The Morning After: Crowning a Folk hero.

It wasn’t pretty, it may not have been thoroughly deserved, and there will likely be some losses that look prettier, but in the end, the Cowboys found a way to win last night at Buffalo, and are one of only three 5-0 teams in the league.

It had to be an absolute gut-wrenching loss for Buffalo when they saw Nick Folk’s 53-yard field goal go through the uprights for the second time.

For the Cowboys, it was a sigh of relief, a moment of a jubilation, and a big gut check heading into a big game.

There’s a lot to be asked, said, and done between now and Sunday, but for a little while, we can ignore the first 59:58, and think of the sweet moment when Folk’s kick sailed through the uprights.

Offensive MVP: It was a sight, and not the good kind, to see Romo’s performance for 90% percent of the night. In the end, he did make the throws he needed to get the Cowboys in position to win. The ground game didn’t get anything going for the most part, but given the fact that Dallas had to play from behind from early on, that meant Romo had to keep throwing, even when that didn’t seem like a good idea.

Crayton, who made a couple of key catches down the stretch, is certainly deserving for the second straight week. But, there is one person, and one person only that should and will get it - Folk. Not only did he nail the game-winning field goal, but he also executed the pivotal onside kick and made a key 47-yard field goal at the end of the first half that pulled Dallas within 17-10 and gave them a little momentum going into the break.

Defensive MVP: DeMarcus Ware. Ware had an excellent night, collecting six tackles (five solo, one assist), 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and, in the fourth quarter, he made a leaping tip of a Trent Edwards pass that went right to Terence Newman, who returned it 70 yards.

Offensive Analysis: Anytime you throw five interceptions, even when you win, is not something to be proud of. Romo had an off, off night, missing receivers and making mistakes that made him look nothing like the guy who had shredded defenses in the first four games of the season.

Coming into the game, Romo was averaging just over 30 pass attempts per game, but put it up 50 last night. For the better part of the night, he stayed close to 50%, but ended up 29 of 50, and posting his fourth 300-yard game of the season, with the two completions on the final drive giving him 309 yards.

But, those five picks are a glaring number, and it’ll get the Romo skeptics and haters talking again.

But, you do have to give him credit for hanging in there, even when he wasn’t at his best, and making the plays that he needed to, when he needed to. Ultimately, the measure of a great, winning quarterback is the ability to overcome mistakes or subpar performances to help his team win.

As for the run game, Dallas had its lowest output of the season, picking up only 76 yards. But, due to Romo throwing it so much, the backs had their lowest number of attempts as well, with 22.

The one true positive, without any but’s coming after it, is the Cowboys converting 9 of 15 third-down situations, including 8 of 10 on the third downs.

Defensive Analysis: The rush defense had another solid performance, limiting Marshawn Lynch to 66 yards on 20 carries, and Buffalo to 81 yards total.

The defense allowed only three points all night, so they’ve now allowed only 13 points in the last three games, and 33 in the last four after allowing 35 in the opener.

But, Trent Edwards was able to burn them time and again with short pass after short pass. Edwards threw only a handful of passes longer than 10 yards, but kept getting positive gains from screens, dump offs, short slants and crossing patterns, and little tosses into the flat. But, it was a case of ‘bend, don’t break’ for the defense, as they held up when they needed to, and kept Dallas in the game even when the offense wasn’t returning the favor.

Overall Analysis: Like I said, we’ll likely see some losses prettier than last night’s win. But, it’s a win nonetheless, and you’ve got to be proud of the team for finding a way to win. After running all over the last three opponents, it was time for that nailbiter, the reality check before the reality check.

LOOKING AHEAD

Now, on to the hard part!

The Cowboys have a short week to prepare for the game against New England on Sunday. Point blank, Dallas is going to have play much, much better on Sunday if they don’t want to be beatdown victim #6 by New England.

The Patriots have had their foot on the pedal from the get-go, and have outscored their first five opponents 182-65. That’s an average margin of victory of 23.4 points per game. Tom Brady is on pace for one of the best seasons in NFL history, and has thrown 16 touchdown passes in the first five games. With three TD tosses Sunday against the Bears, he tied an NFL record with having at least three TD passes in each of his first five games of the season.

It’s going to be a matchup of the league’s top two offenses, as the Cowboys now rank first (429.6 yards per game) and the Pats second (427.6). But, New England also has the league’s #2 ranked defense, allowing 251.4 yards per game, is tied for first in turnover margin (+7), and third in points allowed per game (13.0).

As sharp as the Patriots have been, the Cowboys are going to have to find a way to force some mistakes (it is possible, rare, it seems, but possible), and more importantly, can’t make any mistakes of their own, because if they made the amount of mistakes agianst the Patriots as they did the Bills, it would’ve been over by the third quarter, if not sooner.

So, Wade Phillips, get your boys ready, cause it’s time for the big ‘un. Most people think the AFC is miles ahead of the NFC, and that thought is likely furthered by Dallas’ performance last night, but a win on Sunday would be big for the NFC, and for a team that has a lot to prove.