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Dallas Cowboys still on the outside looking in

The Cowboys didn’t get any help today in their quest to slide into one of the two NFC wildcard spots. Currently the NFC South is foiling the Cowboys’ hopes as Carolina (9-3), Tampa Bay  (9-3) and Atlanta(8-4) are all ahead of Dallas in the conference. Dallas and Atlanta have the same record, but Atlanta holds the tie-breaker due to a better conference winning percentage.

Green Bay, New Orleans and San Diego all had a chance to win their games in the last minute but fell on their faces in the end. Most frustrating was watching Drew Brees, the darling quarterback of all media, force a bad throw on second down with plenty of time left to drive for the game tying field goal. Aaron Rodgers also forced a throw into coverage while attempting to lead his team from behind. So much for the NFC quarterbacks poised to overtake Romo as a Pro Bowl quarterback. Tony Romo now has the best quarterback rating in the NFC and trails Philip Rivers for the NFL lead by just a tenth of a point.

But I digress.

The good news is that the NFC South contenders still have a couple of games against each other. Here is a breakdown of their final four games:

Carolina - vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Denver, at NY Giants, at New Orleans
Atlanta - at New Orleans, vs. Tampa Bay, at Minnesota, vs. St. Louis
Tampa Bay - at Carolina, at Atlanta, vs. San Diego, vs. Oakland

So mathematics tell us these teams will have to lose at least one more game this season. The best to hope for is for Carolina to win out and for Atlanta to lose to Tampa Bay, dropping Atlanta behind Dallas and putting the Cowboys ahead of Tampa Bay due to head to head tie-breakers. New Orleans winning out would help out a lot as well.

All this hinges on Dallas winning the rest of their games this season. The Cowboys hold the keys to their own destiny and at this point it is looking like 10-6 would mean missing the playoffs. 11-5 does not necessarily assure Dallas a wildcard berth either but it sure helps things. If the Cowboys lose only five games and miss the tournament, that loss to the Rams will hurt, hurt, hurt.

All they have to do is go 4-0 in December during the toughest four game stretch the team has faced in a very long time.

That’s not too tough a thing to ask is it?

Sunday games open thread

It feels sort of like a bye week. No Dallas Cowboys football this Sunday, but we got a victory safely banked away and now we root for the NFC contenders to lose. According to Todd Archer the best scenario for us today is the Giants beat the Redskins, San Diego takes out Atlanta, the Saints beat-up the Bucs and Green Bay crushes Carolina. If all that happens we are the #5 seed and control our own destiny. If only Washington and Atlanta lose, we slide into the #6 seed.

Sounds good to me, that’s what I’m concentrating on this Sunday.

This is an open thread for the games today. Feel free to chat it up.

Mac Engel takes a look ahead for the Cowboys. 

Martellus Bennett keeps talking and keeps catching TD’s, and both activities are very entertaining.  

JJT says the run defense is the key. I’m always a “win the trenches” guy, so I’m with it. 

Because Good Season Are Never Easy

When you have 52 young guys with big money and bigger egos, something always goes wrong:

Giants star wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg and was hospitalized, according to a report on Foxsports.com.

Details of the incident were not immediately available, but other reports said that the shooting occurred at a nightclub..

Submitted without comment.  Keith Davis and Adam Jones prevent me from moralizing.

Kyle Kosier is officially placed on injured reserve

I guess it was only a matter of time.

The Cowboys placed left guard Kyle Kosier on injured reserve Saturday and signed linebacker Steve Octavien off Washington’s practice squad to fill Kosier’s roster spot.

Kosier is likely to have surgery this week in Charlotte, N.C., on his right foot. He played in only three games this season - all wins - after suffering a ligament injury and hairline fracture in his foot in the preseason against Houston.

Kosier played well when he was healthy and has been solid ever since he came to the ‘Boys. I’m encouraged by Montrae Holland but I can’t shake the feeling that this will haunt us at some point down the road.

