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Do You Understand What You’re Seeing?

I’ve seen some complaints in the threads that Dallas runs a “conservative offense.”

Conservative compared to what?

Today, the ‘06 Cowboys are averaging 29.1 points a game. (They rank 4th overall.) They’ve been held under 20 points just once, way back in week one. Even with Drew Bledsoe’s ups and downs, the o-line’s breakdowns and the nagging penalties, this team is scoring points at a higher pace than any of the Cowboys’ Super Bowl winners of the ’90s. In fact, the ‘83 Cowboys, who averaged 29.9 points per game, are the only Dallas team to go a sixteen game season with better production. (You have to go back to 1966 and 1968 to find the only Cowboys’ squads to top 30 points per season.)

If Tony Romo can keep the offense at its increased tempo and avoid the dumb turnovers, we could be looking at the most prolific offense in this team’s history.

Returns Engagement

Dallas placed RB/KR Tyson Thompson on injured reserve and signed RB/KR Keylon Kincade to take his place. Kincade had a promising summer but lost out to Thompson for the return/third running back spot.

Thompson broke his ankle on a return Sunday night. The sidelines at Carolina seem to have a hard covering, either a tarp or some other surface, separating the benches from the grass field. Thompson caught his foot on the edge of this surface and then was tackled late. He rolled but his foot didn’t. His season is over as a result.

The Cowboys brought in former RB Aveion Cason for a tryout. No word on whether he was considered to take Thompson’s place or whether he is being considered for the practice squad. Cason is a multiyear vet and is probably not eligible.

FB Stands for Flexi-Back

Who knew the Cowboys offensive brain trust could innovate the game by transforming — the fullback position?

I’ve got a lot of tongue in cheek there, but Dallas is doing some wild things at a spot that’s becoming as relevant to NFL offenses as spoilers on a Hummer. The coaches have taken a true accessory position and turned it into an attacking platform. Consider the many player models that now occupy the F-back position, as the Dallas coaches call it:

The Muscle Car

The prototype ’90s fullback was Daryl Johnston. The 236 lb. hammer didn’t have much shake in his game, but could do everything else to support the running and passing games. He bludgeoned linebackers. Pull out your Super Bowl 28 tapes sometime and savor his pancake block on Bills Pro Bowler Cornelius Bennett just before halftime, which sprung Emmitt Smith on a long run.

Johnston could also catch the ball. Dallas would line up at tight end, split wide and sometimes in the slot. And he would produce. Johnston, not Michael Irvin, was the receiving star of a ‘96 win over the 49ers when he caught two vital throws in the fourth quarter and overtime. His versatility let the Cowboys run multiple formations from their base two WR, two-back set.

Johnston was also a masher on special teams. Dallas has been searching for a newer version of the Moose since his retirement in Chan Gailey days but has been sold out by the college game. The glamour schools don’t use fullbacks in their pass-happy attacks anymore, so the position is all but extinct. That hasn’t stopped the Cowboys from trying. Nicky Sualua, Jamar Martin and Lousaka Polite were all college bangers drafted or signed to fill this vital role. All failed. When Parcells was asked what he would do for a fullback after cutting Polite, he coyly asked the reporter, “You got one? You know where I can get one?”

When you can’t get a part off the shelf, you have to custom build one and the Cowboys staff appears to have succeeded in retrofitting 250 lb. linebacker Oliver Hoyte into the thumper’s role. He can mash linebackers and safeties. He’s already an ace on special teams. Can he catch? We don’t know yet. Tony Romo jokingly referred to Hoyte as his favorite receiver but Hoyte has yet to field a pass. He’ll have to make some catches now and then to thrive, but for now the Cowboys are happy to turn him loose on defenders.

The Hybrid

Dallas drafted Anthony Fasano in the second round to be the full time F-back. He’s struggled in the blocking department but is getting better. He’s working more on the perimeter of late and is catching a lot of passes out of the backfield. He’s got sure hands and will continue getting lots of reps if his learning curve continues upwards.

F is for Ferrari-back

The real creativity has come from using receivers as fullbacks. Dallas didn’t pioneer this tactic. I can’t say for certain who did but the first team I saw do this was San Francisco in the early ’90s. Once or twice a game they would motion Jerry Rice into the backfield and line him up at fullback. He would draw linebackers in coverage and toy with them. The play was especially effective in third and short situations, where Rice would run quick outs and pull away from the poor grunt assigned to cover him.

