So What Do We Know?
Posted: October 30, 2006 @ 1:42 am
“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.
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Big game indeed, the Redskins are gonna be desperate. But we will beat them.
Colombo must have had his feelings hurt by Strahan last week because he beat the c–p out of Peppers tonight. Peppers literally was beat up by Colombo.
I cant believe we played that bad in the first half and still beat Carolina in Carolina.
Definitely agree, next week is the biggest game of the year for the simple reason that it is the next game. But also adding to the drama is everything Raf said. If we aspire to the playoffs we need to win this division, and that means completing a 3 game road sweep. Then we’ll see what we’ll about Indy.
I’ve realized after Indy’s latest win that our game against them will have to be high scoring, cause our Defense simply won’t be able to stop them very often. Pressure on Manning is the key; that’s how any team is ever able to beat him….but we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves with the Indy talk.
Oh great, two consecutive games against two hungry teams who’ll be coming off their bye-weeks. I’m looking forward to the Redskins game, hoping for a sweep…payback’s a b_____!!!!
The mediots and raio guys will make fun of Parcell’s tomorrow for all the emotion, but I’m downright happy for the guy. It’s not often I’d waste prayer on football, sports are just not important enough for it, but after reading that article on Parcells I felt the guy deserved it. It’s incredible how unhappy you can seem to be even if you are a millionaire, if you truly love what you do….but unfortunately in football that means that a loss on any given Sunday means you didn’t do enough. Parcells deserved that win as much as any other member of the team combined.
Turbo (from previous thread),
Good point about Madden & Michael’s commentary, they are a pleasure to listen to, especially compared to the moronic Monday Night crew.
I gotta disagree about Bledsoe though, he would have got sacked a bunch. The Panthers tried blitzing more early but Romo beat them either with quick throws or scrambles. That slowed there rush up a bit. And Romo scrambled out of trouble a number of times, not to mention just making faster decisions and throwing the ball away. Bledsoe hasn’t done that all year why would he have tonight? The Oline is still a fairly average NFL Oline. Bledsoe made them look worse than they are while Romo makes them look better.
And a very good morning from here in skins land where the “dallas week” is already going strong….
Norm!!!
Ref Post 4: Why not?
Stop turning the ball over, recognize its ok to punt every once in a while, and make the panthers drive the distance, something they could only do once in the 1st 1/4.
Thats why we were in it in the 4th, we didnt turn it over. then we got some opportunities and look what happenned: pressure, turnovers, TDs.
Rafael,
You didnt mention one thing about what a win will do for us next sunday. 2-2 in the division, vice 1-3. thats a big difference.
jarhead…i thought we were giving up the season by putting romo in?not!what a breath of fresh air this kid is,much needed for this team.i think he gives us a lot of needed tools on offense which bledeslow didn’t have,but i got my ass kicked on this blog for taking shots at bledslow.i am so glad he’s gone i mean he’s gone after romo’s game yesterday,and yes we finally win a game on the road against a quality opponent which bledslow could not do as well.where are all those bledsoe supporters now?the guys that said we would be giving up the season by bringing romo in.i won’t mention any names you know who you are,pretty embarassing for those guys to start even talking about the cowboys playoff hopes,those few that know more football than anybody and trashed and insulted any bloggers who supported bledsoe being benched.well romo is in and in my opinion he looks like he’s got potential which is something we haven’t seen around here for quite a while.bye bye bledsoe i won’t miss you!
Woah, did you guys see this? Scary ride home for the team.
http://tinyurl.com/skt7s
I’m not a bandwagon guy either but this morning I’m a little “drunk” with how well Romo looked. Next game he may melt down but I’ll have 6 days to enjoy this.
He looked like a complete QB last night to me. If he can maintain his poise and avoid stupid mistakes, we may just have something.
even galloway has nothing but love this morning. he even pointed out that TO has nothing to complain about this week.
We get the rest of the day to salivate over the possibilities, then its back to work.
Triumph and disaster are imposters in october.
Dont you just love roller coasters?
WHAT A BEAUIFUL WAY TO DEAL WITH A MONDAY MORNING,RELIVING A COWBOY VICTORY
Raf,
Come on, we need some deep analysis of Romo. How do you think he did? should we be impressed with last night, in your opinion?
SORRY DUDES,I MEANT BEAUTIFUL
Peter King’s going to be loving this one…. he wrote the script.
I really enjoyed Madden’s commentary. Sometimes I think he gets lazy and relies on the “whap’s” and the “pows” too much. But I thought he really had some insights tonight. One thing he noted was that with all the miscues we’ve had this season Parcells hasn’t got that mad - more sad and frustrated. It was great seeing so emotional towards the end of the game. That seemed to carry over to the team, who seemed to lacking any real spark.
