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Several teams, including the Cowboys, made early statements, and a few teams fell flat on their faces in the first week of the regular season.

On Thursday, the Indianapolis Colts started off their run to a repeat wth a 41-10 thrashing of the New Orleans Saints. It was a 10-10 game at halftime, but the Colts were just plain dominant in the second half, scoring 31 points. Peyton Manning threw for 288 yards and three scores, two to Reggie Wayne, and one to his favorite target, Marvin Harrison. Joseph Addai ran for 118 yards and a score, and Wayne caught seven passes for 118 yards. The game was expected to be an offensive shootout, and it was, but it was one of the one-sided variety. The impressive thing about the win was not the Colts’ offensive output, because we’re accustomed to it, but the fact that the defense, which was expected to, well, stink, held down Drew Brees (28 of 41, 192 yards, 2 INT) and the duo of Reggie Busch (12 carries, 38 yards) and Deuce McAllister (10 carries, 38 yards).

Randy Moss showed Packers’ GM Ted Thompson why he should’ve signed him, catching nine passes for 183 yards and a score in his Patriots’ debut, as New England made a statement of their own in a 38-14 win at the Meadowlands against the Jets. Tom Brady was 22 of 28 for 297 yards and three scores, and Chad Pennington got hurt again. The highlight of the game was Ellis Hobbs’ NFL record 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half.

San Diego wasn’t an offensive machine against the Bears, but in the end, L.T. and the Chargers picked up a 14-3 win over Chicago in Norv Turner’s debut. Tomlinson was held to 25 yards on 17 carries, but threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates in the third to put the Chargers up 7-3, and scored on a 7-yard run to seal the game in the 4th. Rex Grossman was only 12 of 23 for 145 yards and an interception, and if he struggles regularly this season, the Bears will be shopping for a QB in the offseason (because as nice as Brian Griese and Kyle Orton may be, the draft will offer about 39 better possibilities).

Ben Roethlisberger threw for four touchdowns, and Willie Parker ran for 109 yards, as the Steelers handed the Browns their first of what Cowboys fans hope will be many, many losses this season, in a 34-7 rout. It looks like Sunday’s game was the last in the Charlie Frye experiment, as he’s headed to the Seahawks to become Matt Hasselbeck’s backup.

Three games were won on last-second field goals. The Packers capitalized on two punt return mistakes by the Eagles, the last giving them a chance for a game-winning, 43-yard field goal by rookie kicker Mason Crosby with two seconds left to give Green Bay a 16-13 win. Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed both muffed punts in the game, with Lewis’ being recovered in the end zone for the Packers’ only touchdown, and Reed’s giving the Packers the field position they needed in the final minute. Here’s a suggestion for the Eagles: Lito Sheppard.

Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals for the Redskins, including a 39-yarder in OT to give the Redskins a 16-13 win over Miami. Washington was the better team offensively, racking up 400 yards to Miami’s 273, but

Denver dominated Buffalo all game long, but needed a 42-yard field goal from Jason Elam as time expired to leave Buffalo with a 15-14 win. Elam had missed two field goals prior to his game-winning kick, which came after Jay Cutler conjured up memories of John Elway, leading the Broncos down the field and converting two 4th downs. Denver outgained Buffalo 470-184, with Cutler throwing for 304 yards and Travis Henry running for 159. The game’s most notable moment, however, was an injury to Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett, who suffered a serious spinal injury making a tackle in the third quarter, and may be permanently paralyzed.

Detroit and Houston gave definite signs of improvement in impressive wins on Sunday. The Texans recorded a 20-3 win over the Chiefs at Reliant Stadium. Matt Schaub threw for 225 yards and a score, and Ahman Green ran for 73 yards in their debuts. Andre Johnson caught seven passes for 142 yards a 77-yard score. The Chiefs, meanwhile, stank, as Damon Huard was picked off twice, and Larry Johnson ran for only 43 yards.

The Lions scored 16 points in the last 4:15 to pick up a 36-21 win over Oakland. Jon Kitna threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns, including a 32-yarder to Shaun McDonald to give the Lions a 26-21 lead. Tatum Bell ran for 87 yards and the game-sealing score with 1:16 to go. Calvin Johnson caught four passes for 70 yards and a score in his Lions debut.

