so that is surprising. But it’s he NFL, it’s hard every week, especially when you’re on the road. I think they played on the road in this game. That’s a tough thing. It’s always going to be hard. You can’t take anything for granted.
Q: Did you get any sense from DeMarco that he was looking forward to this game?: Yeah, I think more than anything, we turn off the noise more than anything. The television, the writers, the story’s going to be written again every week. And we understand that. Some weeks you throw it better, and some weeks you run it better. It’s a long season. You just have to keep getting better and you have to find out what your team is going to be real good at and how you can attack teams in different ways and what you’re going to do in certain situations that you execute at a high level. I don’t know that there was anything that stood out to me. Other than it was just the same commitment and drive and work ethic he’s shown all year in the offseason and the first two games.
Q: Are the ribs continuing to feel better?: Yeah, they’re feeling good. And I think the next game, they’ll be fine.
Q: Did you sense the running game would be this successful today?: I don’t know that you ever go in thinking…I don’t know how many yards we rushed for? Yeah, that’s almost 200 yards, I mean that’s a lot at any level, especially the NFL. That’s just a credit to the guys up front and DeMarco and what they did today. That makes my job and everyone else’s much easier. We wanted to run the football today, and we did a good job of obviously having production to make it easy to do so.
Q: How well did the offensive line play?: They did great. They created some big holes and they also gave me time throughout the game to do some different things and get to some certain guys that you normally wouldn’t get to. Like I said before, it makes everyone’s job easier when you have some good guys up front.
Q: How do you feel Gavin Escobar is coming along?: He’s young. He almost had the one [touchdown] earlier in the game, like you said. I thin he lost his shoe against New York on one where I think he would have had one. So, it was just a matter of time. He did a good job on the route today. He’s a big target, so that helps.
Q: Do games like this, where the running game is working, help open up things?: I think any time you only have to attempt however many passes we did today, your job is easier. Just the number of coverages are dwindled that you go up against. But each game is going to come up different. You’ll have one or two game like this and you’ll have one slanted the other way and you have to throw it more times than you want to. That’s going to be part of the season. But it’s nice today to just give them the ball and just let those guys go.
Q: Were you trying to go with a more vertical passing game?: Yeah, I think we did a good job. It’s all dictated on coverages. If you run the ball like that, you’re going to push the ball downfield because of the nature of what they’re going to have to play. If you’re not running it well, they’re going to be able to keep things in front of them. We’re not going to force the ball downfield when two people are covering a guy. It’s just not smart.
Q: Are Mondays easier after game like this?: No. You feel god when you win and it doesn’t feel good when you lose. That’s probably the after effect. This Monday will feel good. Last Monday probably didn’t feel as good.
Q: Was it important to score after halftime and send a message?: Yeah, that was big. Obviously the game wasn’t over at that point, but it’s a tough one to come back from that amount. We knew getting that ball, we had a chance to really put some pressure on them to make them become one dimensional right away. We talked about at halftime it was time to call some of the things we really felt strongly in and go out and do it.
Q: Did you miss an opportunity there late in the first half?: The two-minute opportunity? Yeah we had an opportunity there. I think we got to second-and-2, and one of their pass rushers did a good job and made me have to move. I think I threw to DeMarco for like a yard. That was a pretty good job. That play, we would have gotten a few yards on that specific play, because the coverage dictated that the guy was going to come open. And then third down, they did a good job and made it a tough throw and catch.
Q: Were you aware when Waters or Mackenzy are in the game?: I’ll see them in the huddle sometimes. I think more than anything, you just play and go through your progressions and such.
Q: How much did you change the plays this week vs. last week?: Eh, they’re probably pretty similar. I don’t think changing the play means anything. A lot of it’s just dictated on what you’re seeing that day and the coverages that are coming in. But it’s probably pretty close.