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Titans — Cowboys Preview

It’s back to work for Dallas as they face Tennessee, a club they have not played since 2002.

The Cowboys will be facing a vastly different Titans team. That unit was a perennial AFC contender. Lately, however, the Titans have been the latest club to be drug down by the salary cap and age. Their decision to draft Vince Young with the 3rd pick in the draft had a ripple effect on that position. First, it helped convince Steve McNair to leave. The veteran had been in a long dispute with the club and decided he would not play caretaker while Young was groomed. With McNair gone, the Titans signed Kerry Collins just before the season to add experience. This moved the new projected starter Billy Volek to request an immediate trade. The club complied, but not before Volek and HC Jeff Fisher had an embarrassing finger-pointing exchange in the press.

Tennessee is therefore in a quarterback no-man’s land; Young is very raw, though rumors swirled this week that he could get the start. Collins has experience but was only with the team a few days before the season started. He was not expected to be the starter but is now. His situation is similar to Vinnie Testaverde’s with Dallas in 2004 and we all know how that rush job turned out.

When Dallas Has the Ball

The Cowboys had some success hammering the ball at Washington, with both Julius Jones and Marion Barber averaging close to 4.5 yards a carry. Dallas also had some big plays against Jacksonville, so there is hope the the Cowboys line could be gelling. Look for lots more runs into the heart of the Titans defense. Tennessee has struggled stopping the run and this could be one of those test games where Jones gets a half dozen consecutive carries early, to test his toughness and Tennessee’s.

When Dallas does pass, we should look for a replay of the Redskins’ plan. A source told me that the Titans played passively in their first two losses but played much better last week when they decided to throw the works at the Dolphins. Tennessee blitzed heavily, with linebackers and with secondary players off the perimeter. The Cowboys backs will again be tested. Several factors work in Dallas’ favor.

First, there are similarities between the Titans defensive schemes and the Redskins. Jeff Fisher earned his pro football stripes working for Buddy Ryan, first as a player with the Bears and later as an assistant with the Eagles. Redskins DC Gregg Williams was Fisher’s DC at Tennessee. John Madden said that Bill Parcells described Washington’s schemes thusly, “when we look at offense, we see Don Coryell. When we look at their defense, we see Buddy Ryan….” I’m sure that when they look at the Titans defense, they see much of the same thing.

Scheme-wise, there shouldn’t be any surprises for the Cowboys, who blocked Washington’s multiple-front blitz packages very well. The Titans have some quality players up front to account for, most notably DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and LB Keith Bulluck. If Dallas can neutralize these two, Drew Bledsoe should have passing options. I was told the Titans’ corners are small and have tackled poorly thus far this year. Their top three corners, Pacman Jones, Reynaldo Hill and Rich Gardner, are all 5′10″. If Terrell Owens is anywhere near fit, he could feast on these relative munchkins. It could also be another big week for the tight ends Jason Witten and Anthony Fasano, who got lots of work over the middle when Washington blitzed.

The biggest question for Dallas offense may be whether they put their mistakes behind them during the bye. Dallas had several big plays negated by penalty. Getting out of their own way should be as big a priority as their opponent right now.

When Tennessee Has the Ball

Vince or Kerry? It’s a good question, but it may be moot if the Titans’ offensive line problems don’t improve. Tennessee’s interior line was beaten up and it appeared that they would sit both starting guards for this game. The line, I was told, was nothing great before Benji Olson and Zach Piller were injured. The Titans rank near the bottom of the league in rushing, averaging just 65 yards per game.

If Tennessee can’t establish a run early, Dallas could punish them for being one-dimensional. Either QB would probably see heavy pressure from the Dallas front. The Cowboys rattled Mark Brunell with a combination linebacker/safety blitz in the center/guard gaps where Roy Williams and Bradie James would line up over the center and each take a side. If Tennessee plays backup, out-of-position guards Sunday, you could see a lot more of this pressure right up the middle.