The Ravens are supposed to be the favorite in the AFC North, but got off to a bad start with a 27-20 loss at Cincinnati. Carson Palmer threw for two touchdowns, and the Bengals were the ones who came up with the big defense when it mattered, picking off Kyle Boller in the end zone with less than a minute and a half left to seal the win. Boller was in the game because Steve McNair suffered a groin injury in the first, and even though he stayed in until the fourth, couldn’t go on the last drive. Hopefully for the Ravens’ sake, it’s not going to bite them, because I don’t think Brian Billick wants to go back up the Boller tree again, unless he really, really has to, or unless Boller is better than he was previously as a starter.

The Other Games

Adrian Peterson ran for 103 yards and had a 60-yard touchdown reception in his Vikings debut as Minnesota scored a 24-3 win over Atlanta. The Falcons played very poorly, and better improve very, very quickly, otherwise it’s going to be a long, long year. But, hey, there’s a Brian Brohm at the end of the rainbow! If Bobby Petrino calls nothing but runs up the middle, screen passes, and long bombs for the rest of the season, we might have to wonder if there’s a little something going on.

Chris Brown ran for 175 yards and then jetted to Las Vegas for a standout performance at the VMAs, and the Titans beat the Jaguars 13-10 in a game that shouldn’t have been anywhere near that close.

Alex Smith conjured up some Montana-like memories, leading the 49ers on a game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes to lead San Francisco to a 20-17 win over Arizona. Smith played horribly all game long, until the final drive, when he completed six passes, and had a 25-yard run on a 4th and 1 that got the 49ers to the Cardinals’ 20. The final drive was affected by the rulebrook. Arnaz Battle caught a ball over the middle and got to the 1 before the ball was jarred loose and knocked into the end zone. The Cardinals’ Eric Green missed on the recovery, and it was recovered by a 49ers player. Under two minutes, if there’s a fumble, the player who fumbled it must recover it, otherwise it goes back to the fumbled spot. On the next play, Battle atoned for his fumble by going into the end zone on an end around to give the 49ers the winning score.

And, Seattle picked up a 20-6 win over the Bucs. If Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander stay healthy, the Seahawks are certainly a contender in the NFC. If not, it could be a repeat of last year, when they fell on their faces after their run to the Super Bowl in 2005.

We’ve got week one behind us. What will the next sixteen weeks bring?

Wade Phillips walks off a winner in his regular-season debut on the Cowboys’ sidelines, and the Cowboys outslug the Giants in a shootout. The game was the highest-scoring ever in the history of the Giants-Cowboys rivalry, and made the Cowboys 5-0 in season openers vs. New York.

Both teams racked up well over 400 yards, with the Giants totaling 438, and the Cowboys 478. Both quarterbacks went for over 300, with Manning going for 312 and four scores, and Romo going for 345 and four scores.

Plaxico Burress led all receivers with eight catches for 144 yards, and three scores, and Jason Witten was the Cowboys’ leading receiver with six catches for 116 yards and a score. Amani Toomer caught nine passes for 91 yards to back up Burress’ big night, and T.O. got held down for a while, but ended up making a huge difference in the second half with his two touchdown catches.

Julius Jones and Marion Barber are both on pace for 1,000 yard seasons, after recording 66 and 65 yards respectively. Barber picked up a score on the ground, and Romo scored his first career rushing touchdown as well. And, Derrick Ward showed why Tom Coughlin made him the backup over the more experienced and proven Reuben Droughns, by rushing for 89 yards on 13 carries, and catching four passes for 27 yards and a score.

It was far from perfect, if you’re considering the defense, and a couple of crucial mistakes that were made - a Tyson Thompson fumble that led to three points at the end of the first half, Romo’s interception that led to a touchdown, and Jacques Reeves getting burned on all three of Burress’ touchdowns. But, if this is what we’re going to see from the offense all season long, then you’ve got to feel pretty good about the Cowboys’ chances, because the defense is definitely going to play much, much better on most nights than they did tonight.