The Star-Telegraph reports the same here.

DC.com has a good recap of the situation here.

Kosier was expected to visit a foot specialist this coming week, but the Cowboys doctors already were recommending surgery to repair the torn ligament he’s been trying to fight through this entire season. Kosier was able to return a second time this season to play in the Washington and San Francisco games. But the starting left guard reinjured his problematic foot against the Niners and the ligament damage this time has left a joint in his foot too loose to continue playing and likely in need of surgery. The rehab from such a surgery is expected to be three to four months.

In Thursday’s 34-9 victory over Seattle, the Cowboys replaced Kosier in the starting lineup with Montrae Holland, acquired in an Aug. 28 trade with Denver for a 2010 fifth-round pick. Holland appeared to play decently starting in place of Cory Procter, who had started eight games in Kosier’s previous absence. Kosier first injured his foot in the third preseason game against Houston, and missed the first two games of the season. He returned to play against Green Bay but stepped in a hole on a somewhat torn up Lambeau Field late in the fourth quarter and missed seven more games after convincing the club to allow him to rest and rehab instead of having season-ending surgery then.

Shout out to scottmaui and his fanpost here.

The Case for Bob Hayes

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the long list of names gets thrown into a large pile and slowly the names get whittled down to the fortunate few who are selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And, once again, the discussion eventually gets around to those poor souls who have been overlooked. The past few years, the name that was continually brought up was Art Monk, who was inducted this past year with Michael Irvin.

But the poster-child for snubs, in my not-so-unbiased opinion, is the Cowboys’ own “Bullet” Bob Hayes.

That Hayes revolutionized the game is not in dispute. He and he alone is the reason that the zone defense was invented. With his speed, he would simply outrun other defenders.

Some writers, as if to quell the discussion, wrote on the same day that the preliminary list of candidates was announced, that Hayes is not a Hall of Famer. Others scribe about his feats - one of the better ones I’ve read is by Ralph Wiley at ESPN from 2002.

So I decided to look at the wide receivers in the Hall of Fame and match him up against them. In order to make it a playing level field, I only looked at receivers who played in Hayes’ era, so you won’t see the likes of Swann, Largent, “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, James Lofton or Art Monk.

Let’s look at some numbers:

Player	Career	Years	Rec	Yards	TDs	Yd Per Rec (YPC)	TD Per Rec (TDPC)	Yd Per Yr (YPY)	YDs Rank	REC Rank	TD Rank	YPC Rank	TDPC Rank	YPY Rank
Bob Hayes	1965-1975	11	371	7414	71	19.98	5.23	674.00	8	8	6	2	2	6
Bobby Mitchell	1958-1968	11	521	7954	65	15.27	8.02	723.09	7	6	8	6	6	3
Charley Taylor	1964-1975, 1977	13	649	9110	79	14.04	8.22	700.77	4	2	4	8	7	4
Charlie Joiner	1969-1986	18	750	12146	65	16.19	11.54	674.78	1	1	7	5	8	5
Don Maynard	1958, 1960-1973	15	633	11834	88	18.70	7.19	788.93	2	3	1	4	4	2
Fred Biletnikoff	1965-1978	14	589	8974	76	15.24	7.75	641.00	5	4	5	7	5	7
Lance Alworth	1962-1972	11	542	10266	85	18.94	6.38	933.27	3	5	2	3	3	1
Paul Warfield	1964-1977	14	427	8565	85	20.06	5.02	611.79	6	7	3	1	1	8

The first thing that jumps out at me is how much of a home-run threat he was. He averated almost 20 yards per catch. TWENTY! And he caught a touchdown every 5 receptions.

Sure, he’s last in Total Yards and Total Receptions, but he was a home run thread every chance he had with the ball. And with the Cowboys, he got that chance a lot.

While he was more known for his prowess in track, Hayes did play football in college. And he was just as potent a weapon there that he was with the Cowboys.

