eagle eye Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 (edited) So sue me. I said Cowboys 31 and Packers 20 and the actual score was 30-16. As Maxwell Smart used to say with his hand raised about chin high and his thumb and index finger just a hair apart, "Missed it by that much!" It's pretty impressive what the Cowboys are doing right now. In their current 5 game win streak they have scored in order 27, 31, 24, 28 and now 30 points. Their lowest output on the season was in their only loss to the Giants on opening day when they scored just 19 points. Do you realize that last season with the parade of backup QBs Dallas trotted out they scored less than 19 points 8 times. EIGHT. It is truly amazing what is taking place with these Cowboys. It's hard to refute what people are saying that, while they sympathize with the fact it's been Romo's team, how can you stop the momentum this team has created with Dak at QB? It will be hard as hell but the team saw for themselves what they have in Tony during OTA's and training camp. Everyone at DallasCowboys.com raved about the training camp Romo was having so we're not looking at a player with diminished skills. We are also not looking at a player coming off a debilitating injury like an ACL or a ruptured disc in his back. It's a broken bone and the bone has healed and what he needs to do is have two or three weeks to get back into game shape. I think Tony will miss the Eagles game in two weeks and maybe the Cleveland game but by the week leading up to the Browns game Tony will be practicing. Reps may be 60-40 in favor of Dak but Tony will see reps. I'll bet you also see Tony get some extra work with the receivers after practice. So, Dak plays against the Steelers the following week but by now Tony is ready but Jason Garrett elects to give Dak one more start before letting Romo come back against the Ravens. But wait! In the early moments of the 3rd quarter with Dallas trailing the Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers (meniscus tear remember?) by 3 points Dak has a helmet to helmet collision with James Harrison or someone on the Steelers defense and Dak got his bell rung. That's old school for concussed. Not seriously mind you but in this day and age a little concussion will send you to the bench. Tony comes in, not because the coaches say so, not because it's "Romo's job" but because they Cowboys need him to fill in for Dak. Tony comes in and leads the Cowboys to a comeback win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh and Tony will be starting at home against Baltimore the following week. Dallas routes the Ravens as Zeke runs for 134 yards and Tony throws for 336 yards and 4 TDs. Now, Dak is ready to come back but Tony is Tony and with a ground game and now a defense that can make stops when they need to. It's 2014 all over again only better! The next week Tony is the clear starter even though Dak is cleared to play but the team is rolling and they beat the dickens out of Washington at home by 20 points with Zeke again topping 120+ yards with a couple of TDs and another 300 yards passing for Romo. By now the Cowboys are 10-1 and have at least a 3 game lead in the division after 12 weeks of the season (don't forget the bye week). The Cowboys travel to Minnesota and they lose by 3 to the Vikings. Not Romo's fault or Zeke's fault, the Vikings are just a good damn team playing at home. The following week Dallas travels to New Jersey to exact that opening week loss to the Giants to start the season. Romo and Zeke lead the way to a 13 point win over the Giants and Dallas is back rolling. With back to back wins at home over Tampa and Detroit the Cowboys travel to Philly to close out the season. The Eagles are done by now. They are 8-7 and have no shot at the playoffs and Dallas comes in 13-2 kicking the living shit out of their opponents. It's no different against the Eagles as Zeke piles up 211 yards rushing to top 2000 yards for the season smashing Eric Dickerson's rookie rushing record of 1808 yards set 33 years ago in 1983 wrapping up Rookie of the Year honors in the doing. In the 7-1/2 games he's played Romo has thrown for 2500 yards and 14 TDs. Over the hill my ass. That last game against the Eagles required Dallas to play all starters because they were playing for home field advantage throughout the playoffs and by beating Philly Dallas goes 14-2 while Minnesota completes a 13-3 season. Dallas and Minnesota both advance to the NFC title game but this time the Cowboys get the Vikes at home. It is an epic struggle because the Vikings defense is bad assed and the offense is no joke either but Dallas prevails by virtue of a Tony Romo 4th quarter drive that ends with a TD to Cole Beasley to win 31-27 and advance to Super Bowl LI in Houston. The Cowboys will face none other than Tom Brady and the Patriots. The Patriots have that two headed two tight end offense and they are mighty but their defense is not the caliber of the Vikings. Dallas O-line is challenged by comments made by Martellus Bennett and Gronk saying the Cowboys are overrated losers and they have no shot at winning. Maybe not in so many words but that is the message. Zeke and the line punish the Patriots defense grinding out first downs 4 and 5 yards at a time. Zeke rushes for 122 tough, "dirty" yards and adds another 68 yards on 5 catches with a TD. Zeke isn't MVP of Super Bowl LI. That honor goes to Romo who throws for 380 yards and 5 TD's as Dallas destroys the mighty Patriots 44-21. That, my friends, is the perfect scenario in my world. Jason Garrett doesn't have to sweat messing up team chemistry by benching Dak in favor of Romo, the Romo haters get to go f**k themselves, Dallas finally ends their 21 year SB drought and tie the Steelers for most SB wins with 6. Over the next 4 years the Cowboys go on a roll of dominance never before seen in the NFL in the modern era. They reel off 4 more SB wins to make it 5 straight with Romo winning 2 more. He retires after the 3rd one at the age of 39 as the first QB in the SB era to get a SB three-peat and in the doing it guarantees him a much deserved trip to Canton. Prior to that 3rd SB winning season Romo announces he will retire so the Cowboys give Dak Prescott a huge contract. Dak would have become a free agent at the end of Romo's last season but Dak has had to spell Romo in every season and he's continued to win. Jerry Jones is older than dirt but he still is the GM of the Cowboys and he's got the dynasty he's always wanted so he'll be damned if he lets Rayne Dakota Prescott get away. Jones retires after Dak's second SB at the age of 80 years old and his son Stephen takes over to lead the Cowboys for many more years of success. No less than 10 Cowboys reach the Hall of Fame including Jerry, Romo, Mo Claiborne, Witten, Dez, Zeke and Randy Gregory who successfully put his past behind him. Gregory dominates the NFL for 10 seasons before having to retire because he decided to donate a kidney to his sister to save her life. And there is peace, harmony and understanding throughout the whole danged world. That, my friends, is how you dream big! The story isn't over but it will have to continue another day so can I get a "Hell Yeah!" from anyone? Edited October 18, 2016 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted October 19, 2016 Author Share Posted October 19, 2016 Dallas is in their bye week and it couldn't come at a better time. The Cowboys have players who are banged up and need a week to rest and recuperate. Many of the players just finished playing their 11th game of the season if you count preseason so they are due a little R&R. Among all the other issues we know about we can add a concussion by Mo Claiborne and a shoulder injury to DeMarcus Lawrence to the list that still includes Tony Romo and Orlando Scandrick. Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott are both nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week for their performances last Sunday in the road win over Green Bay. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/18/dak-zeke-again-nominated-pepsi-rookie-week-award Tony or Dak, Dak or Tony. That's all people are talking about when the Cowboys discussions begin. I personally believe Tony should be given his job back. He's earned that and his offseason work proves he's not working under diminished capacity. It's just so easy to forget 12-4 two years ago with Tony when we have 4-12 without Tony last year and the success Dallas is having so far this season. It's like people are thinking Tony is over the hill or they are just tired of the reliable car they've had for years and they're ready to trade it in on that shiny new model we have been test driving. There will be varying opinions until Tony is fully able to play again and that's all it is right now, speculation. People let's just enjoy 5-1 and worry about this when Tony is healthy enough for this debate to matter, okay? Zeke spent his off day doing charity work to find homes for wayward animals at the Dallas SPCA. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/18/cowbuzz-ezekiel-elliott-spent-his-day-helping-pets-get-new-homes Here's a link to a Bryan Broaddus article in which the former scout gives us his 5 top plays of the first 6 weeks of the season with accompanying video. Dallas will have a light walk through practice today and they just had to go in and do their running and lifting as the Cowboys get to enjoy a week off. There won't be any team activities after today because the collective bargaining agreement with the players union states that teams have to have 4 consecutive days off during their bye week. It's also being said that next Monday's workout will light as Dallas moves to getting back in a normal routine as they prepare to host the Philadelphia Eagles that Sunday. Right now we can kick back and enjoy some of the nice plays that have gotten the Cowboys to a surprising 5-1 record so far. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/18/broaddus-my-top-5-plays-cowboys-offense-so-far-season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 Even on a week they're not scheduled to play a game good things are happening for the Cowboys. On the strength of a big performance against Green Bay DL David Irving was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/19/david-irving-named-nfc-defensive-player-week-after-packer-win As a compliment to Bryan Broaddus article yesterday featuring the 5 best plays of the season to date here is his 5 best defensive plays so far through 6 games. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/19/broaddus-closer-look-my-top-5-defensive-moments-so-far-season With all the hoopla over the Dak vs Romo thing we haven't heard from Romo himself. We are hearing ABOUT him though as he continues his rehab from a broken bone in his spinal column in preparation for his return to the field. It doesn't look like the QB controversy swirling around the media and fans won't come to a head next week as it is not likely Romo will be ready for the Philly game in 10 days. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/19/tony-romo-continues-work-recovery-during-cowboys-bye-week It's always something isn't it. Dez Bryant missed the Cowboys only practice of the week yesterday because he cut two fingers on his right hand preparing his dinner on Tuesday evening. Dez still asserts he is going to be ready to play in the Philly game next Sunday after the Cowboys bye this week. We'll see but the cuts were bad enough he couldn't catch balls so he was held out of practice as a result. It's like having to deal with a bunch of clumsy children in Dallas sometimes. Good grief. Dez kind of needed a little extra work seeing as how he's been out since he suffered a hairline fracture to a bone in his knee in Week 3 against the Bears. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/19/cowboys-not-concerned-%E2%80%9Cminor%E2%80%9D-cuts-dez%E2%80%99s-hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 The Cowboys have had a week to heal and now they have had a week to prepare for a crucial Sunday night game against the vile, despicable Philadelphia Eagles. Did you happen to remember that I hate the Eagles? I've been to Philly. I went this past summer. Nice city, and it's pretty cool to see the historical landmarks that helped shape our country. It's just the fans and teams of Philly that make me sick. Division games are really important but the 2 games against the Eagles are imperatives. If Dallas goes 2-14 I want the two wins to be against the Eagles. The weird thing about this series in recent years is neither team has won at home and both teams have won on the road. That bodes ill for tomorrow's game at JerryWorld if the recent past is any indication. So, what's happened in the last week of practice? Well.......................... Tony Romo practiced for the first time since breaking a bone in his back against Seattle in preseason game #3 back in August. On Tuesday he didn't suit up but he did do pat-n-goes and worked in individual QB drills. On Wednesday that familiar #9 was on the field. Again, he was relegated to pat-n-go stuff and he ran the scout team in goal line work. Nice to see him back at work. He sat out Thursday as the coaches are working him back in a conservative fashion. Expect more next week even to the extent of getting some 1st team reps. Dez Bryant was full go this week as the hairline crack in the bone going into his knee is healed up and the fingers he sliced chopping up carrots for soup last week were not an issue. He is officially listed as questionable but I'd bet my house he plays tomorrow night. Tyrone Smith was limited early in the week but he will play tomorrow which is a good thing because Chaz Greene will miss another week with a foot injury. CB Orlando Scandrick practiced this week and he is likely to play, how much will depend on how well rookie Anthony Brown plays. Brown has been a very pleasant surprise so far and a real bargain for a sixth round pick. Mo Claiborne was listed as limited but he's likely going to play after missing a week due to a concussion suffered in the first half of the Green Bay game. David Irving, a guy who only played 19 snaps against Green Bay but he recorded a sack, forced 3 fumbles and batted down a pass is likely in for more playing time this week. David Irving was signed off the Kansas City practice squad last year when the D-line was suffering multiple injuries. He was able to make a dent for Dallas but he too got injured and missed a lot of time last season. We have to remember he's only been in the NFL for 2 seasons and has little experience but if the Green Bay game was any indication he has a lot of upside. It's about time Dallas hit on some defensive moves. Dallas may be as healthy as they have been in a long time and considering the Eagles games are always wars the hope would be they would be the same at the end of this game. The Eagles have taken a hit on their defensive front with the loss for the second week in a row with the loss of Bennie Logan. I'd like it better if the Eagles also didn't have Connor Barwin and Fletcher Cox but I suppose that would be down right begging. Dallas has been winning games by running the ball and passing efficiently. If they can do the same in this game and not turn the ball over Dallas is going to win this game. That's a lot of if's and but's however and you can't count chickens while they are still in the egg. The strength of the Cowboys is their run game based around a strong O-line. It doesn't hurt to know Dak is a very poised QB who makes good decisions but we can't lose sight of the fact he is not as good as Romo right now. He only has one pick this season but he does have several fumbles so he needs to learn to take care of the ball when it's in his hands. Not only that, Dak has had several balls that should have been picked off. Balls that went right into defender's hands so it's a bit of revisionist history to believe Dak has been flawless. The one ball that picked off was a terrible pass in the direction of Jason Witten but it was more to the defender than it was Witten. Of course you could argue that if Brice Butler had caught a long pass on the previous play the ill fated throw would not have occurred. Think as you like, but Tony Romo isn't ready for the trash heap yet and whatever offense this team has will only get better when he's back on the field. The fact is, with Dak playing well and more importantly the way Zeke is running the ball. Zeke is the real key to the Cowboys success to date. If the Cowboys have to depend on Dak to pass the Cowboys to victory, at this point, I don't think they can win a game like that. If Romo was in the game the Cowboys could win a shootout, he's done it before and there is no reason he can't do it