Dallas’ Anthony Spencer chopped the ball from Washington’s Rex Grossman with 28 seconds left, and linebacker Sean Lee recovered it, setting off a celebration inside Cowboys Stadium.
Dallas coach Jason Garrett dropped to a knee and pumped his fist wildly at being 2-1 — guaranteeing no repeat of last year’s miserable 1-7 start. The Cowboys are even tied for first place in the NFC East, along with Washington (2-1), which was seeking its first 3-0 start since 2005.
“This was a great win for us,” said Romo, who was 22 of 36 for 255 yards. “It was a hard, hard game. … We had a million mistakes tonight. We have a lot of young guys, but they were out there for a reason. We’ll get it right.”
Romo lacked zip and accuracy much of the game, and he had trouble with four snaps from his new center. But he was at his best with the game on the line.
He hit Laurent Robinson for a 25-yard gain to set up Bailey’s fifth field goal. He then set up the winner on third-and-21 with a scrambling 30-yarder to Dez Bryant that happened to come against cornerback DeAngelo Hall , who last week said he was hoping “to put my helmet on whatever’s hurt.”
The Romo-Bailey combination has worked like a charm for two straight games. Against San Francisco a week ago Sunday, Bailey made a tying field goal at the end of regulation, then the winner in overtime.
In Philadelphia, Michael Vick says he won’t complain about not getting calls anymore.
The star quarterback blasted officials after injuring his right hand in Philadelphia’s 29-16 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, saying he takes too many late hits without getting the benefit of roughing-the-passer penalties.
“The refs have to do their jobs and they have tons of things to look over,” Vick said Monday. “I was kind of out of character and being too candid in that aspect. Ultimately, I have respect for the referees and their decision to make calls. You won’t hear me complaining about it no more.”
Vick bruised his right hand — the team initially said it was broken — after taking a hard shot from Chris Canty in the third quarter. His status for next Sunday’s game against San Francisco is uncertain.
“At some point something catastrophic is going to happen,” Vick said after the game. “Not to blame the refs or say that it was their fault, it’s just one of those unfortunate situations and I just think more precautions should be taken when I’m inside the pocket. If you look at all the replays, I’m on the ground every time and it’s unfortunate for myself and it’s unfortunate for my team and I’ll be lying if I said I wasn’t, if I were to sit here and say I wasn’t frustrated right now because of that.”
Canty defended the play. Replays showed his helmet hit Vick’s facemask, though an official who helped Vick get up seemed to indicate that Canty hit him with his shoulder.
“Obviously he has been a little banged up, and I can understand how he feels, but again it is his opinion,” Canty said. “Obviously, you want to play within the rules of the game. We’re not trying to play dirty or anything like that. I tried to make a concentrated effort to hit him legally. He’s a short guy and I’m not, so it’s tough to get down there. We play hard and compete hard. It’s unfortunate he got banged up. It is what it is.”
