2019 Dallas Cowboys Season

[eagle eye]

Week 1 is here. In just a few short hours our Dallas Cowboys will take the field and this season seems a little different than previous years. In recent times (see since 1996) the Cowboys began each season with fans hoping despite evidence to the contrary for a long overdue trip to the Super Bowl. The facts are that all those teams had flaws, some serious, that an objective observer would have to admit there was no chance in Hades the Cowboys would get to a Super Bowl without a ticket. Last season you had a real glimmer of hope but it was dashed in Los Angeles when the Rams ran roughshod over them. But this season is different. The offense looks strong and the only real gap was at tight end but the return of Gold Jacket Witt (Jason Witten) answers that question. The defense looks much different too. The signing of Demarcus Lawrence, the addition of Robert Quinn and free agent signings Karry Heider and Christian Covington give the D-line more quality depth across the board than the Super Bowl years in the mid 90's. Their linebacker corps in young and loaded with talent and the DB's are too. This is a good team but the snobs, or Cowboys haters in the media, are still picking the flame broiled Eagles to win the NFC East. It will give me so much pleasure to see the Cowboys make all those idiots eat their filthy words. Zeke is signed. D-Law is signed as are La'el and Jaylon. I wouldn't be surprised if an announcement that Dak was signed this morning came out. The ducks are lining up in a neat row and kickoff to a season that could mean the Cowboys are on the path back to glory! 'Bout dang time, am I right?

 

The Cowboys tweaked their roster one last time yesterday by activating Zeke Elliott to the 53 man roster. To make room for him the Cowboys released RB Alfred Morris. Morris was a security blanket in case Zeke's holdout lasted into the season. With Zeke back the RB carries were going to him and rookie Tony Pollard. Alfred Morris held little to no value on special teams so he was not likely to be on the active 46 man roster on game day. That lack of special teams ability made Morris expendable.

 

The Cowboys begin a season playing the Giants for the 6th time in the last 8 years. On paper Big Blue looks to be quite inferior to the Cowboys talent-wise. Still, they have Saquon Barcley and Eli, an old Eli, but he's had a nasty habit of breaking the Cowboys backs. Dallas are 7 point favorites today. I won't complain if they win by 71!

[eagle eye]

That win over the Giants was a bit unexpected but it was sweet. Any time you beat a division rival it's very sweet. The thing that would have made it sweeter would be if the blasted Redskins hadn't fallen asleep in the 2nd half of their game with Philadelphia surrendering 20 something unanswered points to booger colored nitwits. Oh well, Dallas will get an opportunity to punish the 'Skins for their indiscretion this Sunday.

 

If you want to know the difference between Scott Linehan and Kellen Moore look no further than Dak Prescott's stats. 405 yards passing, 4 TD's, a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He went 25 of 32 passing and none of those 32 attempts was even close to being picked off. Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb, Jason Witten and Blake Jarwin all caught TD passes and Michael Gallup led all receivers with 7 catches for 158 yards. Unlike Scott Linehan's offenses who rarely relied on play action with formations that looked like statues pre-snap. Kellen Moore's offense befuddled the Giants with men in motion, sometimes more than one man on the move. Prescott put the offense on his back and led the Cowboys to an easy victory in such a manner that he looked natural doing it. Before Sunday I would never have believed it possible. The popular notion was that Ezekiel Elliott was the engine that powered the Cowboys offense. On Sunday Dak was the conductor on the Cowboys runaway train. I know it's just one game but this offense may actually be as potent as the talent on this team deserves. See ya Scott, wouldn't want to be ya.

 

The Cowboys defense was a bit of a disappointment. Good defenses do not surrender 470 yards of offense and allow 17 points to be scored to bad offenses. It could have been much worse as it looked like Giants head coach Pat Shurmer was doing his best Scott Linehan impression by not running Saquon Barclay down the Cowboys throats. Barclay only got 15 touches, 11 runs and 4 pass receptions, for the game despite the fact that the Cowboys had a real hard time stopping him. Barclay ran for 120 yards on 11 carries, that's a 10.9 YPC average. Thank you Pat Shurmer for being a true dumbass. I could go deeper into his dumpassiness but there's really no need. Next March I suspect the Giant will have a top 5 draft pick and a new head coach. The Giants could have spent the whole game gashing the Cowboys defense with Barclay just the way the Titans and Colts did last season and the Rams did it too in the playoff loss to the men from La-La Land. Straight up the gut with the linebackers over pursuing giving Barclay gaps to run through. Demarcus Lawrence was pissed after the game because he, like almost everyone else, expected better from this group.

 

I can't be too mad. I have long since abandoned the notion that style points make a difference in win or losses. All I wanted was a win and I got a blowout. Like is good when you consider the Cowboys started their season with a 'W' and Astros finished off the Mariners with a blowout of their own. Cowboys 35 Giant 17 and Astros 21 Mariners 1. Even the Texans put up a heckuva fight and they should have beaten the Saints if not by a stupid call on defense with 6 seconds left that allowed Drew Brees to put the Saints in field goal range. To be fair, Wil Lutz' kick would have been good from 70 yards. He killed the mess out that ball. But, if Houston played man in your face coverage I believe the Saints would have used up all 6 of those seconds and the Texans would have joined Dallas and the Astros in the win column.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys are 2-0 which is awesome! They are also 2-0 in the NFC East which is equally awesome. One of the main tie-breakers is your division record and 1/3 of the way through their division schedule they are 2-0. It’s even better when you consider one of those wins was on the road. It’s also pretty cool to see how many points the Cowboys are scoring. 66 points in two games is pretty awesome. When the Patriots were their strongest, they averaged over 30 points a game for whole seasons. They did what Dallas is doing so far, spreading the ball around to a lot of different guys. Dallas hit 7 different guys in Sunday’s win making it so hard on opposing DC’s try to figure out how to stop what the Cowboys are doing.

The Cowboys have some injury issues already. DT Antwone Woods is hurt and will miss a couple of games due to a high ankle sprain and WR Michael Gallop will miss 2-4 weeks due to a knee injury suffered Sunday. He is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery today. It’s a big loss considering he is the Cowboys leader in receptions (13) and yards (226) so far this season. Taco Charlton, the Cowboys first round pick 2 years ago is bitching about being inactive the past two days but, rather than do it to the coaches he is doing it on social media. To me, people who do their business on Twitter are cowards. Waahhh, I’m unhappy with this team. Waahhh, they won’t let have my way. Waahhh. Taco is a first round bust and he’s inactive on game day because he hasn’t been good enough to beat anyone out for playing time. Waahhh indeed.