Offensive MVP: Romo, of course. He shredded the Giants’ defense all night long, and matched Manning blow for blow, and then some. He completed only 15 passes tonight, but he definitely made the most of them. All fifteen completions went for at least 10 yards or more, with seven going for 20+ yards, and touchdowns of 12, 22, 47, and 51 yards. He did have the one interception, but he made up for it with a perfectly thrown pass to Sam Hurd that went for the game-sealing, 51-yard touchdown with three minutes to go. And, as an added bonus, he moved well, getting sacked only once, and making a couple of nice plays with his legs, including the nine-yard touchdown run late in the third to make it 31-19 at the time.

Defensive MVP: In a game where there wasn’t very much defense, it’s hard to give anyone an award. The injury bug did as much damage to the Giants as the Dallas defense could have. Starting running back Brandon Jacobs was knocked out in the first half, and then, Eli Manning was knocked out of the game in the fourth. But, in all seriousness, you’d probably have to give it to the two starting safeties, who combined for 15 tackles. Or, you could give it to the front seven, who, despite recording only one sack on the night, pressured Manning several times, some successfully and some unsuccessfully. Besides the hit by Spencer that helped knock Manning out, there was the sack on the two-point conversion play in the fourth that kept it at 38-28 and made things just a little harder on the Giants, even after they quickly pulled within three, and also helped knock Manning out a few minutes early.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cowboys go to South Florida for their first road game of the season, a tilt with the Miami Dolphins next Sunday afternoon. The Dolphins dropped a tight one at Washington today, getting beaten 16-13 in overtime, as former Cowboys kicker Shaun Suisham nailed a 39-yarder five and a half minutes into OT to give the ‘Skins the win.

The Dolphins were outgained 191-66 on the ground, as Clinton Portis (98 yards) and Ladell Betts (59 yards) led the Redskins’ offense, which also got 162 yards receiving from Antwaan Randle El.

So, that bodes well for Julius Jones and Marion Barber, and also for Tony Romo and the Cowboys’ pass-catchers.

Will we see Terence Newman on Sunday? I certainly hope so, but only if he’s actually going to benefit the team by being on the field, and not be a liability. I imagine Reeves is going to get plenty of first-team reps this week in practice, just so he can be prepared. Also, how serious is Ferguson’s injury. Jay Ratliff is a reliable backup and recorded three tackles and the only sack of the night for Dallas, but you don’t want to see your starter out for too long, if at all.

Chris Chambers doesn’t present as much of a matchup problem as Burress did for the secondary, but he’ll still be more than a handful, so they best be prepared.

But, for now, it’s time to celebrate at least for a few hours, as the Cowboys started the season off on the right foot, with an impressive (at least offensively) win over their fierce rivals. And, even better, we got a fist pump from Wade Phillips. We’ll track that story as more becomes available.

8:27: The Giants convert yet another third down, as Reuben Droughs goes for five on a third-and-one.

7:26: Manning finds an open Amani Toomer for a 14-yard gain to the four, and the Giants are within striking distance of a big score. Burress has seven catches for 134 yards and the two touchdowns, but Toomer has quietly had a pretty good game, with eight catches for 90 yards. Manning is closing in on 300 yards.

7:20: The Cowboys get pressure on Eli, but he dumps it off to Ward, who has some space and gets into the end zone. Manning has done that a number of times in the game, and it got a great return right there.

The Giants go for the two to try to pull within eight, since it’s that time of the game where you may as well take your chances. But, the pressure comes again, and this time Manning can’t get rid of the ball before it’s jarred loose, and the score remains 38-28.

On the first play of the drive, Romo throws over the middle, and Gibril Wilson plays the play perfectly and picks the pass off, then returns it to the 23. With seven minutes left, it’s far, far, far from over.

5:00: On third and three, Manning hooks up with rookie Steve Smith for a first down to the 11, and the drive continues. The Cowboys need to stop the Giants short of the end zone, because having a three-point lead in the final minutes, with a pass defense that’s gotten burned more than a few times tonight, is cutting it just a little too close to the vest.

4:09: On second down, Manning gets all the time in the world to throw, slings it over the middle, and finds Burress in the back of the end zone for his third score of the night. Reeves gave Burress too much space, and that let Burress get behind him and Roy Williams to snag the ball and get the two feet down.

