DALLAS COWBOYS 2015 REGULAR SEASON [Archive]

eagle eye

09-10-2015, 01:17 PM

The Cowboys had an unusual occurrence today. All 53 members of the roster practiced today. Even for this early in the season this is unusual. It's awesome and it will likely be the only time this season but it's nice for Dallas to at least begin the season healthy.

The Cowboys filled the last spot on their practice squad yesterday when they signed CB Deji Olatoye. Olatoye spent last season on the Chiefs and Ravens practice squads. Deji has nice size at 6'1" and 198 lbs and because he has experience with two pretty good defensive teams he should know his way around an NFL locker room. Here's an article from DallasCowboys.com that includes the list of all 10 practice squad members.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/09/cowboys-sign-cornerback-fill-out-10-man-practice-squad

With Zack Martin, JJ Wilcox, Anthony Hitchens, Devon Street, James Hanna and of course Tony Romo returning to practice the perception is Dallas is full bore go for the season opener vs the Giants on Sunday night. Many of the guys on this list have been out as more of a precautionary measure than any problems the team is in really good shape. Zack Martin suffered a stinger in the joint practice with Rams a couple of weeks ago in Oxnard has no limits so the O-line for the first time this whole preseason are all on the field together. That is a good thing. James Hanna has missed because of an ankle and he looks to be back close, if not all the way, to full strength. Anthony Hitchens has miss a lot of time the pass couple of weeks with a foot injury but he was reported as running fine with no pain and he is going to be the starting middle linebacker on Sunday night. Street has been nursing an ankle injure since the Rams practices but he looks like he's good to go. JJ Wilcox missed training camp time too but he looks like he will be back and ready to go as well. Romo only missed yesterday's practice as the Cowboys have decided to return to the "Romo Wednesdays" routine of last season to help give Tony a little extra time to recover from the week's games. Last season Romo missed out on a lot of training camp reps as Dallas tried being cautious with him as he recovered from off season back surgery. The rust showed in a big way in the Cowboys season opener last summer when Romo threw 3 picks and generally didn't play well. Experts were saying at the time that Romo's back was the reason and maybe this was signaling the end of Romo's career. Fortunately, (as usual) the experts were wrong. It was rust and by Week 4 Romo was back in form and ended up enjoying his best season as a pro. I guess the Cowboys felt like "...if it ain't broke don't fix it." in terms of Romo's weekly routine.

eagle eye

09-12-2015, 03:00 PM

Well all that ballyhoo over all 53 players practicing lasted all of one day as Dallas' newest lineman Justin Mills landed on the injury list. Truth is Dallas has 10 players on the injury list this week but all but Mills were full participants while Mills practiced but on a limited basis. Here is the official injury report heading into tomorrow night's game. Tomorrow night---freaking sweet! Dallas also gets a bit of a break for the game, starting LB John Beason and WR Victor Cruz are both out for the game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/team/injury-report

Last season prior to the 2014 season opener against the 49ers the pundits and experts had Dallas not even going .500 which is what they had done the previous 3 years. Most predicted the Cowboys would be 7-9 or 6-10. Dallas had the worst defense on the planet in 2013 and didn't look much better for 2014. 2015 looks a lot better with the return of Sean Lee and the acquisition of some pass rushers in the off season, not to mention a 1st round pick CB/S to shore up the defensive backfield. If the pass rush improves as much as hoped without any loss of quality in their run defense Dallas could end up a top 10 unit. DallasCowboys.com's Mickey Spagnola talks about the prospects for this season much better than I ever could. Here's a link to his article.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/11/spagnola-what-difference-year-makes-when-predicting-future

Here are Bryan Broaddus' final thoughts before the season opening game tomorrow night.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/11/scout%E2%80%99s-notebook-final-thoughts-ahead-sunday%E2%80%99s-opener-against-giants

Prediction for the game: The Cowboys and Giants have always played shootout type of games regardless if one or both are not playing so well going in. It has actually taken at least 31 points for one or the other to win and I really have no reason to believe that trend will change. So my final score in the game will be.....................

Dallas 33 NY Giants 17

eagle eye

09-14-2015, 01:16 PM

What a nightmare last night was because despite pretty much dominating every statistical category Dallas found itself down by 10 points in the 4th quarter. This was because Dallas gift wrapped 17 points to the Giants because of turnovers. Jason Witten played volleyball with a bad pass from Romo that resulted in an INT for NY which led to a field goal. Cole Beasley, at the end of a 30 yard gain, had the ball ripped out and Antonio Rogers-Cromartie scooped up the fumble and ran it back for a TD. Then Devin Street catches a pass for about a second when he's hit knocking the ball straight into a Giant defender's arms and he took the ball down to the Dallas one where they scored on the first play after the turnover. Otherwise the Giants offense scored 9 points. Dallas earned every point they scored and even with the turnovers Dallas should have won by 17. The receivers had bad case of the drops. Dez actually dropped a ball in the red zone he could have almost walked in for a TD if he had just caught the damn ball. Street, Williams and couple of others hand more butter on the their hands than they had stickem. Dallas' defense was pretty darn good. Eli was getting the ball out quick but if he held the ball for any length of time he would be hit at very least. Odell Beckham was pretty much ineffectual in the game and IMO a big reason was a ka-boom laid on him when he caught a pass over the middle by safety JJ Wilcox. The hit jarred Bechham, knocked the ball loose and was actually called incomplete. What we didn't know until after the game was that Wilcox broke his nose delivering the hit. It's not likely Wilcox will miss any time but there were some hard hits suffered by the Cowboys on the injury front. Dez Bryant will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his foot that will require surgery. G Ronald Leary went out with a groin injury. No word on his status as yet. DE Randy Gregory will be out 4-6 weeks with the dreaded high ankle sprain. All three are major contributors and it may be hardest to replace Dez but Gregory's loss is a huge blow to the Cowboys pass rush. The Cowboys were counting on his contributions in the first 4 weeks of the season especially to fill the gap left by the Greg Hardy suspension. This is an opportunity for Jeremy Mincey to step up and make a difference. Sean Lee was a welcome sight on the field and he led the Cowboys with nine tackles. The move to the WILL spot is a match made in heaven for Lee. He just looks like a natural at the position. Of course, Lee is good enough to look at home in any of the 3 LB spots.
The drive that won the game began with 1:28 left in the game with no time outs and ended with just 7 seconds remaining on the clock on a pass from Romo to Witten for an 11 yard TD. It was the 24th fourth quarter comeback in Romo's career. Romo completed 36-of-45 passes (80 percent) for 356 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a 103.3 quarterback rating. The 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter marked the largest deficit overcome by Romo and the Cowboys in the final period since a 13-point deficit they overcame at Detroit on Dec. 9, 2007.
Now we have to adjust to life without Dez or Gregory. Those are two big losses to work through but one thing is for certain, the Eagles, Falcon Saints and Patriots who our next 4 opponents will definitely NOT feel sorry for the Cowboys. Time for the Cowboys to put on their big boy pants and see what they are really made of.

eagle eye

09-15-2015, 09:55 AM

The reports are that the surgery went well on Dez Bryant's foot yesterday. They inserted a screw into his foot at his little toe area. The time frame he's out seems to be open to some debate. Originally the Cowboys said 4-6 weeks. Today I see an article in Bleacher Report that a Dr the BR people spoke to said it was going to be 8-12 weeks. In another post on BR former NFL WR Donte Stallworth had the same surgery and he missed 6-7 weeks. In the link below is the article with both references. In a link to Stallworth's twitter account he posted the pics of his foot before and after surgery. The pics may come up on your computer. The pics came up on my phone but not on my PC. I have some trouble with my work PC at times with stuff like that but there is at least a link to the x-rays of Stallworth's foot.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-09-15/dez-bryant-injury-replacement-fantasy-cowboys-surgery