Dallas first aped the tactic in the Houston game, where Terrell Owens lined up on the margins of a goal line formation, as a tight end. In the fourth quarter, he ran a drag pattern underneath the offensive line to get away from his safety. Owens caught a short TD pass from Tony Romo to put some frosting on a big Cowboys’ win. This is a tried and true play in many NFL teams’ playbooks; Dallas ran it in Super Bowl 30 to break Jay Novacek for a short TD versus Pittsburgh. What’s rare is seeing a wideout playing the part, but Owens is H-back sized.

Against New York, Owens again lined up as a second tight end and as a fullback. He got mismatches on linebackers and once on DE Michael Strahan. Again, “toyed with the defender” is probably the best way to describe the matchup.

The Cowboys threw a further wrinkle at the Panthers Sunday. With Dallas looking at second-and-18 deep in its own territory late in the third quarter, it motioned Terry Glenn into the fullback spot. He released up the left seam and drew linebacker Thomas Davis. As you might expect, it wasn’t a fair matchup. Glenn easily sprinted away from him and caught a 22 yard pass to springboard a long field-goal drive that pulled Dallas to within 14-13. The coaches saw that Carolina was rotating their safeties to the outside and set up Glenn to run amok inside. Expect this play or some variants of it to be run again soon, maybe even this week against the soft Redskins’ secondary.

Many fans key on the QB or the RB when watching at home. Pay extra attention this week to the fullback position, because you can’t be sure who the Cowboys will line up there. Opposing linebackers certainly can’t.

It’s a Thin Line…

… between love and hate. And also between winning and losing.

Bill Parcells was in a hurry to get back to Dallas and get back to work after the game. He’s a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, or at least he was last night, yet he realizes that this team still has lots of work to do, even with the Tony Romo boost, if it’s to avoid Philadelphia Syndrome.â„¢

The stats look impressive. Lots more plays run. A huge edge in time of possession and total yards. But then, Dallas dominated those stats in Philly too. They outgained the Giants last week. Two big improvements helped key this win. First, no big pass plays on defense. The Panthers longest play from scrimmage was Steve Smith’s 24 yard end around in the first quarter, one play after Tony Romo’s interception. Dallas prevented Smith from going crazy, as he’s done in all the Panthers’ wins.

Second, Dallas did a much better job of protecting the ball. Romo played his game, but he’ll still get an earful from his coaches for his pick, which should have been tossed out of bounds. Dallas takes control of this game much, much earlier without it.

Parcells knows this team is a short step back from going 4-4. They still had an annoying nine penalties for 86 yards last night. They’re drawing flags at a much higher rate than last year and that has to drive the coach nuts. Two dumb offensive line penalties stopped the Cowboys’ opening drives, when Romo and the receivers came out hot. A ticky-tack hold on Terrell Owens kept Dallas from a first-and-goal at the end of the first half and forced them to settle for a field goal instead of charging for a tie.

And the pass rush still needs to step up a couple of levels. Greg Ellis had two sacks, but he was alone in getting consistent pressure.

The coach isn’t in denial about any of this. That’s a good sign. He knows that if you get too self impressed over an early season win, you can stop working and hit a losing streak, as the Eagles have, going 0-3 since they were annointed as “back” following their Dallas win. His players are having fun for a change, but I’m guessing they also realize how thin the line between contention and mediocrity really is.

So What Do We Know?

“We’re only seven games into the season. I’m not counting any chickens.”

– Bill Parcells in his postgame press conference.

Let’s see, Seattle lost. St. Louis lost. New Orleans lost. Philadelphia lost. The Cowboys, at 4-3 are running with the pack. They will still face New York, Philly, Atlanta and New Orleans. Their conference future is very much in their own hands.

That’s why next week’s game with the Redskins is every bit as critical as tonight’s win. Sweep the ‘Skins and you’re 5-3 at midpoint. With Arizona cratering (Dennis Green has already thrown his coordinators under the bus but might not last that much longer himself) a double over Joe and Daniel and a three-game road wipeout could suddenly be flipped into a character-forging three game crucible.