Now it’s time for the Cowboys to answer, or at least run as much time off the clock as possible. The Giants have all of their timeouts, so at least a couple of first downs would be nice. Thompson atones for his earlier gaffe by returning the kick to the 46 to give Dallas great field position.

3:03: Sam Hurd beats R.W. McQuarters and catches a bullet from Romo, and wins the foot race to the end zone for a 51-yard, back-breaking touchdown. Romo has thrown for four scores now, and has absolutely carved the Giants apart tonight, and has reached a career high in yards with 345. And, he’s done it on only 24 attempts and 15 completions. Minus the interception, which he quickly made up for, it’s been a near-perfect night for him.

Jared Lorenzen is going to come in the game for the Giants, as it appears Manning has had some shoulder issues that are just a little too much for him to continue. According to Al Michaels, it’s a bruised right shoulder. They’re showing the replay now, and it looks like the injury occurred when Anthony Spencer yanked him down to the ground on the failed two-point play, and Manning landed directly on his shoulder. Unfortunate for Eli, who did all he could to try to lead his team to the win tonight, going 28 of 41 for 312 yards and four scores.

2:08: On fourth down, Lorenzen runs for it, and slides to a halt just short of the first down marker. Maybe he didn’t want to get his head knocked off, but it’s not the play that the Giants needed to happen right there. Nail in the coffin? I think so.

Late third: The Cowboys are driving towards a score, after Romo hooked up with Jason Witten on a 38-yard catch, and Marion Barber just ran it for about 15 yards, but their lead could certainly be a little bigger. Terence Newman is out tonight, and his replacement, Jacques Reeves, has gotten burned twice by Plaxico Burress for touchdowns.

Thankfully, the Cowboys offense has been clicking all night, and just as I type that, Romo rolls out to his left, sees some open field, and runs nine yards for a score, and it’s 31-19 Dallas, just that quickly.

The Giants scored three plays into the game, when Eli Manning hit Burress for a 60-yard touchdown. The extra point was botched, and it was only 6-0.

From there, the Cowboys scored 17 straight points, on a 31-yard Nick Folk field goal (so far, so good), an 18-yard Barber touchdown, and a 12-yard touchdown from Romo to Witten.

But, the Giants pulled within one at halftime, with 10 points in twenty seconds. Manning hit Burress for his second touchdown, and then, Tyson Thompson fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which led to a Lawrence Tynes field goal seconds before the half.

But, order was restored quickly, as Romo and T.O. hooked up for a 22-yard score three minutes into the quarter. Tynes kicked his second field goal to make it 24-19, and then, on the Cowboys’ last drive, it took only four plays to go 67 yards for the score.

But, the Giants have gone right back down the field. Brandon Jacobs suffered a knee injury in the first half, and Derrick Ward has taken over for him. Ward didn’t do much for a good while, but he just busted loose for a 44-yard run on the last play of the third that got the Giants inside the 10.

For the most part, though, the Cowboys have done a great job with run defense, holding the Giants to 52 yards minus that big run by Ward. The pass defense could definitely be better, but Giants fans are likely saying the same thing, because Romo has had a great night so far. And, it hasn’t been all bad for Reeves, who had an interception and an 18-yard return to the Giants’ 23 that helped set up the Cowboys’ second touchdown.

The injury bug has bitten both teams so far. Besides Jacobs’ injury, DE Osi Umenyora got knocked out for the game due to a lower leg injury. And, just now, on the kickoff following his third field goal to make it 31-22, Tynes had to be attended to following the ensuing kickoff, and cornerback Kevin Dockery (former Mississippi State alum) had to be helped off of the field. And, for the Cowboys, Jason Ferguson left the game in the first quarter with a right elbow injury, and didn’t return.

Oh, look at that! T.O. at his finest! After Romo hooked up with Crayton on the first play of the drive to get the Cowboys across midfield, and a Jones run that went nowhere, Romo went for Owens, who got it, broke the tackle in stride, and sped to the end zone for his second score of the night, and it’s 38-22 with twelve minutes to go.

After getting shut down in the first half, T.O. has three catches for 87 yards, and the two scores (22 and 47 yards). Romo now has 294 yards on 14 of 22 passing, and three touchdowns.