Tennessee’s receiving corps is Drew Bennett and a lot of other guys. That doesn’t mean that Bennett shouldn’t concern Dallas. I was told in week one that Matt Jones was the only Jacksonville receiver who really scared Dallas and he put on a show. The key there was that Jacksonville gave its QB time to find Jones. The Titans might not be able to consistently provide the same.

Special Teams

Pacman Jones has ability as a kick returner, so we may see another week of Shaun Suisham and Mike Vanderjagt. With the bye week passed, we may see Parcells risk going with Vanderjagt alone.

Overall

The Cowboys have been fast starters, putting up 10 first quarter points on both the Jags and Redskins. More of that could send them on their way.

Dallas is facing a team with many similarities to Washington. The Titans are not as talented as Washington, however. This will come down to Dallas. If it keeps tripping over its own figurative feet, we could have another frustrating game. If the Cowboys have improved their execution the last two weeks, especially on offense, this shouldn’t be that close. We won’t know until they tee it up.

Dallas 27, Tennessee 10

And Now They Can Joke About It

”You saw how many people showed up when he worked out in his driveway,” he said. ”I swear, if I did sit-ups in my driveway, I bet that nobody would show up. Somebody would probably call the cops and tell me to get back in my house or something. T.O. is just a guy who gets attention because he is a national figure.”

– Titans DT Albert Haynesworth

Game report coming in the A.M.

Early Line on Tennessee — Blitz City

Last week Dallas ripped the undermanned Redskins secondary. This weekend it faces another vulnerable unit. Tennessee’s interior offensive line is depleted at the moment. Starting guards Benji Olson and Zach Piller sat out today’s practice, as did top backup Eugene Amano. The Titans have had to move their starting RT inside to RG and are planning on using backups at LG and RT if the starters can’t play. Coach Jeff Fisher says Olson and Piller will be game time decisions.

Tennessee already has a weak running game and is starting the immobile Kerry Collins at QB. Do you smell heavy pressure this Sunday?

Panic On, Panic Off

“… RO/S WERE DISPATCHED ON A CALL BY DALLAS FIRE AND RESCUE REGARDING COMP ATTEMPTING SUICIDE BY PRESCRIPTION PAIN MEDICATION…”

– Initial Dallas Police Department Narrative on Terrell Owens, posted online Wednesday morning

“…it’s my understanding that there was some information that was released prior to me speaking to the media. What I want to say about the information that went out: we are the official spokespersons for the Dallas Police Department. How that information got out, I don’t know. But this is the official statement: the Dallas Police Department does not have any other investigations going on on this incident…”

– Dallas PD spokesman Sgt. Rick Watson, Wednesday afternoon

My Questions

What I would ask if I were at the press conference:

1. T.O., how many pain pills did you take yesterday?
2. Had you been taking the pills regularly or did the resumption of workouts make you take more?
3. How many other supplements, in pill or powder form do you take? What are they?
4. Did you ever lose consciousness, at your apartment, in the ambulance or in the emergency room?
5. What was done once you visited the hospital?
6. Do you remember being asked by the police if you intended to hurt yourself? Do you remember answering, yes?
7. What is your state of mind?

For Owens’ publicist:

8. What was your client’s state when you called the ambulance?
9. You’re a publicist by trade. Are you aware what calling an ambulance for you client would do? Did you consider that when you made the call, or were you so worried about is condition that you didn’t think about it or didn’t care?
10. How did you know how many pills you client had been taking? Was the line in the released police report that you said he had only taken five pills before yesterday accurate?

To the Dallas P.D.

11. How does an initial report wind up on the internet within twelve hours of the incident?
12. Who approved its release?
13. How were you able to determine this was a suicide attempt and not an accident? The released statement was very definitive about intent.

I know some of the these questions will never be answered, but I’m curious to see how many are asked this afternoon.

Questions Abound in T.O. O.D. Case

Planet Owens exerts its amazing gravitational pull again.

Terrell Owens was admitted to Baylor Medical Center last night for apparently ingesting an alarming but unspecified amount of pain killing pills. Doctors tried to induce vomiting and police were summoned to take statements from the women who called the ambulance on Owens’ behalf and from Owens himself, who was conscious.