On the other hand, lose to the bye-enriched Redskins and you’re back on the yo-yo, 4-4 and wondering what next.

This is a BIG game, folks.

Tony, Tony, Tony, Has Done It Agai, er, Once! Dallas 35, Carolina 14

Bill Parcells sees football in boxing terms. In a New York Times story published this week, Parcells told author Michael Lewis he feared his team might lack the toughness to weather an opponents flurry and respond. That seemed to be the case in recent losses to the Eagles and Giants, where early haymakers wobbled his Cowboys and left them vulnerable to late knockouts.

He probably feared the same ten minutes into the game, when a fresh round of Cowboys mistakes and some Carolina big plays put the Panthers up 14-0. This time, his fighers showed some elusiveness and heart. They counterpunched their way back to 14-10 halftime deficit, behind some quick Tony Romo jabs to Terrell Owens and Jason Witten. In the third quarter, they matched punches with their hosts and ducked a wild Panthers uppercut when WR Keyshawn Johnson dropped a sure TD pass.

This time it was Carolina who tired and the Cowboys put them down in style, notching 25 fourth quarter points and leaving Carolina dazed and bloodied, a 35-14 victim of a suddenly dangerous-looking Cowboys team.

The player at the center of the flurry was of course, Romo, who overcame a poorly thrown first half interception to finish 24 of 26 for 270 yards and a touchdown. He showed a boxer’s cool, sliding and ducking Panthers defenders all night. His most notable slip came on a third and sixteen early in the fourth quarter with Dallas trailing 14-10. Romo drifted left past a Kris Jenkins charge found and Witten in the left seam for 21 yards.

Romo had many heroes backing him up. Other fighters of note include:

Marc Colombo — He fought Julius Peppers hand to hand for four quarters and kept the Panthers star from a sack. Peppers had only two tackles on the night.

Colombo’s linemates — The Panthers ran twists. They stunted. They blitzed. The line picked them up. Two early penalties hurt but the line settled down and provided their best blocking display of the year against a quality opponent. Romo is far more elusive than Drew Bledsoe, but he also had a lot of time to throw. Carolina got only two sacks.

Oliver Hoyte — He’s a full time fullback now, folks. Hoyte started in the backfield and knocked the Panthers linebackers around. He played ILB in college and took on 300 lb. linemen. Now he gets to mash 240 lb. linebackers. It seems he got the better end of that bargain. The Cowboys backs probably think so. Julius Jones and Marion Barber gained 141 yards behind his escorts.

Jason Witten – six catches, 80 yards and a touchdown. He finally created the mid-field mayhem that we’ve waited for all season. May it continue.

Keith Davis and Roy Williams — The Cowboys safeties have gotten a lot of press lately, for all the wrong reasons. Tonight, Davis had one tackle. Williams had none. It was the best anonymous performance you could hope for. They kept the Panthers receivers in front of them and prevented any deep completions. Williams made a late interception to help seal the win.

Anthony Henry and Terence Newman — Newman drew Steve Smith all over the field. Henry got Keyshawn Johnson, all over the field. Superman Smith finished with six catches for only 55 yards. He did score on a 24 yard end around that put the Panthers up 14-0, but Newman kept him out of any rhythm. Henry, with a little bit of help from Keyshawn, held his man to one catch for 19 yards. Carolina mounted only one sustained drive all game. These guys were probably the biggest reasons why.

Mike Vanderjagt — He banged a 48 yarder off the right upright in the first quarter, but he did what he’s supposed to — he easily made two kicks under 40 yards. What’s more, he seems to have perfected a looping kickoff that drops over the wedge and takes crazy bounces. The return men had a horrible time fielding them last night. One second quarter kick was fumbled but recovered by Carolina. A second was fumbled by fullback Brad Hoover one play after Dallas had closed to 14-13. Julius Jones scored one play later and Dallas never trailed again.

Other notes:

– Dallas suffered its first significant injury of the season when RB/KR Tyson Thompson broke an ankle. Thompson was tackled late out of bounds on a first quarter kickoff return.

– There was a huge Cowboys contingent in the stadium tonight. They were quiet early but let out a huge roar when the Cowboys took the lead. Their presence increased as the home crowd thinned out.