It sucks hearing about Michael Gallop but there is a guy who did earn his way onto the roster and on to the 46 man game day roster and that is WR Devin Smith. People got their first look at Smith Sunday when Dak hit him on a 51 TD pass beating the Redskins best CB Josh Norman. Smith is a feel good story or redemption because he was a 2nd round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2015 by the NY Jets. He was actually a teammate of Zeke Elliott’s at THE Ohio State University (don’t you hate that?). He’s a 4.3 speedster who was going to help the Jets turn things around. Unfortunately, Smith tore his ACL in December of his rookie season landing him on IR. He missed most of the 2016 season rehabbing his knee and in 2017 during the NFL draft weekend he tore the ACL in the same knee which cost him the whole season. The Jets released him with an injury settlement and he was actually out of football in 2018. Dallas signed him this past January knowing he had skills coming out of college and they took a chance on him. I’d say so far, so good. He came in as a polished WR from his college days, he still has his speed and he had NFL game experience and aside from the 2 torn ACL’s very little wear and tear on his body. He came up big for Dallas last Sunday and for the next month he will likely get a lot more chances to show off his skills. Just another testament to the depth the Cowboys have built into this team.

[eagle eye]

On a total crap day I figure I can take my mind of the water creeping up my yard by taking some Cowboys. DE Robert Quinn, who the Cowboys made a deal with Miami to sign in the offseason, has served his suspension for PED use.

 

Sidebar: Quinn and his wife were trying to have kids and he took a fertility medication prescribed by their doctor. Unfortunately, the drug contained a minuscule amount of a banned substance that nobody knew about showed up in a routine drug screening in a minute amount. The NFL league orifice didn't care about the circumstances and they suspended him. The NFL office seems to be their usual, "I know what I know regardless of the facts!!"

 

Quinn was activated yesterday afternoon so he would be eligible to play this Sunday and to make room for him the Cowboys released 2017 1st round pick Taco Charlton. Stephen Jones, in an interview yesterday, said that Charlton and DC Rod Marinelli disagreed in terms of expectations and the fact Charlton was a healthy scratch the first two weeks of the season. From the Cowboys point of view trading a disgruntled Charlton for a Pro Bowl caliber pass rusher is a win-win. A sports writer reporting on the deal referred to Charlton as 'street Taco." Clever and appropriate.

 

The Cowboys have other injury news as it looks like DL Tyrone Crawford could miss significant time due a hip issue that caused him to miss a huge chunk of training camp. S Xavier Woods, who was injured in Sunday's Reskins game, missed practice yesterday due the high ankle sprain. The Cowboys are certainly testing their depth way too early in the season.

 

One item of good news, Dak Prescott will be on the cover this week.

[Dracula]

I would love to know what has happened at the Cowboys Front office? For the last few years and unlike the previous two decades, it seems as if someone has an idea of how to build a team . Not effective coaches replaced, drafting has been good, and past mistakes, Taco, let go. I like it.

[eagle eye]

I would love to know what has happened at the Cowboys Front office? For the last few years and unlike the previous two decades, it seems as if someone has an idea of how to build a team . Not effective coaches replaced, drafting has been good, and past mistakes, Taco, let go. I like it.

 

I think there are two reasons the Cowboys have done a better job of team building. Stephen Jones is a better businessman for the Cowboys. He learned what his knows from his dad but unlike his dad he is less prone to go for the big splashy display. Look no farther than the 2014 draft. Jerry wanted Johnny Manziel but Stephen talked him into Zack Martin. Will McClay is also a good judge of talent and he's been instrumental in accumulating talent both thru the draft and free agency. He's also made some nice moves during the season when needed. In what was, in a sense, trading Robert Quinn for Taco Charlton was a smart move. Getting Quinn only cost the Cowboys a sixth round draft pick and the Dolphins signing Taco relieved the Cowboys of much of his $1.8MM salary.

 

As for today's game, it really should be an easy win for Dallas. Across the board the Cowboys are just better than the Dolphins. The Fish have been outscored in their first two games like a bazillion to 10. The Dolphins got rid of their best cornerback this week in a trade with Pittsburgh. The only downside is the Cowboys will be without WR Michael Gallup but if last week is any indication Devin Smith will fill in nicely. The Dolphins have ditched their opening day starter, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and put 2nd year man Josh Rosen in this week. Fitzpatrick has had success against Dallas, and a lot of other teams, in his career but since the Dolphins are going nowhere this season they are giving Rosen his chance, albeit a slim one. It's like Mr T used to say, "I pity da foo. (meaning Rosen)" Dallas has had two sacks and no turnovers, I have a feeling the Dallas D will be frothing at the mouth like a bunch of rabid dogs with Rosen square in the sights of the Dallas pass rush. If you are expecting a duel between Quinn and Taco don't count on it. Word is Taco may not even play because he was signed so late in the week. Quinn should be healthy and ready to go. The fractured hand he suffered in training camp should be healed and he is healthy and ready to go. In the first two games this year Dak Prescott has led his team to 66 points, an average of 33 PPG. I don't see Dallas scoring any less than 30 on Miami. In their first two games Miami has given up 102 points. Ouch. Dallas is at home at the Death Star. If Miami wins this game I may jump off my house.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys are 3-0! You knew that already but as a Cowboys fan I get to hear it long and loud when they don’t do so well. So, you haters out there will just have to let the big dog eat this time! Dallas is one of 4 undefeated teams in the NFC joining the Packers, Rams and 49ers --- 49ers???? On the AFC side there are 3 teams, the Patriots, Chiefs and the Bills --- wait, what? The Bills are 3-0??? Strange days indeed.

What made Sunday’s win over the Dolphins even better was the fact that Detroit, of all teams, beat the hated Eagles!!! Dallas actually has a two game lead in the NFC East after only 3 games!!!! What's even better is the Texans beat San Diego, uh, Los Angeles Chargers AND the Astros clinched the AL West division with a win over the Angels. Sunday was awesome!!!!

Against the Dolphins the Cowboys looked stuck in the mud in the first half but, as they have done in all three games this year, they came out with fire in their eyes and they did what good teams do to bad teams, they smashed them. The Cowboys went all Hulk on the Dolphins limiting them to just 67 yards of offense and zero points after the half.

Both Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard gained over a hundred yards each and Pollard added the final score on an 18 yard run late in the 4th quarter to get the score to 31. Both teams can say they were robbed of points. In the first half the Dolphins missed a long field goal and they fumbled on offense in side the Cowboys 10 on another drive missing out on potentially 10 more points. The Cowboys had a 74 yard TD pass call back because of a penalty and Brett Maher missed a long field goal of his own. As grandma used to say, "If 'ifs and buts' were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas!"

The Cowboys got good play out of backups yesterday on defense as Cowboys 2nd round pick DT Trysten Hill and S Darian Thompson stepped up after injuries to Antwaun Woods and Xavier Woods that had them among the Cowboys inactives for the game. The most notable play was in the first half and the Dolphins had a 3rd and goal inside the Cowboys 5. Hill broke down the protection on a Dolphins run play and Thompson filled the hole and stopped the Dolphins RB in his tracks for no gain forcing the Dolphins to settle for a field goal.