That’s all we know for certain. The story has exploded after a police report, which can be viewed here, suggested Owens attempted suicide.

According to the report, Owens’ friend called an ambulance and the first responders called police. The companion told police that Owens had not been taking his medications, having used only five pills from a 40 pill prescription. She also told police that he had taken the remainder of the bottle and had viewed him putting two pills in his mouth.

When asked if he had taken the remainder of his pills, he responed “yes.” He also answered yes to the question of whether he tried to hurt himself.

I asked a mental health and drug addiction expert for some background on suicide cases, pain medications and whether the Owens narrative indeed added up to a suicide attempt. I was told the following:

— It is very easy to overdose on pain medications. “There is a tipping point with narcotics that can take a person from conscious to half-dead. A person taking them can cross this point without being aware of it.”

– A person who attempts suicide can be held under surveillance for up to 72 hours if they are deemed a risk to themselves or others. The person can be held even if they do not want help.

– Overdoses and suicides are often confused, because they both put people in emergency rooms and can take individuals near death. However, they do not share the same motivations. Someone who has “suicidal ideation” plans their attempt over a long period of time. “A suicidal person wants to die. He or she is depressed, hopeless and feels life is not worth living… Somebody who wants to die and somebody who abused their drugs both could have died, so they are often seen as the same. They are not…”

The source told me that Owens’ injury history, most notably his quick rehab of a broken ankle in 2004 and recent reports of his demeanor did not add up, in her opinion, to somebody who was suicidal. “We cannot rule a suicide attempt out. He was taken to the hospital and did ingest pain pills, but the circumstances don’t add up… We don’t know how many pills he actually took. The woman who called police says she saw him put two in his mouth. She says he had only taken five before, but why was she counting his pills? That seems strange. If he did take 35 pain killers, he has a serious problem but none of us know how many he actually took.”

Update: Kim Ethridge, Owens publicist, tells The Star-Telegram that she made the 9-1-1 call because she found Owens “groggy and lethargic” after he had an adverse reaction to his pain medications and supplements. She denied that Owens had vomited or had his stomach pumped.

Owens in Bizarre Emergency Room Appearance

Update: ESPN now reports that Owens apparently had a reaction to painkillers prescribed after his hand surgery last week. Bill Parcells mentioned last week that the painkillers had made Owens nauseous.

The CBS affiliate in Dallas reports that Terrell Owens was admitted to Baylor Medical Center and given an emetic to induce vomiting. Nothing else has emerged to fill in this sketchy report. We’ll keep looking for more information.

How Seaworthy is the Good Ship Parcells?

Football teams are like ships. Think of each unit as a compartment. One hole in a unit can flood it. If you have enough leaky compartments, your ship and your season sink.

Coaches are always trying to patch their team leaks and keep them from becoming terminal. Take the 2003 Cowboys for example. In retrospect, it’s amazing that the team went 10-6, with Ryan Young and Kurt Vollers alternating at RT, Quincy Carter at QB, Troy Hambrick at RB, Willie Blade at DT and Mario Edwards and a very green Terence Newman paired up at the corners. That team effectively disguised its weaknesses until it made the playoffs.

Conversely, the 2005 Cowboys, a more talented team top to bottom, had gaping holes in its hull that never let it take to open water. By week three it was clear that free safety was a liability. Keith Davis blew multiple assignments in the San Diego and San Francisco games and yielded multiple big plays. He played better midseason but his habit for letting receivers get behind him almost sank the team in Carolina. The pass rush, Demarcus Ware aside, was exposed early on. Ware himself could not contain outside runs for much of the season.

On offense, everybody knows the trouble at the tackles. The Cowboys could work around Rob Petitti’s shortcomings, keeping tight ends and backs in to help him. But when Flozell Adams went down, Dallas could not keep opposing rushes from flooding in on Drew Bledsoe. The passing game suffered, the running game suffered and the season ended sooner than everybody had hoped.