– The Cowboys have been lining up T.O. as a fullback and springing him on linebackers of late. Tonight Terry Glenn lined up in the backfield and released on a deep post. He made a 22 yard reception on the play.

– Akin Ayodele and Bobby Carpenter got some fourth quarter reps at DE, spelling Demarcus Ware and Greg Ellis. Ayodele sacked Jake Delhomme from RE on the game’s final play.

Cowboys @ Panthers Second Half Thread

The Cowboys get the kickoff.

Cowboys @ Panthers Open Thread

Go!

Early Sunday Thread

Looking at the Giants. What’s on your screen?

Preview: Cowboys @ Panthers

The Tony Romo era begins as Dallas travels to Carolina for a critical game against the also-struggling Panthers, who are smarting from a 17-14 loss to Cincinnati. In an ending similar to the Cowboys’ loss at Philly, Jake Delhomme forced a pass into the end zone with Carolina at the Cincy ten, trailing by three. The throw was intercepted and the Bengals melted down the clock. It’s time to see which team shows more resilience.

When Carolina Has the Ball

Have I mentioned about 100 times that Panthers OC Dan Henning and Bill Parcells are good friends? They are, and you’ll understand why Parcells trusts Henning when you watch Carolina’s offense work. It’s a near mirror image of the schemes Dallas runs. Lots of power running with lots of “wham” traps? Check. Lots of rollout passes to the sidelines, as Dallas does? Check. Lots of down the field throws to Steve Smith and lots of short and intermediate crossing routes for Keyshawn Johnson, in the way Dallas uses Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens. Absolutely.

The Panthers have battled injury problems in each of the past few years and this year is no different. In ‘05 their running backs corps was decimated and Carolina relied on nowhere man Nick Goings to carry them into the playoffs. This year their offensive line took some head shots early, as LT Travelle Wharton was lost for the season in week one. The Panthers offense sputtered but has slowly come to life after some adjustments and a heavy dose of Steve Smith.

Carolina moved RT Jordan Gross to left tackle, where he pairs with standout LG Mike Wahle. Most of Carolina’s action works off Wahle. They Panthers will run traps right with him. In fact, Carolina will trap you up and down the line. The wham play I described earlier this year was cribbed from Henning’s playbook.

When the Cowboys beat the Panthers in ‘03, Stephen Davis ripped the interior Dallas line with it. It’s a staple of the Carolina running attack and you should expect to see it several times during the game. Carolina will motion a tight end into the backfield with FB Brad Hoover. Both will lead Deshaun Foster into the hole. Foster is back from a serious injury and is having a respectable year. The Panthers will use Goings as a third down back, moving him around the line. He caught a TD pass last week lined up wide in an empty backfield, something Dallas did with Julius Jones in week one versus Jacksonville. (I did say the two teams ran similar offenses, didn’t I?)

The engine driving Carolina’s attack is Smith. He had a big game versus Cincinnati and almost beat the Bengals by himself. He’s fast, as everybody knows, but he’s also deceptively strong. When Delhomme sees Smith in single coverage he will throw the ball in Smith’s direction, trusting Smith to outjump and outfight the defender for the ball. And most of the time, Smith will. Carolina was 0-2 when he was out with a hamstring injury and averaged only 9.5 points a game. Since he’s returned, the Panthers have scored 20.8 points a game and are 4-1. Smith has three 100 yard games in that span, including a 189 yard blowout versus Baltimore.

Bill Parcells mentioned earlier this week that Smith concerns him. Expect Dallas to repeat their ‘05 game plan, when Terence Newman shadowed Smith all over the field. Dallas also gave Newman regular safety help over the top. Newman frustrated Smith, holding him to one catch before the WR shoved an official protesting a call and was ejected in the third quarter. Slowing him down will go a long way towards stopping the Panthers attack. Newman will have to be on his toes. Carolina loves throwing flanker screens to Smith, as the Redskins do with Santana Moss, so the CB will have to be ready to sort through some interference and make some tackles.

When Dallas Has the Ball

It’s just a hunch, but I don’t think we will see very much pruning of the playbook this week. Dallas didn’t adjust much for Romo when he entered the game last week and they shouldn’t have; he’s a four year vet and Parcells mentioned this week that he knows the playbook completely. Dallas did call more plays from the shotgun, more bootlegs and more rolling pockets.

