Wearing a stylin' silver sweat suit, his ever-present sunglasses and an enormous smile, Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn walked to the team bus after handling his media duties.
He carried two of his three touchdown balls from Sunday's 38-7 victory against the Lions in a plastic bag. He said he forgot to get the first ball from the official.
One of the remaining two is a gift for Cynthia Gwinn, the mother of Glenn's best college friend and teammate, Jason, who was killed in a car accident during Glenn's sophomore year at Ohio State. Gwinn used to tease Glenn, while she carpooled the two players around, that if he ever caught a bunch of touchdowns in a game he had to give her a ball.
He finally is making good because he finally had a multiple-touchdown game in the NFL.
"Yeah, I think I am," the 29-year-old receiver responded when asked if he felt he was hitting his prime. "It's been a while."
Glenn's three-touchdown performance was the first by a Cowboys receiver since Michael Irvin did it in 1992. And the win marked the first time the Cowboys had beat the Lions since '92.
Irvin, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith were manning all of Dallas' key offensive positions then and that season ended in Pasadena, Calif., with a Super Bowl trophy.
Nobody is saying Glenn, Quincy Carter and Troy Hambrick, a former Pasco standout, are as good, but the Cowboys offense looks pretty real and the team is 5-1.
"That doesn't mean anything," said coach Bill Parcells, sticking to his standard line.
He is not convinced because it is too early, and Dallas' five consecutive victories have come against teams with a combined 9-21 record, including a 1-5 Detroit team. Sunday against Tampa Bay should be a better indication.
"We (offense) were better, but we've got to get better than that," said tight end Dan Campbell, referring to Dallas' 331-yard performance against Detroit. "Because I'm telling you we have the capability of being a dangerous offense."
NO MIND GAMES: A year ago, the Panthers followed a 3-0 start with an eight-game losing streak. This time, the Panthers swear a streak-ending 37-17 thumping Sunday by Tennessee won't be a psychological barrier.
"We lost one game. It's in the bank now," cornerback Terry Cousin said. "We were going to lose one game, unless we were so special as to be like the (1972) Dolphins."
After making an artform of seizing opportunities in close wins over Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, the Panthers (5-1) never had a chance Sunday. They fumbled the opening kickoff, leading to a Tennessee touchdown, then the Titans turned a 3-yard out on a fake punt into another touchdown. Carolina trailed 20-0 early in the second quarter.
"You just try to understand how people are going to try to attack you (when you're a winning team)," Cousin said. "Fake punts, bloop kicks on the kickoff. ... They even did some trick plays on defense that we caught."
THAT MAGIC TOUCH: Jim Fassel is ready to invoke his late-season magic early this year, saying his Giants still can make the playoffs despite a 2-4 start because of awful special teams and inconsistent offense.
"We can. We can do it," said Fassel, who is under fire with the Giants last in the NFC East, where they were one of the preseason favorites.
"There is not an attitude on this team or with me that all hope is lost. You can make fun of that all you want. When you are in the arena and doing the fighting, you better start believing in yourself, that you can do it."
Philadelphia got a gift Sunday when Brian Westbrook scored on an 84-yard punt return with 1:16 left. The Giants outgained the Eagles 339-134. In Week 2, Dallas beat New York in overtime after the Giants failed to keep a squib kick inbounds in the final seconds. It set up a last-second game-tying field goal.
The Giants never have started a season with a 2-4 record and made the playoffs. But Fassel's teams are 19-5 in December.
