IRVING, Texas (AP) — Talk of who's replacing Jason Garrett figures to be secondary — at least this week — to how the Dallas
Cowboys can stay in the NFC East race now that they're back in it.
A week after losing in Atlanta when
speculation centered on whether Sean Payton was coming to Dallas, the
Cowboys won at Philadelphia
on the same day a report surfaced that Mike Holmgren was
interested in joining the Cowboys.
Garrett spent all week deflecting the Payton questions, and owner Jerry Jones did more of the same with Holmgren on Sunday,
when the Cowboys beat the Eagles 38-23 in what amounted to an elimination game for any realistic playoff hopes.
Tony Romo started the rally with a
spectacular scramble and throw that saved a drive and led to a long
scoring toss to Dez
Bryant. The Cowboys secured the win by scoring fourth-quarter
touchdowns on a punt return, an interception and a fumble. It
was the first time Dallas had all three in one game.
Now the Cowboys will try to keep it going
Sunday against Cleveland, where Holmgren has been ousted as president
but hopes
to remain in an advisory role until the end of the season. He's
admittedly unsure whether he wants to coach again, but strongly
denied a report that he was interested in Dallas if Garrett were
fired.
"Hey, look, it gets back to football, but you lose another game and there's going to be more talk," tight end Jason Witten
said. "We know what's at stake, and I thought it was big of our team to go find a way to win, and hopefully we'll build on
that."
Last week was actually tougher than just
replacement talk for Garrett and Jones. The Dallas owner started a
tit-for-tat with
former coach Jimmy Johnson by claiming he had always been in
charge of football decisions with the Cowboys. Credit was part
of the reason for their acrimonious split in 1994 after
consecutive Super Bowl wins, so naturally Johnson shot back.
Johnson, though, went a little further, calling the Cowboys' practice facility a "country club" and forcing Garrett, one of
his former quarterbacks, to answer still more questions. When he took the job, Garrett made it clear he wanted to use the
Johnson model of accountability and discipline to try to make Dallas a winner again.
The best answer anyone could have given came
Sunday against the Eagles, which might help explain Garrett's firm hug
around
the neck of Harris after the punt returner who replaced the
inconsistent Bryant sprinted 78 yards in front of the Dallas bench
to give the Cowboys the lead for good at 24-17.
"We have a good approach and a mindset of we don't worry about that outside noise and we know when you're 3-5 that's going
to come," Witten said. "I thought Jason Garrett did a great job of letting our team (know) ... don't worry about anything
else other than having a good practice today and going on the road and finding a way to get a win."
Now that the Cowboys have barely survived a stretch of four road games out of five, they get five of the next six at home,
starting with three straight. After the Browns on Sunday, Washington visits on Thanksgiving followed by a rematch with the
Eagles on Dec. 2.
A trip to Cincinnati is followed by home games against Pittsburgh and New Orleans. The Steelers are the only team in that
six-game stretch with a winning record right now.
The Cowboys are also just one game behind in the loss column to the NFC East-leading New York Giants, who have lost twice
since getting out of Texas with a win when an apparent game-winning catch by Bryant was overturned on replay.
"We know we have a shot. But we're not looking around to see what everyone else is doing," cornerback Brandon Carr said. "If
the Giants lose, win, draw, however it may be, that has nothing to do with us."
The Dallas offense had two important answers
to seven-point leads for Philadelphia, with the second one tying the
game at
17-17 on a 30-yard toss from Romo to Bryant. Three players
earlier, Romo kept the drive alive by eluding several pass rushers
and finding Miles Austin for 25 yards on third down.
Romo mixed that sort of playmaking with better ball protection. He didn't have an interception for the second straight week
and might even give up his NFL lead in that category (13) with another turnover-free game.
"The offense is taking care of the ball, and we got the special teams' first score of the season," Carr said. "Everybody's
warming up."