However Romo played, one thing is for sure - he has put the energy back in this team!!
rev michael.when you have been replaced by 3 qb’s it’s time to realize you are either a backup or you need to retire,for some reason bledsoe thinks he is a big star and does not want to face reality.
As frustrating as Madden’s babbling can be at times he’s a breath of fresh air after those Monday night idiots (I only consider Theeeesman and Kornholio idiots, I think Tirico is pretty good).
the talk about Romo shows you how abused we were with Bledsoe. Romo has decent game (compared to other qbs that week) and we are ecstatic. Its just so refreshing to see our offense function without the blitz completely destroying it because our qb’s feet are in pails of concrete.
My level of frustration is being transferred to the utter lack of a pass rush that gets to the qb. Seems like towards end of game that pass rush was more effective. Why?
One major difference between Bledsoe & Romo seems to be their abilities to see the entire field. At least their ability to see Witten on the field.
Witten’s stats:
5.5 games w/ Bledsoe
16 rec. 165 yds 0 TD
1.5 games w/ Romo
10 rec. 152 yds 1 TD
It’s about time Witten is getting used. Romo sees who he is going to throw the ball to & gets it out to that receiver quick. He doesn’t have to do that little pat on the ball before he throws it like Bledsoe.
there was far more TE receptions even fasano got in the act. This is because Romo isnt facing the middle blitz like Bledsoe — or rather, can move around to see the middle of the field.
Bledsoe increasingly could not do that for reasons above
Sorry post #18 should read
…. One thing he noted was that with all the miscues we’ve had this season Parcells hasn’t got that mad - more sad and frustrated. That seemed to carry over to the team, who seemed to lacking any real spark. It was great seeing him so emotional towards the end of the game….
Rev Michael - not sure what happened to your post. You posted b4 me and yet your time shows after. Must be some daylight saving issue.
romo bashers come out.
yeah, today is a weird day if you are a cowboy fan. I’m starting the day with a huge spring in my step knowing we beat a good team on the road, especially considering the uncertainty going into last night.
But again, this is the first game of a huge switch at quarterback. There’s a a lot of football left this season to see how romo will do. However, that being said, I’m a lot more optimistic then I ever thought I’d be about this season after the Philly and NY losses. This season could be a lot of fun to watch now.
GO COWBOYS. FRIGGIN’ YEAH BOOOOOYYYY!!!!
I am usually the anti-knee jerker. I usually don’t believe in a guy until he has shown me what he can do over several seasons but I have jumped on Romo’s bandwagon. This guy gives me hope that I haven’t had for over ten years. I’m not forecasting any Super Bowls but if this continues we could be dangerous. (This is tempered with the knowledge of his inexperience…more ints will follow as well as tempered by sadness for Drew…Brady, JP, now Romo…what a career, man)
Nice game by o-line…very nice.
Big game? Of course…its the Redskins! Romo can add to his legacy and the continue to write the history of the Cowboy-Redskin rivalry. Bring on the frothy, desperate, over-paid, severly lacking mercenaries. If only Theisman were still playing so Ellis and Ware could make a sandwich out of him.
I have been offline for a few days, so I apologise if this has been covered.
How is this for great locker room material - Burress accussing TO of being a coward…. From Dr Z’s email column:
“a few weeks ago I wrote that in San Francisco T.O. had a habit of short-arming passes and also failing to run out his patterns when he didn’t feel like it. I didn’t see this written anywhere else, except in San Francisco, of course, but now Plaxico Burress, the Giants’ wideout, takes this a step further and says that the guy actually displayed cowardice in their Monday night game.
That’s a rough one. I don’t think I would ever call a player a coward — in print. I mean everything they do requires a certain amount of courage, and to say a man lacks it is a job for someone else, not a writer, I believe. But here comes Burress, claiming that T.O. deliberately hit the canvas to avoid a kill shot from strong safety Gibril Wilson,….”
I don’t think TO’s going to be short-arming anything against the Giants, and Burress may be taking a few shots of his own.
roster move this week. Kick returner? any ideas?
Romo has obviously had a positive effect on the team, but I still have my concerns. I saw quite a few dropped Carolina passes when the reciever was wide open. Raf, could that have had anything to do with pressure on the QB, or was it just good luck for us? Also, for any of you guys who can watch game tape, I thought I saw 2 catched by glenn where he stepped ut of bounds w/o planting both feet, but it wasn’t picked up by anyone. My biggest concern was penalties. Is there anything they can do to stop that hemorage? We played well enough to win, but keep in mind that Carolina has been struggling too, and add to that the fact that they had to plan against an unknown QB, I’m not getting too overconfident.
