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ARLINGTON — Give veteran cornerback Terence Newman credit for his own bounce-back game Monday night.
Embarrassed last Sunday by Giants tandem Eli Manning and Steve Smith, Newman took a licking and vowed to keep on ticking. With another Steve Smith in town — the one with the Pro Bowl pedigree — Newman answered the bell after accepting coach Wade Phillips’ one-on-one challenge.The Cowboys don’t typically shadow a receiver, but Newman left his comfort zone on the left to take Smith all the way in this one. Newman limited him to four catches for 38 yards. One of the final times mistake-prone Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme targeted Smith, Newman read it, stepped in front of it and picked it off. He returned it 27 yards to the end zone to finally give the Cowboys a 14-point cushion in their 21-7 victory."Yeah, man, I like to do that on occasion," Newman said of shadowing Smith.The Cowboys didn’t use that tactic two years ago and Smith lit them up for 137 yards on nine catches."He’s still one of the best receivers out there," Newman said. "We respect each other. We’ve had some battles. We’ve done it before. I feel like when the coaches challenge me to go follow a receiver, that it’s more than that. It’s trying to see what I can do against their best guy. It’s one of those things where you just go out and try to make it happen."Bam-bam ButlerTotally gassed.That’s how rookie linebacker Victor Butler described outside linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer on Carolina’s final possession of the game.Ware and Spencer took it off, giving Butler and Steve Octavien their first defensive action of the night.Butler made it pay off with two big sacks. He jarred the ball free from Jake Delhomme to give the ball back to the Cowboys, a significant contribution for a team desperate for depth behind Ware and Spencer. "What we’ve been looking for is somebody to come through besides D-Ware," linebackers coach Reggie Herring said. "He [Butler] gave us a lift. It was the kind of play we’ve been looking for."Now get a load of this season’s linebacker sack count: V. Butler 2, DeMarcus Ware 0, Anthony Spencer 0.If Butler can provide a little more help and provide Ware a breather, the sacks will come.What was that?The strange Cowboys play call of the night came early in the fourth quarter with Dallas up 10-7 and a chance to stomp on the Panthers’ throat.Facing second-and-goal at the 1-yard line and red-hot Tashard Choice in the backfield, quarterback Tony Romo threw to Roy Williams in the end zone, but his pass wasn’t tall enough and Williams couldn’t corral it.The Cowboys came back on third down with the big-boy package.Lined up in the right side was Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, plus tight ends John Phillips and Jason Witten. The play call was a fade to Martellus Bennett on the other side. It never had a chance.The Cowboys settled for a Nick Folk chip-shot field goal and a 13-7 lead, leaving the Panthers one play away from taking the lead.Jeff Caplan, 817-390-7760
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