Troy Aikman said he thought the team that could best protect it's quarterback would be the team that would win the game. And after each team's first series, both defensive lines had an impact on 3rd down when Ray Edwards stripped Tony Romo and the Kevin Williams recovered the ball on their own 35 yard line.
Minnesota's offense took over and went three and out after Demarcus Ware sacked Brett Favre on third down. The next time the Dallas defense sacked Favre, it was already 17-3 and the Vikings defense had asserted their will on the Cowboys' offensive line.
Dallas' best chance to win this game was gone after the first three drives produced a grand total of three points. I don't think the Romo fumble on the first drive hurt because Dallas' defense was able to get the Vikes to go three and out. But to not get anything out of the second drive (and not go for it on 4th down when the run game was gashing the Vikings' defense) and to not be able to punch the ball in on the third drive when they had to settle for their only points of the game?
That was a killer.
A month ago, Dallas took the crowd out of the game in New Orleans by scoring on their first two drives of the game. I think that allowed them to win that night.
Not being able to jump out to a quick start today killed any chance they had of winning the game.
Now I suppose you could look at the lopsided score and suggest this was as bad as the 44-6 debacle in Philly that ended the year for the Cowboys last year.
In some ways it was. I'm still dumbfounded at how bad the offensive line played and how Gerald Sensabaugh probably still doesn't know Sidney Rice caught that TD pass in the first period. He gets his head around, and he might even have a chance to intercept it.
But unlike against Philly, I still think Dallas had a fighter's chance to get back in this game. Aside from the Favre to Rice TD, the defense played rather well. through three quarters and finally gave in in the fourth. Against Philly, they were out of it almost from the word go, and then it snowballed downhill from there.
Now Jason Garrett is going to get some blame. And he probably deserves some, like on the pitch out to Marion Barber. What that play was supposed to accomplish, I'm not entirely sure.
But when your offensive line is getting used and abused by what's probably the best defensive line in football, there's not a lot you can do, playcalling wise, to counter that.
And as we look to the future, I'm not sure what the Cowboys will be able to do to upgrade their offensive line. Because they made the final 8, they're subject to the stupid free agent rule that prevents them from signing any free agents unless the lose one first. Thanks Roger. Ass.
And because some moron owner decided to trade away a third round, sixth round, and seventh round pick this season for a spare wide receiver, the Cowboys are a little limited in the draft in April.
So I'm just going to make the following prediction:
This team will miss the playoffs next season and Wade will get fired.
Showing posts with label dallas cowboys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dallas cowboys. Show all posts
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Cowboys-Vikings Preview
Mike Fisher notes that he successfully convinced a newspaper he worked with years ago (the Startlegrame, presumably?) to do away with the stupid matchup chart.
You know, which team had the edge at the QB, RB, WR, etc. positions?
His reasoning was simple. Tony Romo isn't going up against Brett Favre, head to head. He's going up against the Vikings pass defense just as Favre is going head to head against the Cowboys defense.
Now, if you want to make a position by position comparison and used it to determine which team has the more prolific weapons at their disposable, I suppose you could that.
To me, though, this game may come down to which team can protect it's QB better. I say that because I think Dallas could do a slightly worse job protecting Romo, but still come away with the win, if only because Minnesota's pass defense was shredded in December by the likes of Kurt Warner, Matt Moore, and Jay Cutler.
And no, I don't buy the 'they didn't have anything to play for' excuse, just as I wasn't buying it from the Cowboys two years ago after the Giants dispatched the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in this same playoff round.
Against Favre, I'd still give the Cowboys improving secondary a chance against Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, and Bernard Berrian. Though that glaring mismatch between Visanthe Shiancoe and the Cowboys' linebackers could prove to be problematic as the game wears on tomorrow.
The only reason I'd give the Vikes a chance in this one is simply because they're playing at home where they're 8-0. Albeit, partially because of a perfect mark saving catch by Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone against San Francisco.
But it's clear that Minnesota is much different team at home than they've been on the road, where they lost their last three road games and finished with a 4-4 mark. It's also clear that the noise the Cowboys will face tomorrow will probably be the most deafening crowd noise they've faced all year.