Biz, I was on your side of the Romo thing, but lets show a little grace shall we? And its still early to be crowning him just yet. Having said all that, I believe we can pull off a victory that will sting the skins next week, and keep us in the hunt, if we just watch those penalties.
linus,
Anyone but P. Crayton!!!! Seriously, what about S. Green? Aren’t punt return skills transferrable? Probably depends on how prepared he might be to play RB as well.
enjoy carolina eating worms in garden
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191415054&path=!sports!football!nfl!&s=1037645509269
Regarding T. Thompson, I’m really disappointed for that kid. He had made himself into a very good KR and I kept hoping to see him get some meaningful carries. As tired as Carolina’s defense looked at the end last night it would have bee very interesting to see him get into the secondary on a carry.
stillhate
dont know about punt returners being kick returners
I would assume that skyler does it so that two birds killed (punt returner and kick returner)
Oz,
One thing i noticedthis last game, was that on one catch, TO was wide opoen, caught it and went out of bounds, even though he was free all the way to the enzone. It looked to me like he could have turned up field, but expected to get hit, and didn’t even make the attempt. Anyone else see it like that?
SDFan,
I think I know the play you’re talking about and I didn’t see it that way. It was the throw late in the game where the CB slipped a little and Owens came open. I think his momentun carried him out of bounds. If the pass had been to the inside, he might have been able to turn and go, but not where it was thrown.
SD, I think his “mo” carried him out of bounds on that one. You are talking about the one where he tried to tiptoe along the out of bounds line and then just went out, right?
thanks Still,
You may be right, wish I could watch the game again.
That was a fun game to watch last night. Glad to see the Cowboys dominate a good opponent.
Romo sure seemed to create a spark. That was fantastic.
It will be interesting to see how he does over the next several weeks as teams get game film on him. Def coordinators will find out what he can and cannot do. Romo has passed his first test. He may pass the next. But can he keep doing it once the league learns Romo’s strengths and weaknesses? That will be the true test.
yup mikhu, thats the one.
ditto on TO’s mo carrying him out of bounds
Stats anyone?
Cowboys out-gained Panthers, 414 yards to 204
out-rushed Panthers, 156 yards to 76
25 first downs while Panthers earned only 13. (That doesn’t include first downs won by opponent penalty)
possession 38 minutes.
Cowboys had one early turnover, while the Panthers had three 4th-quarter turnovers
Ridge,
I loved the game last night but would disagree we dominated the game. We were behind 14-10 going into the 4th and were lucky Key dropped another TD pass.
The stats look like we dominated but to me it looked more like our game with Philthy. We were terrible in Philthy and they felt like they dominated us. They’ve lost 2 or 3 in a row since. Carolina did everything they could do after the 1st Qtr. to give us the game….and we played well enough to take advantage of it.
dominated the game? Not score wise in the first half.
But from every other factor — first and second half (yds etc) we dominated
biz,
What Romo bashers? They’re all a figment of your mind.
I can see you’re trying to be one of the hindsight is 20-20 I-was-right- all-along people. But I’ll remind you that in February you’re the guy who said,
“It will be five years before we get a guy like Big Ben [Roethlisberger].”
Parcells was a stooge in your eyes because he had was going to leave the QB cupboard bare, etc., etc. When you were asked to name a QB Dallas should have drafted you were a stone wall.
Sorry biz. You didn’t see Romo then and you bashed the guy who developed him. You have no right to call out anybody.
Last night’s game was a draw until the Hoover fumble. But we should have had another fumble in the first half so . . .
Keyshawn’s drop offsets Gamble’s first Q int. Keyshawn was also faceguarded on a play that should have been first and 10 from the 15 for Carolina.
But . . .we did dominate offensively. This was not a one man show. The whole offense was very strong. And . . .we did shut them down, although drops had a lot do do with it.
It wasn’t just carolina gicing us the game though. We stayed on the field and domimated TOP. that is what ultimatly won the game i think, that a some good ol country luck.
Raf, I liked your breakdown in the last thread, especially about Vanderjagt,s hick off thing with the loopy ball thing. I would have never noticed, but he gets a lot of credit too eh?
Cash’s Notes:
1. The resurgence of Witten last night could not have just been a conicidence. Romo’s ability to get the ball out quickly will make not only better use of Witten, but as we saw last night Fasno was also getting some looks.