What Dallas didn’t do much for Romo was call running plays. His first intercepton put Dallas down by 12 and let the Giants rush loose. The Panthers have a big, physical line, but smallish linebackers. They lost standout Will Witherspoon to free agency and Dan Morgan is injured, so Chris Draft, all 5′11″, 232 lbs. of him, plays MLB. Cincinnati got some big plays for Rudy Johnson running traps and sweeps and getting good angles on the Panthers backers. Dallas got some encouraging early results from playing converted LB Oliver Hoyte at FB and I expect them to try hammering inside the Panthers front. (And let’s not forget the Bengals were playing with a dinged up offensive line in that game.)

When Dallas goes inside, it will need C Andre Gurode to neutralize DT Kris Jenkins. Parcells mentioned back in ‘03 that Jenkins was the best interior lineman in the game, but he lost most of the ‘04 and ‘05 seasons to injury and does not appear to have the stamina and power he displayed before. He’s still a force, but he’s the type of lineman Gurode has played well.

When Dallas throws the ball, look for RT Marc Colombo to get some help with LE Julius Peppers. Colombo’s reputation took a pounding Monday night, as he struggled versus Michael Strahan. He had played well up to then, so I’m optimistic that he’ll put up a good fight. That said, Peppers is probably the most gifted player he’ll face this season.

Carolina runs a lot of base 4-3, with the linebackers stacked five yards back and inside the linemen. It’s a look reminiscent of the Cowboys fronts under Jimmy Johnson and Dave Campo. Peppers, RE Mike Rucker and Jenkins are strong rushers, so the Panthers don’t blitz very much. On the other hand, every team Dallas has played of late has blitzed them, so look for Carolina to play some games to test Romo’s mettle. The Panthers had a lot of early success versus Carson Palmer running twists and stunts. Jacksonville, Philadelphia and New York have all run twists at one side of the line, were the end and tackle on one side of the ball exchange lanes. Carolina will almost certainly try this tactic out as well.

When Romo does go downfield, look for him to test the left side of the Panthers’ secondary, where Chris Gamble plays. He’s the weaker of the two corners, with Carolina sporting Pro Bowler Ken Lucas on the right side. Jason Witten should also get more work this week. He finally broke out versus the Giants last week and would have had a bigger receiving day had Drew Bledsoe looked for him more. He has a favorable mismatch against Panthers linebacker Na’il Diggs and safety Mike Minter.

Overall:

Two very similar teams, following similar trajectories. The Panthers have been more consistent this year, once Smith joined their lineup. They lost a very Dallas-like game last week, however. Their offense disappeared in the second half, their defense seemed to wear down late and their QB threw a dumb INT inside the opponent’s red zone late.

Dallas can win this game. It matches up very well against this team and beat them last year coming off a horrible loss to Washington, when everybody expected the Cowboys to fold. Can they do it again? Maybe, but right now they’ve got a dubious streak going. Their 0-3 against winning teams and until Romo and friends show me otherwise, I’m going with the streak.

Carolina 24, Dallas 17.

Mid-Week Hints

I can’t say with certainty but I was told yesterday there’s a fair chance that Marcus Coleman will start at FS this week.

I was also given an optimistic opinion on Tony Romo and the team. “The season isn’t done. The Giants will probably come back to the pack, just like the Eagles did.” This is the 2006 version of the NFL, where everybody takes their lumps. The source told me he was far more concerned about Dallas’ defense than its offense.

Anatomy of a QB Switch

11:44, second quarter. Dallas, first-and-ten at its own 20, lines up in a two-TE look — with a twist. Terrell Owens is split wide left. On the right, Terry Glenn is wide and TE Jason Witten is in the slot, about five to seven yards wide of right tackle Marc Colombo. TE Anthony Fasano is lined up in an I with Julius Jones in the backfield.

At the snap, Owens runs a slant. Fasano releases through the line and runs a drag route left, towards Owens. The Giants, borrowing a page from the Eagles’ game plan two weeks ago, rotate their safeties wide to double Owens and Glenn. Witten, in the seam, is released deep by FS Will Demps, who turns outside to help with Glenn. Witten is wide open running up the right hash, with maybe the SS in position to catch him.