It’s not over yet, but it’s close. A stop here may well seal it. That is, if the secondary doesn’t continue to allow Manning to keep going downfield.

Given most of the starters played little, or none at all, a lot of tonight, including the final score, could be considered pretty insignificant for the long run.

But, there are a few things to ponder now that the preseason is done. Some questions have been answered, and some may not be for a few days, when cuts are made, and some not until the Cowboys hit the field against the Giants in just over a week.

Will Wade Phillips keep three QBs on the roster? If he was going to, it’d be Matt Moore, who’s gotten most of the reps behind Tony Romo and Brad Johnson. He finished out a pretty good preseason by going 14 of 19 with a touchdown, but he did have two fumbles. If giving him a spot isn’t going to take away one from a position of need, then it’d be good to have him on the sidelines, to give him an opportunity to learn the ropes.

Will the Cowboys keep six or seven receivers? We know there are at least five that are definites (T.O., Glenn, Crayton, Hurd, and Stanback). But, are there spots for both Miles Austin and Jerheme Urban, or just one for both? Austin was invisible for most of the preseason until tonight, when he made three catches for 37 yards, and had two more negated on penalties. Urban, meanwhile, may have answered the “Who will return punts?” question, with his 95-yard punt return for a TD in the first quarter. Urban is a more experienced and dependable receiver (minus the fumble), and that may work to his benefit, but Austin definitely made a case for himself too tonight, so we’ll find out who wins, who loses, and if anyone loses, when the cuts are made this weekend.

Also, tight end Tony Curtis rounded out an impressive preseason with five catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, and probably cemented his roster spot as the team’s third tight end. Matt Moore may have done more to help Curtis secure a roster spot than he did for himself.

Do we really have anything to worry about in the secondary? The jury’s still out there. Pat Watkins and Joey Thomas got burned on a 38-yard catch and run by Robert Ferguson, and the Vikings did have a couple of nice passing plays, but it was nothing like last week, when the Texans made the Cowboys’ secondary look pretty bad. The Vikings’ four QBs combined to complete only 17 of 32 passes, and limited them to only two plays of over 20 yards, so at best, our worries weren’t increased.

Do we have anyone who can step up in Newman’s place, besides Aaron Glenn? Thomas did get burned on that one play, but he had five tackles, and overall had a great preseason.

Do we really read anything into the five turnovers tonight? Not really, since none of the starters made them. The fumble by Urban was just the result of a defender doing a great job of jarring the ball loose from behind.

Did Nick Folk win the kicking job? Well, he made both of his extra points, so he certainly didn’t do anything to lose it.

What needs to improve between now and the 9th? Well, Terence Newman, for one. If anything, the next week-plus should be spent working hard to shore up potential weaknesses, from the secondary, to the special teams coverage.

I’ll have a more in-depth look at what to consider and look for going into the season within the next few days, when I’ll kickoff the regular season previews and start getting ready for the start of the regular season, which is finally, finally almost here.

It wasn’t a particularly good week for the NFC East, as the division compiled a 1-3 record, or for the NFC overall, as NFC teams have gone 3-8 vs. the AFC in Week 3 (Atlanta hosts Cincinnati tonight on MNF).

Here’s a look at the results to this point.

Thursday

Jacksonville overcame a 10-0 halftime deficit to knock off Green Bay 21-13 at Lambeau Field. Jaguars starting QB Byron Leftwich was pretty ineffective in two-plus quarters of play, going 6 of 16 for 67 yards. But, backup QB David Garrard ignited the comeback, leading Jacksonville on two touchdown drives in the third quarter. Brett Favre was 14 of 20 for 130 yards in the first half for the Packers, and rookie receiver James Jones kept us his good play in the preseason, with six catches for 80 yards in the loss.

In Kansas City, the New Orleans Saints were absolutely dominant in their 30-7 win over the Chiefs. Drew Brees was 17 of 19 for 182 yards and a touchdown, while rookie RB Pierre Thomas ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns. New Orleans outgained K.C. 479-153 for the game.