There is another article in BR that says the real time table for Bryant's return is unknown but they feel like he will be able to begin workouts in 2-3 weeks. So, there's that.

eagle eye

09-16-2015, 10:23 AM

So the player personnel department has been working overtime this week after having to deal with their lack of depth at offensive tackle and the loss of Dez Bryant this past Sunday. Let's recap the moves since last Saturday.
1. On Saturday the Cowboys and DT Tyrone Crawford agreed to a 4 year $45MM contract extension. That is a good thing.
2. On Monday Dallas waived OT Justin Mills. Mills was signed late last week in hopes he would be the answer the Cowboys have been looking for at swing tackle. Evidently he was the wrong answer.
3. On Tuesday Dallas waived OT Darion Weems. Weems had been on either the Cowboys IR or practice squad for the past 3 seasons. He got the most work in practice since signing with Dallas in 2013. The Cowboys were hoping that Weems was the answer the Cowboys had been looking for at swing tackle but he just didn't have what was needed to play either tackle spots. The best he could do was backup the right tackle spot and that's just not enough.
4. On Tuesday Dallas signs OT Charles Brown. Brown has been with the Saints (2010 2nd round pick) and Giants. He was among the final cuts on Sept 5 by the Jets. Dallas worked out Brown last week but didn't sign him opting instead to sign Justin Mills. I think it was salary cap move because, being a 5 year vet, if he was on the Cowboys opening day roster his entire 2015 salary would be guaranteed. Week 2 it's not. Brown has started 22 of 39 games which means that he is a good candidate to step into the swing tackle role for the Cowboys. Here's a scouting report from DallasCowboys.com on Brown who was actually Tyron Smith's teammate and roommate at USC.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/16/scouting-report-brown%E2%80%99s-experience-strength-make-him-viable-swing-tackle

5. On Tuesday Dallas released S Tim Scott off the practice squad which opens a spot that actually could be filled by Weems if he clears waivers. The Cowboys may actually see potential in Weems but he's missed too much due to injuries and needs too much work to fill the role that Dallas had hoped.
6. On Tuesday Dallas worked out 4 WRs including Hakeem Nicks but none were signed.
7. On Tuesday Dallas made a trade with the Oakland Raiders for WR Bryce Brown. Brown is a big receiver like Dez (6'3", 213 lbs) but obviously he isn't as talented as Dez. In the trade Dallas gave up a conditional draft pick depending on how many games Brown is actually on the roster. If he is on the roster for 6 games then Dallas will give up their 2016 5th round pick while Dallas will get Oakland's 6th round pick. Here are a couple of articles about Brown from DallasCowboys.com.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/15/scouting-report-film-shows-brice-butler-talented-inconsistent-wr

There are those who believe the loss of Randy Gregory to the high ankle sprain is actually a bigger loss to the Cowboys than the loss of Dez. Considering the loss of pass rush those people just may be right.

A last link to DallasCowboys.com features an article from Nick Eatman who compares Jason Garrett to Bill Parcels as Dallas prepares to play the Philadelphia Eagles this week. This one is pretty interesting.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/15/garrett-turns-parcells-tactics-week-preparing-philly-game

eagle eye

09-17-2015, 12:31 PM

Okay, I'm confused. (Nothing new, right?) The other day Dallas cut S Tim Scott from the practice squad and the thinking was that it would give Dallas an opportunity to sign recently cut OL Darion Weems. Today, DallasCowboys.com is reporting that Dallas did, in fact, sign Weems to the practice squad but they had to release RB Gus Johnson to make room for Weems. Who filled the other practice squad spot vacated by Scott? I'm sure there a lot of Gus Johnson fans disappointed at this news.

Romo was back at practice, Leary was still out which resulted in Mackenzy Bernadeau and La'el Collins sharing 1st team reps. Newly signed OL Charles Brown practiced today as well as did Christine Michael. It remains to be seen if Michael will suit up for Dallas Sunday in Philly. WR Brice Butler practiced as well. Honestly, I wouldn't expect Butler to be active this week. Dallas will be counting on Terrence Williams, Cole Beasley, Devin Street and Lucky Whitehead to step up and try to replace the loss of Dez. Former Cowboy Nate Newton feels as though TE Gavin Escobar and RB Lance Dunbar will contribute heavily in Philly this week.

This week Dallas will be facing the 4th QB in the last 2 years when facing the Eagles. Chip Kelly has used Nick Foles, Marc Sanchez and Matt Barkley previously and now Dallas will face Sam Bradford. Bradford is undoubtedly the best QB in the Chip Kelly era Dallas has faced and Dallas better be on their toes or this team will make the Cowboys look silly. DallasCowboys.com's Rob Phillips talks about the challenges the Cowboys face in Sam Bradford.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/17/fifth-time-facing-chip-kelly%E2%80%99s-offense-there%E2%80%99s-new-challenge-qb

Bryan Broaddus gives us a scout's view of what the O-line needs do in the run game and the challenge of covering the slot on defense in his keys to the game article.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/17/scouts-eye-key-cowboys-run-game-vs-philly-big-matchup-slot

eagle eye

09-19-2015, 11:53 AM

This is going to be a big game for so early in the season. Dallas really needs to win this week. Yeah, I know, they really need to win EVERY week but consider this. In the next 3 weeks Dallas will play the Falcons at home, New Orleans on the road and the Patriots at home. If Dallas can win this game and two of the next 3 they will be in great shape going into their Week 6 bye. It's against the Jason Garrett mantra to look ahead but as fans we have that luxury and if we can manage to get through this gauntlet of 5 games 4-1 it will go a long way to putting Dallas in a comfortable spot in the NFC East. This will be a weird year as Dallas will have played both games against the Giants and Eagle by Week 9 and We play the Redskins twice in December. If Dallas is going to repeat as NFC East Champions they will have earned it as Dallas plays many of the best teams in the NFL during the season including some teams that were thought to be push overs like the Jets and the Bills that are now playing pretty tough football. So, winning in Philly this week is pretty dang important. Dallas could go to 2-0 on the season while the rest of the division could easily start out 0-2.

So, Dallas will be without Dez and Randy Gregory this week. There is a chance they will also be without RG Ron Leary who is listed as questionable with a groin injury. If Leary can't go it will likely be Mackenzy Bernadeau going for Dallas and probably means highly touted UFA La'el Collins will be active for the game as backup at the guard position. Philly isn't missing anyone except WR Seyi Ajirotutu. (who?)

The most interesting matchup media wise has been the DeMarco Murray vs his old team story line and that's a real thing Dallas will need to be stout against the run to make the Eagles one dimensional. Unfortunately, the Eagle don't mind throwing the rock around--a lot. Sam Bradford attempted 52 passes against the Falcons last week. Murray gained all of 9 yards rushing. Now, it should be noted that Philly lost that game but they lost in large part because of the Falcons best receiver Julio Jones. Dallas will not have their #1 WR to lean on. It's going to be a challenge in every respect this week but don't get so lost on how good that "Chip Kelly" offense is and forget we have a pretty good team too.

Nothing left to say but this. Dallas is a 5 point underdog to the Eagles with the O/U at 55 points. There were 50 points scored last week between Philly and Hotlanta with the Falcons scoring 26 to Philly's 24. I expect this game, if Dallas is going to win, will be similar. I might be tempted to take the Cowboys and the points and the under here but I learned a long time ago that if I bet on Dallas, either way, I and they will lose. That said, I think Dallas needs to win this game and I think they will. What's the final score?