On the line, the Giants run a twist with LE Michael Strahan and DT Fred Robbins. Robbins slams into the outside shoulder of LG Marco Rivera and is carried wide by Rivera and Julius Jones, who stays in to block. Strahan is punched by RT Marc Colombo, but the Giant breaks free and loops inside. He eventually gets to Bledsoe and gets a sack, but he takes the long way around.

Fortunately for Strahan, Bledsoe has never looked to his right and spotted Witten. He locked onto Owens at the snap and didn’t scan right until Strahan was right on top of him. The Cowboys had blown a deep flea-flicker on the previous series when Witten had missed a block on a linebacker. Now, his quarterback returns the dubious favor. Two big-play calls are sabotaged by poor execution. The Giants already lead 12-0 and Dallas’ offense is still throwing the stick in all directions, trying to catch a gear, any gear.

1:38, second quarter. The Cowboys have fought their way back into the game. The defense has tightened up deep coverage and applied some pressure to Eli Manning. The offense has finally found a rhythm and marched to a touchdown. On the first play after Dallas’ kickoff Demarcus Ware clubs at the football in Tiki Barber’s right hand and catches the back across the facemask. The blow stuns Barber; he drops the football and falls to the ground like a cut tree. Dallas recovers at the New York fourteen and grinds to a first down.

Now, facing second and goal from the six, Dallas goes back to its two TE set. This time, Witten and Fasano line up side-by-side next to RT Colombo. Glenn and Owens deploy in a slot formation on the left, with Marion Barber alone in the backfield. Before the snap, Owens comes in motion across the Dallas line and stops just outside Fasano. The Giants secondary pays extra -close attention to him; the Cowboys have started moving Owens around behind their line, as the 49ers did with Jerry Rice in the early ’90s. In the Texans game last week, Owens sometimes lined up as a fullback and released into shallow routes matched up against linebackers. His last touchdown of that day came when he dragged underneath the line, as tight ends often do.

On the previous series, Dallas had motioned him underneath the line and put Owens in single coverage with DE Strahan. Strahan is one of the best ends in the game but he has no business trying to cover Pro Bowl-caliber wideouts. Owens burned him for seventeen yards, setting up Dallas’ TD. Now, as he Owens lines up next to Fasano, the corner on that edge drops off Fasano and points at Owens. At the snap, Owens runs an out and pulls two Giants wide with him.

Inside, Witten runs to the goalline and cuts left. He gets immediate attention from the linebacker in the center of New York’s zone. Witten and Owens have split New York’s secondary wide open. One has drawn coverage left, the other has yoked two defenders right. When Fasano runs straight to the goal line and turns around, he’s clear. Amazingly, a quick pass to his gut will put Dallas in the lead, after 20 or so minutes of wandering in the football desert.

But Bledsoe again does not even look in Fasano’s direction — the designed area for his throw. He immediately turns left and forces a ball to Terry Glenn, who has run a decoy out pattern. Glenn is well covered, and the ball is picked off by CB Sam Madison. Once again, Bledsoe is not pressured. The Cowboys line has held stoutly. The quarterback seems to feel the rush of ghosts.

The Cowboys sources I speak to like to talk of certainty. Bill Parcells wants to “know what he has” from a player, I am often told. One reason Flozell Adams drives him crazy is that the old veteran can never be predicted. He has good games most of the time but can melt down at any time.

The reason given for Bledsoe’s starts is that Parcells, to this point, knew what he had. Bledsoe is far from perfect, even in the best of circumstances, but the staff was pretty sure he would make the proper reads. So long as he didn’t trust his arm too much and try forcing throws into tight coverage, he was at least dependable. Last week’s game versus Houston was a prime illustration. The Cowboys sputtered in the first half, but Bledsoe’s decision making was sure. He didn’t force a fourth and one pass to Glenn in a similar situation and was content to play the game as it was presented to him.

The two plays described above show a far more serious degree of failure. Bledsoe wasn’t just making bad decisions, he was now failing to even follow the plays as designed. In both cases, he looked away from his primary. I was told he did this at other times in the half. The first sack of the game for instance, where Strahan was left unblocked, was supposed to be a quick throw to Strahan’s side. Bledsoe was supposed to read what the end did and react accordingly. But again, Bledsoe didn’t even look in that direction. Bledsoe had now crossed over into “we don’t know what we have” territory.

