Extra Points: Cowboys 34 (3-0), Bears (1-2) 10

Turning Point: The Cowboys had taken a 17-10 lead with 1:18 left in the third on a Romo to Barber 10-yard touchdown pass, when the game completely turned in Dallas’ favor. Devin Hester had returned the kickoff to the 35, giving the Bears solid field position, and then Rex Grossman completed a pass to Cedric Benson for eight yards, setting up Chicago with a short second down. On that 2nd and two from the 43, Benson got the carry and had first-down yardage, but Remi (nope, not Akin, but Remi) Ayodele koncked the ball loose, and Roy Williams recovered at the Bears’ 45. Dallas got a field goal on the drive to make it 20-10, and then on the first play of the next drive, Anthony Henry picked off Grossman and returned it 28 yards for the back-breaking score early in the fourth.

Offensive MVP: Three games, three MVPs for Tony Romo. Romo threw for 329 yards and two scores tonight, and absolutely went off in the second half, going 13 of 18 for 185 yards and the touchdown passes. Through three games, Romo has thrown for 860 yards and eight scores. With games coming up against St. Louis and Buffalo, Romo’s got the chance to really pad the stats.

Props must go to T.O., who doubled his catch numbers and finally pushed over the 100-yard mark after coming close against the Giants (87 yards) and Dolphins (97 yards). Also, Marion Barber III went over 100 yards tonight, and got the majority of the carries, if that says anything about the running back situation. Jones has 124 yards and zero touchdowns through three games, and Barber has 256 yards and five total touchdowns, and is averaging over six yards per carry. Ideally, you’d like to see them both doing well, and you’d have to think that Jones is going to really get it going soon enough.

Defensive MVP: Anthony Henry. Well, well, is this the Anthony Henry of 2001 showing up? Henry has four interceptions in the last two games, after racking up another double pick night against the Bears. Henry already has more picks than he has had in any season since 2004, his last in Cleveland. With Terence Newman limited, it’s more than uplifting to see Henry playing so well. On the same token, it’s good to see Jacques Reeves still filling in nicely (six tackles tonight).

And, you also have to mention Roy Williams, who has interceptions in the last two games. And, DeMarcus Ware picked up his first two sacks of the season, and helped make Rex Grossman’s night pretty miserable in general.

Heck, just give kudos to the entire Dallas defense, which more than held their own on the field tonight. Games like these are proving grounds for how far this defense can go. Anyone who reads this blog knows how highly I think of the defense’s potential, and even with the injury issues, it looks like they’re starting to play up to it.

POSITIVES

Well, when your team has passed three tough tests, and looked pretty darn good doing so, there’s plenty to be happy about.

The offensive line has done a great job of protecting Romo and giving him time to throw and carve up defenses, and to give Barber holes to run through, around, and past defenders. And, not only is T.O. is being T.O., Jason Witten is being Jason Witten, and followed up a great opener two weeks ago by catching six passes for 90 yards and a score.

After a rough opener, the pass defense has seen a lot of improvement, even without Newman being 100 percent. Henry’s resurgence into a pickoff machine is huge, and Williams’ contributions are certainly a good thing.

The pass rush had a good night as well, as it forced Rex Grossman (then again, does he need much forcing?) into some bad throws and made him be the bad Rex Grossman. Ware finally got on the board in the sack department, so only 20.5 more to go for him. Anthony Spencer also had his best game so far, racking up five tackles and his first NFL sack (unfortunately, the one he got on Eli Manning on the two-point conversion doesn’t count in the official numbers).

NEGATIVES

The only really bad thing about tonight was the number of penalties. The Cowboys racked up a dozen penalties, which accounted for 100 total yards.

There were several key ones:

- In the first quarter, Dallas had a 2nd and three at their 47, when consecutive false starts on T.O. and Flozell Adams pushed them back to a 2nd and 13. On the second down play, Julius Jones lost two yards, and on the next play, Romo was picked off by Adam Archuleta.

- On the next drive, Romo and Jones hooked up for a 14-yard pass play that gave the Cowboys a first down at the 49. But, an illegal block penalty was called on Jason Witten, and the Cowboys would punt after going three-and-out.

- Early in the fourth, the Cowboys were up 17-10 and faced a 2nd and five at the Chicago 26. Jones got loose for a 22-yard run that put the ball at the 4, but Adams was called for a holding penalty that negated the first down. They ended up getting the first down, but had to settle for a field goal after a sack, a short run, and an incompletion.

In the end, those penalties only prevented the score from being worse than it was, so it’s not really a huge deal in terms of significance, but you don’t like to get that many penalties, even if you overcome them.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cowboys return home to face the winless Rams next Sunday. St. Louis lost 24-3 to Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon, in a game that was close until the Rams’ mistakes came back to haunt them. Marc Bulger threw three interceptions, including two in Bucs territory (one in the end zone on a first and goal play), and Jeff Wilkins missed two field goals.

The Cowboys are looking great right now, and the Rams are looking bad, but that doesn’t mean Dallas needs to look ahead past this next game and the Bills game to the game against the Patriots in a few weeks. The Cowboys should be 5-0 when they face New England at home on the 14th, but they have to play these next two games first.

But, if the Cowboys continue to play as they have in the first three games, then they should take care of business.

Tonight’s win was a big win, and goes a long way to establish the Cowboys as the team to beat in the NFC. After the 49ers, Redskins, and Lions all lost on Sunday, only Dallas and Green Bay remain unbeaten in the NFC, and along with Indianapolis, New England, and Pittsburgh, are the only remaining unbeatens in the league.

Now it’s time to win the games that you’re supposed to. One week at a time, one week at a time, you know what they say…