Friday

It was the Vince Young show in Buffalo, as the Titans’ QB passed for 162 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another touchdown as Tennessee knocked off Buffalo 28-17. Young did his damage in the first half to give the Titans a 14-10 lead going into the locker room, and then Kerry Collins threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to put the game away. J.P. Losman threw for 180 yards and a 64-yard touchdown to Lee Evans. Both teams accounted for nearly 400 yards each.

New daddy Tom Brady was in midseason form as New England picked up their first preseason win in a Super Bowl rematch at Carolina. Brady threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns in two-plus quarters of action, and left after his touchdown pass to Heath Evans gave the Patriots a 17-7 lead early in the third. Evans added a TD run late in the quarter to finish off the scoring. Jake Delhomme threw for 162 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers, who lost third-string QB Brett Basanez to a serious injury.

The starting QB battle is still ongoing in Oakland, where the Raiders picked up a 20-10 win over the former L.A. rivals, the St. Louis Rams. Josh McCown was 6 of 9 for 138 yards, while Daunte Culpepper was 4 of 8 for 47 yards and a touchdown. Marc Bulger threw for 108 yards, and Gus Frerotte threw for 109 yards and a touchdown. A touchdown pass from Culpepper to Ronald Curry and a Lamont Jordan touchdown run in the second quarter gave the Raiders a 17-3 lead, as the Raiders continue to be productive under the former Vikings QB, who looks to be the leader in the battle for the starting job while JaMarcus Russell continus to (stupidly) holdout.

Saturday

There were nine games on Saturday, including that one in Houston that I won’t say much more about.

The Colts put on a passing clinic against the Lions in a 37-10 rout. After torching the Lions for six touchdowns the last time he faced them (Thanksgiving Day 2004), Peyton Manning did it again, going 23 of 27 for 233 yards and three touchdowns - all in the first half. In the second half, backup Jim Sorgi kept it going, going 16 of 23 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. For the Lions, J.T. O’Sullivan started in place of starting QB Jon Kitna and went 24 of 34 for 232 yards with one touchdown and two INTs.

In Miami, Bruce Gradkowski threw two fourth-quarter TD passes to lead Tampa Bay to a 31-28 win over the Dolphins. The starting QBs weren’t bad, but they weren’t great, as Jeff Garcia went 4 of 10 for 54 yards with a touchdown and a pick for the Bucs, while Trent Green was 7 of 11 for 42 yards with a touchdown and a pick. It was the backups that did the job for each team, as Gradkowski was 10 of 16 for 104 yards and the two TDs, including a 1-yarder to Paris Warren wth 4:51 left that proved to be the winner. John Beck was 11 of 22 for 162 yards and two TDs for the Dolphins, who had made late comebacks to win their first two preseason games, but couldn’t do it this time around.

In Washington, bad weather caused a premature end to the Ravens-Redskins matchup. Lightning delayed the start of the game, and then, with more bad weather looming, officials decided to call the game with 11:38 left in the third. As a result, Washington picked up a 13-7 win over Baltimore. Rookie linebacker Dallas Sartz’s 3-yard INT return for a touchdown a minute into the quarter proved to be the difference. Jason Campbell didn’t start for the Redskins, so Todd Collins started and went 8 of 15 for 88 yards. For the Ravens, Steve McNair was 14 of 19 for 98 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

In Chicago, the Bears dominated the first half, and weathered a furious fourth-quarter comeback to beat San Francisco 31-28 and remain the only unbeaten team in the preseason. Rex Grossman threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, as the Bears did all of their scoring n the first two stanzas to take a commanding 31-13 lead. Trent Dilfer threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for the 49ers to make the game close, but it was all Bears, as both of the defending conference champions had impressive performances.

Eli Manning had a solid first half, throwing for 146 yards and a touchdown, and left with a lead, but the Jets got two TD runs in the third and went on to a 20-12 win in the matchup at the Meadowlands. The Giants held a 12-6 halftime lead, due to a safety, a field goal, and Manning’s touchdown to Anthony Mix just before halftime. But, Danny Ware and backup QB Kellen Clemens ran for touchdowns in the third to give the Jets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Chad Pennington was only 5 of 11 for 89 yards, but he did hook up with Leon Washington on a 79-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first.