The Cowboys will have their biggest test of the season this Sunday night when they go to New Orleans to face the Saints. The Saints proved they are not dead in the water after losing Drew Brees up in Seattle. Teddy Bridgewater came in and hung 33 on the Seahawks IN Seattle which is something you just don’t do. Did I mention that Dallas is 3-0? Sure, I must have, heh, heh, heh!

[eagle eye]

There is no doubt that the Cowboys team that averaged 32 points a game in the first 3 weeks of the season never showed up in New Orleans. When you hold a team that scored over 32 points IN Seattle which is one of the most difficult places in the NFL to play to just 12 points, 4 field goals and no TD’s you figure you should win the darn game! The Cowboys D held Saints RB Alvin Kamara to 89 total yards and the Saints offense to 266 yards total you figure Dallas would win going away. But no, that didn’t happen as Dallas only managed a TD and a FG for the whole game. I heard a report that one of the guys on offense apologized to the defense for wasting such a great effort. The whole offensive unit should apologize for stinking it up Sunday night. Credit must be given to the Saints defense because they did play well but the offense played bad. The line could not move the Saints D-line to get Zeke running room. He averaged just over 1 yard per carry on 10 first down carries. By contrast, the Cowboys gained 7 yards per pass on 9 first downs. At what point does Kellen Moore go play-action and throw the ball on first down. So, I am saying part of the problem with Dallas’ offense has to go to the OC. There were some dropped passes that hurt and the O-line had trouble blocking, especially in pass protection, but Dak had a bad game. He was off target long, short, out front and behind receivers. The Saints dared Dak to beat them with his arm and he wasn’t up to the task. Okay offense including you Kellen Moore, on 3, we will have a group apology to the defense for abusing their effort on Sunday Night. 1-2-3………

 

The Saints are all too familiar with getting hosed by the refs but Dallas got a little of that ref-hate Sunday night. One the 4th and 1 near midfield Zeke Elliott rushed for the one yard to get the first down for the Cowboys. Unfortunately, after he was down the Saints ripped the ball loose and the refs gave the Saints the ball. Replay showed Zeke’s elbow was down prior to the ball coming loose but the replay official was obviously sniffing glue in the booth and he or she upheld the call on the field. The Saints got a field goal because of the turnover. The Cowboys lost by 2. With the Saints driving at the end of the 1st half they had a 1st and goal at the Cowboys 1 and Sean Peyton decided to go for a play despite only having 4 seconds left on the clock. Jacoby Brissett took a quick drop and threw an incomplete pass and there was still 2 seconds left in the half! Whaaaaat? Replay clearly showed that the clock did not start until Brissett’s arm was cocking to throw the pass. Now, when the ball is thrown the clock is not supposed to stop until the ball hits something or someone. Replay showed the clock stopped when the ball crossed the sideline on its way out of bounds. The play should have ended the half if not for some home cooking by the clock operator. There should have been no points scored at the end of the half but with 2 phantom seconds left the Saints kicked a field goal. Jason Garrett pitched a royal fit at the time to no avail. Field goal was good and Dallas lost by 2. Add to the fact that Amari Cooper was called for two total BS offensive pass interference penalties that hurt the Cowboys greatly and the Cowboys have every reason to take this officiating crew off their Christmas Card list. This crew threw so many flags it looked like laundry day at the hanky factory. The crew called 15 penalties in the game and Saints were actually flagged 9 of those 15 penalties. The trouble was, the penalties hurt the Cowboys more than they did the Saints and directly led to 6 points for the Saints. The Cowboys lost by 2.

 

On the last drive of the night for Dallas Dak was sacked and he fell on the back of LT Tyron Smith’s leg causing a sprain to his ankle. It looked like Smith was darn near crippled as he fell down trying to limp off the field. He was carted into the locker room. The first thing when you saw him you think, if he didn’t break his ankle, he has a high ankle sprain. After an MRI showed it’s just a regular ankle sprain and he may only miss a game or two I’m sure there was a huge sigh of relieve by the Cowboys at the news. S Kavon Frazier is headed to IR after he suffered a pectoral injury that will require season ending surgery. S Xavier Woods tweaked his shoulder and the Cowboys will need to monitory the situation. DE Demarcus Lawrence missed a lot of snaps in the 2nd half of the game because he tweaked shoulder opposite the surgically repaired shoulder he had done in the offseason. Again, the Cowboys will closely monitor his health.

 

Robert Quinn was a great signing. He terrorized the pocket from the offensive left edge. Quinn lived in the Saints backfield on passing downs and he is providing the spark their pass rush had lacked before he came back last week. The Cowboys are going to need him to show up when the Cowboys host the Packers this week.

[Dracula]

I would love to know what has happened at the Cowboys Front office? For the last few years and unlike the previous two decades, it seems as if someone has an idea of how to build a team . Not effective coaches replaced, drafting has been good, and past mistakes, Taco, let go. I like it.

 

That was three weeks ago, and now, after laying miserable, listless, no fight eggs vs the Saints and just a few hours ago vs the Packers, I change my mind. I think that Stephen A has been right all along.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfBE6dzokfc

[eagle eye]

That was three weeks ago, and now, after laying miserable, listless, no fight eggs vs the Saints and just a few hours ago vs the Packers, I change my mind. I think that Stephen A has been right all along.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfBE6dzokfc

 

I would rather you poke me in the eye with a stick rather than me agreeing with anything Stephen A Smith says. You can't say the Packers game was the second time Dallas had a bad game. The offense had a bad game on offense against the Saints but the Saints had a little something to do with that. Prescott had a career day in passing yardage and Amari had a career day in receiving yardage. They out gained the Packers on offense but the turnovers and penalties on offense killed them and the Cowboys defense had a lousy game against the Packers but I really don't think the effort was not there or that they were listless. They had a bad day to a varying degree against two good, high caliber teams.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys play the NY Jets this afternoon and I wasn't thinking much about this game other than it was a fairly easy game for Dallas to win and get off their 2-game losing streak. After all, the Jets are 0-4 and their QB Sam Darnold, who has largely underwhelmed in his time as the Jets starting QB, is making his first start in several games because he caught mononucleosis. Honestly, has Darnold been dating high school girls? But then I read a column on NFL.com about their Week 6 bold predictions and one of their columnists, James Jones former Green Bay WR, made the bold prediction that the Jets would upset the Cowboys. Well, isn't that a fine kettle of fish? Just when we get to a game I feel confident Dallas will win now I've got this meathead making think this is some sick sort of trap game. A winless team just getting their QB back and with Dallas' struggles stopping the run and the Jets having Le'veon Bell and the Cowboys without (probably) both their starting tackles I am genuinely worried. My God, this is a trap game. (Cue Admiral Ackbar, "It's a trap!, The Death Star is fully operational!") Crap, now I've got to worry all freaking day! Can the Texans beat KC? Can the Astros rebound and beat the Yankees? Now, I have to worry about the damn Cowboys? Thanks a lot James Jones, you suck!!!