Dallas 29 Philadelphia 27

eagle eye

09-21-2015, 10:21 AM

I thought it would be a higher scoring game than it was but Dallas kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and they failed to execute in the red zone. The game yesterday should never have been as close as it was. Dallas had the ball just over 40 minutes and Philly had it for 19 minutes and change. A 2-1 time of possession should have translated to more than 20 points. It was actually worse than that as the defense scored a TD so Dallas' offense was only responsible for 13 points. Now, Philly has a pretty good D but they should have been tired as hell by halftime. The offense stalled at the 1/2 yard line and that is inexcusable. 3 plays to make a 1/2 yard and you can't, that's pitiful. That series was a prime example of how much Dallas, and Romo, misses Dez Bryant. A back shoulder fade to Gavin Escobar failed miserably, Joseph Randall was stuffed on 2nd down while Dallas was in the 3 tight end formation (which I hate) and Romo underthrew Witten at the back corner of the end zone. Romo lofted a soft floater that allowed the defender to recover after Witten had beaten him badly resulted in an incompletion on 3rd down. No way in hell Dallas should have settled for a field goal.
Then, in the 3rd quarter Romo was sacked and in the process he was turned sideways and driven into the turf that resulted in a broken collar bone. This is a serious setback for the Cowboys. The season is now riding on the right arm of Brandon Weeden. Does that scare you? It should. We're not talking about a spot start like last season when he came in a stunk up the place against Arizona, no, we're talking about at least 8 games. Half the damn season. Maybe he can do it but not if he stinks as bad as he did last year. In that start against the Cardinals Weeden reminded me of Ryan Mallett yesterday. Strong armed QB who is not accurate was what Weeden was. He will need to be better than that. In a perfect world Dallas would go 6-2 in those 8 games but what reality holds in store is anybody's guess.
The good thing is this, in the past Dallas couldn't be counted on the carry the team. Even last year when the Cowboys went 12-4 it was the offense that carried the team even though the defense was top 3 in takeaways. So far in 2015 the defense looks like it has turned a corner. The front office invested in many upgrades to the defense by signing/drafting players to upgrade their pass rush. They also have a healthy 3 technique D tackle in Tyrone Crawford and most importantly they have a healthy Sean Lee. (I am furiously knocking on every piece of wood in sight right now.) Lee has made a huge difference as has 2nd year man Anthony Hitchens. Hell, even the man who has been trying to find a place to fit in to this defense for 4 years, Kyle Wilbur, seems to have found a place at the SAM linebacker spot. Wilbur is the one who picked up the blocked punt and scored the Cowboys first TD yesterday. Mo Claiborne has played well, as befitting top ten draft pick, because he's finally healthy. 1st round pick Byron Jones has played his role well as has free agent CB/S Cory White. I want to say that CB Brandon Carr has been playing well but he needs a stern talking to by Rod Marinelli after a huge whiff on a tackle of DeMarco Murray yesterday in the 4th qtr. Carr had Murray pinned against the sideline but Murray literally jumped over Carr who ducked his head to body block tackle Murray. I want Marinelli tell Carr and the other DBs that from Pop Warner on up coaches should be telling players to SEE WHAT YOU HIT! In other words keep your head up and drive through the tackle.
Speaking of Murray, Dallas held Murray to 2 yards rushing--2. The Cowboys defense only allowed 7 yards rushing total and that's after they held the Giants to 99 yards last week. The defense now has only 2 weeks to wait before Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain return to the lineup and Randy Gregory should be back within the next 2-4 weeks. We have to get by Atlanta and a weak New Orleans team before reinforcements arrive to strengthen the defense. With a strong defense we can hang in most games but it all comes down to Weeden. If he can do more than drive the bus and not kill the offense with poor play we have a chance of going into Week 5 against the Patriots either 3-1 or 4-0. Now that would be something.

eagle eye

09-26-2015, 02:40 PM

Dallas has had a heckuva week. First and foremost they actually won the game with Philly last Sunday. That fact may be lost in all the hullabaloo surrounding the fact that Tony Romo will miss at least half of the season with a broken collar bone. We're hearing 8 weeks but maybe more depending on how his rehab goes. At any rate earlier this week Romo was placed on Injured Reserve/Scheduled for Return meaning he will miss at least six weeks. As injuries pile up for the Cowboys and the moves are made by Dallas as a result we, and they, can't lose sight of the fact Dallas has a game this week with the Atlanta Falcons. To matters worse for the Cowboys late this week starting right defensive end Jeremy Mincey was concussed in practice and will miss the game Sunday. It didn't take long for the Gods of Football decided to bring the hammer down on the Cowboys after they actually had all 53 players on the roster at practice the week leading up to their Week 1 game against NY. So far Dallas has lost Dez Bryant, Tony Romo, Randy Gregory, and they also were dealing with the 4 game suspensions of Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain. Dallas was also dealing with the loss of LG Ronald Leary and his status is questionable this week meaning the Cowboys will likely give rookie La'el Collins his first NFL start after he got his first NFL action last week against Philly. On top of all that Jason Witten came out of the Philly game with both ankles and a knee hurting bad enough he was on crutches on Monday. As the week progressed Witten returned to practice and depite being listed as probable. All the moves Dallas made to strengthen their D-line is paying dividends not only on the field but also depth wise. After so many hits to the D-line that depth is being severely tested. Speculation is that Jack Crawford is the next man up in Mincey's spot but it could also be DeMarcus Lawrence flips over from his left D-end spot to the right while Jack Crawford and rookie Ryan Russell as the backup on both sides. Whoever is on the field will need to be as good as the Cowboys have been the first two weeks as they absolutely need to get pressure on the Falcon's Matt Ryan to have any hope of stopping the Falcons on offense.
Dallas needs to stay nasty on defense and it's fortunate that they have been just that--nasty. With the sloppiness the Cowboys have been displaying on offense in the terms of play killing penalties the defense has really been the strength of the team so far. Of the 26 points Dallas allowed the NY Giants in Week 1 17 points came off turnovers. Last week Dallas D stifled the Eagles who scored a mere 10 points for the game. If you compare that to the Falcons who also played NY and Philly so far the Falcons gave up 24 to Philly in Week 1 and allowed the Giants to score 20 last Sunday. What this all tells me is this is going to be a tough game for both teams and will likely be a close game that comes right down to the end. The best player on that defense has been Sean Lee who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after posting 14 tackles and an interception in the end zone ending an Eagles scoring threat. Many of those 14 stops were behind the line of scrimmage as Lee seemed to be everywhere. I hope God blesses Lee with good health going forward because Lee has had to deal with 2 ACL tears, a neck and a toe injury causing him to miss more games than he's played since becoming a Cowboy.
So, Cowboys QB timeline:
> Monday - Romo out with broken collar bone at least 8 weeks, Kellen Moore promoted from the practice squad.
> Tuesday - Dallas worked out 4 QBs to provide veteran depth on the roster including Christian Ponder and Matt Flynn. Dallas made a trade with Buffalo to get Matt Cassel. Dallas gave up their 5th and 7th round picks in 2017 for Cassel and the Cowboys also get a 6th round pick from Buffalo in 2017.
> Wednesday - Cassel arrives in Dallas and participates in practice. Cassel tell media in locker room interview that playing for the Cowboys is dream come true because he had always wanted to play for Dallas.
> Friday - The Cowboys announce that DE Jeremy Mincey is out because he is under the NFL concussion protocol. Mincey suffered the concussion near the end of the Philly game and he missed practice during the week.
be
The only thing that is a positive is that Dallas is at home and this is the second week in a row the Falcons have played on the road. The Falcons only had to go to NY from Atlanta last week so it wasn't a long trip but being on the road is tiring none-the-less.

As Mickey Spagnola points out in his weekly column on DallasCowboys.com Brandon Weeden doesn't need to just drive the bus for the next 8 weeks he needs to be the Brandon Weeden from his Oklahoma State days. Not conservative but intelligently aggressive. He needs to run all the plays in the Cowboys playbook He doesn't have to be Tony Romo but if he's like a Bernie Kosar or a Steve Beuerlein who both had to come in a play and win games when Troy Aikman was injured back in the 90's Weeden can take the Cowboys where they need to go until Romo returns around Thanksgiving. It all starts against the Falcons Sunday.