Will you be able to handle it, Flozell and Jason? Because this game may come down to their ability to handle the crowd noise and, specifically, for Flozell to be able to contain Jared Allen. If he can't, both Allen and Kevin Williams may have a field day in harrassing Romo.
And the Cowboys will be going home.
You know, which team had the edge at the QB, RB, WR, etc. positions?
His reasoning was simple. Tony Romo isn't going up against Brett Favre, head to head. He's going up against the Vikings pass defense just as Favre is going head to head against the Cowboys defense.
Now, if you want to make a position by position comparison and used it to determine which team has the more prolific weapons at their disposable, I suppose you could that.
To me, though, this game may come down to which team can protect it's QB better. I say that because I think Dallas could do a slightly worse job protecting Romo, but still come away with the win, if only because Minnesota's pass defense was shredded in December by the likes of Kurt Warner, Matt Moore, and Jay Cutler.
And no, I don't buy the 'they didn't have anything to play for' excuse, just as I wasn't buying it from the Cowboys two years ago after the Giants dispatched the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in this same playoff round.
Against Favre, I'd still give the Cowboys improving secondary a chance against Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, and Bernard Berrian. Though that glaring mismatch between Visanthe Shiancoe and the Cowboys' linebackers could prove to be problematic as the game wears on tomorrow.
The only reason I'd give the Vikes a chance in this one is simply because they're playing at home where they're 8-0. Albeit, partially because of a perfect mark saving catch by Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone against San Francisco.
But it's clear that Minnesota is much different team at home than they've been on the road, where they lost their last three road games and finished with a 4-4 mark. It's also clear that the noise the Cowboys will face tomorrow will probably be the most deafening crowd noise they've faced all year.
Will you be able to handle it, Flozell and Jason? Because this game may come down to their ability to handle the crowd noise and, specifically, for Flozell to be able to contain Jared Allen. If he can't, both Allen and Kevin Williams may have a field day in harrassing Romo.
And the Cowboys will be going home.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Cowboys Finally End Playoff Win Drought
And to give you an idea on how long this drought was, I was working at a deli at Tom Thumb the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game.
I remember because I was listening to the entire game. So it's actually been about 15 years since I've actually watched the Cowboys win a playoff game. Which in my case, it was Super Bowl XXX.
Getting back to the here and now, I wasn't really surprised in the least by the result. OK, a little bit, since I called it 24-10 in favor of the Cowboys. They had 27 by halftime and that was largely due to the Eagles self destructing with critical turnovers at the end of the first half.
But the domination? Nope. Not in the least.
The 7-0 record that the Eagles had brought into Cowboys Stadium tonight in opening playoff games in the Andy Reid era meant absolutely nothing. That record was built largely through a unit that was truly feared and a mastermind of a defensive coordinator.
The last two weekends, the Cowboys showed no fear of this unit while their own defensive unit is going to give Mr. Noodle and Brett Favvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvre many things to worry about next weekend.
But that IS for next weekend.
Tonight, the Dallas Cowboys organization and it's fans get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And 44-6 truly has been erased from the consciousness of this team. I can't tell you how big of a mental hurdle this was and important it was to clear it.
A few other thoughts:
* I hate to start off with officiating, but the Eagles and Cowboys set an NFL record for combined penalties with over 240 yards. And I'm convinced that Ed Hochuli's crew actually set out to set the record by calling every chintzy penalty that they could, starting with that joke of an offensive pass interference penalty against Jason Witten. It reminded me of the ridiculous PI call on Witten in the first meeting against the Eagles.
And they capped off a dreadful performance in the first half by waiting a good 3 to 4 seconds after the play clock had expired. Had the Eagles' defense not pointed this out, I'm convinced they would have missed the call completely!
* I suppose you could call this a turning point if only from the standpoint that it marked the point in the game where things started to roll downhill for the Eagles. Even if they get this call, I'm still convinced Dallas comes back and wins rather handily.
But Philly had just tied the game on a catch and run by Jeremy Maclin (on a play where he pushed off to gain separation on Mike Jenkins). After the ensuing kickoff, Tony Romo's throw to Miles Austin sails high and the pass appears to have been picked off by Sean Jones at the Dallas 34. He gets up and runs another 20 yards before getting pushed out of bounds.