Don Meredith’s Cowboys career ended with a similar gaffe. He misread a goal-line throw so badly in a 1968 playoff loss to Cleveland that an assistant described it this way: “how often do you walk to your front door after work, reach into your pocket for your house key and stick it in the mailbox?” Bledsoe was now, repeatedly, trying to open the door by unlocking the box. In this situation, there’s no choice but to switch.

Hero in the Seaweed?

A small point and a little question looking at the game.

ILB Oliver Hoyte got several plays at FB in the first half, when Dallas was close and still running the ball. He played in all situations, not just in goalline, as Ryan Fowler had the week before. He blocked well. With Tony Romo starting this week, we’ll probably see the game plan scaled back a bit, with more emphasis on running the ball. When Lousaka Polite was cut last week, I wondered what move the team had up its sleeve, since Anthony Fasano’s blocking out of the backfield has run hot and cold. Hoyte may be the answer to that question.

Getting good lead blocking has been a crying need for this team since Daryl Johnston retired. All NFL teams with power running attacks are looking for good FBs, since the college game, so based on spread-formation passing schemes, doesn’t develop them any more. It’s one reason greybeards like Mack Strong and Lorenzo Neal are so valued.

Bill Parcells mentioned in a press conference last week that Hoyte’s number had been switched from a linebacker’s to 46. The switch may therefore be a permanent one. Look for him in the backfield this Sunday.

The New Mr. Magoo?

Several of you has wondered in thread what could be troubling Pat Watkins, who stalked Plaxico Burress on the Giants’ long TD pass early in the game but made no effort to jump for it? A source who’s graded the game pointed out that New York tried the same pass later in the first half and that Watkins that time had the ball bounce off his head. He wondered if Watkins has eye trouble? It does make you wonder.

Sometimes You Have to Look In the Mirror

I asked a source last week if the Cowboys’ young DE’s problems with pass rushing could or would be blamed on their position coach. He scoffed and said, “look, these guys are high picks. Well one of them is and everyone keeps saying the other one would have been were he not hurt his senior year. They’re young but they’re not rookies anymore. At some point, you just have to start making plays.”

Looking at the tape, the most distressing sight is the number of good young Cowboys’ players who stunk it up last night. I’ll give you a sequence from an unlikely goat.

Cowboys’ third series. They’re already down 9-0 and have given up two sacks on blown assignments. They cross up a Giants blitz with a 25 yard screen to Julius Jones, which moves the ball to the Dallas 48. On first and ten, Dallas calls a flea-flicker to Terrell Owens. He’s got single coverage on his side and has at least a step going down the left yard markers. On the perimeter, Jason Witten whiffs a block on Lavar Arrington, who backs Witten into the pocket, reaches out and tips the ball as Drew Bledsoe is hurling it. What could be a second big play goes for an incompletion.

Second and ten. Dallas tries a toss right. The blocking from the linemen is good and a seal seems to be forming on the perimeter. But Michael Strahan knifes inside a weak Jason Witten block and throws Jones for a three yard loss. Strahan is good, but he’s only 260-265 lbs. these days. He shouldn’t blow past Witten that easily. After all, Witten is what, 265 lbs?

Third and thirteen. Dallas goes three wide with Witten on the right side of the line. As Bledsoe calls the signals, Witten takes off a full count early.

Three plays. Three consecutive mistakes by one of your stars. It’s now third and eighteen. The momentum is gone and Dallas again has to punt.

Tom Landry claimed he never cared for rousing locker room speeches. His players were professionals, he said, and professionals shouldn’t need last-second motivation to get prepared. Bill Parcells said early last week that, “if you can’t get up for [Monday Night versus the Giants], you need a saliva test.”

The trainers are probably administering them in bulk right now. The line fought hard. Marc Colombo aside, they were not overmatched. Flozell Adams held his own. Kyle Kosier was beaten early by Osi Umenyiora but fought hard. The same goes for the rest of the linemen. The mistakes from the skill position players, on the other hand, are mind boggling. The dropped passes, the blown blocks shouldn’t happen. That’s the veteran core of the team.