The Falcons will be missing 3 starters this week. RB Tevin Coleman will be out with bruised ribs and LBs Brooks Reed (Groin) and former Cowboy Justin Durant (foot) will miss Sunday's game. Add to that list kick returner/WR Devin Hester out with a toe injury.

Byron Jones, the rookie 1st round pick for Dallas this year has made significant contributions to the Cowboys so far. He has been playing the opposing team's TE and he has really done a good job. He virtually eliminated Philly TE Zack Ertz from the offense last week as a prime example. This week Jones will have the task of stopping Atlanta's Jacob Tamme. Tamme isn't nearly as athletic or fast as Ertz but he is a wily vet who learned his craft playing with Peyton Manning in Indy and Denver.

Haven't heard of Mo Claiborne this year? He's playing and the reason you haven't heard from him is because he's playing well. He may not be playing up to his draft status but he's getting there and I'd bet my next check that as each game passes and he does well his confidence will increase every week until maybe, just maybe, nobody slams him as draft day bust. No, they will be wanting Dallas to sign him to a new contract before the season is over so he doesn't go away in free agency next year.

A lot of info today but the bottom line is, who wins the game this week. I believe it's all depending on Brandon Weeden. If he's good I think Dallas will win because I believe the Cowboys defense is just better than Atlanta's. If Weeden isn't good the Falcons will win and the game may not even be close if that is the case. The time has come for me commit to a prediction and I've decided to go total homer here. I believe Weeden, after two years as a Cowboy and getting extra work every week as a result of "Romo days off" on Wednesdays Weeden will be comfortable enough to lead the team to victory. The final score will be .............................................

Dallas 31 Atlanta 29

eagle eye

09-28-2015, 09:48 AM

All things considered I'm not mad about Dallas losing to Atlanta but I'm not too happy about the WAY they lost to them. It's the mistakes and missed opportunities that killed the Cowboys. Brandon Weeden was 9 for 9 in the 2nd quarter and was up 21-7 when he rolled out to his left and overthrew Jason Witten who was wide open and Atlanta picked off the pass and the turnover was converted into an Atlanta TD. Earlier in the game with a first down at the Cowboys 6 yard line CB Morris Claiborne jumped a quick slant to Julio Jones and he failed to catch the ball for the INT. Two plays later DeVonte Freeman scored the first of his 3 TDs on the day. Still another missed opportunity came when a pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and LB Kyle Wilbur failed to make a play. It should have been 28-7 or worse Dallas on top by halftime but missed opportunities by the Cowboys and the Falcons taking advantage of their opportunities made the score 28-17 at the half. You kind of knew something was not good when, just before the half Dallas put together their 4th TD drive of the half. With 2:18 left in the half Dallas took a kickoff by Atlanta, who had just cut the Cowboys lead to 21-14, at their own 20 and they marched down the field in just 4 plays and they had 1st and goal at the Falcons 1 yard line. Inexplicably, Dallas called timeout despite the fact they had 2 TO's remaining with :46 seconds left instead of letting the clock run down. The goal would have been to run as much clock as possible and still score just before the half or make Atlanta burn their 3 TO's. Dallas scored on the next play with :40 left in the half. I was thinking to myself that I've seen this before, don't let Atlanta drive for a field goal. Well, that's just what they did. Atlanta drove the ball down to the Dallas 14 with :05 left. They kicked the field goal to close within 11 points with the score Dallas 28 Atlanta 17 going into the half. This final drive of the half was a foreshadowing of what was to come in the second half. Figuratively speaking Dallas never really came back on the field. Despite a really good first half in which Dallas led by 14 points 3 different times, 14-0, 21-7 and 28-14, they failed to score even one point in the second half. Atlanta came out fired up and they figuratively and literally punched Dallas right in the mouth. The figuratively was the 22 unanswered points the Falcons scored in the second half and the literally was the fact that both Sean Lee and Barry Church missed time in the second half having to get stitches in their mouths to close up split lips. Atlanta, pure and simply, beat the crap out of Dallas in the final 2 quarters. The defense could not stop DeVonte Freeman who gained 193 yards of total offense including 141 yards rushing with 3 TDs. That left the Cowboys trying to figure how to cover Julio Jones who blew up in the second half. Jones ultimately caught 12 balls for 142 yards and 2 TD's. Jones had but 3 grabs in the first half.
The thing that really aggravated me was when Dallas needed 2 scores late in the 4th quarter and Weeden was still dumping the ball off underneath for minimal gains while the clock burned on. On the day, despite having a decent line score (22/26 for 232 yds, 1 pick and 0 TD's) Weeden only completed one pass to a wide receiver, Cole Beasley, who just missed a TD by a yard. Weeden needed to push the ball down field and he didn't. It was like he had no appreciation for the game situation. Another aggravation was the fact that Joe Randle looked awesome gaining 85 yards in the first half and 2 in the second. The failure of the O-line had a lot to do with that along with the Falcons stacking the box.
The Cowboys will need to regroup because they will to travel to New Orleans to play the Saints. If fair is fair Drew Brees will miss next week's game like he did this week because of his bum shoulder. The Cowboys can't just assume they'll win with Brees out because the Panthers needed all they could muster to beat the Luke McCown led Saints in Carolina by a score of 27-22. For Carolina to surrender 22 points to the Saints with a 2nd string QB considering how good their defense has been playing is a little scary. Dallas is 2-1 while the rest of the division is 1-2 so a one game lead is still a good thing.

eagle eye

09-29-2015, 02:58 PM

I think that most everyone agrees the loss to Atlanta isn't the end of the world. How many expected a win? I didn't, I just thought they could. Another thing most agree on was HOW Dallas lost playing so badly in the 2nd half after they had a 28 point first half. The O-line failed to maintain the momentum they had in the 1st half as the holes they made for Joe Randall and Darren McFadden and the pass protection wasn't all that either. The offense suffered because the WRs didn't do squat to get open and maybe they suffered because Brandon Weeden had it drilled into his head that he needed to check down no matter what. The play calling should have opened up at least by the fourth quarter when it was clear the defense couldn't stop the Atlanta offense but the fact is, with so many players missing on defense they just couldn't stand up to the Atlanta starters. Here's who we lost in Philly, DT Terrell McClain was put on IR after severely spraining his toe bad enough to require surgery, DE Jeremy Mincey out due to a concussion, Randy Gregory out with a high ankle sprain. That's your 2 best pass rushers on the roster and an important rotation guy at tackle. No wonder we couldn't stop DeVonta Freeman backups to backups were playing. The Cowboys had to use backup Jack Crawford at DE instead of his spot in the DT rotation. That's what makes the Cowboys failures to capitalize on turnover opportunities and giving up an INT in the first half hurt so bad. Another failure was the opening drive of the 2nd half by the Cowboys. Dallas had stopped Atlanta who took the 2nd half kickoff and they got the ball at mid field and proceeded to go backwards because of 2 penalties and a run for a loss and 3 yard dump off. Dallas never recovered from that series and the game belonged to Atlanta from then on.

Roster moves.
Monday DT Davon Coleman released. Coleman is reportedly sort of goof much like Martellus Bennett was. The Cowboys obviously saw something they didn't like at all for them to release him.
Tuesday Dallas signed DT David Irving from the Kansas City practice squad.
Tuesday Dallas released OL Ronald Patrick from the practice squad and they resigned DE Lavar Edwards to the practice squad. Edwards made the final 53 out of training camp but he was released to make room for Christine Michael. Edwards has been on the practice squads of Oakland and Chicago but was released by both before resigning with Dallas.