Wade Phillips pulls out the red flag, waits a few moments to let his coaches upstairs look at the play, and he decides to challenge it. Ed Hochuli looks at the replay, determines the ball hit the ground AND that Jones used the ground to gain control of the ball.
With a second life, Romo leads the Cowboys 85 yards in 10 plays culminating with a Tashard Choice TD to retake the lead. Dallas tacks on 13 more points unanswered in the second half and puts it in cruise control from there.
Again, I still think Dallas would have won the game. But I'd be lying if I told you I wanted to test that theory.
* Make that 13 times out of 20 that one team's been able to sweep a divisional rival twice in the regular season and then been able to cap it off with a third win in the playoffs. Sooner or later, people will realize it's not that hard to beat a team three times in one season.
* I still think Chris Collinsworth is a moron. But he's 100 times better than Joe Thiesmann, who NFL fans had to suffer through during NBC's early game today. Not to mention, Tom Hammond makes me want to gargle lighter fluid every time I hear him
Anybody got a match?
* I'll give Mike Jenkins a pass for fumbling after he picked off McNabb in the third quarter. But I won't be so forgiving for Ken Hamlin.
Seriously, what the f**k was he thinking tonight? First, he nailed a defenseless Brent Celek on a completely unnecessary hit. Then he got into it with Jeremy Maclin, picking up 30 yards in penalties all because of his stupidity, on the lone Eagles' TD drive of the second half.
I expect Roger Goodell to dock him at least $7,500 for his hit on Celek in the first. If not more.
* Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban grabbed some headlines earlier this week when he blasted the NFL's decision to schedule tonight's Eagles-Cowboys game opposite the Jazz-Mavericks game. Yes, he's right that the NFL doesn't give a whit about the little Mavericks.
But so what? The NFL's job is to find the most appealing matchups of the first two weekends of the playoffs for it's broadcast partners and schedule them accordingly.
Which along those lines, there's rumblings that the Cowboys-Vikings game could be scheduled in the early game timeslot next Sunday.
The Mavs are also playing on Sunday as well at Toronto. Guess what time the game tips off? Oh, at about the same time the Cowboys and Vikings could be playing each other.
I remember because I was listening to the entire game. So it's actually been about 15 years since I've actually watched the Cowboys win a playoff game. Which in my case, it was Super Bowl XXX.
Getting back to the here and now, I wasn't really surprised in the least by the result. OK, a little bit, since I called it 24-10 in favor of the Cowboys. They had 27 by halftime and that was largely due to the Eagles self destructing with critical turnovers at the end of the first half.
But the domination? Nope. Not in the least.
The 7-0 record that the Eagles had brought into Cowboys Stadium tonight in opening playoff games in the Andy Reid era meant absolutely nothing. That record was built largely through a unit that was truly feared and a mastermind of a defensive coordinator.
The last two weekends, the Cowboys showed no fear of this unit while their own defensive unit is going to give Mr. Noodle and Brett Favvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvre many things to worry about next weekend.
But that IS for next weekend.
Tonight, the Dallas Cowboys organization and it's fans get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And 44-6 truly has been erased from the consciousness of this team. I can't tell you how big of a mental hurdle this was and important it was to clear it.
A few other thoughts:
* I hate to start off with officiating, but the Eagles and Cowboys set an NFL record for combined penalties with over 240 yards. And I'm convinced that Ed Hochuli's crew actually set out to set the record by calling every chintzy penalty that they could, starting with that joke of an offensive pass interference penalty against Jason Witten. It reminded me of the ridiculous PI call on Witten in the first meeting against the Eagles.
And they capped off a dreadful performance in the first half by waiting a good 3 to 4 seconds after the play clock had expired. Had the Eagles' defense not pointed this out, I'm convinced they would have missed the call completely!
* I suppose you could call this a turning point if only from the standpoint that it marked the point in the game where things started to roll downhill for the Eagles. Even if they get this call, I'm still convinced Dallas comes back and wins rather handily.
