In what truly was a must-win situation Sunday at Texas Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys defense came up with a big play at their 18-yard line with just 13 seconds left in the game, and escaped with a 13-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The win pushes Dallas to 5-3 on the season, while Tampa falls to 5-3.

The hobbling Cowboys, playing without eight starters, narrowly avoided their third straight defeat. A loss would have almost certainly demolished their season, but even with the win, things are still a bit shaky in Big D. Dallas has to travel to the Meadowlands on Sunday to face the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. The Giants lead the NFC East at the midway point of the season.

Following the emotional win, it was a relieved Coach Wade Phillips who addressed the media. “Obviously, a big win for us. Coming back home, I knew our crowd would help us. I’m proud of our players. There was a lot going on, and I think they stepped up. Certainly our young defensive players stepped up. (Anthony) Henry got hurt, so we had (Orlando) Scandrick, (Mike) Jenkins, and (Alan) Ball playing against (Antonio) Bryant and (Joey) Galloway, and I thought those guys did an outstanding job. Our rush was really good. I thought it got better and better as the game went along. That’s what you have to do to win. These games are all close. Our defense certainly stepped up today. Our offense struggled at times, but that touchdown before the half was a big, big play.”

Wide receiver Terrell Owens, who has been less a threat than usual with quarterback Tony Romo sidelined with a broken little finger on his throwing hand, gave a good synopsis of what’s gone wrong with the team in recent weeks.

“I think as a team as a whole, we know why (we’ve been losing). I think part of that is energy, I think some of it is communication on the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side of the ball.”

Owens gave the defense credit for bailing the offense out on a day where they were hit and miss. “I think our defense showed up today. It really showed they were in sync with each other out there. I think it’s really a product of how we’ve been practicing all week. We gave ourselves a chance. As an offense, we really have to appreciate the way they (the defense) played today.”

Owens continued, “Losing wasn’t an option today. I think it showed a lot of character and a lot of leadership by a number of our guys stepping up. You can’t say enough about the our defense, the way they showed up today.”

One of the biggest problems the team faced for the second week without Romo in the lineup was the inability of 40-year-old backup quarterback Brad Johnson to get in a rhythm. Johnson struggled once again against the Bucs, but protected the ball and didn’t cost the team the game. He was emotionally spent after the contest.

“It was a big win for our team, especially after the last few weeks. It was a total team effort. The defense did it today; we struggled offensively a lot of times in the game, but defensively, they shut ‘em down. Offensively we struggled. I struggled sometimes in the game, but this is a huge win for this team, especially under these circumstances, at home, against a tremendous team. This was an emotional win for our team, and it was an emotional win for me. It was just a great total team effort.”

IF Dallas is going to make a run to get back to the elite team they were expected to be this season, they’ll have to have a repeat performance of that total team effort against the Giants on Sunday. A win would get them to 6-3 headed into a bye week, with several starters expected to return after the bye. Hopefully, they can find a way to get that big win in New York.

elwynh@juno.com