"Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips stood in front of the players Saturday night in a banquet room at the team hotel and talked about something far more important than X's and O's. "You guys play for yourself, and you play for a lot of people and a lot of things," Phillips said, "but I want you to pick out somebody specifically and dedicate this game to them." Taking their coach's request to heart, the inspired Cowboys shook off their 0-2 doldrums for a resounding 27-13 win over the Houston Texans (2-1) on Sunday before a Reliant Stadium-record gathering of 71,456. "Coach pushed the right button with that speech, and it really hit home with a lot of us," said much-maligned receiver Roy Williams, who had his best game as a Cowboy, catching five passes for a game-high 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Nose tackle Jay Ratliff dedicated the game to his teammates, who comforted him last week after his grandparents died in a house fire in Georgia. Other players picked out loved ones who have died. "It's my dad's birthday today, so I played for him," Williams said. "But I also played for my grandmother who passed away a couple of years ago. Wade's speech really opened my eyes." Dallas badly needed a motivational jolt after last week's home-opening loss to Chicago. In the tumultuous week that followed, a players-only meeting was held after some veterans complained that practice lacked intensity. But instead of a turmoil-filled bye week, the Cowboys can relax a bit before hosting Tennessee on Oct. 10. "Because of the makeup of the team and what I think we can possibly be, last week was about the third-most disappointed I've been since I've owned the Cowboys," Jerry Jones said. "We really had our backs against the wall with the bye week coming up. If we didn't get it done here, it would have been five weeks without a win." http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/cowboys/cowboys_make_a_statement_vs_texans_103836149.html
