IRVING - Dallas last played Buffalo on a Monday night game in 2007. It was a memorable night as the Cowboys won with a last second field goal.Quarterback Tony Romo learned a lot that night.
Well yeah, don't throw five interceptions, Romo said. It makes harder to win.
This time around, the focus is different. The Cowboys take on a Buffalo team coached by Chan Gailey, a former head coach in Dallas and a man with close ties to Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett.
Garrett played for Gailey during the two years he spent as the Cowboys' Head Coach. In those two years as a backup quarterback, Garrett actually started seven games for Gailey. He won four and lost three. Now the two square off as opposing head coaches.
I think he's an awfully good football coach, Garrett said.
If anyone should know Gailey's offense, it s Garrett. He was exposed to his system for two years. But the Cowboys coach says in the last decade, Gailey's offense has changed.
It doesn't look similar, to that to be honest with you, Garrett said. They're a lot more spread out. To be a coach who has been able to use different styles effectively, is really an impressive thing. He's certainly playing to the talent they have and certainly he's trying to bring the kind of talent in that he wants to have the kind of team that he has.
I knew he would be very successful at whatever he decided to do and I thought if he decided to coach, he'd be a very successful head coach, Gailey said. I thought that he was smarter than to coach. But he ended up going into the business anyway.
Gailey apparently likes Ivy League quarterbacks. As the Miami Dolphins' Offensive Coordinator, he reached the playoffs with Jay Fielder from Dartmouth,and now he's winning with Ryan Fitzpatrick from Harvard.
Garrett is from Princeton, but apparently he never had the same impact.
Well, the UCLA guy was pretty good, Garret said with a smile.
E-mail griba@wfaa.com
