There wasn’t a lot to celebrate on Sunday night for the Dallas Cowboys. A series of miscues and one damning holding penalty to seal the 13-7 loss will likely cause a good deal of uncertainty around Valley Ranch; but in wide receiver Miles Austin, they have a sure winner, a fact they were aware of last week when they rewarded him with a six-year $54 million contract extension.
Austin put any concerns over whether he was a one-year wonder to bed last night, catching ten passes for 146 yards and the team’s only touchdown. Eight of his ten catches were for first downs, including a drive-saving 30-yard grab on a fourth and ten, which set up the team’s ill-fated final shot at the end zone.
It was a classic performance for Austin, the sort which we’ve come to know well since his breakout game in week five of 2009, consistently getting open in the middle of the field and, as always, making plays after the catch. In that game, against Kansas City last year, Austin saved the Cowboys’ from a loss; he couldn’t do that on Sunday night, but he certainly tried.
“He makes plays; he’s that kind of player,” Head Coach Wade Phillips said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We’ve got to get him the ball.”
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