How water tight is the 2006 vessel known as the Cowboys? So far, it appears the team has done a commendable job of patching last year’s holes. Pat Watkins has been much steadier than Davis. We’ve got only two games to go on, admittedly, but it speaks well of Watkins that Washington OC Al Saunders said their game plan was to throw deep on Dallas. Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle-El did nothing until garbage time, which says Watkins held his part of the secondary bargain. He may blow some assignments down the road, but so far Dallas has not yielded any deep passes.

Greg Ellis has patched the other gaping defensive hole at LOLB. Scott Fujita (who was stellar against the Falcons last night) was miscast in the 3-4. He lacked top pass rushing skills, bit on nearly every bootleg to his side and, like Ware, had trouble on runs right at him. Ellis has closed down his perimeter and has improved the rush. He still looks shaky in coverage but offers a clear upgrade over his predecessors.

On offense, the line is playing much better. Marc Colombo’s play stands a couple of notches above Petitti’s. Adams looked rusty against Jacksonville but played much better against Washington. If the latter Flozell keeps showing up, the line should improve.

The biggest question mark right now, in my opinion, is the pass rush. It was great against Washington but barely laid a hand on Jacksonville’s Byron Leftwich. If Dallas can consistently pressure opposing QBs, it will go far. If the rush appears one week and disappears the next, the Cowboys could return to the maddening up-and-down play of 2005, where they seemed to play up to the better opponents (Denver, Kansas City and Philadelphia come to mind) and play down to poorer ones (San Franciso and Oakland stand out here.)

Good health and good luck have been on Dallas’ side thus far. Couple that with greater depth across the board and the Cowboys suggest they’ll keep everybody’s hopes afloat through the fall.

We Have a Winner!

Congrats to CowboyKevy on winning the ‘BoysBlog bye-week parlay. Several of you got five of the six winners right but only CowboyKevy picked all six games correctly.

Send your address in an e-mail to either Raul or me via the “contact” link in the left-hand margin and we’ll get your t-shirt to you ASAP.

Thanks to everybody for playing.

Sunday Roundup — Sleeping Giants

Three weeks and what do we know about the NFC East? Nothing at all.

Nothing definitive anyway. What we can say with certainty is that every team has holes. Nobody seems poised to run away with it.

Many fans on site pointed to the Giants as the team Dallas has to beat after their stirring comeback against the Eagles. Watching them today against Seattle, they may arguably be the shakiest team in the division. They again sleepwalked through three quarters of a game. Last week they scored on their opening drive and then let Eli Manning play punching bag; the Eagles sacked him eight times while building a 24-7 lead. Andy Reid started running the ball early in the fourth quarter and opened the door for New York’s comeback. It’s hard to fault him for trusting a defense that had the Giants on ice, but that’s a mistake he won’t make again.

Today, the Giants didn’t even provide the early fun. They trailed 42-3 after three quarters and looked listless. The final was a respectable 42-30, but only because Matt Hasselback threw two inexplicable fourth quarter interceptions that handed the Giants 14 points. Plaxico Burress watched the second half from the bench, either for loafing, some ill-considered sideline remarks or both.

New York starts too slowly and lets Manning get hit too often. He sprays the ball under pressure and had two costly first quarter picks that helped the Seahawks zoom to a 21-0 lead. But at least the offense can move and score. Their bigger worries are on defense. The vaunted defensive end duo of Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan has one sack through three games. Without pressure, it’s clear that the Giants secondary, which was overhauled at great expense this past offseason, is every bit as bad as last year’s pedestrian unit. It may be worse. New York has already allowed eight TD passes and an NFC-worst 92 points. Only the woeful Texans have given up more points league wide.

The Eagles put the 49ers away and have played the best ball in the division, save for that awful fourth quarter last week. But who have they beaten? The 49ers don’t scare anybody and Houston is the worst team in the league right now. I think Philadelphia is good, but we won’t know how good until they play better opponents.