again. That's the difference between Romo and Dak, Romo's experience. As much as we love Dak he is still learning on the job while Romo is a 10th degree Free Mason, master of his trade. Despite all the hullabaloo over Dak he's wouldn't be this successful without Zeke and it's something people fail to realize. What does this all mean for Sunday night? Dallas 33 Philadelphia 24 The only players definitively out are Romo, Greene and DL Ryan Davis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 I didn't see overtime coming when the night started. I saw a shootout in the making. I saw a huge blown opportunity blown at the end of the first half when Dak Prescott made a really bad decision to throw into triple coverage in the end zone for an interception. Instead of Dallas going up by 3 at minimum or 7 with a TD instead the Cowboys allowed the Eagles to march around 50 yards for a field goal as the half expired. I saw Dak have a really bad 2 and 1/2 quarters when the Cowboys could seemingly do nothing right. Then it all began to change and, to me, it started with a totally unexpected fake punt by Chris Jones in which he gained 30 yards on 4th and 8 at their own 27 setting them up for with a 1st down at the Eagles 43. Then came a furious 4th quarter when the Dallas defense started stopping the Eagles offense and the Dak finally figured something out and he went from being the Dark Side Dak to the Good Dak as the Cowboys began to climb out of a 10 point deficit to tie the game with just 3:22 left in the game. The Cowboys traded possession to end regulation sending the game into the 3rd overtime game of the day. By this time Dallas had lost S Barry Church for the rest of the game and several weeks more with a broken forearm. They also had lost CB Mo Claiborne for the rest of the game and several weeks more with a groin injury. Dallas won the toss and elected to take the ball first in overtime. Jason Garrett knew he needed to score a TD on that first possession because he was hurting on defense. It was a helluva drive that ensued with the Cowboys taking the ball on their own 25 after a touchback to open the overtime period. Dallas marched the ball down the field using the pass and the run effectively and a critical 4th and 1 which Jason Garrett elected to go for instead of having Dan Bailey kick the field goal. The Cowboys were on the Eagles 28 at the time but Garrett wanted the TD to end the game. Prescott took a QB sneak for 2 yards and the first down. 5 plays later Dak, in what was described as a Tony Romo-esque move, rolled out to his left out of the pocket to escape the Eagles pass rush and he found Jason Witten wide open in the end zone. A sure toss later the game was over. Dallas had won because of the grit and determination of the Cowboys defense. Because of the perseverance of the Cowboys offense and because of some gutsy plays by Jason Garrett. Because of the togetherness of this team as a whole, Dallas prevailed. Game balls were given in the locker room by Jason Garrett but the most important on given was the one given to Jason Witten who set the record for most games as a Cowboy, tied the record for most consecutive starts as a Cowboy and he caught the first TD pass of the 2016 season for the winning TD in overtime. It was an emotional Jason Garrett who handed the game ball to Witten who was urged by teammates to give a "Speech, Speech, Speech." Here's the video of the Cowboys locker room and the exchange between Garrett and Witten. I swear, if it doesn't give you chills you need to get your pulse checked. http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2016/10/31/exclusive-emotional-witten-presented-game-ball The only downer of the day was the Cincinnati Bengals choked like a bunch of dogs in London early in the day and ended up with an overtime tie with the stupid Redskins. The final 27-27 tie was a better game than the 6-6 piece of crap game between Seattle and Arizona last Monday night but the Bengals are the world greatest shoot yourself in the foot team. I would think that Cincinnati ownership is tired of the penalties and stupidity that this team shows week in and week out and it's all been under Marvin Lewis' watch. At some point in time I would think the Bengals who see a need to change the culture in that locker room and it won't happen with Lewis as head coach. But that is another rant for another day. As it is Dallas has a 2 game lead in the division over Philly and the Giants, who were on their bye week this week and 2 and 1/2 games on Washington. That tie could be a real difference maker at the end of the season. Anyway, Dallas is in a really good position at 6-1 right now and they will ride that streak into Cleveland this week trying to make it 7 straight wins in a row. Life is good and world is in harmony and there is no disturbance in the force -- for now. Why? Because Dallas beat the hated Eagles that's why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 The Cowboys are on the practice field getting ready for the Browns this week. But, for just a second, I’d like to go back and enjoy the win over Philly Sunday night. First, in his Scout’s Eye series, Bryan Broaddus looks at some the key plays from Sunday night and includes a video of some of the plays so you see what he’s talking about. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/10/31/scout%E2%80%99s-eye-breaking-down-game-changing-plays-all-three-phases In case you didn’t hear about it yet Dallas secondary took a hit on Sunday. S Barry Church will miss 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his forearm. It was deemed unnecessary at this point to do surgery to insert a plate in his arm to facilitate healing. That is a good thing because it would have lengthened the time he would have missed. If conditions go right Church could be back in the 4 week range instead of the 6 weeks. The other hit was to Morris Claiborne. The poor guy is just snake bit. He was living up to every expectation people had when Dallas traded up to get him as the 6th overall pick in the 2012 draft. It looked like all the injury nonsense was behind him as well but late in the 4th quarter he suffered what has turned out to be a sports hernia. It is still undecided whether or not he will need surgery but he is believed to be out the same 4-6 that Barry Church will miss. It’s a good thing Orlando Scandrick came back last week to lessen the blow of losing Claiborne but it is a real blow to the defense to have your best corner go down. Fortunately, 6th round pick Anthony Brown has emerged as a pretty good corner who can play outside and in the slot. By all accounts, the ideal would be to have Brown take Claiborne’s spot on the outside and leave Scandrick to man the slot. That would be preferable to moving him inside on the nickel and dime packages and outside in the standard sets. There are always challenges but, for the time being, it looks like Dallas has enough depth to overcome the loss of Church and Claiborne. Did you realize the Cowboys faced 5 Eagle possessions in the 4th quarter and 4 of them resulted in a punt while the other was a fumble recovery? The Cowboys have only allowed opponents to score 20 points or more 2 times this season. In the season opener Dallas gave up 20 in a loss to the Giants and now the 23 to Philly on Sunday night. The defense is allowing a full TD less to opponents than they did last season. Tidbits about this week’s game against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are getting WR and 1stround draft pick Corey Coleman back from a broken hand he suffered in practice after the Browns Week 2 game. The Browns acquired LB Jamie Collins from New England for a conditional 3rd round draft pick. Pretty cheap for a guy who is considered one of the best LB’s in the NFL. The Patriots wanted to sign Collins to a long term deal but he wanted something like $19MM a year range and the Patriots weren’t going there. It made the decision easy after that for NE to make a deal and get something for him since his contract is up at the end of this year. The Browns have played 3 home games in the first 8 weeks and in 2 of those 3 they lost by less than 6 points. So that tells you Cleveland may have lost but they are no push over. The Browns have had a lead in all but a couple of the 8 games they have played. What this means is Cleveland is a young team who needs to learn how to win ball games. Hopefully, they don’t figure that one out Sunday against Dallas. In practice this week Dallas has been pretty healthy. Other than Barry Church and Mo Claiborne everyone except Tony Romo and DE Ryan Davis was at practice in pads. Jason Garrett said yesterday that Romo was dealing with secondary injuries. No word whether he’s back today. Party on, Wayne. Party on, Garth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 The sun shines brighter, the bird’s song is sweeter, the sky is bluer and even when it rains it not bad. That’s how the world seems when Dallas is winning games. Dallas is first in the NFC East and they have the top record in the entire NFC. The Cowboys have the NFL rushing leader who is racking up Player of the Week honors and was named NFC Offensive Rookie of the Month of October. That’s cool but he deserved to win Offensive Player of the Month. That honor was given to Arizona’s David Johnson even though Ezekiel Elliott rushed for more yards, had more yards total and the Cowboys went 4-0 in October while Arizona is just 2-2-1. That 2-2-1 means Zeke’s numbers came in one less game than Johnson played. It’s that old east coast-New York bias rearing its ugly head again. Those people back east just don’t like to give the Cowboys credit for anything. How else can you explain why players like Drew Pearson, Harvey Martin and Darren Woodson are not in the Hall of Fame? That’s a different rant for a different day. The point so far is life is good. It’s not a bad thing that Dallas plays are fairly bad team trying for their seventh win in a row this week. They have to go on the road to Cleveland to play the winless Browns and the Cowboys have to wear their dark blue jerseys. There was a time when it was thought that Dallas was jinxed wearing the dark blue jersey’s. That perception has sort of died off since the 90’s but old school Cowboys fans still dread it when the navy blue shirts are pulled out. Seven and one in the first half of the season would almost guarantee Dallas a spot in the playoffs. Think about it, if Dallas goes 4-4 in the season half they would finish the season 11-5. It is almost inconceivable to me that Dallas wouldn’t make the playoffs with 11 wins. If they can go 5-3 or 6-2 they would almost certainly be the NFC’s top seed with home field throughout the playoffs. A win Sunday sets them up for the second half so they have to stay focused and not take an 0-8 team for granted. In yesterday’s practice Tony Romo was on the field and on the injury report he was listed as “limited”. The next real concern on the injury report is at left tackle. Starter Tyron Smith has been dealing with a bad back since training camp and it caused him to miss a couple of games early in the season. Chaz Green took over for those games and did very well putting the fears of not having a good swing tackle to rest. At least until Green hurt his foot in his last start. He gutted out the game but it was just fortunate that Smith was ready to return to the lineup. Green came back to practice this week and was listed as “limited”. Both Smith and Green are listed as limited but at least both are practicing. I have a feeling Smith will be “limited” all season with an eye on back surgery as soon as the season is over. Green will work back and I hope that “limited” stuff is soon gone and he is completely off the injury list. As for Romo, I wish Jason Garrett would just stop all this BS over who the starting QB of the Cowboys is when Tony is healthy. In my mind, it Tony and there is no debate. Tony is the starting QB of the Cowboys and when he is healthy enough to play he will resume that duty. That is to say I don’t appreciate what Dak has done and I’m as glad as can be he has shown us all he is the QB of the future in Dallas. The Cowboys have been looking for this guy for 5 years and now he is in the house. Good. But, just like Danny White had to wait his turn until Roger Staubach retired Dak is going to have wait. Don’t be one of those morons who claim the team chemistry will be destroyed if Tony comes back. That is all hogwash. Tony has been a full participant in all the off season work from May until August when he was hurt a full 4 weeks into training camp. The vets already know what they have in Romo and the rookies had all the OTA’s, mini camps and training camp to see how important Romo is. Dak has been good but if you look at it in the last 2 games he’s been picked off twice and fumbled 3 times. Dak should have been picked off another 3 times by my count but the opposing DBs dropped the ball. The reason Dak has had success is because the offense hasn’t been totally on his shoulders. It’s been on Zeke’s and every week after that first week against the Giants when he wasn’t very good Zeke has gotten better and now he’s the new millennium Emmitt only with speed Emmitt didn’t have. Zeke was drafted as a compliment to Tony and Tony should get the benefit of that. It doesn’t mean I discount what Dak has done and I have nothing against Dak. Until Tony’s skills tell us all he’s done it his team. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 For today, we don't need to worry the Romo-Dak debate because it is all Dak with Romo still inactive. Dak and the rest of the Cowboys are shooting for win number seven in a row today and I'll bet a hungry man a meal it won't be as easy as it looks on the surface. On the one hand you have the woeful 0-8 Browns hosting the battle tested Dallas Cowboys who are currently 6-1 after an emotional overtime win over Philadelphia last Sunday night. On the other hand you get a Browns team that just got an infusion of talent on both sides of the ball. On defense they got a Pro Bowl linebacker in a deal with the Patriots this past week and on offense they got their first round draft pick WR Corey Coleman back after he missed 6 games with a broken hand. The Cowboys downside is they are coming off an emotional SNF win over Philly. Kind of makes you think doesn't it. Heap a big dose of injuryitis on defense with the multi-week loss of S Barry Church and CB Mo Claiborne. Taking their places will be JJ Wilcox who nobody trusts despite the fact he's played pretty well so far this season and they will be trusting rookie Anthony Brown to play tight man coverage the way Mo was doing, and doing quite well too. Kind of makes your butt cheeks pucker a little doesn't it? This defense that has rallied around itself so far this season will really have to do some rallying after losing Church who has a big chunk of the turnovers Dallas has created so far and Mo who has been a top 3 corner in the NFL so far. The guy replacing Church is known to be bad in pass coverage and his strength is playing close to the line of scrimmage and it he does that well maybe it won't be so bad. Anthony Brown is a rookie taken in the sixth round of the draft who has shown something in the first 7 games. He is definitely a pleasant surprise for a late round draft pick. Despite their record the Browns have played hard and they have not been blown out as often as you'd think. At least 5 of their losses have been 7 points or less and 3 of those has been 3 points or less. I'm telling you, you can't go to sleep on these Browns because they are hungry and they have been too close in too many games not to feel like they are about to break through and get their first win in the Hue Jackson era. The Browns have some offensive weapons and they have one of the rookies who are looking pretty good in their first season. Cody Kessler is no Dak or Carson Wentz but he's not a bust either. He's got a 67% completion percentage and he's got more TD's than picks. His problem is he can't stay healthy. First he went out because of a shoulder injury and the last time he missed games was due to a concussion. Today will be his first start in 2 weeks. Kessler is getting the start because veteran Josh McCown is not the long term answer in Cleveland and I think Jackson wants to see what he's got in the kid from USC. Kessler has some weapons at this disposal in the form of Coleman, Terrelle Pryor Sr. who has been the main receiving threat since Coleman got hurt and TE Gary Barnidge. Kessler's also got Isaiah Crowell running the ball with Duke Johnson a threat coming out of the backfield in the passing game. Dallas has been up to the challenge so far this season with a points allowed average of just 18.4 PPG which is seventh in the