2. The last two years I’ve heard about how great Julius Peppers and the Carolina DLine are, yet two years in a row I’ve watched Peppers get dominated by Pettiti and Columbo. Maybe he just doesn’t perform well against guys who last names end in a vowel?
3. Julius Jones got banged up and got back in the game and played effectively. It didn’t matter that he missed time though because MBIII is every bit as capable albiet a different style runner.
4. If Keyshawn doesn’t lose that ball in the lights and droop what might have been a TD, do we still come back and win?
5. 25pts in the 4th quarter is big boy stuff.
haha did anyone see Romo’s impersonation of Brett Favre? That was hilarious…
Vanderjagt has been a slightly net plus player so far this season, factoring in everything. We signed a guy to be top 5.
The season is still young however. By the end of the year if he can make some clutch kicks, I am willing to praise the ‘player’ who kicks for us.
Hitting the upright from 48 was a tough break but . . .it still doesn’t count. And his kickoffs, tricky wiggles and all, still dont reach the endzone.
I laughed at the commentators comparisons of out first time starter. Madden even compared him to Joe montana!
Cash,
On 2, Peppers IS a man beast. I have seen him a lot and he has taken over some games by himself.
He was in coverage a few times last night, which was odd. Maybe the boys just scheme him well. Regardless, be happy we dont play him again this year, because he can bring it.
He’s a helluva a lot more like Montana than any other QB we’ve trotted out there for a while.
This kid makes a lot of good decisions (and one or two bad ones.) He did not really have the deep ball going to the wideouts last night, but he keeps them involved with sight-adjust screens. TO must have had 30 yards on those last night.
And when missing with the deep ball, he threw it where no one else could get it. He did underthrow two outs to TO, one was picked by Gamble and another at the goalline which TO had to play defense on. But generally the kid gets it.
I think it’s apparent that our playbook is far more limited with Bledsoe at QB as opposed to Romo.
I don’t think the Cowboys dominated the Panthers. The Panthers pulled a Bledsoe-era Cowboys and handed the game over.
Whatever, I’ll take it.
Don’t forget that Peppers broke through the line like a freak of f’ing nature and fly like Superman to block the kick. Vanderjagt squibs a kick and FB Hoover winds up with it and fumbles - Hoover doesn’t pick that up, it goes out of bounds and it’s first down at the 40. Keyshawn, Goings, Foster, Smith and a partridge in a pear tree dropped passes all night. Romo threw a horrible interception. Cowboys had 9 or 10 penalties.
On the other hand, the Cowboys’ offense found a rhythm and the o Line played OK, especialy at the edges. Peppers never really figured out where to be and how to get there.
Sucks about Tyson Thompson. Perhaps Keylon Kincaid or Jamaica Rector or Skyler Green or the kid from USC (Summers?) will make the roster.
who doesn’t love oliver hoyte? Hoyte being a top notch, battering ram FB is yet ANOTHER instance of Parcells being a genius.
Thank you OL.Thank you Romo. Thank you Keyshawn. Thank you Panther kick returners. Good karma last night, glad we took advantage of it.
Here’s why I am excited about Romo:
Bledsoe has been playing for 14 yrs. He is not going to stop making stupid mistakes. Romo made some bonehead plays last week, but you hope that he can improve as he goes, because he clearly can make plays.
So after six quarters against two very good defenses, Romo’s first three quarters produced four picks. His last three produced zero.
As I said, it’s plain to see that we can move the ball with Romo. If he can just take care of the football, we can be a very good team.
On this “domination” thing. I don’t know, I think you could go either way. Remember barring Romo’s INT, dallas only allowed one some what long drive for a TD. Dallas also stopped the run pretty well.
Overall, I think you could say “impressive”, maybe not domination but dallas did well in pretty much every department last night
On the Sunday Night crew:
They were much better, though I think Madden had an artificial story line he was pumping until Dallas got a lead, talking over and over again about Parcells needing to get mad and not being himself.
BP was calling plays this week. If he wasn’t calling all of them, he was helping with a lot of them. Had the play sheet in his hand the whole game.
You can’t do that and be a rah-rah guy at the same time.
Raf,
Madden and Michaels were very good last night, I didn’t have the urge to turn the sound off.
I think they ignore that Parcells has a different coaching style, probably for health reasons. I think he has come to a point in his life that he wants to motivate in other ways than blowing up at his players.
Raf - I noticed the play calling as well. I praised him for that announcement last week too. I’m glad he took at least a major influence on play calling back.
On the blocked kick, if you guys recorded the game go back and look at it. As far as I could tell the Cowboys heard the whistle and let up at the snap. To me that was why they got through and blocked it. I might just be a biased homer, but I don’t think they tried to block. Watch it again if you can.