Washington meanwhile, is grateful for their chance to play the Texans. Mark Brunell set an NFL record for consecutive completions by hitting his first 22 attempts today. Yes, the same jittery QB you saw bailing on pressure that was steps away from him last week looked like John Unitas today. The Texans can’t cover, they can’t stop the run, they lack a running threat *cough* should have taken Reggie Bush *cough* and they still can’t protect David Carr. Many of you are too young to remember the early ’70s Oilers. The back-to-back 1-13 Oilers. The 26-consecutive-loss Oilers. I do. Watching the Texans today brought some bad Houston flashbacks.

So where does that put Dallas, having beaten just the Redskins so far? Who knows. That’s why they plays the games.

Dumb and Dumber

I was going to keep the discussion in the division but this was too rich to pass up. I was listening to the Cardinals-Rams game for a while and found out why the Cards live in the NFL’s closet much of the time. With just over two minutes to go, the Rams are nursing a 16-14 lead. They are running dive plays into the line, trying to bleed the clock and Arizona’s remaining time outs. When Marc Bulger bungles a handoff and Arizona recovers on the Rams 29, the Cards’ radio commentator goes nuts. “It’s the ghost of Pisarcik! I don’t think we’ve seen a play like that since Joe Pisarcik handed the Eagles a win in the ’70s!”

Just over a minute later, the Cards are running dive plays into the line, trying to bleed the clock and set up a short game-winning attempt. Kurt Warner and his center bungle the snap and the Rams recover on their own 19.

Joe Pisarcik isn’t dead, so his ghost had nothing to do with this ineptitude. You’ve got to wonder how he reacted when he saw these “highlights.”

Sunday Open Thread

What are you watching? Washington and Houston are tied up 7 all after one drive each. I’ve also got Cincy and Pittsburgh on the tube.

What I’ve seen — and heard:

– The Texans have a TERRIBLE run defense. They are still a bad team. Case in point: the Redskins have the ball at the Texans 27 with 9 seconds left in the half. They’re trying to get the ball closer to the Texans’ goal to give John Hall an easier field-goal attempt. They run a simple draw play to Clinton Portis. He goes untouched up the gut for a touchdown.

– Tennessee is making their quantum leap forward this week. Many scribes had the Titans at the bottom of the NFL barrell after two bad games and the Billy Volek fiasco. But they have too much talent and too good a coaching staff to be that bad. They might not win today, but they’ve outplayed Miami badly through a half. They’re still unsettled at QB, where Kerry Collins underwhelms you, but they’ll be no pushover next week for the Cowboys.

– The battle of the defenses in Minnesota is being won by the Vikings thus far. They’re bottled up Rex Grossman and are showing that the Bears standing has been inflated by playing two bad teams in weeks one and two.

Early quote of the day:
“Tony Dungy has to be livid. [The officials] can’t add and now they’ve proven they can’t see.”
– The Colts radio announcer after the officials reviewed a Reggie Wayne catch and still ruled it incomplete.

Later quote of the day:
Cardinals radio sideline reporter — “Fox television brought a noise meter and it registers 107 decibels right now on the sideline. As you know guys, 120 is a Metallica concert, so we’re near rock show level.”
Cardinals color commentator — “We need to raise the noise to Pantera level…”

Save T.O. For the Eagles

Terrell Owens insists that he’ll be ready for the Eagles game 15 days from now. There is guarded optimism that he could play against Tennessee next weekend.

Save him for Philly. It’s assumed that he can play as soon as he can tolerate the pain of catching balls, but that overlooks one very important aspect of his and every Cowboys WR’s game. I noticed that Owens did a poor job of blocking late in the Redskins game, just before he left for x-rays on his broken hand. A source who graded the game informed me that Owens didn’t block at all on some of his last running plays. That’s understandable. If you’ve just broken your hand, the last thing you want to do is drive it into an opponent as hard as you can.

The Cowboys running game was better against Washington and needs more improvement to make the offense truly dangerous. Run blocking on the perimeter can’t be trusted to one-armed receivers. Give T.O. the extra week to regain that part of his game.