NFL.com has Bob Hayes listed at #5 top 10 players not in the Hall of Fame. The interesting thing about people who do not claim he should be in is that these people are not players. Ask players who went up against him and they will tell you.

One only hopes that more sports writers will listen this time around.

The Case for Bob Hayes

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the long list of names gets thrown into a large pile and slowly the names get whittled down to the fortunate few who are selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And, once again, the discussion eventually gets around to those poor souls who have been overlooked. The past few years, the name that was continually brought up was Art Monk, who was inducted this past year with Michael Irvin.

But the poster-child for snubs, in my not-so-unbiased opinion, is the Cowboys’ own “Bullet” Bob Hayes.

That Hayes revolutionized the game is not in dispute. He and he alone is the reason that the zone defense was invented. With his speed, he would simply outrun other defenders.

Some writers, as if to quell the discussion, wrote on the same day that the preliminary list of candidates was announced, that Hayes is not a Hall of Famer. Others scribe about his feats - one of the better ones I’ve read is by Ralph Wiley at ESPN from 2002.

So I decided to look at the wide receivers in the Hall of Fame and match him up against them. In order to make it a playing level field, I only looked at receivers who played in Hayes’ era, so you won’t see the likes of Swann, Largent, “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, James Lofton or Art Monk.

Let’s look at some numbers:

Player	Career	Years	Rec	Yards	TDs	Yd Per Rec (YPC)	TD Per Rec (TDPC)	Yd Per Yr (YPY)	YDs Rank	REC Rank	TD Rank	YPC Rank	TDPC Rank	YPY Rank
Bob Hayes	1965-1975	11	371	7414	71	19.98	5.23	674.00	8	8	6	2	2	6
Bobby Mitchell	1958-1968	11	521	7954	65	15.27	8.02	723.09	7	6	8	6	6	3
Charley Taylor	1964-1975, 1977	13	649	9110	79	14.04	8.22	700.77	4	2	4	8	7	4
Charlie Joiner	1969-1986	18	750	12146	65	16.19	11.54	674.78	1	1	7	5	8	5
Don Maynard	1958, 1960-1973	15	633	11834	88	18.70	7.19	788.93	2	3	1	4	4	2
Fred Biletnikoff	1965-1978	14	589	8974	76	15.24	7.75	641.00	5	4	5	7	5	7
Lance Alworth	1962-1972	11	542	10266	85	18.94	6.38	933.27	3	5	2	3	3	1
Paul Warfield	1964-1977	14	427	8565	85	20.06	5.02	611.79	6	7	3	1	1	8

The first thing that jumps out at me is how much of a home-run threat he was. He averated almost 20 yards per catch. TWENTY! And he caught a touchdown every 5 receptions.

Sure, he’s last in Total Yards and Total Receptions, but he was a home run thread every chance he had with the ball. And with the Cowboys, he got that chance a lot.

While he was more known for his prowess in track, Hayes did play football in college. And he was just as potent a weapon there that he was with the Cowboys.

NFL.com has Bob Hayes listed at #5 top 10 players not in the Hall of Fame. The interesting thing about people who do not claim he should be in is that these people are not players. Ask players who went up against him and they will tell you.

One only hopes that more sports writers will listen this time around.

The Cowboys received some good news Friday morning when the results of the MRI exams of linebacker…

The Cowboys received some good news Friday morning when the results of the MRI exams of linebacker DeMarcus Ware and running back Marion Barber came back negative.

[snip]

Team officials listed Ware and Barber as day-to-day in terms of availability to practice. The Cowboys’ next practice is Monday.

Mr. Fix It done fixed it: Wade’s prints all over this defense

I was talking to a college buddy of mine yesterday. He’s a Broncos fan.

He told me not to hold my breath waiting for Montrae Holland to make an impact. He ate his way out of Denver and that was with Coach Shanahan watches his every move, trying to get his weight down.