But Philly had just tied the game on a catch and run by Jeremy Maclin (on a play where he pushed off to gain separation on Mike Jenkins). After the ensuing kickoff, Tony Romo's throw to Miles Austin sails high and the pass appears to have been picked off by Sean Jones at the Dallas 34. He gets up and runs another 20 yards before getting pushed out of bounds.
Wade Phillips pulls out the red flag, waits a few moments to let his coaches upstairs look at the play, and he decides to challenge it. Ed Hochuli looks at the replay, determines the ball hit the ground AND that Jones used the ground to gain control of the ball.
With a second life, Romo leads the Cowboys 85 yards in 10 plays culminating with a Tashard Choice TD to retake the lead. Dallas tacks on 13 more points unanswered in the second half and puts it in cruise control from there.
Again, I still think Dallas would have won the game. But I'd be lying if I told you I wanted to test that theory.
* Make that 13 times out of 20 that one team's been able to sweep a divisional rival twice in the regular season and then been able to cap it off with a third win in the playoffs. Sooner or later, people will realize it's not that hard to beat a team three times in one season.
* I still think Chris Collinsworth is a moron. But he's 100 times better than Joe Thiesmann, who NFL fans had to suffer through during NBC's early game today. Not to mention, Tom Hammond makes me want to gargle lighter fluid every time I hear him
Anybody got a match?
* I'll give Mike Jenkins a pass for fumbling after he picked off McNabb in the third quarter. But I won't be so forgiving for Ken Hamlin.
Seriously, what the f**k was he thinking tonight? First, he nailed a defenseless Brent Celek on a completely unnecessary hit. Then he got into it with Jeremy Maclin, picking up 30 yards in penalties all because of his stupidity, on the lone Eagles' TD drive of the second half.
I expect Roger Goodell to dock him at least $7,500 for his hit on Celek in the first. If not more.
* Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban grabbed some headlines earlier this week when he blasted the NFL's decision to schedule tonight's Eagles-Cowboys game opposite the Jazz-Mavericks game. Yes, he's right that the NFL doesn't give a whit about the little Mavericks.
But so what? The NFL's job is to find the most appealing matchups of the first two weekends of the playoffs for it's broadcast partners and schedule them accordingly.
Which along those lines, there's rumblings that the Cowboys-Vikings game could be scheduled in the early game timeslot next Sunday.
The Mavs are also playing on Sunday as well at Toronto. Guess what time the game tips off? Oh, at about the same time the Cowboys and Vikings could be playing each other.
I Don't Get All the Love for Eagles
One of my favorite daily blog reads is Uwe Blog. It's cleverly named and very well written with thoughtful analysis on everything going on in the DFW sports scene.
I highly recommend you add them to the list of blogs you peruse on a daily basis.
That having been said, I read Chip's analysis of tonight's Cowboys-Eagles preview and I can only assume he thinks Brian Dawkins and Lito Shepherd still patrol the back end of Philly's defense.
Yes, I know the failures of this team when the pressures been on have been well chronicled. I know parallels have been drawn all week between the failure in 2007 and this matchup with the Eagles, knowing that Andy Reid is 7-0 in first round games.
But I have to take umbrage with the statement below, and not just because he predicts a Philly win:
They're not. Especially on the defensive side of the ball for Philly.
Like I said at the beginning, Lito Shepherd and Brian Dawkins are no longer providing that shut down defense on the back end of the field. And to take it a step further, Jim Johnson, God rest his soul, is no longer putting together the blitz packages that made this unit one of the most feared defensive units over the last decade.
As they've proven in the first two games, the Cowboys can generate big plays on this defense when they need to.
In the first matchup, they stemmed the tide twice with long throws to Patrick Crayton on their final drive of the first half and a 3rd and 14 conversion to Miles Austin for a 49 yard TD in the fourth quarter that broke a 13-13 deadlock.
Then last week, they proved they can methodically drive down the field on the Eagles en route to a 24-0 win that, in spite of what some mediots might suggest, was not a case where Sean McDermott intentionally pulled back on his blitz packages because of the rematch this week.
