Testaverde Has Big Day Oldest star shines brightest in defeat By Jim Reeves Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer 9/13/04 MINNEAPOLIS - At some point this week, when Bill Parcells quits moaning about his defense and wondering what he's going to do at cornerback, he's going to take one last look at the videotape from Sunday's 35-17 loss at Minnesota and muster a small smile. Big Bill has been trying to tell us something all summer. Sunday, the message came through loud and clear. The old man can still play. Forty-year-old Vinny Testaverde bounced on his feet along the sidelines just before kickoff in the Metrodome, rubbing his hands through his hair, as nervous as a pimply faced teen-ager at his first school dance. "Yeah, I had butterflies," Testaverde admitted after the Cowboys' disappointing loss to the Vikings. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be human. I was anxious to get out there and play." And get out there and play he did. Nobody really wanted to talk about it, because a loss is a loss, and, as Keyshawn Johnson correctly pointed out, "This is a bottom-line business." But behind all the disappointment, the frustration and the lamentations of woe, one rock-solid fact stood out: Testaverde played lights out. "As Coach Parcells or another great basketball coach once said, there's winning and there's misery," Testaverde said. "And right now, there's misery. "It's hard to be pleased with anything right now. When you don't win, it's not a good feeling." OK, we get it. Everybody's upset about the loss, and, well, they should be. But after we get through carving up the defense, or what's left of it after Daunte Culpepper and the Vikings got through with it, can we talk just a little about the unveiling of an efficiently run, potentially explosive Cowboys' offense led by a real, live quarterback? Consider the numbers, please. Testaverde completed 29 of 50 passes for 355 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked only once, and that was when he scrambled out of the pocket late in the game. Not bad for his Cowboys debut. By comparison, Quincy Carter's best day passing in last year's 10-6 season was a 321-yard performance in the Cowboys' 35-32 overtime win over the Giants in the second week of the season. What was most impressive, however, was that 22 of Testaverde's completions went to his wide receivers: nine to Johnson, eight to Antonio Bryant and five, including a magnificent touchdown catch, to Terry Glenn. Johnson had 111 yards receiving and Bryant 112. At no time last season did the Cowboys have two receivers with more than a hundred yards receiving in the same game. That's indicative of a vertical passing game, something the Cowboys haven't consistently put on the field since Troy Aikman left town. "I feel comfortable with the guys I've been working with," Testaverde said. "I've had some work with Keyshawn in the past and with Richie [Anderson]. I feel good with the timing of the routes as far as that aspect of our game goes. "I have some weapons to throw to. That's exciting in itself for me, to know we're going to get better at it and, hopefully, score more points with it." Testaverde was accurate, he ran a balanced offense, and he was poised. He even put together a 21-play drive that was ruined when the snap went through holder Mat McBriar's hands early in the second quarter. Testaverde looked like he might just be starting his 18th season in the NFL, which, of course, he is. "I thought he played very well," owner Jerry Jones said. "He played like a veteran. The offense had some spark to it. "You'd like to be able to take that positiveness and apply it to the overall game. It worked just the other way with the defense." Yeah, the defense was that bad, red-faced bad. "We did not help out our offense," safety Roy Williams said. "None, none, none. I feel bad about that. I don't even want to go on the plane and look at their faces, because we didn't do nothing to help them." Hmmm. When was the last time you heard a Cowboys' defender apologizing to the offense? Hasn't it been just the other way around for years now? But that's the difference a real starting quarterback and a real wide receiver made Sunday. Johnson was making catches -- tough, over-the-middle catches -- that we haven't seen Cowboys wide receivers make since the days of Michael Irvin. And he set the tone for Bryant to do the same. But like Vinny, Keyshawn doesn't want to hear about it. "I don't really care [about the numbers], to be honest with you," Johnson said. "For what, for fantasy football people? It's probably good for them, but we lost the football game, so it's not of importance to me. "I bring what I bring, man. I've done the same thing my entire career. Nothing has changed. I'm just with a different head coach who respects my abilities, that's all. I'm the same player I've always been." That's what Parcells told us he would be, just like he told us Testaverde could still play. He was right on both counts. Somewhere, amid all the moaning and gnashing of teeth this week, let's try to remember that.