“And you know the Cowboys ain’t going to do that,” he said. “Wade is too nice for that.”

Well last time I checked Holland seemed to play awful well Thursday. Rafeal’s analysis was spot-on. But I didn’t see any penalties or false starts and Romo wasn’t touched. I was concerned when Wade said he’d start.

Good call Wade.

That’s the Wade I’ve seen lately. And I’ve been saying that a lot. Especially about this defense and it’s increased sack productions and turnovers. This is the defense I’ve expected from Wade and he has delivered since reclaiming play-calling duties.

“We have a good rush team,” Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said after the Cowboys improved to 8-4. “We get a lot of hits on the quarterback. It’s something that you have to do, I think, to be able to win. Our pass rush was really good. Hasselbeck had not been sacked that much (12 times). Their team overall had, but he hadn’t. I thought we really got after him and got after the passing game.”

I fully supported the decision when Wade was hired. Part of my reasoning was I hoped he’d turn our defense into a silver and blue version of what his San Diego teams were: sack-collecting, pressure-driven, turnover-machines. This year started off slow, but we’re finally seeing the fruits from Wade’s harvest. Thursday’s game was a perfect example. Watching the defense work was satisfying not only because they were blitzing but they were blitzing smarter and more effectively. The statistics bear this out.

Dallas is currently No. 1 in sacks with 40. DeMarcus Ware is the sack leader in the league with 15. Greg Ellis has five sacks and Jay Ratliff has six. The Cowboys have created 12 turnovers in the last seven games. They’ve held their opponents to 10 points or less in three out of its last five games. Yes, they played the 49ers and the Seahawks, two sad-sack franchises. Yes, the Giants ran all over us. This is true. But they also held an 8-3 team without a TD (the Bucs) and forced the Giants into three turnovers and sacked Eli Manning four times. Factor that in as well.

My biggest criticisms of Wade has been two-fold: our zone is too soft and we don’t blitz often enough or effectively. He’s addressed both. We do a much better job of mixing up our coverages and you can see that our blitzes aren’t as obvious now. One play you might see a eight or nine-man front and then next you might see Ware dropping into coverage. James, who can be reckless at times, has channeled that energy into controlled bursts. I saw him obliterate a tight end and back trying to block him Thursday and then attack Hasselback without overrunning the play, which I’ve seen him do against the Eagles and the Redskins. James has five sacks this season after having a total of five sacks for the last five years. I credit Wade with this.

Billy P once told Greg Ellis that sacks are “overrated.” I certainly disagree and I would assume Wade does too. Sacks and pressure are two huge factors that contributed to our recent success. There’s no doubt about that. When is the last time you saw the Cowboy defense play with so much enthusiasm?

I credit Wade with that too.

The New ‘Big Baby’ Has Cowboys Fans Sleeping Like Infants

Pardon the older hands if we have a sense of deja vu.

In ‘95, the Cowboys had the best offensive line in football, with four starters making the Pro Bowl.  The lone holdout was Larry Allen, who had not built his reputation yet.  The unsung hero of the group was Derek Kennard, a squatty, rotund center/guard picked up in the offseason by Jerry Jones.  Kennard had been a starter for New Orleans, but was let go after failing to control his weight. 

Kennard started the season at right guard but was quickly overtaken by Allen.  When C Ray Donaldson dislocated his ankle in the Thanksgiving Day game against Kansas City, Kennard stepped into the pivot and played at a level not far below Donaldson’s.  Kennard, whom Nate Newton dubbed “Big Baby,”  didn’t have the greatest stamina, but he was powerful and was able to maintain his level of play for seven games.  He kept the running game rolling — all the way to the Super Bowl. 

The Big Baby’s football nephew made his first appearance in this year’s Thanksgiving Day game and he did his part to restore hope in the ‘08 campaign.  Like Kennard, Montrae Holland is a former Saint.  Like Kennard, Holland ate his way off his last team.  And like Kennard, Holland appears to have the game to keep the offensive line operating at a higher level. 

