10. Lots to like about Cowboys Stadium tonight. Blue star finally on the field. Ring of Honor unveiled. Rhythm & Blues dancers - in Jetsons-like silver space outfits - dancing on podium poles high above the highest level. But apparently the pre-game guest wasn't among among the highlights. Former prez George Dubya Bush got more than a smattering of boos when he was introduced as the coin tosser. Since he was on hand for the first game of the Rangers' and Cowboys' seasons, wonder if Mavs' opener Mark Cuban will have Bush on hand for Dallas' home opener?
9. It took exactly one hour for Jerry Jones' sparkling shrine to be reduced to a silly prop. With Bush and John Madden and Pat Summerall and Roger Goodell and, presumably, God, looking on at Cowboys Stadium, a promotional stunt in the second quarter included a contestant stacking high cardboard beer boxes, donning a giant inflatable helmet and then crashing through the tower. Heavy sigh. Exaggerated eye-rolling.
8. Is it just me, or is Terence Newman suddenly this team's third-best cornerback?
7. Paging DeMarcus Ware. Mr. Ware, your defense needs you. STAT. 2 games, 0 sacks.
6. 105,121. Wow. 4 turnovers. Even more wow.
5. Not exactly sure what was happening on New York's game-winning drive, other than a total lack of pressure and Eli Manning picking apart a dead-tired defense. After consecutive Giants' completions linebacker Bobby Carpenter and safety Ken Hamllin ran halfway to the bench to gesture and scream at their defensive coordinator, who just happens to double as their head coach. I'm assuming they didn't like the scheme, or perhaps the personnel. Whatever, it was ugly.
4. I know Don Meredith is a hermit somewhere in New Mexico, but there's no excuse for his no-show at tonight's Ring of Honor ceremony. Every living member was present, except one. Shame, Don. Shame.
3. You get the feeling the word "capacity" and Jerry Jones have never met (maybe "infinity"), but before the game stadium personnel took actions that amounted to a fire marshal shutting down an over-crowded building. While Jones told us on 105.3 The Fan's pre-game show that he expected 82,000 seats plus 30,000 party passes for the game (by my sportswriters' math that's 112,000), thousands that were handed out yellow wristbands that accompanied their $29 party passes weren't allowed in. Right before kickoff there was a throng 20-deep trying to get into the stadium. Looked to me, by the way, that the Party Pass decks were about 50 deep.
2. This one rests on quarterback Tony Romo. In what might have been the worst decision-making game of his career, he finished 13 of 29 for only 127 yards and three costly interceptions. He constantly threw into double-coverage and when he wasn't throwing behind receivers he was throwing over them. Face it, Manning was the more accurate, better quarterback. The Cowboys almost won despite Romo, instead they lost because of him. Romo, by the way, spent almost the entire last drive with his cap on backward and head down, sitting by himself on the bench.
1. In the end, the last game at Texas Stadium and the first game at Cowboys Stadium looked eerily, grotesquely similar. The Cowboys allowed 33 points to the Ravens last December and another 33 to the Giants tonight. Losing both those games seems incomprehensible.
