September Report: Cowboys making the grade.

September was a great month for the Cowboys. The Wade Phillips era has started off with nothing but success, as Dallas is off to its best and most prolific start.

Here’s a little look back at September, complete with analysis and a little report card.

So Far…: The Cowboys are 4-0. They opened with a 45-35 win over the Giants (the highest-scoring Cowboys-Giants game ever), and have since convincingly beaten the Dolphins (37-20), Bears (34-10), and Rams (35-7).

What’s Gone Right: The question is: What hasn’t gone right? The offense is clicking, the defense is improving, and the team has won every game so far.

What’s Gone Wrong: Well, there is one thing that hasn’t been too pleasant: injuries. Jason Ferguson was lost for the season in the opener with a torn biceps injury, and Terence Newman had his foot issue. Julius Jones was also nicked up in the Bears game.

And, just when Dallas gets Greg Ellis back, and Newman is getting better and better, Anthony Henry, who leads the league in picks and more than picked up the slack with Newman limited/on the sidelines, sprains his ankle in the Rams game.

Performance

When you’re 4-0, averaging nearly 38 points per game, and racking up 440 yards per game on offense, you have few complaints. Not only that, but you also have a defense that has forced the second-most turnovers in the league (11) and is tied for the league lead in turnover margin (+7). And, that same defense is giving up an average of only 253 yards per game in the last three weeks, while allowing only two offensive touchdowns in the last nine quarters.

The Cowboys have played it tight in the first half, but have had leads in three of four games, and were tied at the half against the Bears. But, the second half has been where Dallas has found its rhythm, outscoring their opponents 107-33 in the third and fourth quarters.

Makings of an A? Indeed.

Grade: A

Offense

There’s nothing better than a nice, balanced offense, or a quarterback who’s averaging 300 yards and three touchdowns a game.

Coming into the season, a lot of people were questioning Tony Romo’s abilities as a quarterback and as a leader, and many have had him penciled in for failure. However, he’s stuck it to the critics thus far, completing 60.3% of his passes for 1,200 yards, 11 touchdowns, and only one interception. Romo has had three 300+ yard games already, equaling his mark from last year, and is quickly climbing up the team record charts in that category.

He’s well on pace to break Danny White’s 1983 marks for yards (3,980) and touchdowns (29). Moreover, he’s continuing to develop into an excellent leader, which is more important than big yards and touchdowns.

T.O. is off to a great start, but what’s been more encouraging is the contributions from the other pass-catchers, with Terry Glenn out at least until the second half of the season. Sam Hurd had 100+ yards receiving against the Giants, while Crayton had a huge game against the Rams on Sunday, catching seven passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

With Romo doing so well, it might be easy to forget about the fact that the run game is doing very well.

The only potential negative is the fact that they’ve had a couple of slow starts, but they’ve gotten it going at the right time in each game to take care of business comfortably.

Grade: A

Defense

The defense didn’t have a great opener, allowing 35 points against the Giants and allowing Eli Manning to throw for 312 yards and four scores, but has buckled down since.

It took a couple of games, but DeMarcus Ware has gotten on track, and has three sacks in the last two games. We should start seeing a few more sacks now that Greg Ellis (1.5 sacks in his return) is back to health.

The secondary got torched in the first game, and gave up 287 yards against Trent Green, but has excelled in the past few games, picking off nine passes. And, with Terence Newman getting back to full strength following his foot issues, that makes the defensive backfield even stronger.

Grade: B

Special Teams

It’s a little scary when you’ve got a rookie kicker in there, but Nick Folk has passed with flying colors so far. Folk is six of seven on field goals, with the lone miss coming on a block.

Mat McBriar is punting well again, when he’s had to. On 15 kicks, McBriar is averaging 46.4 yards per kick, with five of his kicks going inside the 20.

The Cowboys have gotten a couple of long returns on kickoffs and punts. Patrick Crayton had a 49-yard return against the Dolphins that helped change that game in the second half.

On the negative side, the coverage team has given up some big ones as well, including an 85-yard punt return for a score by Dante Hall on Sunday.

Grade: B

How October Shapes Up

The Cowboys have a Monday night game at Buffalo in Week 5, then face their stiffest test of the season when the seemingly unstoppable New England Patriots come to town on the 14th.

Following that game, the Cowboys take on the Vikings at home the following week, which will be their last game of the month, since Dallas has their bye week in Week 8.

Dallas is looking at being at least 6-1, and if they can knock off New England, a 7-0 record going into a three-week stretch in November that sees them face their NFC East rivals (at Philly on Nov. 4, at New York on Nov. 11, and vs. Washington on Nov. 18).

The New England game will be the test to see just how much of a contender the Cowboys are. If they stop the Patriots, who most think has been the best team in the league thus far, then that will cement their status as the NFC‘s top team and a definite Super Bowl contender. And, being 7-0 after October would mean that stretch in November could very well be where they nail down their first NFC East title since 1998.