 

Holland isn’t perfect.  There isn’t another Larry Allen under all that girth.  But the guy KC Joyner called “Joe Average” showed that average can be good enough.  Holland misses pass blocks once in a while, but he can anchor.  He’ll whiff on linebackers when he tries to block out in space, but he’s got some power in his hands and can make defensive tackles move.  In short, he’s much closer in level of play to Kyle Kosier than Cory Proctor ever was.  Consequently, the Cowboys line had its second sackless game since the bye — it has allowed just one sack since Tony Romo returned.

Holland’s solid debut means the Cowboys nation can turn its worry onto other things, like Marion Barber’s right little toe and Demarcus Ware’s left knee.

Notes:

– Is Sam Paulescu the best punter the Cowboys can find?   His lack of distance is shocking.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cowboys are not scanning waivers for another leg.

– Another D-lineman steps forward.  Jason Hatcher had a strong game yesterday, adding to the list of Cowboys D-linemen who have picked up their games in recent weeks. 

– Short week brain freezes:  Mike Holmgren confused the Cowboys’ D and produced his team’s biggest play of the day.  In the first quarter, Julius Jones motioned out of the backfield and lined up as a wide receiver.  SS Keith Davis went out into space to cover Jones.  For some reason, ILB Zach Thomas also went wide.  Matt Hasselbeck threw a pop pass to TE John Carlson in the area Thomas vacated.  Carlson raced 33 yards before Terence Newman and Ken Hamlin ran him down.

– Last spring’s draft guides had a split decision on tight ends.  One had Texas A&M’s Martellus Bennett rated first.  Two others had Notre Dame’s John Carlson at the top of the list.  Both made plays yesterday.  Carlson has been Seattle’s top receiving weapon all year.  The Cowboys’ linebackes and safeties will testify.

– The education of Demarcus Ware:  Ware whipped Walter Jones for his first sack by running straight at Jones, hesitating for an instant to free Jones, and then cutting hard and fast around him on the wide side.

Later, Ware started with a cut inside, got Jones to step right to cut him off, then slalomed outside Jones for a second sack.

Ware is getting the hang of setting up tackles now.  He’s much, much better at getting linemen off balance and getting past.  Great speed rushers understand that they can change direction at speed while offensive linemen can’t as well.  Hope that Ware’s MRI is clean, because he’s looking more like Charles Haley with every passing week.  I can’t pinpoint when the light went one for Ware, but his hand usage and understanding of balance and leverage has taken a quantum leap forward this year.

– Orlando Scandrick was Mike Holmgren’s target yesterday and he held up fairly well.  I’m concerned about his practice of diving low and head first to tackle opponents.  Two years ago, Bill Parcells cautioned Pat Watkins against low dives, because he was exposing his head and neck to injury.   Scandrick needs to add some weight and strength.  It’s clear he’s not confident in wrapping up NFL backs and receivers.  Still, I wince every time he flies in kamikaze-style to make a stop.  He’s a promising young player.  It would be a shame to see him hurt because his technique is so crazy.

– A sure sign Marion was not right.  The Seahawks started to blitz heavily after rushing four and watching Tony Romo cut them up.  Their pressure got guys free.  Most of the leakage came from linebackers and secondary blitzers who shoud have been blocked by Marion Barber.  He was not his usual self, probably because of his injured toe.

– Take off the splint, reason #17:  Romo had a lot more zip and accuracy yesterday.  His deep balls were well placed.  This looks a lot like the Romo of old.  He was still a tad off on his shorter throws and that should improve against Pittsburgh.  This is supposed to be Romo’s final game with any type of splint. 

– Football hurts:  The Steelers won’t feel any sympathy if Barber can’t play a week from Sunday.  They had to play several early games without Willie Parker and lost Rashard Mendenhall for the year back in October.  Similarly, don’t expect any understanding from the Giants the following week if Demarcus Ware has to miss their game.  They’re doing just fine without Osi Umenyiora. 

