Rookie kicker Nick Folk seemed amused by the sight of several reporters gathered around his locker moments after his 53-yard field goal gave the Cowboys an improbable 25-24 victory over the Bills. Following a recent trend, Bills coach Dick Jauron waited until the last second to call timeout before Folk's first attempt, which sailed through the uprights.
Coaches and players streamed onto the field to celebrate, but Folk heard the whistle and began mentally preparing for his next try. When tight end Jason Witten walked up to encourage him, Folk said, "I'll make it three times if I have to."
This is the guy you want at placekicker. Folk rarely shows any emotion, and he doesn't get rattled. He told coach Wade Phillips before the game that he felt like he could connect from as far as 58 yards. The funny thing is that he would've had a third crack at a field goal since the Bills were offsides on the final play.
Folk talked to holder Brad Johnson, and they agreed to change the snap count to go on "3." The Bills jumped, so Folk would've been attempting a 48-yard field goal to win the game.
I poked fun at Phillips for drafting a kicker in the sixth round of April's draft, and he reminded me of that as he walked toward the team bus Monday.
- Some of the more cyncial reporters in the press box suggested that Jerry Jones may have faxed a contract offer to Tony Romo's agent at halftime, the theory being that it's easier to negotiate with a franchise quarterback once he's turned the ball over six times in a primetime game against the Bills.
When I asked Jones whether Romo's stock would take a hit, he said, "He just went up in my eyes. Write that."
There ya go.
- Why did Romo have such a dreadful night? Well, because the Bills defense did some things no one had seen on film. Defensive ends Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay were standing up before some plays, which confused Romo. And they also had their linebackers fake the blitz before dropping into coverage.
They turned run-stuffing linebacker John DiGiorgio into a nice pass defender. For some reason, Romo completely fell victim to the exotic defenses, which isn't a good sign with Bill Belichick's Patriots coming to town.
"I didn't play a very good game tonight," Romo said. "But I still believe in our system and what we're doing."
- Defensive end Chris Canty, the son of a Methodist pastor, was overtaken by emotion in the locker room. His voice beginning to rise, he said of his teammates, "I love these boys. I love them to death!"
- Linebacker Greg Ellis said he went up to Romo during the first half of Monday's game and said, "You wanna be the man? This is your chance."
Ellis said he delivered his message after "interception No. 3."
(Photo: AP Photo/David Duprey)