 

Now the Cowboys are pretty healthy going into the game. Amari Cooper was limited in practice all week but I think it is just a precaution over his poor aching feet. Michael Gallup is back healthy and the rest of the offense other than Tyron Smith and La'el Collins is good to go. Collins is definitely out with an MCL sprain and Smith is questionable to probably out. Taking Collins' place will be rookie Brandon Knight. Knight came in and did a decent job in relief of Collins after he was hurt during the game with the Packers. I have a feeling that he will be one of the unsung heroes of the game if Dallas wins. Maybe Smith will play or maybe he won't. That is literally going to be a game time decision. If Smith can't go then Cameron Fleming will be the guy at left tackle. Fleming has a lousy game against the Packers but maybe the talent level at the Jets defensive right end isn't as good as the Packers. That is the hope going in.

 

That's the concern over the defense. If you look at the last 5 games the Cowboys have lost 4 of them have been because they were gashed like Michael Myers victims in the Halloween franchise by the opposition's RB's. Tennessee and Indianapolis killed Dallas with their running games in 2018. A combination of Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson smoked the D in the playoff loss in January and last week some guy nobody ever heard off for Green Bay, Aaron something (not Rodgers) gained a 107 yards, added 74 more receiving yards and he scored 4 rushing TD's. Before last week, in their 60 year history Dallas had never, ever given up 4 rushing TD's in a game. Now Dallas is tasked with stopping Le'veon Bell. Sheesh. Hopefully, Dallas will have figured out how to play run defense this past week in practice and actually be able to apply that in today's game or it will be a long frustrating day for yours truly. I'm still saying Dallas will win but I'm not nearly as confident as I was before reading what James Jones had to say. Thank you Mr Jones -- you suck!!!

[eagle eye]

There have been two problems with the Cowboys this season and, in particular, during this 3 game losing streak. Number 1 is the fact that the Cowboys’ offense doesn’t really start playing ball until the 3rd quarter. Against the Saints the Cowboys offense never really got started at all. As we have since observed the Saints defense is pretty darn good. When you play a team like the Packers who has a killer QB like Aaron Rodgers you can’t spot them a 28 point lead before you get into gear offensively. It wasn’t that the Cowboys weren’t playing well offensively it was the turnovers and stupid penalties that stopped them cold. What happened against the Jets was just crazy. The Cowboys moved the ball down the field and had a first an goal inside the Jets 10. They failed to do much on their first three downs and decided to go for it on 4th an 2 at the Jets 6. The Cowboys ran an RPO but both the Cowboys tackles failed to make their blocks and Dak was tackled for a 2-yard loss. Instead of kicking the field goal to make the score 7-6 at the time Jason Garrett elected to go for on 4th down and the Cowboys failed to execute and got stuffed. To make matters worse on the first play after the 4th and 2 Sam Darnold completed a 92 yard catch and run TD to make the score 14-3. Dallas did come back and Brett Maher kicked a franchise tying record 62 yard field goal but that was after NY scored another TD so the score going into half time 21-6. This against a defense that among the worst in the NFL in total defense. Even in their 3 wins Dallas had done most of their scoring beginning in the second half of games. The Cowboys offense needs to find a way to get the offense going from the git-go and not wait until the second half to get revved up. Slow starts by the offense most certainly cost the Cowboys wins against the Packers and Jets.

 

Number 2, the defense has lost its mojo. Through the first 4 games they Cowboys D looked pretty good. Even in the loss to the Saints the defense didn’t allow a TD in the 12-10 loss. The last two games are a different story. Against the Packers the Cowboys lack of run defense make Aaron Jones look like Walter friggin’ Payton as he gained a combined 182 yards. Last week against the Jets the D stopped Le’Veon Bell pretty much but had no answers for the Jets passing attack. This team has been quite frustrating to watch to say the least. Now, Amari Cooper may be out, Tyron Smith and La’el Collins may miss another game and now Tyrone Crawford will miss the rest of the season after being put on IR so he can get surgery done on both his ailing hips. A team that was so healthy in the first few weeks of the season is now a big M*A*S*H* unit. All this and Dallas plays Philadelphia on Sunday night. This is the last game before the Cowboys bye week and it would please me to no end if Dallas can beat the loathsome Eagles. To be honest, though it would pain me to lose to those green clad booger eaters I’ll take a loss if it means the Astros beat the Yankees in Game 5 of the ALCS.

[eagle eye]

The end of a pretty good weekend with the Cowboys putting a whuppin’ on the booger eaters. Wish the Texans had won.

[eagle eye]

How bad was the loss to the Jets last week by the Cowboys? It was bad. The Jets were winless and really, the Jets should have been beaten by 14 points. On paper the Cowboys are that much better but between dump mistakes and dumb penalties the Cowboys gift wrapped that game and gave it the Jets as an early Christmas present. What makes this loss even more hard to swallow is the fact the Patriots destroyed the Jets 33-0 last night in New Jersey. The Patriots do what really good teams do, they beat the teams they are supposed to beat. That’s why I don’t think the Cowboys are a really good team. I feel the same way about the Texans. Neither team can seem to get out of their own way sometimes and really good teams are squared away and don’t beat themselves, The Cowboys and Texans aren’t squared away and they do beat themselves more often than you would like. On Sunday night the Cowboys tried to beat themselves again. Holding calls, illegal formations, illegal shifts and false starts had the Cowboys behind the chains a lot but, in Sunday’s game they overcame their own miscues to convert 1st and 25’s into first downs. What we also found out on Sunday night was that Philly isn’t very good either. The Eagles have a weak O-line and a depleted secondary and a fairly weak linebacking group. How the Eagles beat the Packers is a mystery and how the Cowboys DIDN’T beat the Packers isn’t a mystery but a source of frustration with this team. I am extremely happy Dallas beat the Eagles but I just can’t figure how why they constantly figure out ways to shoot themselves in the foot. I’m glad Dallas is 4-3 right now but, in all honesty, they should be 6-1. I’ll concede the Saints game because the Saints have shown they have a really, really good defense. There was no reason for Dallas to get down by 28 to the Packers and absolutely no reason for getting down 21 to the damn Jets. A lot of the Jets game fails can be attributed to poor coaching decisions by Jason Garrett but penalties, poor play by Dak and dropped passes by Michael Gallup hurt too but after the Pats did to the Jets pretty much what Dallas should have done to the Jets it’s clear the Patriots are on a whole other plane of existence than the Cowboys and almost every other team in the NFL. There is no reason to believe, at this point in the season, that New England shouldn’t win yet another Super Bowl and the Cowboys endure yet another season without making it to the Big Dance. It’s sad but true but, it won’t keep me from rooting for them just as hard as I’ve always done. The great thing right now is Dallas has their bye week this week. Time to heal up and get ready for the second half of the season. Whew, I need the break too!