In Seattle, the Seahawks rolled to a 30-13 victory over the Vikings. Josh Brown kicked three field goals for Seattle, and Shaun Alexander ran for a touchdown in the first half. Seneca Wallace hooked up with Ben Obomanu for a 57-yard touchdown, and Kevin Hobbs returned a Brooks Bollinger for a touchdown in the fourth.

In Denver, Brady Quinn backed up his impressive debut to lead the Browns to a 17-16 win over the Broncos. Quinn didn’t start, as Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson both played well in splitting time in the first half. But, it was his 20-yard TD pass to Joshua Cribbs late in the third that gave the Browns a 17-10 lead. Denver’s Selvin Young ran for a TD with three minutes left, but instead of going for the tie, the Broncos went for the win, and Young’s run for a two-point conversion came up short. It was an efficient night for the QBs, as Frye (5 of 7, 68 yards), Derek Anderson (7 of 9, 74 yards), and Quinn (7 of 11, 81 yards) all played well for Cleveland, and Jay Cutler (9 of 16, 115 yards, one TD) and Patrick Ramsey (9 of 15, 99 yards) put in good performances in the loss.

In Arizona, San Diego racked up over 500 yards in total offense, and the Chargers got four field goals from Nate Kaeding, including the winner with two seconds left to beat the Cardinals 33-31. Philip Rivers threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns for San Diego, and Vincent Jackson caught four passes for 92 yards and both touchdowns. The Chargers held a 24-17 lead when Rivers left in the third, and expanded it to 27-17, but the Cardinals came back to take the lead with just over a minute left on a 5-yard TD pass from Shane Boyd to rookie receiver Matt Trannon. But, Billy Volek drove the Chargers 53 yards in seven plays, and Kaeding booted it through from 37 yards to give San Diego their second win of the preseason. Matt Leinart continued his impressive preseason, as he went 10 of 16 for 196 yards and an 80-yard scoring pass to Anquan Boldin, who made five catches for 143 yards. But, the Cardinals’ defense continued to struggle to make stops, as Arizona has now given up 93 points (79 offensively) in three preseason games, all losses.

Sunday

In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger threw for 247 yards in his half of action, and the Steelers held off rookie QB Kevin Kolb’s attempts to bring the Eagles back, in picking up a 27-13 win. A touchdown run by Willie Parker and two field goals by Jeff Reed gave the Steelers a 13-3 halftime lead. Led by Kolb, the Eagles tried to make a comeback in the second half, pulling within 13-6 in the third, then after Kevan Barlow’s run gave the Steelers a 20-6 lead after three, Philly scored late in the fourth to pull within 20-13. They got the ball back with plenty of time left on the clock, and looked like they were headed for the end zone, as the rookie signal-caller drove them inside the 30, but a 78-yard scoop and score put the game away for Pittsburgh. Kolb was 26 of 37 for 242 yards and a touchdown, while Donovan McNabb was 5 of 11 for 60 yards.

Tonight it’s the Falcons hosting the Bengals, as Atlanta will play the same day as their fallen star plead guilty to dogfighting charges. It’s all on you now, Joey Harrington, to make the team and the fans put Vick behind them, or at least in the back of their minds.

The action is heating up, and we’re less than two weeks away from the start of the season. It’ll be a short week from here, as the teams will get just a few days to prepare for their final tuneups before the regular season openers.

Well, you can’t win them all, right? It wasn’t particularly a great night for the Cowboys, so I’ll make this as quick as possible.

Offensive MVP: Tony Romo played three full quarters and threw completed 14 of 22 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensive MVP: Bradie James was one of the defensive bright spots, racking up eight tackles (five solos, three assists). Hopefully we’ll be seeing those kinds of numbers on a regular basis this season.

Offensive Analysis: It doesn’t really help that they were playing from behind all game long, and the defense let the Texans have a pretty good night. But, when it comes down to it, the offense didn’t have the kind of night anyone (or me, rather) expected.

A lot of that is due to the running game not getting anything going at all. Julius Jones got all of the carries in the three first quarter drives, instead of things being alternated as they had been in the first two games. It might not have made any difference though, as the Texans’ run defense came to play tonight, limiting the Cowboys to very few good gains on the ground. For the night, the Cowboys totaled only 57 yards rushing on 21 carries, which comes out to a 2.7 yard average.