Here's a scouting report on the new DL David Irving from DallasCowboys.com's Bryan Broaddus.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/29/scouting-report-new-dl-david-irving-raw-has-rare-measurables-upside

I wonder how much of an ass eating Terrence Williams, Devin Street and newly signed Brice Butler got for a pathetic performance against Atlanta. Cole Beasley was the only WR to catch a ball even though Williams dropped a ball that hit him between the 8 and the 3 on his jersey on the Cowboys final drive on a fourth down play. Most of the time the Falcons played man defense with a single safety high and these 3 guys were obviously never open enough for Weeden to feel confident enough to throw them the ball. Throw TE Gavin Escobar into that mix too. Of Weeden's 22 completions 10 went to Lance Dunbar, 2 to McFadden, 6 to Jason Witten and 4 to Cole Beasley. Not good. By contrast Matt Ryan had 24 completions with 16 going to WRs Julio, Leonard Hankerson and Nick Williams. Again, not good.

Okay Atlanta is in the rearview mirror it's time to think about New Orleans.

eagle eye

09-30-2015, 01:20 PM

Dallas returned to practice today after their normal Tuesday off and so did a couple of starting linemen, one from each side of the ball. Guard Ron Leary was back in the saddle today after missing the past two weeks with groin injury while on the defensive side starting left DE Jeremy Mincey was cleared to return to practice after suffering a concussion last week. Mincey may be the most important returnee because of the injuries along the defensive line. Against Atlanta a lot of backups played a lot of minutes and a couple not in their usual positions. With Mincey back the defense goes back to a more normal rotation.

By their own admission the defense didn't do their jobs against Atlanta. The most vocal players about this were Sean Lee and Tyrone Crawford. I would look for a more fired up and motivated defense this week. A defense ready to wreak havoc on the Saints offense regardless of who is playing QB for them.

Morris Claiborne is really looking like the guy Dallas expected in the 2012 draft when they traded up to the 6th pick to get him. Plagued by injuries from day one Claiborne has had to hear the "bust" word a lot. After having off season surgery on both knees and coming back after a lengthy rehab it was speculated that C.laiborne would start 2015 on the PUP list. But that didn't happen. He was limited at the start of training camp but as the weeks passed he was integrated into the defense more and more. After Orlando Scandrick tore his ACL after the 3rd preseason game in practice the depth at the CB position was highly in question with many eyes turning toward this year's 1st round draft pick Byron Jones. But, as Mo showed more in practice he was ready to go the Cowboys realized they would be able to bring the rookie along slowly and now Claiborne is considered Dallas' best CB. As well he should considering where he was drafted, it's just been a long time coming. If Mo is playing well still around Week 11 or so Jerrah probably ought to go find his checkbook and sign Claiborne to an extension before he hits free agency next spring. The Cowboys declined to exercise the 5th year option that would have covered next year this summer because there were too many questions about where Mo was at then and what he would be able to do going forward. Claiborne, when asked about the Cowboys not exercising his 5th year option he said he didn't blame the Cowboys because of his injury history and his lack of production. It was just business. It was the right move by Dallas at the time and now it may be the right time to sign Claiborne and get that "hometown discount" rather than let him go via free agency in 2016. Judging by the results so far, that would be the right thing to do too. With Claiborne saying he is feeling better than he has since his days at LSU and playing like he did at LSU the Cowboys should not let this opportunity pass.

The Cowboys newest defensive lineman, David Irving signed yesterday, was in practice today. Because of his size and length (6'7", 283 lbs) the Cowboys say they will likely use Irving as a defensive end.

All things considered you don't hear much about the Cowboys other CB Brandon Carr and that is a good thing because if we were it would mean Carr has not played very well. Getting torched by Atlanta aside the back end of the Dallas defense, Carr included, has played pretty well so far. What was a killer for Dallas last Sunday was a lack of pressure on Matt Ryan during the game. The front seven had a sack on the Falcons first series and he little pressure the rest of the game. The one thing that will make a CB look better is pressure from the front 7 and it just wasn't there and you saw what the Falcons were able to do as a result. Carr missed the first part of today's practice for a non-injury reason. He did participate in the 2nd half of practice.

Drew Brees or no Drew Brees, that is the question. The answer is, we probably won't know until Sunday morning. If Brees plays that's okay, Dallas has beaten the Saints with Brees before. If Brees' shoulder is not right so much the better, there ought to be more opportunities for turnovers. If Brees doesn't play even better but, Dallas had better not go to sleep on Luke McCown. To be honest I like the Saints previous backup Chase Daniels out of Missouri better but he's moved on to Kansas City so now McCown's the guy next up after Brees. Last week against a pretty good Carolina Panthers defense McCown was 31/38 for 313 yds with 0 TD's and 1 pick. Not too shabby I'd say.

Defensively for NO Rob Ryan's defense is going to attack Brandon Weeden but that should leave the WRs open, if they can beat one on one coverage that is. Weeden will have to think fast, take some shots downfield and play smart meaning he needs to take care of the ball.

On critique of RB Joseph Randle's performance last week was that it seemed like he didn't trust the O-line enough to follow them and run where the play was designed to go. That was one trademark of DeMarco Murray's success last season that Randle needs to learn. Trusting the O-line to clear a path will go along way to helping Randle make people forget about Murray. If Randle doesn't learn his lesson? Well, there's always Darren McFadden or Christine Michael to turn to isn't there?

eagle eye

10-04-2015, 10:35 AM

Will Christine Michael play or won't he? All things considered I don't think it matters. What matters is Dallas plays 60 minutes this week instead of 30. It was 28-17 at the half last week against Atlanta then the Falcon came out motivated and Dallas came out tired, or bored or whatever. The bottom line is they were bad across the board. Dallas can beat New Orleans this week. If Brandon Weeden is going to be the guy until Tony Romo returns he will need to be 'the guy'. Terrence Williams, Gavin Escobar and the rest of the Cowboys big targets have to be better than they were last week. The fact is I could have played as well as this group did last week and I can tell you, I not good. Dallas needs to win this game in a bad way. New Orleans seems to be a team ripe for the taking even with Drew Brees but Dallas can't sleepwalk through this game. It looks like LG Ron Leary and DE Jeremy Mincey will be back this week. You will likely see more impact from Mincey's return than Leary's but the O-line hasn't played like the dominant unit they were last season so far this season. The O-line needs to just flat play better. The D-line too. Despite being short handed last week the starters that were there didn't exactly set the world on fire. Guys like DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford need to play better---a lot better. Drew Brees needs to spend a lot of time on his back and Mark Ingram needs to be held in much the same way as DeMarco Murray was held two weeks ago in Philly. Dallas can win on the road. They went unbeaten on the road in 2014 and they haven't lost on the road since December of 2013 when they beat the Redskins through the Week 2 win over Philly. Dallas would set an new franchise record for consecutive road wins if they beat the Saints tonight. That doesn't matter, all that matters is the win. Dallas plays New England next week at home after the Pats enjoy a bye week this week. In all likelihood Dallas will lose that game, I hate to say it but the odds are certainly not in the Cowboys favor. That said, Dallas can't lose this week and lose to the Pats next week and go into their bye week 2-3 with Giants coming next on the road. This season could get ugly in a hurry if the Cowboys lose tonight. The most important stat would be Brandon Weeden 0-3 since taking over for Romo if that happens. Weeden needs to have a fair shot but Dallas can't go on an extended losing streak either. It all depends on tonight. Now both teams have to be feeling a little desperate after all NO doesn't want to go 0-4 any more than Dallas wants to go 2-2. The Cowboys 2-2 would sure look like 0-4 all things considered while 0-4 means the Saints are toast for 2015. Tonight should be dubbed The Desperation Bowl because it really is just that. Two teams trying to salvage their season with a win. I know it's silly in many ways to say a game is "must win" in the first week of October but it really is. I am hoping Dallas can redeem themselves for a piss-poor showing in the second half of the Falcons game. It's time for the strength of the team, the O-line and the D-line to step up and play to their potential and beat what is really an inferior opponent. So, the final NEEDS to be .................................................. ........................