NFL. They haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher or a 100 yard receiver yet this season. What Dallas needs is for JJ Wilcox and Anthony Brown to maintain what Barry Church and Mo Claiborne have done and that's getting off the field on 3rd down and creating turnovers. Coleman and Pryor will be a huge challenge for this revamped secondary. What it will probably come down to is the Cowboys ability to do what they have been doing, run the ball, pass effectively and don't turn the ball over. Simple right? When you have a good O-line, the top rusher in the NFL and a quality passing game Dallas should be able to control the clock and keep their defense off the field. Cleveland is ranked 31st in total defense, 31st in run defense and 27th in pass defense. Dallas is 3rd in total offense and 3 in rushing. The Cowboys are down in the pack in passing offense but it's because the Cowboys haven't needed Dak to throw for 300 yards a game. We all know what Dak can do and on paper Dallas should walk all over the Browns. That's what scares me about this game, it's just too one sided in favor of the Cowboys and I'm not willing to say they will dominate the way the stats say they should. It's an early game so the suspense won't last too long. So, with all that said what does that mean? Dallas 31 Cleveland 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 It is another victory Monday and life is good. Dallas did just exactly what they should have done, what all good teams do to bad teams, they won convincingly. I predicted a 14 point win, after all it is the NFL, but it just may be that this Dallas Cowboys team isn’t messing around and they really are this good and maybe the 25 point win could’ve been worse. The offensive line did such a good job of blocking I’m not so sure I couldn’t have completed 60% of my passes for 250 and couple of TD’s. Okay, that’s BS but you get what I’m saying. The Cowboys had the ball for 39:29 time of possession, that’s 2/3 of the game and they scored TD’s on 5 of 9 possessions in the game. The four possessions they didn’t score on were the kneel downs at the end of the half and at the end of the game, a punt in the first quarter and a punt in the 4th quarter. That is what you call dominance. Did the defense play well? You tell me. In the second half the Browns did not get past their own 30 yard line. Are you kidding me? The Cowboys got four sacks including the first two of the season for rookie Maliek Collins. The first sack was a thing of terrible beauty. Collins did a stunt that got him a free run at Browns QB Cody Kessler. Collins could easily have gone helmet to helmet which would have been a penalty but he didn’t. He made sure his head was not going to make contact with Kessler as Collins wrapped him up Kessler and put him on the ground. Hard. Hopefully, the Cowboys website will post a video of that sack because it deserves some love. The Cowboys are balling and I don’t believe they are intimidated or scared of anybody at this point. Last week they were a unanimous choice for #2 in the NFL power rankings. With New England idle this past weekend it could be Dallas is the new #1. In Week 5, Tom Brady’s first game after his suspension ended, beat the Browns 33-13 which means Dallas 25 point win trumps the Pats 20 point win. I’m just saying. Defensive lineman David Irving got into a tussle with Browns center Cam Erving that got them both tossed. What was interesting was the game was just a few plays old. The incident occurred on the opening possession of the game after the Browns got the ball down to the Cowboys 15 after a 44 yard pass play to Isaiah Crowell. Irving is said to be close to tears when he realized he had been tossed because he knew he messed up. The fine from the NFL for a first offense for fighting is $30K which is about what Irving makes per game. That’s got to suck. The Browns Erving may not have been tossed if not for the fact he had a hold of the Cowboy’s Irving by his face mask which he ripped off and then threw at Irving. That guaranteed Erving’s ejection. The report card on Orlando Scandrick, Anthony Brown and JJ Wilcox who were playing in place of injured Mo Claiborne and Barry Church has got to be pretty good. You saw the pertinent defensive stats and the box score doesn’t list the passes defensed stat but there wasn’t a blemish other than the Browns Terrelle Pryor beating Brown on an in and out route for a TD just before halftime. Believe it or not the star of the secondary was right CB Brandon Carr who defensed a couple of potential TD passes. Since Mo Claiborne emerged over training camp and Carr was moved to the right side he has flourished and he has played much better than year’s past. It’s a shame but, I can hear it all now if Romo is ready to play next Sunday in Pittsburgh and Jason Garrett says he will start in place of Dak Prescott. The poo-poo will literally hit the fan in both media circles and fan circles because everyone is all in on Prescott. It’s a shame too, that so many are willing to cast Romo off like a used condom when he was poised to rebound from the problems of 2015 when he had a bone broken in his back in a damn preseason game in Seattle. Romo was not, and I contend is not, suffering from a loss or diminishment of his skills. It was just 2 seasons ago Romo led the Cowboys to a 12-4 record and was 4 minutes and bad call away from heading to Seattle for the NFC title game. Like Dak, Romo is 7-1 in his last 8 regular season starts. He was 3-1 last year including a win over Miami the Sunday before Thanksgiving when he came back too soon from the broken collar bone he suffered in Week 2 against Philadelphia. That was a win, rust and all, against a pretty good Dolphins team at home. Romo is the starting QB of the Cowboys and he deserves to get his job back when he’s healthy. This is no slight to Dak, I appreciate what he’s done and it’s clear the Cowboys now have their QB of the future but it’s still Tony’s team as it should be. All the people worried about Romo resuming his role would be screwing up the “team chemistry” are full of crap. Tony is right in the middle of this. Dak has said as recently as last week it’s still Tony’s team. Dak has said Tony has been great helping him in practice and on game days. Romo had a party at his house for his teammates during bye week and former coach and current DallasCowboys.com broadcaster Dave Campo said he saw Romo and Zeke out to dinner together. Everyone saw a healthy Tony Romo during OTA’s, mini camps and training camp until he was hurt in Seattle. They know Romo can play. When Tony is healthy he should be the starter and it shouldn’t be any other way. Craig Morton had to wait behind Dandy Don Meredith, Roger Staubach had to wait behind Morton, Danny White had to wait behind Staubach and when Tony is healthy Dak will have to wait behind Tony. This year and next and Romo can retire and the Cowboys won’t be raped by Romo’s salary cap number and he will probably have a Super Bowl ring or two. Give Romo the respect he deserves. It is not a question of disrespecting Dak, nobody knew this was going to happen and it’s a tremendous surprise and gives hope for the Cowboys future. The team won’t be in limbo the way it was after Troy Aikman retired and there was nobody waiting to take over. The Cowboys have their guy in training and for 10-12 years he will lead the Cowboys but let’s not forget about the legacy of Tony Romo and the consideration he deserves from the fans, and media and mostly the Dallas Cowboys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 Life is good. I know I’ve said that but after all the manure sandwiches I had to eat last year because the Cowboys were losing at the same clip they are winning at right now and the haters would go out of their way to pile on the misery of just losing another game was bringing. So forgive me for enjoying my day in the sun. And don’t think I am not giving back some the “love” I got from haters last year. The halfway point of the season is here and to give the media something to talk about they devised the notion of midseason awards. The only reason I mention this is to say what a load of crap that is. By the end of Week 17 the story will have changed a hundred times and the guys we all think are all that right now are just footnotes to the season when it’s all over with. As for the Cowboys, I hope they just keep on truckin’ along until they win Super Bowl LI in Houston next February. It was decided that Barry Church will have surgery on his broken arm after all. Last week the Cowboys said doctors told them surgery would not be needed but yesterday they flipped the script and said he did need to go under the knife. What was also said is the surgery won’t change what is now a 4-5 week recovery time which is a good thing. What the surgery entails is installing a plate and screws to facilitate the bone healing properly. Surgery, when you talk about it in relation to someone else is always a ho-hum deal isn’t it? When you talk about surgery for yourself it’s a whole other deal. It would do us all well to remember that players are people and real flesh and bone is involved when they have to have surgery. What may be worthwhile is to give a midseason grade to the Cowboys 2016 draft class so that’s what I’m here to do right now. Rd 1 – RB Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio St) – Nothing to say here except, “Nailed it!” (A+) Rd 2 – LB Jaylon Smith (Notre Dame) – the Cowboys new he wasn’t going to play this year as he makes steady progress recovering from that devastating knee injury on January 1st against Ohio State. The ligament damage is healed. Slow but sure progress on the nerves in his ankle and knee starting to fire. (I) > “I” is for incomplete.< Rd 3 – DT Maliek Collins (Nebraska) – Collins broke his foot in OTA’s back In May which slowed his progress but he has started to come on in The last few weeks and he recorded his first two sacks of the year in Cleveland last Sunday. (B+) Rd 4 – DE Charles Tapper (Oklahoma) – Tapper has a back issue that sidelined in training camp and he has yet to play a down for Dallas this season. (F) Rd 4 – QB Dak Prescott (Mississippi St) – Bases on expectations vs the Results we’ve seen Dak is an unquestioned hit! (A+) Rd 6 – CB Anthony Brown (Purdue) – Dallas has had crap for luck from the 4th round on in most drafts. Brown has come on and shown he is the exception to the rule. He is getting tons of playing time with Mo Claiborne hurt and he was playing a lot before that when Orlando Scandrick was out. This is turning out to be a nice pick. (B) Rd 6 – S Kavon Frazier (Central Michigan) – Frazier is fast, strong and can cover. Not bad for a small school guy from the MAC conference. Stephen Jones said that the Cowboys had a 4th round grade on Frazier so if he pans out it is a great value pick for the Cowboys. With Barry Church hurt Kavon Frazier may actually be active on game days. It says a lot about Frazier that he made the active roster coming out of camp. © Rd 6 – RB Darius Jackson (Eastern Michigan) – Yet another late round pick who made the final 53. The scouting report on him reads like the ultimate player profile of an NFL RB. Strong, fast, quick feet in the hole, good vision, good receiver coming out of the backfield. Makes you wonder why this kid didn’t go in the 1s or 2nd round. The telling thing is he made the final 53 which is something. I think he was drafted against the multi-scenario of Zeke stinks, Darren McFadden can’t stay healthy, Alfred Morris is washed up and Lance Dunbar can’t stay healthy. The Cowboys were right about McFadden and Dunbar but obviously Zeke doesn’t stink and Alfred Morris is far from washed up. Jackson could be the long term answer to Dunbar who is in his 5th season and a guy who just can’t stay out of the training room. © If I came home with 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s and F and an “I” when I was in high school that would have been a bit of a victory in the eyes of my parents. Especially when that “I” could turn into a big fat “A” if things work out right. This is the Cowboys strongest draft in a long time and it will be even stronger if and when Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper can get on the field and play well. You’ve got to give credit where credit is due so give some love to Jerry the GM and the player personnel staff for a draft well done. Dallas made a move on their practice squad yesterday releasing G Clay DuBord and signing G Kadeem Edwards. Edwards was a 5th round pick in the 2014 draft by Tampa and he’s spent time on the Jacksonville practice squad last season. Just a churn of the bottom of the roster by the Cowboys. On the strength of Dallas’ dominating win over Cleveland the Cowboys defense has cracked the top 10 in total defense in the NFL. Dallas is the tenth ranked D and they have put some surprisingly good numbers so far. Like, they are one of only 2 defenses in the NFL who have given up no more than 23 points all season. The Cowboys are tied with Arizona for 4th in the NFL in PPG allowed with 17.5. The leader, Minnesota is allowing 15.8. Dallas D is the only one in the NFL that hasn’t allowed a 100 yard rusher or a 100 yard receiver yet this season. For the defense to be this efficient is just an added bonus to what is already a surprising season for the Cowboys. A lot of talk about team chemistry is bandied about and it’s clear this is a close knit group. I think a lot of that has to do with the absence of Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain. They are the very reason, I believe, for Jason Garrett’s catch word of the year being “17 inches” meaning nobody is exempt from team rules which both players broke consistently last season. They were not “the right kind of guys” that Jason Garrett talks about all the time. They both were jerks who were a constant distraction in the Cowboys locker room. Good riddance to them both. McClain is probably smoking dope at his burned down lake house in Alabama while Hardy was arrested Monday for possession of cocaine. Hardy was pulled over for traffic stop and a subsequent search of his vehicle turned up a bag of coke and a small amount of marijuana remnents (roaches, for the uninitiated). Hardy claimed he didn’t know what was in the bag. He said he was given the bag the night before at a party and he didn’t know what was in it. Either Hardy is dumbest individual on the planet or he made the worst excuse ever. Regardless, if Hardy is convicted he stands to spend 2 years in jail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 The rivalry between Dallas and Pittsburgh is real. The games are as even as two teams can be with an odd number of games played, 31, with Dallas leading 16 wins to 15 for Pittsburgh. Since Dallas beat Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX was back in 1996 in Tempe Arizona there hasn't been as much on the line. Dallas lost a frigid game in Pittsburgh in 2008 but they got revenge by winning in December of 2012 at home. It looks like the Cowboys offensive line will be good to go with LT Tyron Smith continuing to manage a bad back during the week to be able to play on Sundays and that appears to be the case this week as well. The Cowboys found a good backup swing left tackle in Chaz Green but he's been out because of a foot injury that they just discovered is partially due to a small bone broken in his foot. He's been out for the past 4 weeks and it may be a couple more before he is back. LG Ronald Leary had been on concussion protocol but he came off that on Friday. Word was that he was still being watched to see how he responds to the trip to Pittsburgh and he could be a game time decision. Hopefully, Leary is a go and if he is that bodes well for the Cowboys. The big news this week has been that Tony Romo was a full participant in Cowboys practices all week. Reports are that he's throwing well, moving well and looking pretty good. There is a chance Romo will be active on the roster for the first time in 2016. If he is the question begs, is he able to actually play if Dak Prescott should get hurt? That's the question that assumes Tony isn't the starter and since Dak got all the first team reps this week is a clear indication that Dallas is planning to start Dak. Reports are that Cowboys COO Stephen Jones stated this week that Tony would be open to being the backup to Dak. I'm sure that chaps Romo's ass to have to backup Prescott but if you don't take first team reps you just aren't ready to play an NFL game. If Romo is active and if he is the back up it sets up my scenario I wrote about a couple of weeks ago in which Dak is knocked out of the game in the 3rd quarter and Romo comes in with the Cowboys down 7 and he leads the team to a victory. Romo has to start next