[Dracula]

On a week to week basis, I don't trust Garrett's ability to get this team motivated to play. Looking at the nine games left, I'm guessing, at best, 10-6, and maybe winning the horrible NFC East but that's it. I think that Garrett is gone, at the end of the season.

[eagle eye]

On a week to week basis, I don't trust Garrett's ability to get this team motivated to play. Looking at the nine games left, I'm guessing, at best, 10-6, and maybe winning the horrible NFC East but that's it. I think that Garrett is gone, at the end of the season.

I'm going to have to agree to disagree Drac. If you watch these games motivation hasn't been a factor, the Cowboys play hard every single week. The problem has been that the Cowboys have been really good at shooting themselves in the foot. Whether it's committing penalties, or player screw-ups and sometimes it's been failures by the refs. In the Jets game Dallas was down both O-tackles, Amari Cooper left the game after one series and Michael Gallup couldn't catch a ball. He exhibited hands of stone through most of the game and Dallas only lost by two. In the Packers game Amari Cooper had his hands of stone moments, one of which led to a missed scoring opportunity. The defense couldn't stop doo-doo against the Packers. Their inability to stop the run made Aaron Jones look like Emmitt Smith, which he is definitely not. The defense also had a huge fail against the Jets. The D didn't pressure Sam Darnold and he lit up the Cowboys. 8 days later on Monday Night the Patriots showed what you do to a young QB, they blitzed the crap out of him and pressured him into 4 INT's and they beat him up so bad Darnold was seeing ghosts out on the field. The Jets 33-0 loss to the Pats made Dallas' loss even more embarrassing. That was primarily on the defense IMO. If Dallas had not had such a big hand in getting the team beat Dallas would be 6-1 right now. I conceding the Saints loss because we have seen that the Saints defense is a bad-ass unit. Still, one more field goal and Dallas wins that game because the Cowboys D did do a good job on the Saints offense holding them to 4 field goals. The problem was the Saints drove the field on the Cowboys to get those field goals. The Saints time of possession was easily better than the Cowboys and it's hard to score when you don't have the ball.

 

For my money, I'm sick of Rod Marinelli and his bend, don't break defense. We have a young and talented group of players now. I want to see an attacking defense like they implemented against the Eagles last Sunday. The Cowboys brought pressure and made the pocket very uncomfortable for Carson Wentz. It's hard to kick ass when you are running for your life or lying flat on your back. Dallas is getting healthy again. This week off should do wonders for the player's health and well being and hopefully they learned you need to rush more than your front four to get pressure on a QB. Garrett isn't the problem. The players need to a better job of doing their job and the defense needs to step up their game. The 2nd half of the Cowboys schedule is brutal. The bad teams are the division games. They have the Bears, Lions, and Vikings to deal with, not to mention having to deal with the New England and Buffalo who has suddenly gotten a lot better. Throw in the Rams and I'd say if Dallas is 10-6 at the end of the year they will have won 6 of their last 9 games. I'll take that all day. The Cowboys certainly will be battle hardened by the time the playoffs roll around and if they do go 6-3 the rest of the way, I will like their chances in the playoffs and Garrett won't be going anywhere.

[eagle eye]

On the verge of the Astros possibly clinching their second World Series title in 3 years I have to do something to pass the time so what better way to pass the time than talk a little Cowboys? I know, right?

The Cowboys didn’t just goof off last week on their bye week. Not the front office anyway as they went out and made a deal that made their D-line better. As you may know, Dallas made a deal with New England to get Pro Bowl DL Michael Bennett. Bennett has some connection to the Cowboys you may not remember or even know. First, Michael Bennett is the older of brother of former Cowboys TE Martellus Bennett. Next, Michael is the guy who effectively ended Tony Romo’s NFL career. Bennett tackled, no, he pulled a WWE pile driver move that drove Romo into the turf in Seattle causing him to break a bone in his back which opened the door for Dak Prescott to replace him as the Cowboys QB. Bennett is in his 11th season in the NFL but he is still pretty effective. Also, the last thing that links Bennett to the Cowboys is Chris Richard. Richard is the Cowboys DB’s coach and passing game coordinator. Richard coached the DB’s and was the defensive coordinator in Seattle when Bennett was still there. Bennett will be a good replacement for Tyrone Crawford who was placed on IR a couple of weeks ago because he needed surgery on both of his hips. The Cowboys have a good mix of youth and experience on the DL line and Bennett will be a good rotational player. At least that’s the hope.

At the end of the win over the Eagles the Cowboys had some injury concerns. Leighton Van Esch, Robert Quinn and Cameron Fleming. The good news is that Dallas returned to practice today and LVE and Quinn were both out participating. Fleming was still out as were DT’s Antwaun Woods and Trysten Hill. Hill and Woods could be back this week. Amari Cooper will likely be dealing with either his foot or an ankle problem all season. The Cowboys won’t play until Monday night in New Jersey when they face the NY Giants for the second time this season so all these players with bumps and bruises and owwee’s will have an extra day to heal up.

They will need to take advantage of the extra day or two because next month, beginning with the Nov Game before Thanksgiving.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys are well into their prep for the game this coming Monday night against the NY Giants. Back to business and it’s good to see them back on the field. There have been some things going on worth noting.

 

When Dallas came back this week they had a full schedule of practices and meetings on Tuesday. DT ‘s Antwaun Woods and rookie Trysten Hill were late for a meeting. The consequence of that was that Jason Garrett sent both players home and they weren’t allowed to stay in the meeting or practice with the team. Talk about accountability! I’m sure this punishment made an impression on Woods and Hill but it also sent a message to the rest of the team. Well done, Jason! As for Woods, he admitted he made a mistake and he vowed never to be late again. He did point out that being late is not what he’s about as he said through nine years of football, 5 in college at USC and 4 in the NFL he’s been late all of 3 times. Hill was not available for comment. Woods and Hill were both back at Thursday’s practice.

 

The Cowboys made a deal to get DL Michael Bennett last week and now it’s being reported that the team has reworked Bennett’s contract. When Bennett came to Dallas, he still had two more years after this season on his contract. At 33 years of age Bennett is getting old in football years and committing to 3 years is risky. The new deal is just for one year (this year) and he will be eligible for free agency next March. It becomes a ‘show-me’ deal with Dallas possibly willing to make him an offer if he works out. The knock on Bennett is he can be a pain in the neck in the locker room. The Patriots actually suspended him for one game for conduct detrimental to the team this season. That may be a big reason why New England was willing to deal a player like Bennett who was doing pretty well for the Pats. He had a nice stat line including recording 2.5 sacks in 6 games played. The contract makes sense for both parties and you would think Bennett will have an easier time fitting in with the Cowboys given his history with Cowboys assistant coach Chris Richard.