Dallas 31 New Orleans 17

eagle eye

10-04-2015, 10:17 PM

I usually wait until the next day to comment on the Cowboys but right now I'm so pissed I can't see straight. I don't know why because when you have Drew Brees on one hand and a Brandon Weeden on the other who would you pick. Even a hurting Drew Brees is better than a healthy Brandon Weeden. The wide receivers, Terrence Williams played patty-cake with the DBs for the Saints instead of getting open. The catch by Terrence Williams for the tying TD was a super catch of yet another crappy Weeden pass. The difference between the Cowboys and the Saints was more than just Brees vs Weeden. The Saints had their top 5 receivers in the game and even the backups performed. Anybody heard of Willie Snead? Apparently neither did the Cowboys as he caught 6 balls for 89 yards. The one target to Dallas' 2nd year WR Devin Street was a penalty because Street stepped out of bounds prior to the pass being thrown so Dallas was flagged for illegal touching. I will say that the Saints cornerbacks were guilty on a lot of plays of illegal contact down field but it wasn't being called. The guy I'm already tired of is Brandon Weeden but he's not along in my anger. The O-line played like warmed over shit. The Saints had a left tackle who could barely walk but Jeremy Mincey never even got close to Drew Brees. The only way Dallas got any pressure at all was to blitz. IMO Dallas should have been doing that even after they tied the game. Instead they rushed 4 and Brees had all freaking night to throw the ball. The only reason the Saints didn't win in regulation was because their kicker missed a 30 yard field goal after Brees drove the Saints from their own 20 to the Cowboys 12 in 1:25 with NO time outs. Hell, the Saints were wasting time so they could kick the field goal and leave Dallas very little time to come back. All it took was two plays in OT for NO to win. An incomplete pass on 1st down followed by a blown coverage by rookie LB Damien Wilson and CJ Spiller goes 80 yards with a catch and run to win the game for the previously struggling Saints. Dallas is in deep shit. Next week they face the Patriots coming off their bye week and that game is going to get ugly real quick. Dallas will go into their bye week in Week 6 with a record of 2-3 and not much hope of winning considering how badly the whole damn team is playing. The injury issues are obscene. Dallas lost Sean Lee in the second qtr to a concussion on a tackle of NO TE Josh Hill. Poor Sean Lee, that guy can't catch a break. Speaking of catching a break, Dallas can't seem to get any reprieve from this injury epidemic. It's crazy. The Cowboys not only lost Sean Lee but they lost Lance Dunbar to a knee injury. I don't know what the story was for Joseph Randall but Darren McFadden played most of the 4th qtr. This was ugly and Dallas needs to take a long look at themselves. They have had more injuries than a normal team could bear and yet Dallas is managing to stay competitive except for the fact they just can't win. I'm really sick of Brandon Weeden. No more excuses about how bad Cleveland was and his 6 wins in 2 and half years was because of that. Weeden is 0-3 as a starter and he's not getting the job done. I'm really ready to see Matt Cassel or Kellen Moore. We sure can't do any worse, can we? I'm too emotional right now and I have work in the morning. That's the other thing, I'm going hear it from the haters tomorrow. Early this morning I was hoping for a Texans, Astros and Cowboys sweep. Well, we got swept and looked lousy doing it. I want to cuss and rant for an hour but I won't because it just won't do any good.

eagle eye

10-05-2015, 06:27 PM

The Cowboys anticipate that the MRI done Lance Dunbar's right knee injured last night in New Orleans will show that he has a torn ACL and possibly an MCL too. If the worst case comes to pass the Cowboys will place him on season ending injured reserve.

The Cowboys can activate DE Greg Hardy and LB Rolando McClain from the reserve/suspended list. The Cowboys could use a little boost in their front seven with all the injuries they have had to deal with. It was an injury to LB Andrew Gachkar that was the ultimate reason for the 80 yard TD scored by CJ Spiller on a swing pass from Drew Brees that ended the game on the second play in overtime. Gachkar hobbled off the field and Damien Wilson had to come in almost at the snap not knowing what his assignment should be and that's how Spiller was so open on the play.

The injury list from last night is fairly long including WR Brice Butler who pulled his hamstring at the end of a 67 yard catch and run in the 2nd half. Of course there was the loss of Sean Lee to a concussion. It has been reported that the Cowboys training staff had to hide Lee's helmet and forbid him from going into the game. Today Jason Garrett said that Lee was feeling fine and that he would begin the concussion protocol. Hopefully, he will be back in the lineup for next Sunday's game against New England.

To make room for Hardy and McClain the Cowboys released two players today. Gone are DT Ken Bishop and LB Keith Smith. Neither player had any defensive stats.

Oh yeah, the Patriots come to town this week. Dallas will be lucky if they don't hang 40+ on them.

eagle eye

10-07-2015, 10:21 AM

Did anyone notice that Joseph Randall didn't play at the end of the Saints game? That he didn't play much at all after scoring the TD with about 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter? The reason was because Randall was lucky on that TD lunge at the end zone that he broke the plane of the goal line before the ball was knocked out of his hand or the Cowboys would have suffered a demoralizing turnover instead of scoring a touchdown. The fact is Randall did the same the week prior against Atlanta and had been warned about it by his coaches. They told Randall flat out, "Don't do that.", but he did it again anyway. The kicker is when he was reminded of his mistake on the sideline in New Orleans he didn't get it. "What is the problem, I scored a TD?". That lack of awareness is liable to get Randall unemployed real quick. The fact is, Dallas doesn't need a guy who is so self centered that he can't see the bigger picture or understand the message the coaches are trying to get across to him. I'm fine with Darren McFadden, Christine Michael and Gus Johnson being the guys for Dallas if this is the best we can expect out of Randall. Gus Johnson? Yep, the same guy from our sister SLC school Stephen F Austin who impressed after being signed by the Cowboys just a day or two before training camp began. I would have no problem with Johnson filling the role left open by Lance Dunbar when he tore his ACL and MCL against the Saints. Johnson is still on the Cowboys practice squad but he's got to see the mess of things Joe Randall is making of his opportunity simply because he's thick headed. We'll see how it goes but I wonder how long Jason Garrett will put up with a player that seems to be this dumb.

DE Greg Hardy and LB Rolando McClain returned to practice yesterday. Both players are probably on a play count since they have missed the first 4 weeks of the season due to separate suspensions. With the status of Sean Lee iffy going into this game with the Patriots McClain will be a welcome addition to the linebacker corps. We'll see how healthy he is and how much he can talk since he missed almost all of training camp rehabbing a knee he had scoped just before OTA's. I'm not sure I will expect much out of McClain for the first couple of weeks. Hardy, on the other hand participated in training camp and preseason games so he will just need to knock off a little rust. If Hardy only plays on passing downs that will be okay as long as he can put Tom Brady on his backside for pressure him enough to throw some interceptable passes. The other end of that will be is the DBs can actually catch the ball to make an interception.