The Cowboys will have to keep going, regardless of the medical reports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cowboys vs. Seahawks: What They’re Saying

Welcome to a festive edition of What They’re Saying. An 8-4 record, complete domination of a game and ungodly amounts of turkey produces that very satisfied coma of holiday bliss. Football is entering the stretch run when pretenders fade and contenders are made, and our Dallas Cowboys are finally playing some inspired, team-centered football. They’ve shown a little heart and enthusiasm recently, winning does seem to cure all in sports. So let’s thank the Football Gods for their early holiday present, giving us the 49ers and Seahawks in a short week. Chalk two victories up on the big board and it’s on to December, where we hope more holiday good tidings await.

Let’s dispense with the bad news right away so it won’t be a buzz-kill. Both DeMarcus Ware and Marion Babrber got injured. Ware’s knee initially looked vulnerable to a long-term thing. But, after the game, he’s been quoted as saying he feels good.

“I’m good,” said Ware, who had three sacks and four tackles for loss. “I was scared. Injuries are part of the game, and they usually don’t happen that way with me.”

He also said the same while receiving his Gobbler award and states even though he’s having an MRI done, he’ll be ready for next Sunday. 

“I’ll be ready for this big game in Pittsburgh,” Ware said.

As always, we must remain cautious until the MRI is read, but everything sounds positive now. Big bullet avoided if DeMarcus is good to go.

Meanwhile, Marion Barber dislocated his little toe but there is no break according to Dr. Jerry Jones.

Barber suffered the strange injury late in the second quarter and went to the locker room with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Owner Jerry Jones said X-rays were negative.

[snip]

“That ought to be manageable,” Jones said.

The Barbarian had this to say after the game.

 

Ha! Psyche.

Barber, as usual, said nothing. Jerry Jones said his star running back suffered a dislocated pinkie toe on his right foot.

“I don’t want to speculate,” Jerry said when asked about Barber’s availability against the Steelers, “but there’s no way I’ll rule him out.”

At least they’re talking about Barber possibly playing next Sunday instead of debating something more serious. But again, we need to wait for the official word.

So both injuries considered, things look positive right now while we cautiously await official word.

On to the good news, after the jump.

It’s on the field where the Cowboys are generating some holiday cheer. I won’t bother recounting the ups and downs of this season in detail, suffice it so say that we’ve seen the mountain and the valley and everywhere in between. But winning three games in row and looking strong heading into a playoff run sure has put this team (and the fans) in a better mood.

“You can see how the climate can change pretty quickly,” head coach Wade Phillips said of his 8-4 team, which would pull into a tie for the top wild-card spot if Tampa Bay (8-3) loses Sunday.

The Cowboys desperately needed a win streak and they’ve got it. That was only the prelims though, now the real chase begins as Tony Romo explains:

“We went through a rough patch there and we are still not out of it. We still have to keep going forward and putting together wins to get in the playoffs, but I do know that our confidence level is where I feel like on any given Sunday we can play with anybody.”

Yes, the Cowboys are recovering a little of their swagger. Let’s hope this time it doesn’t go to their head.

We’re starting to see the parts of this offense come together. With Romo back and the injury behind him, Jason Garrett’s vertical passing offense looks healthy again. Thank the offensive line for a lot of that, Romo had plenty of time to throw on Thursday. Give Romo time to throw and put the weapons we have out on the field, and things can get ugly for a defense in a hurry. Even good defenses, like the string we’re about to face, will have trouble with this offense as long as Romo gets time to throw.

“Offensively, we threw the ball really well,” head coach Wade Phillips said, referring to the Cowboys racking up 331 passing yards. “We spread it out to a lot of different people. I thought Tony (Romo) had a really good game. I think we are starting to hit our stride. We’ve got a lot of weapons. Roy Williams (two catches, 51 yards) made another big play for us. Martellus Bennett scores a touchdown every game. We have a lot of weapons and our quarterback can get the ball to them.”