Philly had a first round bye and home field in the second round on the line so you can kiss that theory good bye. Rather, they played back because Dallas burned them in the first meeting.
On the other side of the ball, I will concede that Philly's wideouts and Donovan McNabb have had chances to make big plays.
In the first meeting, Jeremy Maclin had a chance to extend a drive on third down but let a ball slip right through his fingers. Last week, Desean Jackson got behind Terence Newman but McNabb over through him for what surely would have been a game tying TD...in the first half.
But what else ya got?
Because to hear some mediots tell it, the Eagles offense was dominating the Dallas defense in the first two meetings. They just weren't putting up the points to show for it.
If only DeSean had hauled in that catch and taken it all the way or Donovan hadn't have bungled that snap at the Dallas 20 in the first half, the Eagles would have surely won.
That's assuming the Eagles defense would have instantly found a solution to slowing down the Cowboys' offense.
Now about those parallels to 2007, I'd submit to you that the Cowboys team that is entering these playoffs is vastly different from the one that limped in two years ago.
Against the Giants, we were hoping to see the Cowboys flip the switch on offense and it never happened.
This time around, the Cowboys offense which struggled for much of the year has scored a touchdown on it's opening drive of the game in three straight games. The switch is definitely on.
And it's definitely on on the defensive side of the ball where the Cowboys, for the first time in franchise history, posted back to back shutouts against the Redskins and Eagles. No small feat to be sure.
They also don't have Jacques Reeves playing opposite Terence Newman. And they certainly don't have Roy Williams sucking the life out of the defense at strong safety.
What they do have is a nice replacement in Gerald Sensabaugh and Mike Jenkins, whose gone from being the guy who won't try to lay a finger on Brandon Jacobs as he strolled into the end zone at the Meadowlands last year to being a ball hawking, play making corner, as evidenced by his momentum stopping pick against the Eagles back in Week 9 with Philly leading 13-10 late in the third quarter.
What this game boils down to is two offenses.
One that's really hitting it's stride and shown in the past two games that when a play needs to be made, it can make that play versus another offense that's banking on it's ability to break out. Because, you know, that's what they did against the lesser lights of the NFL.
I'm obviously taking Dallas tonight and I don't really think it'll be all that close.
Cowboys 24, Eagles 10
I highly recommend you add them to the list of blogs you peruse on a daily basis.
That having been said, I read Chip's analysis of tonight's Cowboys-Eagles preview and I can only assume he thinks Brian Dawkins and Lito Shepherd still patrol the back end of Philly's defense.
Yes, I know the failures of this team when the pressures been on have been well chronicled. I know parallels have been drawn all week between the failure in 2007 and this matchup with the Eagles, knowing that Andy Reid is 7-0 in first round games.
But I have to take umbrage with the statement below, and not just because he predicts a Philly win:
Prediction
Eagles 27, Cowboys 23
All I can say to Romo, Phillips, Jones and Co. is "prove it!" The Eagles have over the last decade. Forget what's happened the last four weeks and consider the last 10 years. Or what happens tomorrow night. If a 13-3 Cowboys team can lose to the underdog Giants, an evenly-matched Cowboys team can lose to the Eagles.
They're not. Especially on the defensive side of the ball for Philly.
Like I said at the beginning, Lito Shepherd and Brian Dawkins are no longer providing that shut down defense on the back end of the field. And to take it a step further, Jim Johnson, God rest his soul, is no longer putting together the blitz packages that made this unit one of the most feared defensive units over the last decade.
As they've proven in the first two games, the Cowboys can generate big plays on this defense when they need to.
In the first matchup, they stemmed the tide twice with long throws to Patrick Crayton on their final drive of the first half and a 3rd and 14 conversion to Miles Austin for a 49 yard TD in the fourth quarter that broke a 13-13 deadlock.
Then last week, they proved they can methodically drive down the field on the Eagles en route to a 24-0 win that, in spite of what some mediots might suggest, was not a case where Sean McDermott intentionally pulled back on his blitz packages because of the rematch this week.
Philly had a first round bye and home field in the second round on the line so you can kiss that theory good bye. Rather, they played back because Dallas burned them in the first meeting.
