CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was ugly and conservative here Sunday afternoon, but try to remember the last time this season when there was negative style-pointing involved in a victory for the Dallas Cowboys.
Hint: It was a month ago. Against Tampa Bay. The Cowboys hadn't won a game since then. This team isn't good enough to apply a style-point formula.
Certainly a 19-14 road survival against the Carolina Panthers didn't break any new football ground or light up the style-point scoreboard, but the alternative would have meant the season was over before Halloween.
With the record now 3-3, the Cowboys can at least still grab hold of hope. How tight the grip is will be answered when the New York Giants come to Arlington next weekend.
But after a week of hell following the final 26 seconds of the Baltimore debacle, it was interesting to see how coach Jason Garrett managed the fourth-quarter stretch run in this one.
Conservative? Hoo, boy. Yes, very conservative. Depending on your political definition, it was actually to the right of the Tea Party. Garrett became a member of the Toe Party, relying on field goals, and his defense, instead of going for touchdown hammers.
"We've got a lot of trust in Jason," said tight end Jason Witten, who had another productive afternoon, "and ultimately it was a good decision."
Honestly, the Cowboys' defense, and Dan Bailey's two field goals, along with a couple of favorable rulings by the zebras, allowed Garrett the luxury of the no-sweat zone in the final three minutes-plus of the fourth quarter.
But the ultimate what-was-that decision from Red J came on a third-and-9 from the Carolina 15-yard line. The Cowboys trailed 14-13 at the time, and Dez Bryant had just failed to haul in a contested but catchable throw from Tony Romo in the end zone.
Where would Romo go on third down?
Not upstairs, as it turned out. Instead, backup running back Phillip Tanner took a handoff up the middle. He gained 5 yards, and out came Bailey to nail the chip shot for a 16-14 lead.
But with more than three minutes to play came the immediate second guessing. Garrett was showing plenty of trust in a defense that seldom this season has deserved much trust.
And where was the trust factor for Romo? For the receivers? And most of all for a much-needed touchdown?
Garrett's postgame answer also spread doubt in the trust-factor area.
"I wanted to preserve the opportunity there to kick that field goal," he said, and then in a mix-up, Jason mentioned something about going up by two scores with that field goal.
OK, he misspoke. Postgame confusion, yes, because he said he thought the question was about the last field goal kicked by Bailey some two minutes later, which, I guess he meant going up by two field goals, not two scores.
More importantly, however, it's not often you hear "preserve" used on a third-down call with that much time left on the clock. Fourth down is for field goals.
"You want to be able to get to fourth down and be able to kick the ball," Garrett said. "We were just trying to get our best play. We got the play we liked there against their shell coverage 3-man rush they were going to play.
"If they had done something else, we would have been in something else."
Romo was both diplomatic and supportive of the ball being taken out of his hands at that point.
"You always want to throw the ball as a quarterback," he said. "Was I surprised? No. We knew what they were going to give us. It's the kind (of coverage) they hang their hat on, so it's the kind of running play that has a chance to get eight or nine yards, versus that look.
"At the same time, like I said, as a quarterback, you always want to have a chance. I was pleading for it there on the sideline."
The gamble after the field goal was that the defense could get a stop on Cam Newton, who had engineered three long drives, two of them for touchdowns, with the other ending in a first half end-zone interception by Cowboys rookie cornerback Mo Claiborne.
Down 16-14, the Panthers had a first down near midfield, but the reception was wiped out because defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, scrambling to match up against a hurry-up offense, had called time out.
Claiborne figured in the next play, (fourth-and-one from the Carolina 39) when he broke up a pass intended for receiver Louis Murphy. Yes, it was borderline interference, but no flag fell.
The Cowboys used that stop, plus a 15-yard horse collar penalty to again advance into field goal territory, although replays seemed to show there was no horse collar.
When Bailey connected again from 38 yards (his fourth field goal of the afternoon), the Cowboys' defense had 53 seconds to protect a five-point lead. There was no problem.
Say this for Garrett:
Despite the surprising conservative nature of his play calling at the end of the game, the victory validated his decisions.
"Our goal," Romo said, "is to get better every week. Yes, we were better today. And we won."
And if you don't get better every week?
"Then you need to be in the media," deadpanned Romo.
See there. Worse alternatives to being 3-3 do exist.
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