Romo’s been progressing well since the he returned to the field and the next game he won’t even be wearing the splint. He’s gone from good at Washington, to great against San Fran to nearly perfect against Seattle. He praises the offensive line, too.

“We have a lot of options in this offense,” Romo said. “When you’ve got that, and your offensive line gives you time, you can just wait a little longer (in the play) for something to develop. I think we did that.”

One option that had been quiet recently exploded back onto the scene.

“They unleashed me today,” [Jason] Witten said with a smile, in reference to a certain comment made by Terrell Owens on Sunday.

Nice. Witten is the epitome of a tough player.

“I’m not 100 percent,” he said. “Still with the broken rib there, but I’m feeling better. It’s part of it; it is what it is. There is nothing you can do to change it.”

I think Romo has a man-crush on him.

“Jason Witten is the absolute perfect tight end in all ways,” Romo said. “He runs good routes. He’s a good run blocker. His timing is impeccable. On top of that, he’s a tough guy and a high character guy.”

While the return of Tony Romo has helped the offense enormously, the defense has been slowly but surely turning itself into a unit that can win ball games, too. From the Tampa Bay game to the Seattle game, only the Giants were able to put significant points on the board. The Cowboys defense has yielded 9, 10, 22 (most of that in garbage time) and 9 points in their past four non-Giants game. They’ve been keeping teams out of the endzone and are sacking QB’s and creating turnovers. Is this defense finally becoming an aggressive, attacking D?

“D-Ware was D-Ware,” Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said. “He’s definitely one of the purest pass rushers in the game, made plays when it counts. That’s what we need from him, that’s his role and he did what he was supposed to do.”

But don’t slight yourself Bradie, you had a superb day.

“I’ve been pressuring a little bit more this year. Now I’m getting there, actually beating guys, so that helps,” James said of being able to blitz more on the nickel defense. “I knew I had to capitalize because I knew if I didn’t get the quarterback down D- Ware would.”

Yes, actually beating guys does help. Right now, the Cowboys defense is beating people and it’s getting turnovers, something we didn’t see a lot of earlier in the year.

Dallas is also receiving an infusion of fresh blood from the rookies, even with its two first-round picks unavailable. Felix Jones is done and Mike Jenkins is on the shelf, but that didn’t stop this draft class from contributing.

Martellus Bennett has turned into a TD machine with his third straight scoring game.

“I’m feeling like the Lakers with a three-peat,” the 21-year-old Bennett said.

Tashard Choice had his best game and is showing he can help lighten the load on MB3.

“I’ve been working hard,” Choice said. “Just continue what I’ve been doing, just go in there and give the coaches confidence.”

“From Day One, when [Choice] got here, he had an uncanny knack for finding the soft spot in the defense,” [Skip] Peete said. “He has good vision, runs with good balance. He’s a hard-running back.”

Orlando Scandrick was active in the game and on the stat sheet, continuing his impressive rookie campaign.

We also got help from a new player, not a rookie, but an experienced vet. Montrae Holland looked pretty good to me on the first watching, of course the Film Review will tell me more, but at first glance I liked what I saw. So did Jerry Jones.

“I had my eye on [Holland] specifically tonight,” Jerry Jones said. “He had a good day. He protected well, he didn’t turn anybody loose. I think when they review and grade they’re going to find out he didn’t have any penalties. I don’t know if he made any mental errors. It looked like he played well.”

The Cowboys are having a little fun again and building some team camaraderie along the way. Exhibit one; The Turkey Dance. After each sack, some Cowboys defender would flap those wings celebrating the play and the holiday. And with seven sacks among them, they had plenty of opportunity. Jason Hatcher started the idea in practice when he was showing the guys his Billy “White Shoes” Johnson impression. It was decided all of them must perform the dance or suffer a fine. Even old-guy Greg Ellis had to give in.

