Understudy receiver Miles Austin gets his chance to shine for Cowboys

Author: admin

12 Oct

Dallas Cowboys receiver Miles Austin was exhausted, and he was hoarse. He used up his energy and his voice at the bottom of the dog pile after scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

All Austin had left when he got up was a team record.

Austin caught 10 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, the hero of the Cowboys’ 26-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. His 250 yards topped Bob Hayes’ 43-year-old single-game record by 4 yards.

“This should do a whole lot for him,” Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman said. “I just told him, ‘Don’t go Hollywood on me. You accomplished something – the most yards in Cowboys history – and you’ve got to build on that and expect those kind of things out of you all the time now.’ “

Austin, signed as an undrafted rookie in 2006, had only 23 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns in his career before Sunday. His potential was the reason Jerry Jones reluctantly waived Terrell Owens in the off-season.

Against the Chiefs, Austin finally realized his potential.

“It’s nice to see Miles Austin come on and have a game like this,” Jones said. “… I would have felt better about the decision (to cut Owens) if I would have had this game to refer to back in the spring.”

Austin, the team’s third receiver, started only because Roy Williams stayed home to nurse his sore ribs. Austin had chances to score two first-half touchdowns, getting a hand on one and dropping another. The Cowboys missed a 40-yard field-goal try and made a 22-yarder.

“I just put it past me, and I started smiling again, because I knew I was going to get another opportunity,” Austin said, “and it came about.”

Austin’s go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter and his game-winning touchdown in overtime were the same, only different. On both plays, cornerback Maurice Leggett was covering Austin, and safety Mike Brown missed tackles.

The first, though, was a slant route. The second was a hook.

Austin’s 59-yard touchdown with 2:16 remaining put the Cowboys ahead 20-13. The game-winner, designed to pick up 12 to 14 yards, went for 60.

“I caught it and put my shoulder down and made them miss and started looking up on the (video) screen, seeing how far the other guys were,” Austin said of his overtime touchdown. “They started gaining on me a little bit, so I had to run a little faster.”

In the first four games, Cowboys wideouts made only 31 catches for 563 yards and three touchdowns, including Austin’s five for 81 and a score. With Williams at home Sunday, and Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd combining for only six receptions and 64 yards, the understudy played the part of star.

“He proved that we can count on him in the clutch; we can count on him when it counts,” said Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who passed for 351 yards and had a passer rating of 113.7. “… Miles obviously made some great plays on his own. That’s what we needed today. I think a lot of guys helped out in that process.”

With the way he finished, Austin made a case for the starting job opposite Williams. He did, after all, have more yards than Hayes, Frank Clarke, Michael Irvin or Owens ever had in a Cowboys uniform in a single game.

“It’s amazing,” Austin said. “I never seen that coming out of today. I was ready to play, but you never expect a huge game like that.”

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