week against the Ravens at Jerry World and he wins and on a short week the Cowboys play Washington with Romo again the starter and the Cowboys win that game too. It's settled, Romo gets his job back and Dak is his backup and the team keeps rolling all the way to Super Bowl LI in Houston. That is my dream scenario because I want Romo to get his job back and I want him to win the Super Bowl on the field, not on the bench. I know I just pissed off a ton of Dak fans but I don't care. Romo has paid his dues and he deserves this shot with this team. Dak is the future of the Cowboys but in my perfect world his part of the present is on the sideline watching Romo finally having his day in the sun. If Romo is active there is hope this scenario will play out. In all likelihood Romo won't be active because he hasn't had any reps with the 1st team. Those all went to Mark Sanchez and it's not likely Dallas can afford to keep 3 QBs active. So, this is likely Dak's game to win---or lose. The biggest mismatch could be Pitt's offense against the Cowboys defense. The Cowboys have played way above expectations and they are actually ranked in the top 10 in the whole NFL. They haven't had to face as dynamic a trio they will face this afternoon in Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. Can the Cowboys pressure Big Ben and better yet can they get him on the ground when they get there? Dallas' first order of business every week is to stop the run and the Cowboys will face a stiff challenge trying to stop Bell. The Cowboys have also not faced a receiver the caliber of Antonio Brown but the face is Bell hasn't topped 100 yards in the last 4 weeks and Brown hasn't topped 100 yards but once in the past 5 games. That was two weeks ago against New England. The main reason is because Pittsburgh's O-line has not been all that great. In fact they have a backup at left tackle and that could be the weakest link and the Cowboys main point of attack for their front four. The defense has been decent but it's not your daddy's Steel Curtain and that's for sure. The Cowboys have won 7 straight since losing their season opener to the NY Giants while Pittsburgh is 4-4 on the season mainly because they have lost 3 straight. Pittsburgh also has played the Philadelphia Eagles back in Week and Philly beat the crap out of them 34-3 in what is one the most shocking losses ever for the Steelers. Dallas can win this game if they just keep doing what they've done. Play ball control offense with heavy doses of the run game and solid, opportunistic defense that is only allowing 17.4 PPG. There is other incentive to win this week as well. Dallas has a two game lead over the Giants followed by Washington and Philly. All three NFC East teams other than Dallas has a home game this week. Washington is playing a suddenly reeling Minnesota Vikings while Philadelphia is playing Atlanta and the Giants are hosting Cincinnati on Monday night. Again, in a perfect world Dallas beats Pittsburgh, which would be good enough in and of itself, but losses by the other 3 teams would be so sweet. The only game I think is not an advantage of the home team is the Atlanta-Philly game. The Falcons have the No 1 offense in the NFL and so far the bad Matt Ryan hasn't shown up and I really want the Eagles to go down today. What does all this mean? Dallas 31 Pittsburgh 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 15, 2016 Author Share Posted November 15, 2016 (edited) I had to let this game digest for a day before talking about it. On one side, I’m happy as I can be that Dallas beat Pittsburgh and improve their record to 8-1. On the other side, I have to come to the final conclusion that my scenarios that Tony Romo comes back and triumphantly leads the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory are highly unlikely. I kind of think the Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team now. It’s great and it sucks. Melancholy is defined by Mr Webster as “…a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause.” I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and have been almost my entire life but I don’t feel like life has been fair to Tony Romo. He deserves better. I have no animosity towards Dak, not at all. As a matter of fact, I’m glad he’s been so good. I would much rather be 8-1 at this point with a 2 game lead in the NFC East over the crotch sniffing Giants. I just wish Tony Romo was at the helm leading the way. Damn you Cliff Avril and damn the Seattle Seahawks forever! We have all been told our whole lives things happen for a reason, God has a grand plan. I don’t mind saying the plan He had for Romo sucks. I know I should have faith, after all, the season isn’t over yet but with the Cowboys saying that Romo is willing to accept a backup role that’s all I need to know. The shame of all this is on Fox’s postgame show on Sunday no less than Jimmy Johnson said this, “Do I think Tony Romo is better than Dak Prescott? Yes, I think Romo is better, but how much better considering the Cowboys are winning? I think the Cowboys have to stick with Dak.” Crap. Everyone agrees that Tony is a better QB than Prescott is right now in Dak’s career but nobody wants to upset the steam train that is the Cowboys right now. The only way Romo gets on the field now is if Prescott gets injured and I’m certainly not wishing for that to happen. I will continue rooting for the Cowboys and I will be so happy if they can go all the way. For 21 years I have had to put up with the haters rubbing Cowboys losses in my face and it’s time for a little payback. The Cowboys allowed more than 23 points in a game for the first time on Sunday. It was not an unexpected occurrence because of the weapons the Steelers possess. It was the most dynamic offense the Cowboys have faced this season with the triumvirate of Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown and it took a Herculean effort to score 35 points to win the game. Especially, after CB Orlando Scandrick left the game in the 4th quarter with a head injury. That meant that Dallas was covering the Steelers with a rookie, a practice squad player and Brandon Carr. The rookie, Anthony Brown has been playing a lot since Mo Claiborne got hurt and has performed well most of the time. The practice squad player, Leon McFadden, was a 3rd round draft pick by Cleveland in 2013. He has bounced around the NFL between the Browns, the Jets, the 49ers, the Cardinals and the Giants before landing on the Cowboys practice squad on October 24th and he was elevated to the 53 man roster just last week. Brandon Carr we are all familiar with. It’s a ragtag bunch that is playing right now but the good news is Scandrick seems to be okay and he should be back this week. If the Cowboys can hang on for two more weeks there is a good chance Barry Church will be back and Dallas can entertain the notion of moving S Byron Jones to CB. That would be a tough move considering how well Jones has been playing at safety. Speaking of Jones, I think the most lasting memory of his play against Pittsburgh came in the second quarter when DeMarcus Lawrence tackled Le’Veon Bell and forced a fumble that Jones could have scooped up and ran in for a TD. Instead, he bobbled the ball out of bounds allowing Pittsburgh to retain possession. Jones said after the game, “Man, extremely frustrating because there was nobody around me. I felt if I scooped the ball I would have scored and it would have been big for the entire team. Just let that one get through my fingers.” Jones made way more plays than he missed though including breaking up the pass for the 2 point conversion after Pittsburgh’s first TD. I wonder if there has ever been a game prior to Sunday where a team was 0-4 in extra point attempts. The Steelers scored 4 TDs Sunday and they tried going for 2 all 4 times and failed. If Pittsburgh had kicked the extra points it would have changed the nature of the way the game was played out. Sunday’s game was a highly emotional game for Dez Bryant. He learned just the night before that his father had died. If you noticed when he scored on the 50 yard bomb from Dak in the first half Bryant didn’t throw up the “X” like he usually does, he pointed straight to the sky in paying tribute to his father. Dez didn’t have a good upbringing. He had an unusually hard life as a kid but, your dad is your dad and it was a tough day for Dez. In the locker room after the game Jason Garrett praised the team for gutting out the win and he said it was a true team victory but he singled out Dez. In doing so Garrett could barely get the words out because he was so emotional for Dez. Check out the video from DallasCowboys.com and tell me you didn’t get a little choked up after it was finished. http://www.wfaa.com/img/resize/content.wfaa.com/photo/2016/11/13/USATSI_9675566_1479085366227_7012842_ver1.0.jpg?preset=534-401 http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2016/11/14/emotional-dez-bryant-presented-game-ball Dallas didn’t come out of the game unscathed. TE Geoff Swaim injured his pectoral muscle and it will require surgery. It has not been determined if he will miss the rest of the season. The Cowboys were already without James Hanna who had surgery on his knee this past summer and he has been on PUP ever since. It is not likely Hanna will be back anytime soon. The onus of backup TE has fallen on Gavin Escobar and on Sunday he stepped up as he threw key blocks on both of Ezekiel Elliott’s last two TD runs. After the game Jerry Jones said that Tony Romo will likely be active when the Cowboys face the Ravens next Sunday. He didn’t say it in so many words but, the idea is Romo will be the backup to Dak when he comes back. Romo has been practicing for the past 3 weeks and he got a full week of practices in this past week leading to speculation prior to the game that Romo could be active against the Steelers. Romo was not active but his status will change as Dallas heads into Week 10. The odds of Romo resuming his starting role are highly unlikely given the unprecedented run the Cowboys are on right now. One last thing. Here is a link to Bryan Broaddus’ article from DallasCowboys.com taking a look back at the win in Pittsburgh in his Scout’s Eye feature. It’s a cool article because it includes a video of the play he’s talking about in most cases. It’s a great insight on how to look at film to evaluate the play of your team. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/11/14/scouts-eye-wins-secondary-dallas-dominant-blocking-more Edited November 16, 2016 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 16, 2016 Author Share Posted November 16, 2016 I came in to work and I was just getting my day kicked off by checking out what the writers did yesterday evening on DallasCowboys.com when the first thing I saw on the home page was Tony Romo standing at a podium in front of a bunch of media guys. What I soon found out was that Romo read a prepared speech that lasted about 5 minutes that basically was Romo saying that he was aware that the Cowboys, at 8-1 on the season, are now Dak Prescott’s team and he was determined to play his backup role to the fullest and be the best teammate possible. It was a speech where he admitted that when he got hurt in Seattle in the 3rd preseason game it was a soul crushing moment. Having to sit on the sideline watching the team have success was the source of one of the darkest times in his life because, as he said, this was the best team he had been on with the Cowboys and he couldn’t be out there reaping the benefits of this special team. At one point Romo said that the NFL is a meritocracy which means simply you get what you earn and Dak has earned the right to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He went on to say that if anyone doubts his desire to play and compete is in any way diminished, “….you’ve never known the ecstasy of playing and winning in the NFL.” I am incredibly sad that Romo is losing his job this way. You would never see Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Peyton Manning have to have a press conference relinquishing their starting job when they are fully capable of playing at a very high level. It wouldn’t happen. Bill Belichick, Sean Payton or Gary Kubiak or John Fox or any other coach Manning had would never disrespect their guy like that. Is it Jason Garrett? Maybe but I think it’s Jerry and Stephen Jones and maybe even Will McClay who are making this call. They are caught up in the moment and they don’t want to take a chance slowing down the train that is the Cowboys season to date. Jerry, Stephen and Will are caught up in Dak fever and they have just thrown a guy, who has pieces of himself laying all over the fields in the NFL and deserves to be treated with the respect he deserves, under the fucking bus. I’m not unsympathetic to what Dak has done but Romo is the starter and starters don’t lose their job to an injury. At least, not until now. I think the fans and media have a lot to do with this decision. Dak fever is everywhere and they are caught up in the excitement of this run the Cowboys are on and fans, probably more than players, are superstitious buggers. Fans who never fail to wear their favorite hat or jersey or lucky shorts on game days are loathe to make a change to screw up the gris-gris going on in Dallas. Dak is their lucky shirt and they don’t want change anything. Especially not after the gut wrenching 4-12 season they experienced last year. This is taking my melancholy from yesterday to a whole new level. Damn the Dallas Cowboys, even when they win they make me feel like shit. I just hope I don’t start to feel resentment of Dak Prescott going forward knowing that Romo never was given a chance to prove he is still “The Man” for the Cowboys. Never even given a chance. It’s not Dak’s fault but he is certainly benefitting from the change. Fuck the coaches and whoever else was involved in this decision. I’ll bet a million bucks Tony Romo didn’t want to make that speech yesterday but he was convinced by Jerry or Stephen to “take one for the team”. Something neither Jerry nor Jimmy Johnson were willing to do after the 1994 season and their 2nd consecutive Super Bowl. You could tell Romo hated every minute he spent at the podium giving that speech. Some people said the atmosphere at the speech was dark and somber like a funeral and, I guess it was, in a manner of speaking. I think unless something totally weird happens 2016 will be Tony Romo’s final season in Dallas. That, ladies and gentlemen, just sucks pure and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 I think that if it was a PR move by Tony Romo to gain sympathy by giving "The Speech" on Monday it worked to a tee. The whole friggin world loves Tony now. He could actually get elected to the Hall of Fame based on his career numbers and that speech where he bared his soul in the process of ceding the Cowboys starting QB job to Dak Prescott. This is the same media that used to bash Romo as a choker who lost games in the 4th quarter when, in truth, between 2009 and 2014, nobody in whole NFL had more wins in the 4th quarter after being tied or trailing than Romo. Nobody had a higher 4th quarter QBR than Romo in the same time frame. Every single year he played all 16 games and a year when he only played 15 he threw for over 4,000 yards and over 30 TDs. He is one of only 29 QBs in NFL history to throw for more than 34,000 yards. I began to really despise the NFL Channel's Lindsey Rhodes because all she could do was spew clichés about how Romo chokes at crunch time. I'm sorry ladies, but all I began to think about Rhodes was she was just a stupid bitch who didn't really know what she was talking about. However, even she had to back of the old clichés about Romo when he came back after suffering a punctured lung and cracked ribs to lead the Cowboys to an overtime win over San Francisco back in 2011. The 3 consecutive 8-8 seasons that began Jason Garrett's tenure as head coach of the Cowboys was BECAUSE of Tony not in spite of him. That was 3 2-14 teams that Tony elevated to .500. Everyone is beginning to see how special he is around the NFL and it's because he got screwed out of his job due to an offseason injury. It's an old NFL axiom that a veteran player doesn't lose his job because of injury unless it's career ending. But, that is what has happened in Dallas. Jason Garrett should have been iterating and reiterating since Week 4 that Dak is doing a fine job for Tony while he rehabs his back. Making it clear each and every week that Tony is the starter, period. No offense to Dak but he was never expected to be this good but it's still should have been emphasized that it's Tony's team from the head coach and GM. But that is not how it's happened. The Cowboys leadership was in a state of "tolerance of ambiguity" whatever the hell that means. Behind closed doors Tony asked to be allowed to win his job back and he was summarily denied that right. Hence, "the speech" on Monday. I'm sure that Tony was trying to put all the controversy and talk about who the starter for the Cowboys is going forward but that's not what has happened. You've heard all the accolades Romo got as a result of the presser on Monday and the side effect of it was an outpouring of support for Tony. Tony, without the ability to play a down unless Dak is hurt is "The Man" in NFL circles and he's become a beloved persona. NFL.com has an article about "America's Quarterback" for goodness sake. Now the narrative is, where will Romo end up next season now that he's handed the reins over to Prescott? Jerry Jones says he sees Romo as part of the Cowboys future. Romo is under contract, a very expensive contract, that Jerry doesn't seem to mind paying. He's spent years trying to solidify the QB position and now that it looks good at long last he seems loathe to mess it up. Under those circumstances, if Jerry won't trade or release Romo the only alternative for Tony is to retire if he doesn't want to play second fiddle to Dak. Why would he want to do that? Everybody and their brother says Romo is a better QB than Dak at this point in Dak's career and Romo said himself the competitive fire is burning even hotter now than maybe it's ever been. Don't you think that you would imagine Tony would rather get mule kicked in the nuts every day rather than play second fiddle to Prescott? Don't answer that, it's a rhetorical question. Tony's concession speech was supposed to stop all the yammering about the Cowboys QB situation but it's had just the opposite effect. Everybody is talking about it and the ironic thing is Tony will be the backup QB tomorrow at home against the Ravens and, mark my words, every time Dak does something good, or bad, the camera is going to be right in Romo's face looking for a reaction. It is the first time Tony will be in uniform and available to play in 2016. We are all going to get to see a lot of him but it's likely not how he hoped. God help me, I sort of want Dak to get hurt so Tony can show the Jones family and Jason Garrett how wrong they were to bench him for a rookie with 9 starts under his belt. I don't believe I just wrote that because Dak has done nothing but his job but I can't help feeling some resentment of Dak and THAT is just not fair to HIM. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so passionate about the Cowboys but I've loved this team since I was 10 years old and I just can't help wanting a Pollyanna finish to Tony Romo's career. Pollyanna was just a story and this is real life and sometimes real life just isn't fair. It's the hardest lesson we learn as we grow into adults and some of us never outgrow the angst of that truth. I'm putting this to bed. I've gotten tired head over this crap. I won't write about it any more if, for nothing else, than to save my sanity. I am pissed off at myself for not being able to absolutely rejoice over this team in 2016. They have never started this way in franchise history and they have only won 8 straight once in the regular season and that was way back in 1977. Be happy. Be happy. Be happy. okay. I am happy it's just not perfect, yet. 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eagle eye Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 The Baltimore Ravens are coming to town. This will be the fifth game these two teams have met---ever. So far in this series Dallas has had zero success against this team---literally. The Cowboys are 0-4 against the Ravens and at least two of these losses have really sucked in terms of how they impacted the Cowboys. Let's take a look at the history of this series. > November 19, 2000 - At Baltimore. The Ravens were a good team in 2000. So good, as a matter of fact, they went on and won the Super Bowl that year. Dallas was at the other end of the spectrum. They stunk. All the wealth of talent they had in the 90's was gone. All that was left really was Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith but without a great, or even good cast around them, there was nothing they could do to salvage the season. The 4-6 Cowboys were not much more than sacrificial lambs to the 7-4 Ravens who had just righted their own ship after losing 3 straight by beating Tennessee the week before. It was a rout as Baltimore trounced the Cowboys 27-0. > November 21, 2004 - At Baltimore. Just another beating at the hands of the bullying Ravens. It was a different team for the Cowboys. Jerry Jones finally realized he could not win without a good coach so he hired Bill Parcells and he proceeded to turn the Cowboys fortunes around from the 3 straight seasons Dallas suffer 5-11 records under the watch of head coach Dave Campo. It wasn't all Campo's fault of course but who was going to point the finger of just how bad Jerry Jones did his job as GM? In 2003 both the Ravens and the Cowboys were 10-6 when the regular season ended and both ended up in the playoffs. 2004 was a little different as both teams struggled. Baltimore ended the season 9-7 and missed the playoffs while Dallas really regressed to a 6-10 record. Baltimore was 6-3 with hopes of going to the playoffs heading into the game while Dallas was 3-6 and just trying to find a win, period. It wasn't going to happen on that day as Baltimore scored early and often beating Dallas 30-10 in a game that wasn't really even that close. > December 20, 2008 - At Dallas. This game sucked and it should not have sucked at all. Both the Ravens came into the game with identical 9-5 records with both needing to win the final two games of the season to make the playoffs. This was the first of both team's final two contests. As has been the case in the Tony Romo era, the defense was not up to the challenge in a game Dallas needed to win. This was a special night for another reason. It was the final game to be played at Texas Stadium and there were players and coaches from the Cowboys history that showed up for what was hoped to be a joyous post game sendoff to the iconic stadium. It didn't happen that way at all. The Cowboys went into the 4th quarter trailing 16-7 but Romo was leading the Cowboys back. Dallas scored 17 fourth quarter points but unfortunately so did Baltimore. Dallas began the scoring with a 35 yard Nick Folk field goal but the Ravens answered with one of their own. The score was 19-10 when the shame of Texas flew in through the roof of Texas Stadium. Tony Romo led the Cowboys to a scoring drive capped by a 7 yard pass from Romo to Terrell Owens to make the score 19-17. Baltimore followed with a 77 yard scamper by Willis McGahee in which he went untouched from the line of scrimmage to the goal line to make the score 26-17. Romo brought the Cowboys back yet again scoring on a 21 yard pass to Jason Witten to again bring the Cowboys within 2 points at 26-24 with 1:36 left in the game. On the ensuing possession the defense, instead of stepping up and getting the ball back to the offense, did just the opposite. They allowed fullback, FULLBACK, Le'Ron McClain to pull of a replay of McGahee's run only it was 82 yards untouched to the house to extend the score to 33-24 with just 1:18 left in the game. Game over. The postgame ceremony to say goodbye to the stadium was not joyous as a cold December rain fell on everyone making a miserable night even more so. > October 14, 2012 - At Baltimore. The Cowboys would finish the season with their second 8-8 season of 3 straight to begin the Jason Garrett era in Dallas. Coming into the game Dallas was 2-2 on the season and they were coming off their bye week. Baltimore, 4-1 on the season, would end up with a 10-6 record in the regular season earning them a Wild Card spot in the playoffs. They got on a run in the playoffs and won the Super Bowl and a lot of that success was due to the Cowboys 31-29 loss in this mid-October game. Tony Romo again led the Cowboys to 9 fourth quarter points but the defense yet again could not make a stop in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Romo hit Dez Bryant with 32 seconds left to make the score 31-29 with :32 left in the game. The Cowboys went for two but were unable to convert leaving the Cowboys 2 down and in a fairly hopeless situation. This is until a Dan Bailey onside kick was recovered by the Cowboys to give them new hope. On the first play after the onsides kick Romo threw to Kevin Ogletree but Chykie Brown committed pass interference giving Dallas the ball at the Ravens 34 with :26 left in the game. An incomplete pass followed by a 1 yard pass to Dez left Dallas with no choice but to burn their final time out and go for the field goal. Dan Bailey set up for a 51 yard attempt and even though the kick was easily long enough Bailey had hooked it missing wide left giving the Raven the game. It was early in the season but if nothing else changed during the course of the season and Bailey makes that kick Dallas would have won the NFC East with a 9-7 record and made the playoffs while Baltimore would have ended up 9-7 and missed the playoffs, and their 2nd franchise Super Bowl. Don't tell me a game in October doesn't matter. Because of the last two losses in this series I have come to hate the Ravens. I really don't like Joe Flacco mainly because I believe he's an overrated hack. In that 2012 season the Ravens don't make the Super Bowl without the play of former Texan Jacoby Jones. It was his play in the AFC Championship game and the Super Bowl that elevated the Ravens to wins in both games. Jones should have been the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII, not Flacco. So screw the stupid Ravens. The Ravens are the only NFL team that Dallas does not have a win over. Besides that Dallas is shooting for a franchise record 9 regular season wins in a row today. All this scares me coupled with the fact the Ravens defense is pretty darn legit. The are the #1 ranked defense against the run in the NFL. Ironically enough, this the 5th time Dallas has faced the #1 ranked run defense this season. The Bengals, the Packers, the Eagles and the Steelers were all #1 before they faced Dallas. I would love to see Zeke run for a buck fifty against the this Ravens team. I would like to see the Cowboys go over 400 yards in total offense for the 8th straight time. I want to see Dallas hang 42 on those purple clad douche bags. But, you have to give props to the Ravens defense because they are legit. Just one week before Ben Roethlisberger threw for 408 yards, 3 TDs and scoriing 30 points on the Cowboys the Ravens held the Steelers to just 14 points and Big Ben had just 264 yards passing in a 21-14 loss. I want Dallas to win and more importantly I want the Ravens to lose to Dallas just because I hate them. The wild card here is not knowing how much of a distraction it's going to be for Dallas to have Tony Romo in uniform on the sideline. He tried to take the controversy out of the equation with his passing of the torch speech on Monday but it fueled a whole different fire. Will this effect the play of the Cowboys this week? That is the million dollar question that will not be answered until around 3:15 this afternoon when the game will close, if not actually, over. Both the Ravens and the Cowboys are getting players back this week but it's the Ravens who look to be giving their defensive pass rush a shot in the arm with the return of Elvis Dumervil which will put even more pressure on Zeke and especially Dak. Dez was listed as questionable but there is confirmation he will play. Can the Cowboys keep the train rolling? Gosh, I really hope so. What does all this mean? Dallas 27 Baltimore 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 There’s no time to bask in the afterglow of the record 9th straight regular season win in a row over the Baltimore Ravens. In just 3 days the Cowboys will have to strap it up again to face the Washington Redskins. When I began this post I was going in a different direction but when I thought about the rivalry between Dallas and Washington on Thanksgiving I figured, what the heck, and took a look at why the Cowboys play on turkey day and see what the Cowboys-Redskins matchups have been like. I will try to be brief. The NFL has played games on Thanksgiving since its inception in 1920. The concept of Thanksgiving game actually goes back all the way to 1876 when the game was invented. It was decided to play a T-Day game because, back then, people usually had a day off for the holiday. Nice. Colleges embraced the Thanksgiving Day game and several annual rivalries developed like Princeton v Yale and the University of Michigan played on Thanksgiving as well. In 1966 when Dallas was just 5 years into its existence the Cowboys were offered the chance to play on Thanksgiving and Club President Tex Schram, being a forward thinking fellow, said okay to the Thursday game IF the NFL agreed to allow Dallas to play regularly thereafter. Back then nobody wanted to play on the holiday for obvious reasons but Schram saw this as a chance to guarantee the Cowboys a high visibility game every single year. It was just one of the many forward thinking innovations Schram came up with to promote the Cowboys. Along with the success of the Cowboys on the field things like claiming Thanksgiving for themselves was a big part of the making of “America’s Team”. Detroit also is traditionally the other game on Thanksgiving and that goes back to 1945, the first Thanksgiving game since 1941 because of WWII, when the Lions were granted the only game of the day permanently. It’s interesting to note that prior to WWII the holiday was jokingly called Franksgiving for a couple of years because of a controversy over then President Franklin D Roosevelt wanting to move the holiday from the last Thursday in November to the 4th. Thanksgiving has been on Thursday since the time of George Washington and it was made official when, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln made a proclamation that Thanksgiving would be on the last Thursday of November. However, in 1933 November had 5 weeks and retailers asked FDR to move the holiday back a week so there would be an extra shopping week for Christmas. FDR denied the request but it came back up in 1939 and FDR was still in office and this time when retailers came a-knockin FDR agreed and declared the holiday would be on the 4th Thursday in November. A lot of states poo-pooed the idea and continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday. For two years there were 2 Thanksgiving holidays in the USA, Franksgiving and the traditional holiday. In 1941 Congress passed a law stating that Thanksgiving would be held on the 4th Thursday of November. Interestingly enough, Texas was the last state to adopt the new 4th Thursday law and they did that in 1961 two full decades after the law had been passed. The Cowboys have hosted the Thanksgiving Day game every year since 1966 except for 1975 and 1977 when teams raised hell over the Cowboys overexposure. They wanted the mini-bye after the Thanksgiving Day game and other teams were jealous of the Cowboys stranglehold on Thanksgiving. I guess they weren’t so interested in Detroit having the same stranglehold as Dallas probably because Detroit had sucked, did suck and would continue to suck so people weren’t as worried about them. I guess the other teams figured the Lions had so little to cheer about they might as well throw them a bone. Since 1966 Dallas has played in 48 Thanksgiving Day games. Their overall record is 29-18-1 with the lone tie coming against San Francisco when they played to a 24-24 stalemate in 1969. Since the Cowboys were going to have a series of 3 games in 14 days Tom Landry saw this as an opportunity to catapult the Cowboys into the stretch drive to the playoffs. His goal was to win the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day and the next Sunday they played after Thanksgiving. It was all predicated on taking advantage of the mini-bye afforded them by playing on Thursday. If you could win on a short week then the advantage you took into the following Sunday was huge. Win all 3 games and it was like a nitrous oxide charge into the month of December. It’s significant to note here that from 1966 through 1986 The Cowboys enjoyed 20 consecutive seasons with a winning record. That 3 game stretch in November was a big part of that success. No other team in any other sport including the NFL has a team with that degree of success. Fielding good teams every year didn’t hurt either. In the same 20 year stretch Dallas only missed the playoffs 3 times, in 1974, 1984 and 1985. The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry has only