“I had to do it a little bit, because they said if you didn’t do it, you were going to get fined,” Ellis said. “Didn’t want to get fined by the guys, so I did it a little bit and just left it alone.”

Now we get to wait a while to play again, in the meantime we can root against NFC playoff contenders. Also, we wait on definitive word about Ware and Barber.

The Cowboys have righted the vehicle and are pointing towards a playoff run. Splattering a lesser team on the windshield is the first step.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” Bradie James said. “And for once, we finished the game. We’re getting our swagger back.”

Romo concurs:

“If you can put your foot on someone’s throat, that’s what championship teams do,” Romo said. “We’ve tried to stress that for a long time, and this team is doing a good job of when an opportunity comes, take it.”

They know what’s ahead of them.

“It’s going to be hard,” Romo said. “This is the time to put your head down and go forward because every week will be a tough, grind-it-out defensive team we’re going against. It’ll be a challenge for us getting in the playoffs, but we feel very confident in our ability to win football games. I like our chances.”

I’m starting to like our chances, too.

Thursday Night Football open thread

The Philadelphia Eagles host the Arizona Cardinals in what will hopefully be a competitive game. Also, Texas A&M plays Texas.

This is an open thread for both games.

Cowboys gobble up easy win over Seahawks, 34-9

On Turkey Day, the Dallas Cowboys feasted on some bird, gobbling up the Seattle Seahawks 34-9 in a game that Dallas owned from the first drive. Look no further than the big uglies on both sides of the ball for the victory. Dallas owned the trenches. In the first half, when the Cowboys built their lead, Tony Romo could have taken a turkey-induced nap in the pocket and still had time to pick out receivers. Romo ate his fill of the Seahawks defense, passing for 331 yards and 3 TD’s. He also wasn’t sacked on the day although he pulled off a few Houdini-like escapes. Montrae Holland was an upgrade over Cory Procter and looks like he may be the replacement for Kyle Kosier we needed.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys amassed seven sacks (celebrated with turkey dances) and many more hurries on Matt Hasselback while totally frustrating the Seahawks offense. For another game, this defense comes up big by not allowing a TD and getting a couple of turnovers. DeMarcus Ware was a beast with three sacks and now leads the NFL at 15.

Mentioning Ware though brings to mind the bad news of the day, Ware’s knee injury and Marion Barber’s foot injury. Ware said after the game while accepting the Gobbler award that his knee felt good but they didn’t want him to go back in. But as always, we’ll have to wait for the doctor’s report.

The skill guys did their part, Jason Witten was huge, Roy Williams and Terrell Owens got involved, Martellus Bennett caught another TD and Tashard Choice showed some skill replacing Barber.

On the field the Cowboys played an excellent football game. Off the field, we have to wait for the injury report.

But go ahead and celebrate anyway, we’re 8-4, and we’re playing much better football. Granted against some bad competition, but you have to play who they schedule for you. The Cowboys had no problems accepting their bird feast today.

Box score.

Cowboys vs. Seahawks open thread II 11/27/08

New open thread for the Cowboys/Seahawks game.

Cowboys vs. Seahawks open thread 11/27/08

Open Thread

Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks
Sunday, Nov 27th, 2008
4:00 PM EST, TV: FOX
Texas Stadium - Irving, TX

My prediction: Dallas 34 - Seattle 13

Weather Forecast
Cloudy
69 degrees
Wind 1 mph

This is an open thread for game chat. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving open thread

Time to consume the turkey then watch a little pigskin. The gameplan for me is to do the feasting during the Titans/Lions game. Munch on some turkey and gravy, mashed taters, a little corn, a bunch of stuffing, some more gravy and top it off with a little pie. Then kick back and watch the Cowboys stomp all over the Seahawks.

I’ll be back later today from the festivities to put up open threads for the game. In the meantime, use this as an open thread for Thanksgiving and for the early game.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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