 

OT Cam Fleming has been the only player who hasn’t practiced this week as he pulled a calf muscle in a bye week practice last week. LB Leighton Vander Esch and CB Anthony Brown were limited. LVE has a neck injury suffered in the second half of the Eagles game is questionable for the Giants game. Brown, who has a pulled hamstring is not likely to play this week. Vander Esch could miss but the Cowboys are pretty deep at LB. Sean Lee had his best game of the season against the Eagles and he’s fully capable or filling in at both Mike and Will spots. Another asset is Joe Thomas who has played very well. The loss of Brown is also not as big a deal because of the depth at CB. Jourdan Lewis is more than capable, and deserving, of more playing time.

 

The one thing I will be looking for against the Giants is to see if the Cowboys learned anything from the Patriots. Against both the Giants and Jets, Bill Belichick brought a lot of pressure which rattled Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones as the Patriots easily defeated both teams in the process. Dallas did not pressure Darnold and he lit up the Cowboys defense leading the Jets to one of the most improbable wins in Cowboys history. For the Cowboys it had to be a very embarrassing loss made even more so when the Patriots smoked the Jets the very next week.

[eagle eye]

Okay, so here’s the deal. Lots of weird information flying around like, every game played in the continental United States this week saw the home team win. The only exception was the Texans win over Jacksonville in London. Houston was technically the visiting team but both teams were out-of-towners. Having the home team dominate games like this was pretty weird. If this trend holds true then he Giants win tonight.

 

The Cowboys beat the Giants rather handily in Week 1 in what was likely Eli Manning’s last time leading the Giants against the Cowboys. This time around Daniel Jones is at the controls and he has the Giants playing better but, they still aren’t a very good team. Dallas is a game behind the rest of the division because they are the only team to have had a bye week but, they lead the division at 4-3 and the Giants are 2nd to last in the division with a 2-6 record. If Dallas wins, they will be 5-3 and ½ game ahead of the Eagles who are 5-4. Lots to play for, for sure.

 

Dallas needs to win tonight for one other huge reason, they will have a booger of a schedule in the second half of the season. After the Giants Dallas has a gauntlet of 7 straight games against really tough opponents. So here is the murderer’s row of Cowboys opponents beginning with Week 10; Vikings (H), Lions (A), Patriots (A), Bills (H), Bears (A), Rams (H) and Eagles (A). The next “easy” game will be in Week 17 at Washington. I would be willing to bet Dallas needs to win 4 of the 7 plus beat Washington to get to 10-6. That might be enough to win the NFC East. I would feel better if Dallas wins 5 of the 7 plus the Redskins game to get to 11-5. Given the level of competition plus doing more than half of that on the road is asking a lot, I know. But, if the Cowboys get to the playoffs they will certainly be battle tested. Dallas also needs to remain healthy (knocking furiously on wood!!!) but this team has the talent to go 6-3 or 7-2 down the stretch. Whether they can actually do it remains to be seen. First off, the need to beat the Giants tonight. If they don’t that long, tough road will get considerably steeper.

[eagle eye]

Some thoughts on last night’s Cowboys game.

1. Could the game have started any worse? First play from scrimmage and Dak throws an INT. Another drive cut short on a fumble by Randall Cobb. A missed field goal by Brett Maher and by mid-2nd quarter Dallas is down 12-3. The only good thing that happened for Dallas was a missed extra point on the TD the Giants scored.

2. In the middle of the 2nd quarter the whole game changed when a real live black cat got loose on the MetLife Stadium field stopping play for 3 or 4 minutes while stadium security and the cops worked at shooing the critter off the field. After that Dallas scored 10 quick points on a Blake Jarwin 42 yard catch and run TD with 52 seconds left in the half and a Brett Maher 52 yard FG after an interception by the Cowboys defense with 25 seconds left in the half. All this scoring led to the Cowboys leading the game 13-12 at the half.

3. All the TD’s scored by Dallas’ offense were very athletic plays. Jarwin’s shoe top catch and run. Michael Gallup’s tip-toe down the sideline with his leaping tumble into the end zone and Amari Coopers catch and run all had the athleticism of these players on perfect display. Now, the hard part of the schedule is coming and they need to prove they can dominate the good teams.

4. Dallas is still shooting themselves in the feet with dump penalties. As good as Tyron Smith is, he sure gets called for holding a lot.

5. Dallas D was pretty good last night. Twice the Giants got the ball inside the Cowboys ten, once on the interception on the first play of the game and once on a 65 yard run by Sequan Barkley and in both instances the defense held the Giants to a field goal. There was another red zone trip by he Giants that also resulted in a field goal. For the game the Giants were 1 for 4 in the red zone.

6. The defense recorded 2 fumble recoveries, an INT, a TD to go along with 5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss.

7. Leighton Vander Esch was out with his neck injury for the game but Sean Lee more than made up for the loss of LVE. Lee was looking like himself 5 years ago.

8. Michael Bennett, in his first game as a Cowboy, had a nice debut. He recorded 3 tackles, a sack, 2 tackles for a loss and 4 QB hits. Bennett gave the Cowboys that push up the middle they have been lacking. He looks like he is going to be a great addition to the DL rotation.

[eagle eye]

It must have been a weekend dedicated to purple. PN-G won mid-county madness. LSU beat Alabama and the Vikings have beaten the Dallas Cowboys. What is most disheartening is that Dallas beat the Eagles and the Giants heading into their bye week scoring 37 points in each game. Now, in their first post bye week game they drop a ginormous turd in their own punchbowl. Going back to last year, 6 of the last seven games Dallas has lost was because they couldn’t stop the other team’s run game and last night’s game was number 6. Dalvin Cook had 33 touches in the game and he accounted for 153 yards rushing and another 30 receiving. It was reminiscent of how the Packer’s Aaron Jones gashed the Cowboys earlier this season.

 

Last November the Titan ripped the Cowboys with Dion Lewis and Doug Henry and company ran for 125 yards. In December of 2018 the Colts’ Marlon Mack rushed for 139 yards and 2 TDs in a 23-0 rout of the Cowboys. In January in the Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Rams the Cowboys gave up 238 yards rushing and 3 TD’s to CJ Anderson and Todd Gurley in a 30-22 loss. We all remember the 182 combined yards Dallas gave up to Aaron Jones in the Packers game. A week earlier, the Cowboys gave up 117 yards rushing to the Saints with Alvin Kamara accounting for 89 combined yards in the game. The only game Dallas didn’t give up a lot of yards in the run game was against the Jets who only gained a total of 56 yards rushing. The Jets made up for that deficiency by having Sam Darnold pass for 338 yards and 2 TD’s. Now, Dalvin Cook added his little bit of hell to the Cowboys defensive woes.