been played on Thanksgiving 7 times with Dallas owning a 6-1 record. The Redskins lone win was the last time they met in 2012. Dallas was 5-5 heading into their Thanksgiving matchup with hopes of getting on a run to get into the playoffs. It didn’t happen as the Redskins were in the middle of resurgence behind then-rookie RGIII. Dallas lost that day 38-31 and 5 weeks later in the season finale the Cowboys needed a win over the Redskins to clinch the NFC East and make the playoffs. RGIII completed the series sweep of the Cowboys and dropped them into their 2nd straight 8-8 season under Jason Garrett with Washington winning the division and making the playoffs instead. The most memorable game in the series was probably the 1974 game at the height of their rivalry. George Allen was the head coach of the ‘Skins and he’s the catalyst for the intensity of the rivalry in the first place because he hated Dallas. His “Over-the-hill Gang” came into Dallas wanting to complete the season sweep of the Cowboys after beating them in Washington 11 days prior to the Thanksgiving game. 1974 was the first year since 1966 that Dallas didn’t make the playoffs and it was the last season for many of the Cowboys greats who laid the foundation for the great teams of the previous decade. Bob Lily, Bob Hayes, Calvin Hill and Craig Morton were among those playing in their last season with Dallas. There was one last hurrah for Dallas and it came on Thanksgiving but it didn’t look like it would turn out that way. The Cowboys were down 16-3 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and Roger Staubach was knocked out of the game with a concussion when in came the greatest one hit wonder the Cowboys have ever had, Clint Longley. Longley came in and orchestrated 3 TD drives in the quarter. He hit TE Billy Joe Dupree with a 35 yard TD pass in his first series. In the next series he led Dallas on a 70 yard drive capped by a 1 yard TD run by Walt Garrison and in the Cowboys final series he threw up a Hail Mary hitting Drew Pearson for a 50 yard game winning touchdown that gave Dallas a 24-23 win. In 1976, two seasons after this game, a locker room altercation between Staubach and Longley occurred which included punches being thrown. Longley was subsequently traded to San Diego for a 1st and a 2nd round draft picks which Dallas parlayed with two other draft picks to move up to the 2nd pick in the 1977 draft to select Tony Dorsett. The only two good things that came of Longley’s NFL career was that Thanksgiving Day win over Washington and the draft picks Dallas got getting rid of him that ended up enabling Dallas to acquire a future Hall of Fame running back. Still, not bad for a kid out of – wait for it—Abilene Christian, one of our Southland Conference compadres. It sure is a small world isn’t it? Round 8 in this Thanksgiving Day series is this week and it should be a good game. Washington is just 2-1/2 games behind Dallas in the NFC East. The Redskins will be looking for a little payback for the Week 2 loss to Dallas in Washington. Dallas is on an unprecedented 9 game winning streak with them looking to make it 10 on Thursday. Despite having the best record in the NFL and owning that 9-1 record this game and the month of December won’t be any picnic for the Cowboys. The Giants just won’t go away as they keep squeaking out wins and they are just 2 back of Dallas at 7-3 with next meeting of the two just two weeks away. There is no room for errors so Dallas needs to win on Thursday. They NEED to win bad. As usual, Thanksgiving will be interesting, to say the very least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 23, 2016 Author Share Posted November 23, 2016 I don't have much time with all the holiday stuff going on with the holiday so I've got to be brief. Cowboys-Redskins is as good as it gets when talking about NFL rivalries. Too many times in recent memory the rivalry has been less than compelling because neither the Cowboys or the 'Skins have been in contention for anything. That doesn't mean that the rivalry hasn't been interesting. Over the years when one is clearly not going anywhere and the other is playoff bound the team with nothing to lose often wins. That's just the nature of this rivalry. Records don't matter, only the game at hand matters. This year the game matters. Despite a 9-1 record the Cowboys are only two games up on New York and a 2-1/2 games up on Washington and 6 games remaining in the season. The division is not a lock for Dallas or anyone else. So, besides the rivalry to play for the game matters. A lot is on the line. The Redskins have gone 6-1-1 since losing to Dallas in Washington way back in Week 2 on September 18. Dallas is 9-1 winning all 9 in a row. They have gone through the emergence of Tony Romo's ceding his starting job to Dak Prescott and they appear to be unstoppable but, again, this is the Redskin game, anything can happen. So, what does that mean? Dallas wins it's tenth in a row but it won't be easy. Happy and Safe Thanksgiving to all! Dallas 34 Washington 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) Wow, ten in a row. The Cowboys are rolling along like they have never rolled before in the history of this franchise. The closest thing, and it's an even better thing than what's happening now, is the roll the Cowboys got on in 1971. After the first seven weeks of the season Dallas was 4-3 and the biggest question looming over the team was whether the starting QB should be Craig Morton or Roger Staubach. Tom Landry couldn't decide which, even alternating the two every play in one of their games. But, at last, Landry decided on Staubach and the team never looked back. That was back when the regular season was 14 games and there was only one Wild Card team. Dallas reeled off seven straight wins to end the season with an 11-3 record and they plowed through their two playoff games leading up to the Super Bowl by beating the Vikings 20-12 in the divisional round and they followed that up with a victory over San Francisco in the NFC Championship game 14-3. They went into Super Bowl VI in Miami against the Dolphins needing to exercise the demons of "Not being able to win the big one" or the equally hateful moniker of being "Next year's champions." The did it by destroying the Dolphins 24-3 in, what was at the time, the largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl. Dallas had gone on an epic roll and they won 10 games in a row ending in a Super Bowl victory. The culmination of this ten game winning streak is just a happy Thanksgiving but after a horrendous 4-12 2015 I'll definitely take it and I am grateful for it. I'll bet there a lot of fans out there who feel the same. Just a note or two from the game. > As good as Dak has been he missed two opportunities for TD's in the game that are just about unforgivable had it not been the fact Dallas scored anyway. In the first quarter Dez was lined up against Josh Norman in man coverage. There was no deep safety help on the play. Dez ran up the left hash mark and about 15 yards downfield Dez juked to the left and broke on a deep corner route to the right. Norman bit big time on the fake and Dez was all alone with nothing but open field ahead of him. A simple pitch and catch that would have been a sure touchdown but Dak didn't see it and he checked down to someone else for a small gain. Later in the second quarter Brice Butler ran a go route straight down the middle of the field getting behind the corner and the safety covering him. This time Dak saw it but he overthrew the ball. The real hell of it was that Jason Witten was running a seam route parallel to Butler's route and Witten was even more open than Butler. Dak didn't put up big numbers passing but he was efficient. > For the 2nd week in a row Zeke rushed for 97 yards and he added another 2 catches for 23 yards but I really need Zeke to stop coming up short of that 100 yard barrier. I have him in one of my fantasy leagues and players get a 10 bonus if a rusher or receiver gains 100 yards or more. The lack of a bonus didn't hurt me last week as I won handily but something tells me I'm going to need those 10 points before the weekend is out. > The refs stunk in this game and, especially after the major faux pas in the Texans Monday night game, aren't we all a little sick of the incompetence of the refs by now? It seems like every one of the officiating crews just stink to high heaven this season. The NFL VP over officiating Dean Blandino is a weasel and there seems to be no recourse other than to fire the guy and hire a man who isn't such a dick to take his place. Then the new guy needs to crack down on all these stupid ass refs. > The Cowboys have gotten some really good play out of JJ Wilcox this season. After trying to learn how to play safety on the fly since being moved from WR to safety in his senior season in college. In this, his 4th year in the NFL, all that on the job training is paying dividends. Wilcox is having the best season of his career. Because of his spotty play in his first 3 seasons it looked like the experiment in making him a safety was a complete bust. He had been terrible in coverage, he wasn't a sure tackler in the open field and really the only thing he could do well was come forward toward the line of scrimmage and make hard hits. This season all that has changed and the narrative on the player has done a big 180 from being a guy everyone wanted to cut coming out of training camp this summer to one of the best defenders on the team. He can cover, he can tackle and he's still able to lay the lumber on people. Wilcox missed a big chunk of the 4th quarter after injuring himself tackling TE Jordan Reed near the Cowboys sideline. He was seen walking normally in the bench area later in the game, hopefully, he will be ready to go against the Vikings next week. > Dallas didn't record a turnover for the 3rd consecutive game Thursday, technically speaking. Sean Lee intercepted a pass for a two point conversion by the redskins in the 4th quarter of the game. It was comical because Lee seemed to not be able to decide if he should run the ball or kneel down and stop the play. > Terrence Williams seems to have a knack for getting his feet in bounds for a catch. In 2014 against the Seahawks in Seattle the Cowboys were facing a 3rd and long at a critical juncture of the game when Romo hit Williams near the right sideline. There was almost no window to throw into but Tony Romo hit that tiny window. Williams jumped up and caught the ball while dragging the toes of both feet in bounds for a marvelous catch of a terrific throw for a critical 1st down in a game that Dallas ended up winning. Thursday Williams did it again. This time Dak Prescott rolled to his right on first and goal at the Redskins 10 when he spotted Williams at the front right corner of the end zone. Again, there was a very tight window to throw to and Dak put the ball where it needed to be. Williams jumped up and caught the ball as he got the toes of both feet in down, before falling down out of bounds, for the TD. It was Williams only catch of the day but it was a big one because it was the game clinching score for the Cowboys coming with just 1:53 left in the game. > It used to be that being a 4th round draft pick for the Cowboys meant you sucked and didn't last long in the NFL. Then, in 2014, Dallas hit on a LB out of Iowa named Anthony Hitchens. Dallas was so pleased with themselves they decided to go get another Big 10 LB in the 4th round of the 2015 draft so they picked up Damien Wilson from the University of Minnesota. Both guys are slightly undersized but they have good instincts and they have made a difference in the Cowboys defense. Wilson has played well enough to win the starting strong size LB position taking it away from veteran Justin Durant. Hitchens is the starting middle linebacker. In 2016 Dallas went with a defensive end, Charles Tapper, out of Oklahoma but he has missed all of the season so far because of a back issue so the jury is still way, way out on him. But, Dallas had two 4th round picks this year and with the second pick the chose a guy from Mississippi State name Dak Prescott. You might have heard of him, he plays a little quarterback. > Dallas has had a remarkable draft this year with Zeke, Maliek Collins, Dak and sixth round pick Anthony Brown all making major contributions to the team this year. If and when 2nd round pick Jaylon Smith and Tapper both get back on the field and live up to expectations this could be the best draft class since the "dirty dozen" back in 1975 when 12 rookies made the final roster. > Anthony Brown has been really good since taking over for Morris Claiborne earlier this season. He did have a rookie moment in the 4th quarter Thursday. He was split out wide to the offensive right side covering DeSean Jackson who ran a go route straight down the field. For some reason about 15 yards downfield Brown, who was looking at Kirk Cousins in the Redskins backfield, momentarily stopped which was all Jackson needed to open up a 20 yard gap in between himself and Brown making it an easy pitch, catch and run for a TD that came way too easily narrowing the Cowboys lead to 5 points in the 4th quarter. That play notwithstanding Brown has been a huge addition to the Cowboys team and a great value draft pick since he was acquired in the 6th round. Not only can Brown cover, whether it's in zone or tight man, but he is a sure tackler which is more than you can say about either Brandon Carr or Orlando Scandrick. If a receiver catches a ball and you see a Cowboys uniform blur past the guy whiffing on a tackle it's probably Carr or Scandrick. The one thing that is really good is that Dallas came out of the game without any major injury concerns. Only the health of JJ Wilcox is in doubt today. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday all the staff writers have been sitting around like everyone else recuperating from the family feast. For that reason any updates and news has been put on hold for a day. Dallas plays again next Thursday so they don't get an extra 3 days off which means today is Tuesday around The Star which means it's a players day off since today is the same as any Tuesday would be under a normal work week. Tomorrow practice will commence, as it would on any other Wednesday, and we'll start hearing news about player's physical condition and get practice updates. The one big change could be the status of JJ Wilcox and the expected return of S Barry Church who has missed the last several weeks because of a broken forearm. It will be nice to get him back and hopefully it won't be much longer before we get Mo Claiborne back. Hope everyone had a great turkey day and hopefully everyone survived Black Friday with their sanity. With the Cowboys safely in at 10-1 and Washington falling to 6-4-1, a full 3-1/2 games behind Dallas, we can kick back, eat leftover turkey and root for the Giants and Eagles to get their asses kicked tomorrow and Monday night. Oh well, time to put up the Christmas lights. Edited November 26, 2016 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 The Cowboys are practicing for their Thursday night game in Minneapolis against the Vikings. It is a normal 7 day week for the Cowboys who last played on Thanksgiving last week it’s just that today isn’t Monday as far as the Cowboys are concerned it’s Thursday. Yesterday would be their Wednesday which is the first full day of practice for their week leading up to Sunday, which in this case is Thursday. Minnesota is on the same schedule as Dallas as they played on turkey day too. The difference between the Cowboys and the Vikings is Dallas won their game and Minnesota did not. They lost a heartbreaking game to division leading Detroit in Detroit. The Vikings are struggling and Dallas needs to take advantage of those struggles to get their 11th win in a row. It’s really a weird season for Minnesota who began the season 5-0 and was in the conversation about who is the best in the NFC. Then, things changed, and they have stumbled to a 1-5 record in their last six games allowing Detroit who was 2-3 after their first 5 games to overtake them in the division. Minnesota losing to Detroit on Thanksgiving was the game when the Lions took sole possession of the division lead. Both teams went into the game with identical 6-4 records and after the game the Lions emerged 7-4 while the Vikings fell to 6-5. Dallas’ recent history in Minneapolis hasn’t been great. Ever since Dallas passed on Randy Moss in the 1998 draft Dallas has been, quite frankly, the Viking’s bitch. Since the 1998 season the Cowboys are 2-7 against the Vikings but a big part of that was the fact that Dallas stunk for most of those years and Minnesota didn’t. The last time the Cowboys won