Today is the first real day of practice this week for the Patriots game and I'm sure we will get some updates later in the day. Yesterday Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com wrote an article (with accompanying video) about Hardy's return including an interview with Hardy. Needless to say he is happy to be back and is ready to go.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/06/excited-be-back-greg-hardy-hoping-%E2%80%9Cget-sacks-and-make-difference%E2%80%9D

eagle eye

10-09-2015, 01:00 PM

Dallas got Sean Lee back in practice yesterday even though on the official injury report he was listed as limited but for someone on the concussion protocol the fact he was able to practice is a pretty good sign that he will be available to play against the Patriots this week. That means that the Cowboys will have everyone they expected to the defense on the field for Week 5 except for Randy Gregory who is still rehabbing his hamstring injury. It's none too soon with the mighty Pats coming to town.
There are only 4 players on the injury list this week. There's Gregory, WRs Dez Bryant, Brice Butler and TE James Hanna. Of course, Dez is still recovering from the surgery on his broken toe. Butler and Hanna were injured in the Saints game last Sunday night. Butler pulled his hamstring at the tail end of a 67 yard pass and run from Brandon Weeden and Hanna injured his ankle at some point in the game. It will be a big loss to the Dallas special teams and in the Dallas run game they will miss his blocking. It's ironic that Hanna, who ran the fastest 40 time in the 2012 draft combine of all the TE's there and he was known as a receiving tight end at the University of Oklahoma, has become such a mainstay blocking in the Cowboys offense.
The Cowboys will need better play from the O-line and they need their wide receivers to do a better job of getting off the line of scrimmage and get open enough for Weeden to have a viable option to go to on the outside. They will need that to keep the Patriots from joining the Falcons and Saints who loaded the box with 8 and 9 men daring the Cowboys to beat them on the outside and Dallas couldn't do it. Dallas needs to have that threat to be able to run the ball or even get some big plays and score more points. Now, Dallas did score 28 on the Falcons but with the defense outmatched by the Falcons offense it wasn't enough. In New Orleans Drew Brees dinked and dunked on the Cowboys even more than Brandon Weeden dinked and dunked. Brees just did it better because his wideouts did a better job of getting open. Plus Dallas couldn't stop the run which didn't help one bit in pass coverage. Why was this so important? Because Dallas couldn't move the ball and when they did they were hit with penalties. Did Dallas lose heart when Romo went down? I am not sure that the Cowboys didn't have issues when Romo was there. If the Giants hadn't had a brain fart at the end of the game on opening night that gave Dallas one last chance to pull out that game the Cowboys would have lost. Before Romo got hurt against the Eagles the Cowboys were winning but the game was still very much in doubt. It was actually Weeden who hit Terrance Williams on the slant for the TD in the fourth quarter that iced the game for Dallas for that 2-0 start. This has been a weird season so far and it's not really on Brandon Weeden for the 0-2 record since Romo broke his collar bone. It's been mainly because the defense has been overmatched and gave up way too much. With the return of Hardy and McClain the Cowboys are almost a full strength on defense but the problem is Hardy and McClain are covered with rust from not having played in 5 weeks. Hell McClain has barely practiced since Dallas lost to Green Bay in January in the playoffs because of off season knee surgery. If Hardy and McClain can give Dallas 15-18 really good plays on Sunday that all we can realistically expect.
On one hand I am afraid the Patriots are gonna hang 50 on the Cowboys this week but on the other hand I've seen Dallas win these kinds of games when they are prohibitive underdogs and they rise up and play a whale of a game and win. Remember when the Cowboys hosted an undefeated and seemingly unstoppable Indianapolis Colts team a few years back when Peyton Manning was still leading them and Dallas beat their asses that day. It's the NFL and anything can happen on any given Sunday.
So, what is the final score? Even I have to be realistic and face facts. Dallas is not as good as New England and even though I think they can keep the score close I believe Dallas will go into their bye week 2-3. Final score?

New England 37 Dallas 24

eagle eye

10-10-2015, 09:21 AM

Going into the game tomorrow the injury report is pretty much what I posted the other day. No Dez, no Brice Butler and no Randy Gregory and, of course, no Romo. Sean Lee is probable so you can pencil him in as will Andrew Gachkar and DT Ryan Russell. The only one listed as questionable is TE James Hanna. If Hanna's alma mater, Oklahoma, jacks up Texas today it may jack up Hanna enough to play tomorrow. Shoot, after all, the Cowboys go on a bye week after tomorrow's game, surely he can play? Maybe he will, and don't call me Shirley. The Pats are healthy with only a couple of players listed as questionable and they aren't starters anyway. For Dallas to be without Butler is a problem because he was the one player with speed that was even a cursory threat down the field. Terrence Williams and Devin Street need to step up with Street being a big disappointment I'm sure after coaches bragged on him going into OTA this summer.

In this week's Friday rant by DallasCowboys.com's Mickey Spagnola he tells us about a guy who seemed to be just a footnote when he was signed last week before the Saints game. He practiced on Wednesday for the first time as a Cowboy and he ended up playing a bunch of snaps in the game---and did a good job! The guy's name is David Irving and at 6'7" 282 lbs he is sort of a "Too Tall Jones" type who, as you will find out, impressed the coaching staff in his brief time in Dallas. I have to say I noticed the guy on Sunday night. Big ole number 95 in the interior of the Cowboys D-line. That's hard for anyone, much less a rookie undrafted free agent who missed his senior season in college because of a misunderstanding. Check out The Mick's article and keep an eye peeled for 95 in Sunday's game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/09/spagnola-you-just-never-know-when-some-defensive-help-falls-out-thin-air

eagle eye

10-11-2015, 07:44 PM

Okay, I am really, really sick of Brandon Weeden. I don't care if he's not getting much help from his WRs. I don't care if he isn't getting much production from the run game. I don't care. I am sick of this loser. I'm sick of him checking down all the time. Of course he's going to have a lot of completions. I could have a lot of completions throwing the ball 3 feet on check-downs. Right now we have a guy under center who inspires---nothing. He has had 4 starts as a Cowboy and he is 0-4. A few weeks ago I posted here that Weeden didn't need to be Romo but we needed him to be a guy who could win games. I am sick of the sight of Weeden and I'm sick of his press conferences and I'm sick of the Cowboys sticking with this guy. The season is swirling down the toilet and this guy is giving the Cowboys no spark at all. I didn't expect Dallas to beat the Patriots but I expected more than I got today. In seven first half possessions (I don't count the kneel-down at the end of the half) Weeden led the Cowboys offense to 6 3-and-outs. The had one drive of 10 plays for 42 yards which lead to a field goal that actually tied the game at 3 at the time.
You had some hope as Dallas took their first possession of the 2nd half (after an opening TD drive by NE for 20-3 lead) and drove the field in a 15 play 75 yard drive that stalled at the Patriots 5 that resulted in a field goal. Great. Instead of cutting into a 17 point lead with a TD Dallas got a damn field goal. On their second possession of the second half, which didn't come until the 4th Qtr, Dallas ran 4 plays on a drive that ended with a Jason Witten fumble. The fumble, BTW was BS because it shouldn't have been ruled a catch. If Dez didn't catch the ball in Green Bay Witten didn't catch that one. The next Dallas drive Weeden threw a pick. I'm telling you, I want Matt Cassel or Kellen Moore, I am sick of Weeden. The guy is a loser and he's dragging the Cowboys down with him.

The Redskins almost beat Atlanta who prevailed late in the game to steal the win. Philly kicked the shit out of New Orleans which is what we should have done last week. Drew Brees lost 2 fumbles and threw a pick and the Saints lost another fumble giving the Eagles 4 turnovers. The Eagles win going away 39-17 and the Giants will have to screw up to lose to the 49ers. The Giants currently lead 13-3 close to half time even though the Niners are in the red zone. So let's look at the NFC East.