Holding the Line — Offensive Five on Track

Offensive line was the area of most concern entering the season. Consider that every position on the line was in flux heading into camp:

• LT Flozell Adams was rehabbing a torn ACL;
• LG Kyle Kosier, an unsung former Detroit Lion, was replacing legend Larry Allen;
• C Andre Gurode was battling inconsistency while fellow center Al Johnson was trying to bulk up to better play NTs;
• RG Marco Rivera was rehabbing back, neck and elbow injuries that compromised his ‘05 play;
• RT Marc Colombo was trying to prove he could return after a knee dislocation knocked him out for two years;

That’s not a confidence-inspiring list, is it?

With so much uncertainty on the unit, I asked a source to assess their play after two games. The report was reassuring. “The line had issues at left tackle against Jacksonville, but otherwise, has been steady,” I was told.

Even more surprising were the early leaders:

“Right now, the best player on the line is Kyle Kosier. He’s looked athletic. He’s strong. He doesn’t miss a lot of assignments… Gurode has been the most consistent… everybody was worried about the interior linemen but they’ve been the best players so far.”

Outside, Marc Colombo got mixed reviews but still represents a major upgrade over Rob Petitti’s play. Said the source,

“he’s smart, shows great effort and toughness, but his strength isn’t great… he’s a guy on the ragged edge… he hasn’t been great but he hasn’t been poor either.”

Bill Parcells provided a caveat today, saying Kosier and Colombo had lost weight since the season started. Since he’s not familiar with either player, he’s concerned that further weight loss could affect their strength.

It’s bye week, gentlemen. Have that extra helping of chicken or steak. Better yet, have chicken and steak and a milkshake while you’re at it. A lot is riding on your girth.

Parlay-vous NFL?

Bye week, folks. No Cowboys, but there’s still no shortage of good matchups. Let’s see your prognosticating skills.

Follow closely now: IN ORDER, pick the winners of these six matchups in the comments thread:

1. Broncos @ Patriots
2. Bengals @ Steelers
3. Jaguars @ Colts
4. Bears @ Vikings
5. Giants @ Seahawks
6. Redskins @ Texans

Below your picks, predict the score of the Jaguars/Colts game. The winner of the ‘BoysBlog parlay wins a free B.B. ringer t-shirt. (Keep your answers short and to the point please. It’s easier to tally them up that way. Anybody who jumbles order, goes off topic or writes an essay explaining their picks will be disqualified.)

Hype-ocrisy Snares Steve Smith

We all cringed during camp when the hype circus surrounded Terrell Owens’ sore hamstring. He seemed to be getting unfair publicity, considering superstar WR Steve Smith was missing as much time with a similar injury. The hubbubb disappeared once Owens took the field.

Now, it seems the circus has migrated to Carolina. Smith finally returned to practice yesterday, but not before denying whispers that he was exaggerating his injury to get a new contract.

Blame it on the 24 hour news cycle. Whether in news or sports, the beast demands constant feeding. Subsequently, many minor stories — or in some cases non stories — become “controversies.” Last week, Drew Bledsoe and Jake Plummer were being herded into early retirement after one bad game. Now, Smith is a more cunning version of Deion Branch. It’s supposed to attract sports rubberneckers, but I find the instant-hype one of the more unsavory aspects of modern sports media. It’s why I rarely watch ESPN or any of the Sunday pregame shows any more.
We like to think that the hype falls mostly on Dallas, since it’s one of the NFL’s flagships. The Smith story goes to show that every team gets their dose of hype-ocrisy over time.

In other injury-related news, Bill Parcells warned rookie FS Pat Watkins to modify his tackling technique. The low, leg-directed “block tackling” form is unsafe; said Parcells,

“I’ve seen more injuries with that technique in this sport. I’ve seen broken necks, broken clavicles, dislocated shoulders - just a myriad of injuries with that technique. He did that four times in the (Redskins) game. I told him he was going to have a short career in the NFL if he continued. I told the other defensive backs they should order a coffin for him. Because that’s what he’ll be doing.”

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