 

The Vikings decided Ezekiel Elliott was not going to beat them and he didn’t. He rushed for a paltry 47 yards on 20 carries. On a night when Dak seemed to be able to step up and carry the team Kellen Moore kept feeding Zeke. There were some really dumb plays called but the Cowboys failed to execute very well. Amari Cooper made some incredible catches right at the sidelines where nothing but Cooper’s tippy toes were touching the ground when he made the catch. This happened at least 3 times including Cooper’s touchdown that briefly gave the Cowboys the lead in the 3rd quarter. Dak and Cooper were the bright spots with Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb making solid contributions but the defense didn’t step up like they should have and certainly could have. It was sad to see the Cowboys taking bad angles to make plays, poor tackling and receivers wide ass open on third and longs. Let’s not forget about kicker Brett Maher. He missed a very makeable 36 yard attempt on the Cowboys first possession of the game and if he makes that kick the Cowboys are tied with Minnesota at the half at 17 and the last drive the score would have been 28-27 with Dallas only needing a field goal to win instead of having to try a hail Mary. Lots of blame to go around. At some point Dallas is going to have to beat contending teams. They’ve lost to New Orleans, Green Bay and now Minnesota. If the Cowboys don’t start winning consistently the folks who want Jason Garrett fired just might get their wish.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have to try to figure out why they can’t beat good teams and they need to do it quick. Well, maybe they have a little time because what looked like a tough game 3 weeks ago against the Lions has a whole different feel because of the injury to Matthew Stafford. There seems to be some question whether Stafford will play but if he does, he will be nursing bad back and hip. The Lions have had their moments but losing Stafford was murder for a team struggling to get wins. The backup is Jeff Driscoll who come out of La Tech and he’s been in the NFL 4 seasons now with about 7 total starts to his credit. Honestly, if the Cowboys can’t beat an overmatched Lions club, even though it’s on the road, then this season is lost.

 

I have read a lot of articles about why the Cowboys keep losing winnable games and I have seen with my own eyes how the Cowboys have lost games. I know that people want to blame the offense, Jason Garrett and Kellen Moore for crappy play calling and I agree to some extent but in only one game this season have the Cowboys failed to score 22 points or more in a game. I can think of two games where play calling cost them games, the Jets and Saints. There were some seriously stupid play calls in those games. You want to blame play calling on the loss to the Vikings, I would disagree, I thought the execution sucked big time in that game. Even so, if Brett Maher could just make a 30-something yard field goal Dallas would have won all three games. They lost 12-10 to the Saints, 24-22 to the Jets and the score would have been 28-27 when Dallas got the ball at the Vikings 40 with :42 seconds left in the game. One made field goal in all three games and it changes the story of the Cowboys season. Instead of being 5-4 right now the Cowboys could realistically be 8-1 and no worse than 7-2. Kids, thank Mr Maher for sucking royal grapes. “Thank you Mr Maher” The kicker position used to be pretty steady across the NFL but, for some reason, this year finding a consistent kicker is like finding a four leaf clover, it ain’t that easy. Maher is pretty good from 50+ yards out but you need your kicker to be money from 40 yards in, Maher is not that guy. Maher is 14 of 20 in his field goal attempts. That’s a 70 percent make rate. By NFL standards, that is terrible. The attempt by Maher on Sunday night on the Cowboys first series was missed so badly the ball never even sniffed the goal post. It ended up in the stands left of the end zone.

 

The defense shares the blame for their losses because in those games, with the exception of the Saints game, they were awful. The defense can’t seem to be able to stop the run and they can’t seem to make a stop when they really need to. The team overall is not a clutch team but that goes double for the defense. If the team keeps going on the same track the Garrett haters might finally get their wish and see the Cowboys cut ties with Garrett, who is the second longest tenured coach of the Cowboys behind only Tom Landry. Will this open the door for a Lincoln Riley hire? Be careful what you ask for because Oklahoma, along with the rest of the Big Twelve, can’t play a lick of defense. Let’s hope the Cowboys figure it out beginning with the Lions this Sunday.

[eagle eye]

I was listening to a podcast on the Cowboys website yesterday and a caller to the show asked a question I have asked myself. "Everybody wants to get rid of Jason Garrett because of the Cowboys lack of success in the playoffs but what about Rod Marinelli? Isn't it the defense that been the cause of Dallas' failures in games this season." Now, this podcast is called "Hangin' With The 'Boys" and it features former players WR Jesse Holley and OL Nate Newton among the panelists. Nate Newton got the producer of the show put up some plays the defense played in the loss to the Lions. As the plays unfolded Newton pointed out how many tackles the Cowboys missed, many of which came on the same play. By contrast, the previous game against the NY Giants the Cowboys missed 2 tackles the whole game. In 30 seconds of video the Cowboys missed 5 times that many. Newton's point was that scheme isn't the issue. There were defensive players in position to make a play and they failed to do so time and time again. Demarcus Lawrence said as much this past week in a player interview. He said the defense needs to do a better job of reading their keys and do a better job of tackling. What is a big mystery is what happened to this team from last year to this year? Leighton Vander Esch is definitely in a sophomore slump as he's not nearly as impactful a player that he was in his rookie season in 2018. The DB's are definitely not as consistent as you would need them to be. Maybe coaching isn't the issue, it's getting the players to "do your job". The Patriots axiom fits for what seems to be deficient in the Cowboys case. You don't have to be a super star, just take care of your responsibilities and don't miss your tackles. I have seen way too may instances where the defender is lunging at the ball carrier and missing badly instead of using proper form. Dallas damn sure needs to figure it out and an undermanned Detroit Lions team would seem to offer an opportunity to do some damage control. Dallas should win this game easily but that what we all thought when the Cowboys played the Jets. The Cowboys defense cannot let Jeff Driscoll time to pass. The Cowboys need to use the formula the Patriots use against an inexperienced QB - pressure the heck out of him. Don't give him time to be anything but harassed. The offense has been pretty good as long as they don't turn the ball over. I'm going to say the Cowboys learned their lesson in the Jets game and they will not let an inexperienced QB beat them because he's standing in a clean pocket. I think Dallas wins by 20 and will make it 6 wins in 6 games they have won by scoring 30 or more points. Not to look ahead or anything, but Dallas needs to take care of business because they have the Patriots next week and a game 4 days later on Thanksgiving against another playoff caliber team in the Buffalo Bills. Last year Dallas was 4-5 at this point of the season and they went on to finish the season 10-6 winning the NFC East and making it to the NFC Divisional Round of the Playoffs. The catalyst of the turnaround was the acquisition of Amari Cooper. Maybe the catalyst for this season could be the acquisition of DL Michael Bennett. Who knows. Personally, I don't care as long as the Cowboys win.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys won yesterday and the shame of it all is it’s really not hard to bitch about the win. After all, Detroit was without their star QB and down several other key players because of injuries so Dallas should have steam rolled the Lions in much the same way the Ravens bashed the Texans around. The NFL rarely works that way. There are professional football players on the other team and they take a lot of pride in how they play the game so even bad teams can, and do, put up a good fight. That’s exactly what Detroit did yesterday, they put up a heckuva fight. To be sure, Dallas’ defense has tackling issues and those issues kept a lot of drives alive for the Lions. The Cowboys need to do a much better job of tackling than they have shown the past two weeks.