was the last time they played, in 2013, when Dallas won 27-23 in Dallas. The Cowboys have not won in Minneapolis since 1995 which was 21 years ago. This will be the Cowboys first game in the Vikings new stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened this past summer. The stadium is also known as “The Crystal Palace” which is evident in the link to the picture of the stadium below. http://www.vikings.com/stadium/new-stadium/images.html Going back to the Redskins game for just a sec, IMO the play of the game was the recovery of the onside kick attempt the Redskins made after they scored a TD to make the score 24-19 in favor of the Cowboys with 10:49 left in the game. Redskins coach Jay Gruden elected to go for the onside kick and it may well have been successful if not for the hustle of LB Damien Wilson. The kick was up the middle and heading straight for TE Gavin Escobar. Escobar was backing up on the ball and it would have been close if Escobar could have recovered faster than the oncoming Redskins players. Wilson took the doubt completely out of the play by attacking the ball. He cut in front of Escobar and made a sure handed grab that allowed him to immediately take control of the ball. It was a calculated risk by the Redskins that really was a gutsy call and considering the momentum Washington had in the 4th quarter of the game. I have no doubt if Washington had recovered the ball they would have driven down to score the go ahead TD. The back and forth that happened in the 4th quarter would be been to the Redskins benefit since Dallas would have been the team playing from behind. Wilson’s hustle and sure hands saved the game for the Cowboys. I honestly believe Dallas would not have been 10-1 without his reaction on that play. Back to the Minnesota Vikings for just a bit. There are a lot of ties that bind the Cowboys and Vikings. The Vikes head coach is Mike Zimmer who was a defense coach during the Cowboys glory years in the 90’s as are several members of his staff. One guy, Norv Turner, was the Vikings OC but he just up and quit a few weeks ago which was totally unexpected. There is one player who has been a member of both teams during his career in CB Terrence Newman. Newman was the last CB chosen by the Cowboys in the first round prior to their selection of Mo Claiborne 5 years ago. Newman was selected with the 5th pick of the 2003 draft and he played 9 years in Dallas when the Cowboys allowed him to leave after the 2011 season due to age and salary cap reasons. Considering the needs of the Cowboys you have to look back and say that Newman and DE DeMarcus Ware are players the Cowboys should have kept considering how they have played since they departed Dallas. Newman played 3 years in Cincinnati on a perennial playoff team and he followed Mike Zimmer, who was the Bengals DC, to Minnesota when Zim got the head coaching job in 2015. At age 38 Newman is still playing at a high level on a Vikings defense that is among the best in the NFL. The Vikes haven’t been struggling on defense over the past 6 games, it has been the offense that has been the Vikings downfall and it’s probably why Norv Turner quit seemingly out of the blue. Newman has reached a level of experience that rivals other aged CBs like Washington’s Darrell Green or the Raiders Charles Woodson who played into their late 30’s. This article from DallasCowboys.com talks about Newman in his career with Dallas and since. How much would having Newman and Ware have benefitted the Cowboys in 2014? The Cowboys tried to do the smart thing by letting go of players who were thought to be closer to the end of their careers than the beginning and they saved salary cap money but Dallas might have won a Super Bowl in 2014 with them still in the fold. As Don Meredith used to say, “If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/11/27/five-years-after-leaving-dallas-terence-newman-still-proving-he-belongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 The Cowboys have just one more day to wait before they play their 3rd game in just 12 days. Same for the Vikings and a win in this game will be a major boost for the winner because of the extended time off until their next game and because a win is a win, as they say. The difference for Dallas is, if they win, the Cowboys can conceivably clinch a playoff spot. With 4 games to go Dallas can guarantee themselves a trip to the post season. Now, I’m not saying they are going to clinch the division with the win because they can’t because the pesky Giants are just two games back and they have been on a hot streak as they are 9-3 for the first time since 2007 and winners of six straight games. If both Dallas and the Giants win this week it will come down to a showdown the following Sunday between these two teams and if Dallas beats the G-men they will clinch the division. But, Jason Garrett would admonish me for looking so far ahead when they have the Minnesota Vikings at 7:25 Thursday night. Staying focused is the trademark of this team so far in 2016. I need to follow suit. The Vikings have a good defense and we know this because they may be sporting a 6-5 record but there is one thing clear any team that beats the Vikings will be in a slugfest. Minnesota is 2nd in the NFL in average PPG allowed at just 17.5 and the most points they have allowed in a game is 26 by the Redskins when they played on November 13th. Dallas just allowed Washington to score 26 last week on Thanksgiving. Dallas has been pretty good at not allowing opponents to score a lot of points and, at one point this season, Dallas was 2nd in points allowed per game at 17.8. The Cowboys are currently 5th in the NFL in PPG with 19.4. Ironically enough they are tied with fellow NFC Easters Philadelphia and New York but that is for another day. Dallas is doing it a little differently than the Vikings. The Vikings just stop people. They are in the top 1/3 in the NFL in rush and pass defense and they are 3rd overall in yards allowed per game. Dallas does it by being tough in the red zone. They force teams to kick field goals and in some case attempt and miss field goals. The Redskins were in the Cowboys red zone 2 times in the first half last Thursday and came away with just two field goals to show for their effort. The Skins also attempted two other field goals outside the red zone and missed. Those two misses were the difference between Dallas winning or losing the game. Dallas is ranked 21st overall in yards allowed. Fortunately, the Vikings are ranked dead last in total offense and tied with the Jets in passing offense. Sam Bradford doesn’t take shots down the field much and he has been known to throw a careless pick. Dallas rushing defense is good and the Vikings are dead last in the NFL rushing the football. This won’t be an easy game for the Cowboys to win and they will need to stay patient with their running game. This is yet another game the Cowboys will face an opponent at the top of the defensive standings and the Cowboys have proven to be up for all previous challenges. This will be a nail biter of a game and one where 20 points or less could win the game. Is this sacrilege? I sort of hope the Vikings injure Dak so Tony Romo can play. I don’t want Dak to have anything major like an ACL or Achilles tear but a concussion or a high ankle sprain would suffice. Something to get Tony back where he belongs, on the field. I feel sort of melancholy about the Cowboys success so far because I really think the Cowboys did Tony wrong. He certainly deserves much better than he’s gotten from the Jones family. I still want Tony to come in and lead this team to a Super Bowl LI win. I’ll be happy if Dallas wins the SB with Dak, I have nothing against Dak, I just think Tony is a better QB than Prescott at this point in Dak’s career and Tony has earned the right to have his day in the sun. Roger Staubach had to wait his turn as did Danny White not to mention a guy like Steve Young. It’s no slight to Dak to sit behind a guy with Hall of Fame numbers for a couple of years. Props to Dak for what he’s done this season but, in my mind, this is still Tony’s team. Here’s a link to DallasCowboys.com’s Film Room featuring former scout and staff writer for the Cowboys Bryan Broaddus breaking down 3 key plays from the Redskins game that were key plays in the Cowboys Thanksgiving win. http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2016/11/29/film-room-3-key-plays-thanksgiving-win In yesterday’s practice the Cowboys were without LB Sean Lee because Lee was sick. Hopefully he will be recovered by tomorrow night. The Cowboys were also missing S JJ Wilcox and Terrell McClain. Wilcox suffered a quad injury against the Redskins and his status is highly questionable for the Vikings game. That is a bad thing because while Barry Church was back at practice he was listed as limited. The depth of the Cowboys secondary has been severely taxed this season and if Church can’t go and Wilcox is out it presents a whole new level of concern for the back end of the Cowboys defense. We’ve all heard the ongoing tiff between Dez and Washington CB Josh Norman. Somebody posted an Instagram animated cage match between the two. Pretty funny although the “Dez” character doesn’t look much like him it’s still a funny video. The link below is to Bleacher Report and just scroll down a little bit and the video is available. http://bleacherreport.com/dallas-cowboys Dallas is in huge need of a pass rusher and the 14 game suspension of Randy Gregory will up soon. The trouble is he could be facing yet another suspension for yet another failed drug test. This was reported about a month ago but it was an unsubstantiated report so it’s not a bona fide fact as yet. Gregory has been allowed to work out at the Cowboys facility but realistically there is no way in hell he will be able to contribute much even if he isn’t banned for another year. He missed a big chunk of his rookie season and all of his sophomore season so far and he was in rehab during training camp so to think he can come in a make a difference is a total dream scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Today is game day. I am still half asleep as I always am at this time of the morning despite the fact I’ve been up since 4:15. No matter, all I will have on my mind today is what to eat during the game tonight. That’s not strictly true. I am worried about this game, pretty much like I worry about them all. In previous weeks I was worried because the Cowboys were facing defenses that, at the time Dallas played them, were ranked near or at the top of NFL rushing defense rankings. That “best of” game of the week comes again tonight but the difference is Minnesota has a pretty damn good pass defense as well. The thing is, the Vikings do give up running plays from time to time so maybe the Vikes need to bring an extra man into the box to defend the run. They will have to if Zeke is gashing the heck out of them. If that’s the case then the Cowboys receivers will need to win one-on-one matchups which I believe they can do. Then you throw in the called run plays for Dak via the read-option and Dallas should be a handful for even the Vikings defense. Dallas bend but don’t break style of defense is frustrating to watch but with no real running game Minnesota isn’t scaring anyone least of all the Cowboys defense. What Dallas needs to find a way to do is generate a pass rush. Pressure Sam Bradford and maybe the Cowboys get a turnover or three which would be their first TO’s since Barry Church was hurt 5 weeks ago. BTW, Barry Church is back in the lineup tonight for Dallas. He will be wearing a specially made Kevlar sleeve to protect his arm. Dallas should be licking their chops thinking about the pass rush possibilities against an injury devastated Vikings offensive line. Last week in the Thanksgiving day game with Detroit they lost two more starters which were subs for starters anyway. The Vikings are down to recruiting linemen from the Hubert H Humphrey High School in Minneapolis. That’s not true but it is a real weakness that even the anemic Dallas pass rush should exploit. The Cowboys just beat you down with their run game. They put together long punishing drives that are often kept alive by an effective passing game and with few exceptions they don’t turn the ball over. It’s hard to win one in a row in the NFL much less 11. It has never happened in Cowboys history but they crossed that bridge after they won 8 in a row so they are just adding on to the legend of this team. I don’t care if Dallas loses another game or two as long as it doesn’t happen at any point in the playoffs. That said, I really want Dallas to win every single week and I have gotten my wish this season 11 times in 12 tries. I want Dallas to make this a full dozen tonight but the Vikings could have extra motivation because head coach Mike Zimmer had to have emergency eye surgery yesterday and he may not be able to be on the sidelines tonight. You can imagine the “Win it for Mike!” chants to go through the locker room if he’s sidelined. They were probably going to yell that anyway because of Zimmer’s ties with the Cowboys. See what I mean? Nerve wracking. Home teams win more often than not in the NFL and Minnesota is 4-1 at home this season and just 2-4 on the road. Just as they were in 2014 Dallas is currently undefeated on the road this season and the Vikings over the last 20 years has owned the Cowboys, especially at home, so there is that monkey on the Cowboys’ backs. What does this mean? I get the feeling Dallas is going to blow out the Vikings. I just think they are better than Minnesota and all the history and histrionics aside the Cowboys will win. Dallas 33 Minnesota 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 Dallas won Thursday night and they won in spite of themselves. They should have won by at least 20 but they kept shooting themselves in the foot. They won because they stuck together and they persevered despite all the times they appeared to be trying to lose. The Cowboys even had an inability to run out the clock on Minnesota. They had a 3rd and 1 that would have almost guaranteed they would win the game by 8 points but Dak got lazy and didn't get his hands under center which cause him fumble the snap. Instead of handing off to Zeke or doing a read option that got the Cowboys a first down that would have iced the game the Cowboys had to punt. The defense were playing prevent and playing off allowed the Rams to march the ball right down the field and score a TD that got them within a 2 point conversion of sending the game into overtime. A penalty on the first try for 2 points moved the Rams back 5 yards and the second attempt Dallas just flat got lucky. Terrell McClain blasted up the middle of the line and just about the time Sam Bradford let his pass go McClain hit him on the shoulder pad with his left arm and he hit him in the facemask with his right hand. The left arm prevented the ref from seeing the right hand and so the ref didn't throw a flag for blow to the head even though he should have. The end result was an incomplete pass and a Cowboys victory. It's kind of a sign of a good team when you win despite playing lousy and turning the ball over and still you win the game. We already know the Cowboys have a good team but this is a reaffirmation of all that. The Cowboys have finally got to the mini break, an extra 3 days to goof off, recharge and rest up after winning 3 games in just 12 days. The pressure is still on but if the Steelers can put a hurting on the Giants today Dallas will have a 3 game division lead with 4 games to play in the season. That would be a nice early Christmas gift for sure! The Eagles and Redskins are now officially in the hunt for a wild card spot because they are pretty much out of contention for the division. So, let's all relax and enjoy some football today knowing no matter what happens it won't matter to the 11-1 Cowboys. I need to grab something to eat and settle in for an afternoon of football. Sort of been a weekend of football with conference championship games in college yesterday and the bedlam game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. College on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday on a rainy weekend in December. Does it get any better than this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 Yesterday was a very good day indeed for Dallas Cowboys fans as every one of their division opponents lost. Philly lost to Cincinnati in the early round of games while both Washington and New York lost in the late afternoon games. Life is good for Cowboys fans and it’s a far cry from the nightmare of 2015’s 4-12 disaster. I think it just makes 11-1 all the more sweet. I have one friend who said he gave up football because