For all the talk of Tony Romo vs. Bledsoe, the season rests in the hands of guys like Jason Witten. If they respond, the team can fight back to respectability. In 2006’s NFL, you’re only two weeks away from contention, at almost any time. If they can’t, this team was never really as good as it seemed.

They Died With Their Boots: Giants 36, Cowboys 22

The caravan of miscues continues.

With the NFL weekend set up before them the Cowboys again tripped over their collective feet in an embarrassing 36-22 loss to New York Giants. Looking for goats? Throw a dart. You’re bound to hit somebody on the team. Practically every Cowboys’ unit shares in the blame. The offensive line was again undone. Marc Colombo is a nice story but tonight Michael Strahan exposed him. Colombo missed assignments and then later missed blocks, letting Strahan tie a Giants team record for career sacks in the first half. Colombo’s teammates fared no better, as Drew Bledsoe was sacked four times in the first half.

The backs were slow and suspect on their blocks, letting the Giants blitz wave proceed.

The receivers made plays for both sides. Jason Witten had his best receiving day but a blocking breakdown let Levar Arrington tip a flea flicker pass to an open Terrell Owens when the score was 9-0 Giants and the Cowboys had made their first significant movement of the night.

Terry Glenn caught his share of passes but dropped some as well.

Terrell Owens had a big statistical night but dropped a key 4th-and-2 pass when Dallas was driving and down 19-7.

The pass rush was again inconsistent. Greg Ellis and Demarcus Ware made some plays but when the chips were down in the third quarter the defense could not get New York off the field, yielding a long, back-breaking drive after Owens’ drop that pushed New York to 26-7 and put the game out of reach.

The secondary again sputtered. Pat Watkins was beaten deep on New York’s first series for a TD by Plaxico Burress. Roy Williams had trouble with Jeremy Shockey in the middle of the field and was beaten for one TD and could have been beaten for another had Eli Manning not missed high.

The vaunted run defense was gashed by the Giants backs. Tiki Barber topped 100 and Brandon Jacobs humilated Dallas on a goalline run where he ran through Abram Elam and Ryan Fowler after the two hit him behind the line of scrimmage. Jacobs did a lewd dance on the end zone star, but what could the defense say? They had him and couldn’t stop him.

The big ink will go to the QB position, where Drew Bledsoe couldn’t help himself from pushing the stupid button one last time. Just over a minute after he had dived into the end zone to pull Dallas to within 12-7, he again tried in vain to spin artificial turf into gold. With Dallas at second-and-goal from the New York five four plays after recovering a Barber fumble, Bledsoe forced an out to a covered Terry Glenn. Sam Madison intercepted with 1:33 left and closed the book on Bledsoe’s season.

And it is over, barring an injury to Tony Romo. The last time Parcells made a high-profile change came in game six of the ‘98 season when Vinnie Testaverde put Glenn Foley on the bench for good. Foley got three bad starts then before playing himself out of the job. Bledsoe lasted 30 minutes longer than Foley did that year, but he hit the three-strike limit all the same.

Romo has the moxie to make plays. He also showed the bad side of that gunslinger mentality that Parcells fears. He threw an interception on his first play from scrimmage, when a waggle to Jason Witten, who appeared to be covered, was tipped by Michael Strahan and gathered in by Antonio Pierce. Romo showed a recklessness on his second INT, holding the ball too long and forcing it into DT Fred Robbins‘ gut.

Most notably and frighteningly, Romo flipped a no-look pass to Marion Barber that was almost intercepted. NFL coaches can tolerate a lot from inexperienced QBs, but playing point guard in the pocket isn’t one of them. Magic Johnson can make this type of pass but even Brett Favre can’t.

The Cowboys will have to sort through the rubble and get ready for Carolina, who’s also coming off an error-prone defeat to Cincinnati. That said, the Cowboys have to wonder where they are? Their season so far shows they’re an inconsistent team that can’t pass protect against good defenses. The rush needs blitz supplements and their secondary gives up too many big plays.

If you’re looking for lightning to strike twice, know that Testaverde went 10-1 after he was handed the reins in ‘98. On the other hand, that Jets team was a solid QB away from taking off. This team doesn’t appear anywhere near that close. Come Sunday, we may see changes at other positions besides QB.

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