Just some observations from yesterday’s game.

 I didn’t think Dak was the type of QB to put the team on his shoulders and carry them to a victory. I am having to alter that thinking because this year he is growing into THAT guy. Yesterday he threw for 444 yards with 3 TD’s and no picks and he carried the team to the win.

 

 Did you know that the Cowboys are #1 in total offense in the whole dang NFL? It’s true. It would be by a wider margin than it is if the Cowboys could run block better.

 

 The Cowboys haven’t been able to run the ball as well as they have in the past and a big reason why is teams have stacked the box to specifically stop the run. They feel that they are willing to gamble that Dak can’t beat them and he’s showing the NFL that line of thought is just plain wrong!

 

 The Cowboys have become a poor tackling defense. We don’t know why other than their technique has become very poor. Too many guys lunging at ball carriers and grabbing nothing but air.

 

 Michael Bennett had a nice game in his debut last week and he was pretty good this week but he was one of those whiffing tacklers in yesterday’s game. I incorrectly identified him as the catalyst for the Cowboys 2nd half of the season run this past week. I should have said the guy that is the game changer is DE Robert Quinn. Quinn was everywhere in the Lions backfield terrorizing Lions QB Jeff Driskoll. Quinn is showing the form that made him an All Pro six years ago with the Rams before they switched from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 when the Rams hired Wade Phillips. Apparently, scheme matters as the 29 year old Quinn is living proof of this.

 

 Don’t like S Jeff Heath? Maybe he’s not the second coming of Earl Thomas but the Cowboys sure miss him when he’s out with injuries. Even special teams suffer without him. By the game’s end yesterday both Heath and Xavier Woods were missing and they were definitely missed.

 

 The only good thing about playing the Lions yesterday was having to face the Matt Patricia defense. What was good about that? Patricia was the Patriots DC for years so you likely saw a bit of a preview of what they will see against the Pats next week.

 

 Speaking of he Pats, I was a full blown fan of them to the extent that I started sounding like a Bostonian. Tahmmy, is wicked good even at fauty two yeahs old. Why? Because they were busy beating the Philadelphia Eagles. I LOVED me some Patriots yesterday! Obviously, I won’t like them nearly as much when Dallas plays them up in Foxborough next weekend. One thing I noticed yesterday was the Cowboys could take some tackling lessons from the Patriots because they are a good tackling team.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have a huge game today against the New England Patriots. As far as the standings go, it's not as huge because, win or lose, they will still be leading or tied for the lead of the NFC East. It's big in terms of who the Cowboys are playing. This is the mighty Patriots and they are still a favorite to go make yet another run at a Super Bowl title. Considering Dallas has yet to beat a contender this season not counting NFC East rival Philadelphia and even the Eagles are just a .500 team. Part of that is due to the fact that the Patriots beat the Eagles in Philadelphia. This week New England is at home where they have lost just one game in like the last thousand. Home field means something in Patriot-land and the Cowboys have certainly got a tall mountain to climb this afternoon.

 

The Patriots are jealous of the Cowboys because despite not winning a championship for almost 25 years the Cowboys are still known as "America's Team". The red, white, and blue Patriots have an unprecedented record since the new millennium with a record number of Super Bowl wins and a appearances. Just like the 1970's when the road to the Super Bowl ran through Dallas when they were dubbed "America's Team" the Patriots have ruled the 2000's and 2010's. They would love nothing more than to put their collective thumbs on the Cowboys but, on the other hand, the Cowboys would love nothing more than stick it to the almighty Patriots. To say today's game is more than a normal Week 12 game is like saying a Pterodactyl just another bird.

 

This isn't just a game where the emotions run higher than normal it is also a clash between the #1 offense in the NFL vs the #1 defense in the NFL. The old irresistible force vs the immovable object. Dak Prescott is becoming that franchise QB who can put his team on his shoulders and carry them to a victory. I his first 3 seasons you couldn't say that about Dak, in fact, when the season began you couldn't say that about Dak but he has certainly grown into that role. A lot of the credit for that has to go to new OC Kellen Moore and new QB's coach Jon Kitna. They have helped Dak grow to the point where he has won the Fed Ex NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The most recent one of those honors came last week when he passed for 444 yards and 3 TD's with no picks. Dallas needed every single one of those yards and points as Detroit put up a helluva fight at home that left the outcome in complete doubt until the Cowboys offense iced the game in the final 2 minutes. Unlike the Patriots, whose offense is struggling, Dallas' offense is flourishing with 3 big time wide receivers, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb. These guys are made even more dangerous because of the threat of Ezekiel Elliott. Lately, the emergence of Zeke's backup, Tony Pollard, give the Cowboys even more firepower. I haven't even mentioned TE's Jason Witten and Blake Jarwin. I think the Cowboys O-line is better without Connor Williams. Xavier Su'o-filo is bigger and more powerful than Williams and it looks like La'el Collins will be back as well. The Patriots have weapons but to the extent Dallas does. There WR group is sorely depleted. No Josh Gordon, no Antonio Brown, no Gronk and every other offensive skill player is on the injury report as questionable. I think they will all play but how well remains to be seen.

 

On the defensive side Bill Belichick is the unquestioned defensive master. He is the Sith Lord more powerful than even Darth Vader. Belichick's best feature is to be able to take away the other team's best player and this strategy works more than it doesn't, that's a big reason why they have been so successful for so long. The question will be, who is Belichick targeting to take out of the game? Zeke? Cooper? Dak? It will be interesting to see who gets locked down. My thinking is he will go after Dak but the way the Ravens ran on the Patriots Zeke could finally have a breakout game with Pollard contributing some yards as well. The challenge for the Cowboys defense is to figure out how to defend the running backs coming out of the backfield as receivers. James White and Sony Michel have been really good for the Patriots as they utilize the RB's in the short passing game like the West Coast Offense does and Dallas has had trouble with that. They also need to tackle better than they have, much better and in watching tape of the Patriots they should have a good tutorial for tackling because the Patriots are a good tackling team. It will certainly be a good chess match but it will come down to who executes better. A lot will have to do with whether or not the Cowboys continue to have slow starts. They absolutely cannot afford to spot the Patriots 10-14 points before they get started themselves. It will be cold and rainy in Boston today so both teams should rely heavily on the run game but, you never know how things will actually play out. Hopefully, it plays out to a Cowboys win. This could kick-start the run to the end of the season the Cowboys need to have momentum going into the playoffs.