the only reason he watched in the first place was to see Dallas get beat and with them winning every week it ruined the NFL for him. Nice. It’s funny how all the haters love come out of the woodwork when the Cowboys lose but when they win nobody can be found. Priceless. Dak Prescott was named NFC Rookie of the Month for November after leading the Cowboys to a 4-0 record and you could call it 5-0 considering they beat Minnesota on December 1st to complete 3 wins in 12 days. Zeke Elliott is still comfortably in the lead for the NFL rushing title race despite going through his 3rd game in a row rushing less than 100 yards. It just so happens to coincide with the 3 games in 12 days stretch in which Zeke rushed for 97 yards against both Baltimore and Washington and he rushed for just 86 yards against the Vikings last Thursday. I think it’s significant to point out that he had one rush in both the Washington and Minnesota games that went for 20+ yards but they were called back because of a penalty. The race isn’t that close really as Zeke leads the 2nd place back, DeMarco Murray, by 242 yards. Murray had the weekend off because Tennessee and Cleveland had their long overdue bye week this past weekend. We have reached the December stretch run. Dallas has four games left and it’s no picnic. In order, the Cowboys face the NY Giants, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Bucs and Philadelphia Eagles. All four teams are currently fighting for a playoff spot so there won’t be an off week this month. If Dallas beats the Giants next Sunday night they will clinch the division but Dallas is still pushing for home field advantage throughout the playoffs so if you feel they are going to coast to end of the season you need to rethink that position. In 2014 with nothing to gain in Week 17 against Washington Jason Garrett played his starters and they went out and beat the Redskins to keep their momentum going into the playoffs. I don’t see anything different this year. The only weakness at this point is the lack of playing time for Tony Romo. Romo has not played a game since Thanksgiving last season and he is bound to be a little rusty playing at game speed. If Romo could get in a half or a full game to knock some of the rust off it would be a good thing heading into the playoffs. Don’t think I ‘m willing to sacrifice winning a game for this, you are assuming that if Romo plays and he’s rusty Dallas will lose. I am not of that mindset. A rusty top 5 QB like Romo is better than most other QBs that have been playing. LB Rolando McClain has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL for numerous substance abuse violations. That is no surprise but it’s a good thing for Dallas because they save having to pay his salary. McClain is on a one year deal so after the 2016 is over I would venture to say Dallas will no longer have him to worry about. Good bye and good riddance. DE Randy Gregory will come off suspension after the New York game next Sunday. Reports are that he has been working out at The Star training facility keeping in shape. There was a report a couple of weeks ago that Gregory had failed another drug test and that a one year ban was imminent. I guess it depends on what you call imminent because no other word has come out about any possible further suspension. Can Gregory actually hope to make any kind of difference for the Cowboys? It’s possible because he will have the final 3 regular season games to get into game shape just in time for the playoffs. In all likelihood the Cowboys will get a first round bye giving Gregory a week to recover from a 3 week crash course in pass rushing. Whether or not Dallas will even bother with Gregory for the rest of this season is something we won’t know about until it happens but one thing is clear, Dallas needs help with some pass rush and if Gregory offers even a glimmer of hope to that end you can bet he will be given every chance. Dallas has a prime time game next Sunday night and it was announced yesterday that the game with Tampa Bay in two weeks has been flexed to Sunday night bumping the Steelers-Bengals game to 1 o’clock in the afternoon. That means with the Monday night matchup against Detroit Dallas will be on prime time the next 3 weeks. Poor old Morris Claiborne, the guy just can’t seem to catch a break. He has been out since a severe groin injury suffered in the October 30th game against Philadelphia. He is also dealing with a piece of bone that was chipped off his hip at the same time. Claiborne was the Cowboys best cornerback through the first two months of the season. After 4 frustrating years he was finally healthy and living up to the expectations of a player chosen with the 6th pick in the 2011 draft. Then disaster struck. When asked about when Claiborne will be able to play again Jerry Jones said after the Vikings game that he was looking more toward the final two games of the season as the earliest he could be back in the lineup. It’s looking for all the world that unless Claiborne is willing to take a huge pay cut his days as a Cowboy are numbered. This year’s sixth round pick, Anthony Brown, has played very well and aside from a rookie mistake that allowed Washington’s DeSean Jackson to score on a 68 yard pitch and catch Brown has looked like anything but a rookie. Dallas has a lot of CB questions to answer in the offseason as Brandon Carr is playing out the last year of his deal. Who to keep? Who to let go? A lot depends on their salary demands. Claiborne is the one who will lose money because of his injury history he may not get any takers in free agency. He tested the waters this past spring and nobody showed interest so Mo signed a one year deal with Dallas. Missing 6 weeks of this season, I would think, kills his value in free agency. Nobody will want to sign a guy who spends most of his time in the training room. Maybe not even Dallas unless the price is right. On the other hand, Brandon Carr hasn’t missed a start since signing with the Cowboys. He has been much more effective since moving to right CB in the offseason but Carr’s dependability is his real value. Plug him in and forget about it. Rain or shine, good times or bad you know Carr will be there. If he is willing to resign at the right price I would not be against that move. Why am I talking offseason? Yes Jason, I know, stay focused. Concentrate on being the best version of yourself today and do the same the next day and the next. Stay in the moment. Right now the moment is pretty sweet so it’s not a bad place to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 (edited) The Cowboys got some good news today. The Cowboys won’t be facing any threat from Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul this Sunday night because he underwent surgery this morning for a sports hernia. In all likelihood JPP will miss the rest of the season but he could make it back for the playoffs, which doesn't matter this week. (I just got a stern look from Jason Garrett reminding me to stay in the moment and not look beyond this week. Sorry Jason.) The Cowboys also got some bad news yesterday. The thinking was that suspended DE Randy Gregory would be allowed to begin practicing today but the NFL league office has said that Gregory will not be allowed to practice with the team until his suspension is fully served. What I do know is that suspension ends after the game Sunday night and he can come back for the Cowboys Week 15 game against Tampa Bay. Dallas has a road game this week against New York which is okay because they already played in Dallas to open the season. The Cowboys close their season out in Week 17 on the road against Philadelphia. Again, it’s the road half of the season series with the Eagles. Division games are always fun and the NFL loves to load all their team’s schedules with what usually are critical games in December. The two games in the middle of these division road games are two home games. It’s nice enough to have home games but to have them both in a crucial time in the season against teams Dallas could see in the playoffs next month is huge. Dallas will be trying to wrap up a first round bye in the playoffs and home field advantage throughout the playoffs as well. Not to mention if the Cowboys beat both teams it puts that in their heads. Of course I am talking about the games with Tampa Bay and Detroit. Both teams are hot right now and it is a huge benefit to get them in Dallas is a big deal. Dallas hasn’t been afraid of the road in fact, Dallas is 6-0 on the road this season but who will deny having playoff contenders at home isn’t an advantage you would pass on? The last time Dallas was undefeated on the road for an entire season was just two years ago with Tony Romo at QB and DeMarco Murray at running back. The difference between then and now isn’t just that the QB and the RB are different, the defense is markedly better in 2016 than it was in 2014. Romo and Murray led the team to a 12-4 record in many ways in spite of the defense which didn’t have Sean Lee or the depth at D-line and in the defensive backfield they do now. If you remember Romo’s abdication speech from a couple of weeks ago he said, “Getting hurt when you feel like you have the best team you've ever had was a soul-crushing moment for me.” SOUL-CRUSHING. That is intense. In 2014 Romo carried the team into the playoffs and that team could easily have gone to the Super Bowl if not for a really bad call in Green Bay and the subsequent failure of the defense to make a stop to give the team just one more chance to steal the win. This year Romo, or in this case Dak, won’t be dragged down by an ineffective defense. This defense gives up a lot of yards between the 20’s but they don’t allow points. They are actually capable of making stops when they have to. That’s yet another reason I feel sorry for Romo’s twist of fate and a big reason why Dallas is the favorite to be the NFC representative in Super Bowl LI. Now, if Randy Gregory can live up to the high expectations everyone had for him when he was selected in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft there could be no stopping a Dallas march to a championship. That is, unless he gets suspended again. Another 2nd round pick that Dallas hasn’t gotten a benefit from yet is the 2016 pick Jaylon Smith. Word out of The Star is that he’s not yet ready to play and probably won’t be this season. Disappointing but we knew that all the way back on draft day. This video from the Cowboys TV program Special Edition should give you some optimism for 2017 as we have video evidence that Smith is actually able to go through drills and doing them without even a limp! The link for Special Edition below is the entire 30 minute show. To see Jaylon Smith going through drills fast forward to the 6:23 mark into the show. At the five minute mark in the show Jerry Jones talks about draft picks, Dak Prescott and Smith in particular and it’s pretty interesting. Jerry is aggravating but he’s no dummy. http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2016/12/05/special-edition-continuing-grow Edited December 7, 2016 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Today I begin with a little video from DallasCowboys.com. We have Bryan Broaddus breaking down 3 big plays from the Minnesota game this past Sunday. In a series called Film Room former NFL scout Broaddus breaks down these plays and shows exactly what made them important for the Cowboys victory. http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2016/12/07/film-room-3-key-plays-minnesota-win The finalists for the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award have been announced. The Award is given to the player who has displayed excellence both on and off the field. There is a rep from each of the 32 NFL teams and this year the player from the Cowboys chosen is Sean Lee. In addition to his work with Cowboys PLAY 60 Programs and the team’s annual Cowboys U high school football camp, Lee partners with the Dream Builders Foundation and the PMR Charity foundation. Both are initiatives that help children and families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. There will be 3 finalists chosen among all 32 team reps and they will be announced in January. The winner of the Walter Peyton Award will be announced as part of the pre-Super Bowl LI television special NFL Awards show the night before Super Bowl LI. Don’t tell Jason Garrett I’m doing this because he doesn’t like it when you project or look past the current week but Dallas has an opportunity to do 3 things with a win Sunday night over New York. 1) They can clinch the NFC East division title which guaranties a home playoff game, 2) they can clinch a first round bye in the playoffs and 3) they can secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That’s pretty heady stuff for a Week 14 game. If Dallas beats the Giants they will clinch the NFC East title. Nothing can change that. I means that Dallas will host at least one game in the playoffs as a division champ. If Dallas beats NY AND a Detroit either loses or ties in their game against the Bears OR Seattle loses to Green Bay the Cowboys will get a 1st round bye in the playoffs If Dallas beats NY AND Detroit loses or ties AND Seattle loses Dallas will secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Dallas will get the chance to avenge their only loss of the season this week. The Giants beat the Cowboys 20-19 in the season opener on September 11. That game was the first NFL start for both Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott and while neither was terrible in the game both were obviously rookies. After that Week 1 loss Prescott and Elliott have both gotten much better and both now lead the voting for the Pro Bowl over every other player in the NFL. Needless to say, the Cowboys offense they faced in Week 1 is not the same one they will face in Week 14. Dak and Zeke aren’t in Kansas any more, Toto. That means they are not rookies, that don’t act like rookies, they don’t play like rookies and they don’t get rookie results. The Giants have a great receiving corps and they have Eli Manning who will sling the ball around, mainly because he’s Eli and because the Giants don’t have a run game worth a darn. Dallas is just the better team and they should win this game. Zeke had his worst game of the season gaining a season low 51 yards with a TD in Week 1 and Dak had his lowest QBR, 69.1, of any game this season. In 10 of 11 of the rest of the games they have played Dak has recorded a QBR of 100 or more. Dallas is coming off winning 3 games in 12 days and they are also coming off their worst performance since Week 1 in the course of beating the Vikings last Thursday. They are also coming off a mini bye when they got to enjoy an extra 3 days of rest which is huge this time of year. I could see this game going one of two ways. Either Dallas and New York engage in a shootout that will require the winner to score at least 30 points or, Dallas wins in a blowout. I can’t envision any other scenario. Personally, I’m hoping for the blowout. Back to Bryan Broaddus, in his Scout’s Eye feature he casts his scout’s eye on 3 players to watch this week on the Giants that could have a big impact in the game. http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2016/12/07/scouts-eye-gambling-janoris-jenkins-scouting-jpps-replacement Fans who are actually old enough to remember the Cowboys original Doomsday Defense will remember that the linebackers for that defense were among the best ever. That group included All Pro and Super Bowl MVP Chuck Howley, Middle LB Lee Roy Jordan who was a perennial All Pro and Pro Bowler and along with Howley both are in the Cowboys Ring of Honor. The other man in that group was Dave Edwards. Former Cowboys player personnel guru Gil Brandt called him a gifted player who never got the recognition he deserved. Edwards played for Dallas from 1962 through 1975 all with Dallas and he played in 3 Super Bowls winning one. Dave Edwards passed away in his sleep Monday night from a heart attack. Ironically, Edwards was to undergo surgery later this week because of his heart. Edwards was 76 years old. Yesterday the Cowboys hit the practice field for the first time since last Tuesday prior to the Vikings game. Mo Claiborne, JJ Wilcox and Chaz Green did not participate in practice due to injuries while Orlando Scandrick missed because of personal reasons. Several other Cowboys were limited but they will play Sunday. That list of limiteds includes LB Justin Durant who has missed a couple of games with a pulled hamstring and he made his first appearance in practice since hurting himself against the Redskins on Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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