Romo and Brad Johnson combined to put up pretty good numbers, minus the two picks. But, without a running game, they were the ones that looked one-dimensional, not the Texans.

Defensive Analysis: You can’t put it all on Terence Newman’s absence, but it certainly made a difference. The pass defense got burned for three touchdowns and 20 completions in 28 attempts (71 percent).

The run defense wasn’t near as effective as it had been in the first two games. After limiting the Colts and Broncos to 84 yards total in two games, the Cowboys allowed 142 yards rushing tonight, on 26 attempts (nearly 5.5 yards per carry). Ahman Green busted loose for a 46-yard run early in the second quarter, which helped set up the Texans’ second touchdown, and late in the fourth, after Jacques Reeves picked up a pass interference penalty on a crucial third down play, Sam Gado had a 16-yard run that set up the touchdown that put the game away.

The backup corners got burned multiple times. Reeves had the most struggles, getting that interference penalty, and getting burned a couple of passes. And, Ball got beat on the last touchdown. This is a little worrying, since quality depth at corner is pretty important, and if you don’t know if you can depend on the backups if the starters go down, then you just better hope the starters avoid any scrapes.

Overall Analysis: Well, it’s only a preseason game, but given the way the Cowboys had played in the first two weeks, tonight’s result is pretty disappointing.

It was just an off-night for the run game, so there’s not anything to really worry about there. But, you’ve got to hope the backups in the secondary get it together next week, not only for the sake of being able to count on more than just the starters during the season, but also for their sake, because cuts are coming up, and if you can’t hack it, you’re going to get hacked, and there’ll be someone on the waiver wire ready to take your place and get it done.

Okay, maybe I’m overreacting. But, either way, you want to be able to rely on the guys behind the starters, because of certain packages that call for extra personnel, and because you want an insurance policy in case something happens to a starter.

But, hey, you can’t win them all, and everyone has an off night. Credit to the Texans for coming to play, and for putting together a good all-around game to pick up the win. It’s a preseason game, but I’m sure it’s got to feel good to get a win over the in-state ‘rival.’

As for the Cowboys, it’s back to the practice field, as they’ll have a short week to prepare for the final preseason game at Minnesota. The Vikings will enter the game 1-2 on the preseason, after losing 30-13 at Seattle tonight. Hopefully the Cowboys will be able to round out a successful preseason, and have themselves ready to take on the Giants and start ther run towards claiming their first NFC East title since 1998.

Looks like my predictions have been wrong to this point.

The Texans defense has played much stouter than expected, and has limited the run game to only 60 yards, on less than three yards per carry.

The Texans offense has gotten contributions from the passing game (two touchdowns by Matt Schaub), the run game (65 yards for Ahman Green, including a 46-yarder on a touchdown drive, and over 100 yards total), and special teams (a 91-yard punt return for a TD by Jacoby Jones).

The absence of Terence Newman has had an effect, as his replacement at left corner, Jacques Reeves got burned a few times, including on Jones’ 19-yard TD catch late in the second quarter, that made it 21-6 at the half after the Cowboys pulled within 14-6.

The Cowboys have done a good job of staying in it and trying to make a comeback. Romo had a fairly good three quarters, throwing for 197 yards and a touchdown. He did have an INT on an underthrow, and he also had a few throws that he probably would like to have back. And, the Texans did get some good pressure on him as well, getting him down a few times.

Time’s running out though, and the defense needs to make a stop and get the ball back with enough time on the clock to do something. And, it doesn’t look like that’s happening, as the legend known as Sam Gado is running the clock down. And, Reeves got a needless pass interference call to keep things going as well.

Sorry I’m late getting my first in-game report up. I had to eat dinner, and then my internet decided to act up.

Oh, and it looks like game over now. Sage Rosenfels just connected with David Anderson for a touchdown, and the Texans are now up 28-16 with just a few minutes to go. Another corner got burned there, as rookie Alan Ball got beat by Anderson.

There are some positives to take from the game, but I’ll get to those in my post-game analysis, which will be coming up shortly.