On the other side of the ball, I will concede that Philly's wideouts and Donovan McNabb have had chances to make big plays.
In the first meeting, Jeremy Maclin had a chance to extend a drive on third down but let a ball slip right through his fingers. Last week, Desean Jackson got behind Terence Newman but McNabb over through him for what surely would have been a game tying TD...in the first half.
But what else ya got?
Because to hear some mediots tell it, the Eagles offense was dominating the Dallas defense in the first two meetings. They just weren't putting up the points to show for it.
If only DeSean had hauled in that catch and taken it all the way or Donovan hadn't have bungled that snap at the Dallas 20 in the first half, the Eagles would have surely won.
That's assuming the Eagles defense would have instantly found a solution to slowing down the Cowboys' offense.
Now about those parallels to 2007, I'd submit to you that the Cowboys team that is entering these playoffs is vastly different from the one that limped in two years ago.
Against the Giants, we were hoping to see the Cowboys flip the switch on offense and it never happened.
This time around, the Cowboys offense which struggled for much of the year has scored a touchdown on it's opening drive of the game in three straight games. The switch is definitely on.
And it's definitely on on the defensive side of the ball where the Cowboys, for the first time in franchise history, posted back to back shutouts against the Redskins and Eagles. No small feat to be sure.
They also don't have Jacques Reeves playing opposite Terence Newman. And they certainly don't have Roy Williams sucking the life out of the defense at strong safety.
What they do have is a nice replacement in Gerald Sensabaugh and Mike Jenkins, whose gone from being the guy who won't try to lay a finger on Brandon Jacobs as he strolled into the end zone at the Meadowlands last year to being a ball hawking, play making corner, as evidenced by his momentum stopping pick against the Eagles back in Week 9 with Philly leading 13-10 late in the third quarter.
What this game boils down to is two offenses.
One that's really hitting it's stride and shown in the past two games that when a play needs to be made, it can make that play versus another offense that's banking on it's ability to break out. Because, you know, that's what they did against the lesser lights of the NFL.
I'm obviously taking Dallas tonight and I don't really think it'll be all that close.
Cowboys 24, Eagles 10
The Semi-Return of Knee Jerk City
If you were a long time reader of my old KJC blog, you may no doubt know that I decided to cut the cord about 11 months ago when I joined Brandon Worley at the upstart Defending Big D. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up as a hockey blogger.
At the time, I had turned KJC into primarily a Dallas Stars blog. So when I joined Brandon, it didn't make sense at the time to share my Dallas Stars thoughts on two separate blogs. Part of the deal was that I couldn't cross post something I had written at DBD over to any other blog.
So why the return?
Well, I've got a number of thoughts about my other favorite teams that won't fit within the confines of Twitter's 140 character limit. I'm from Dallas, have followed Dallas sports teams all my life, and I'm also a huge Oklahoma Sooner fan. In addition, I also follow the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC.
In other words, I'm following the template of my good friend, Art Middleton, who ran a Stars site for so long, then joined me alongside Brandon Worley and Brad G over at DBD. If he has a Stars thought to pontificate on, he does it over at DBD.
Anything else in the sports world gets blogged about on his own blog.
And that's how I'm going to run this latest incarnation of Knee Jerk City.
At the time, I had turned KJC into primarily a Dallas Stars blog. So when I joined Brandon, it didn't make sense at the time to share my Dallas Stars thoughts on two separate blogs. Part of the deal was that I couldn't cross post something I had written at DBD over to any other blog.
So why the return?
Well, I've got a number of thoughts about my other favorite teams that won't fit within the confines of Twitter's 140 character limit. I'm from Dallas, have followed Dallas sports teams all my life, and I'm also a huge Oklahoma Sooner fan. In addition, I also follow the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC.
In other words, I'm following the template of my good friend, Art Middleton, who ran a Stars site for so long, then joined me alongside Brandon Worley and Brad G over at DBD. If he has a Stars thought to pontificate on, he does it over at DBD.
Anything else in the sports world gets blogged about on his own blog.
And that's how I'm going to run this latest incarnation of Knee Jerk City.
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