NY Giants 2-2 (probably 3-2 after tonight)
Dallas Cowboys 2-3
Washington Redskins 2-3
Philadelphia Eagles 2-3

Dallas goes on their bye week so they definitely won't lose next week but if there was a way to lose Weeden would find it. When Dallas comes back they have to travel to the Giants and play at home vs the Seahawks and Eagles then travel to Tampa. I see four winnable games under normal circumstances but with Weeden at QB the Cowboys could be looking at 2-7. This is depressing.

eagle eye

10-13-2015, 05:06 AM

The more I think about it the more disgusted I get. This team, who was in the conversation of Super Bowl contenders, is a laughing stock. I have had a chance to calm down after the total ass whooping the Patriots put on us last Sunday and I still come to the same conclusion--Brandon Weeden must go. As I posted on Sunday evening, Weeden isn't the whole problem but he isn't giving the team any spark either. The first comparison that comes to mind is right down the road in Houston. Ryan Mallett moved the team the past two weeks but he didn't make a play that resulted in points. Mallett didn't do anything wrong per se but he didn't give the Texans any spark. Brian Hoyer comes in and he moves the team AND leads them to putting points on the scoreboard. Brandon Weeden is our Ryan Mallett. He's doing his job but he's got no spark. It's hard create sparks when all you do is check down to the underneath receivers. Teams will let you gain 3 yards all day because it won't sustain drives. The 6 3-and-outs in the first half Sunday illustrates my point of a QB who gives his team no spark. Who knows if Matt Cassel is the guy to spark this offense but it's time for a change. We need a QB who will make teams pay for keeping 8 and 9 guys in the box to stop the run. Complete the ball down the field, and I'm not talking about a slew of 9 routes, I'm talking about 12-15 yard pass completions with an occasional YAC to stretch the field. Do that then the defense will have to respect the passing game and the run lanes should open up. You don't have to be Bill Belichick for figure this out.
The O-line needs to play better and it may be time to see what La'el Collins will give you because Ronald Leary mucked up often against the Patriots. It's time for this Pro Bowl line to start playing like it. Maybe if they feel like there is a QB who will get them the ball the WRs will get open a little bit more frequently than they have. It's time to find out who the playmakers are on this damn team. There is no Romo, no Dez and no DeMarco so somebody has to step up and say, "enough, dammit", and show this team how to play winning football. To me, it starts at QB. Somebody has to give this team hope and that guy on any team is the QB. I don't care if it's Matt Cassel or Kellen Moore somebody has to step the hell up. I am tired of a QB who does nothing but check down all the time. At some point you have to push the ball up the field. For years the defense was the Achilles heel of the Cowboys. They couldn't stop anyone when it mattered. Now, I believe this defense is poised to do really good, if not great, things but they won't be able to if the offense continuously screws them over with 3-and-outs and turnovers. Make a change Jason Garrett. I'm not big on change for change sake but Weeden has shown what he is and he is not a winning NFL QB, period. It's time to let Matt Cassel have a go at this thing especially if they tell him if he checks down like Weeden they will kick him in the nads.

eagle eye

10-14-2015, 09:52 AM

It's not official yet but there are rumors coming out of the Cowboys locker room that Matt Cassel will be the starting QB new week against the Giants. Dallas is on their bye week now so it gives Cassel an extra week of prep for his first start as a Cowboy. I have already stated my feelings on this subject so, if it's true, I think it's a good move. Even if Cassel falls flat on his face, which I don't think he will, it's still a good move. Anybody care to debate the value of Tony Romo now?

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/13/reports-all-signs-point-toward-cassel-cowboys%E2%80%99-starter-going-forward

There is another thread going through Cowboys Nation that we need to make a move at running back as well. Nobody has really stepped up and seized control of the #1 RB spot as yet although Joe Randle has shown flashes he can't stay out of the coach's dog house. He has been too thick headed to understand why you don't throw one arm with the ball at the goal line. Despite scoring he has nearly lost two fumbles and he can't understand why the coaches are upset. Thick headed. Darren McFadden has been rather disappointing but he says he'll do better. Christine Michael hasn't even really been given a chance as yet. There is talk he is seriously deficient in pass protection. If Cassel, or Weeden for that matter, doesn't get time to throw the ball it won't matter who is in the game. It makes me wonder about the health of former SLC RB Gus Johnson. Johnson hurt his shoulder in preseason after impressing coaches with his abilities during training camp. He was one of the players that lasted until the final cut down to the 53 man roster just before the season began but the Cowboys signed him to their practice squad. I would think that Johnson would be a prime candidate to step in for Lance Dunbar who tore his ACL and MCL against the Saints in Week 4 but Dallas has yet to make a move. I'm sure the Cowboys are hoping this change at QB will result in a little more pop in the passing game which would, in turn, help the running game pop a little more too. The only thing is we have to wait for another 11 days before we find out if Matt Cassel will be any better than Brandon Weeden.
When Dallas had to have a backup in the past they tended to get a veteran guy who had won in the NFL. Back in the 90's Jimmy Johnson had guys like Rodney Peete, Steve Beuerlein, Bernie Kosar, Wade Wilson among the experienced guys who came in a won games for the Cowboys. I believe the Cowboys, when they signed Weeden, believed they had a guy like that. Trouble was, even though, the Cowboys had a high draft grade on Weeden when he came out in the 2012 draft he has not proved he can win in the NFL consistently. His record as a starter is 5-23 with 4 of those losses coming as a Cowboy. Weeden is a bust and there is no two ways about it.

One guy who has flown under the radar so far this season is Dallas' 1st round draft choice this year, Byron Jones. The Cowboys have used Jones to shadow opposing team's tight ends for the most part and he has done an excellent job. Dallas has thrown a lot at Jones working him at both corner and safety and he's proved to be up to the task. The Cowboys didn't need to throw Jones out at CB right out of the box because of the reemergence of CB Mo Claiborne, who has played pretty darn well too. This allowed Jones to improve without the pressure of being a starter and it looks like Dallas has yet another hit on it's 1st round draft picks. In fact since 2011 Dallas first round draft picks have all been hits with Claiborne as the lone exception. Amid getting Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin Claiborne looked for all the world like a big ole bust. But, this season, he has been healthy which he hasn't been since he came out of LSU and he's proving he was not a wasted pick after all. Now with Jones doing well the Cowboys are on a serious roll of getting quality draft picks. Since Jimmy Johnson left that hasn't been the case. That is mainly attributable to the player personnel guy for the Cowboys Will McClay and Jason Garrett who came in with a plan to rebuild the Cowboys and except for the injuries that have taken a serious toll on the team this year had the team on a totally upward projection. Losing a Pro Bowl QB, an All Pro wide receiver and a host of other injuries has turned that upwardness to a downward spiral all because they didn't have who they thought they were getting at QB. But, I digress. The point of this was to praise the Cowboys for hitting yet another first round pick in Byron Jones. While the jury is still out on the young man all the signs point to the Cowboys having a really good player on their hands who could finally be the replacement for the great Darren Woodson at safety the Cowboys have been searching for these past 11 years since he retired.

One position Dallas has had issues with is the 2nd round picks of TEs. They tried to choose one Martellus Bennett out of Texas A&M and while he was very talented and became a good blocker he hasn't exactly lit up the horizon with his shining star. In fact after 4 years as a Cowboy Dallas let him go via free agency. The next guy up was Gavin Escobar out of San Diego State. Dallas got Escobar in yet another attempt to fill the tight end of the future slot behind Jason Witten. So far he has not made a significant contribution to the Cowboys offense even though in preseason we hear he's about ready for a breakout season. Let's not forget about Oklahoma's James Hanna. Hanna was the Cowboys 6th round pick in 2012 and he's actually been the best of the lot. I believe that he was under valued coming out of Oklahoma because he was not considered an NFL TE prospect but he ran the fastest time in the 40 of all the other TE's in the 2012 draft combine and Dallas couldn't pass up the opportunity. Despite the feeling that Hanna was just a receiver he has proved everyone wrong as he has become a really good blocker. If I had a guess I could see Hanna as the replacement for Jason Witten one day. Either that or that man is not currently on the roster.

eagle eye

10-14-2015, 10:30 AM

No sooner than I made my post Jason Garrett had his Tuesday press conference and there are two big changes being made as Dallas prepares for the Giants next week.

First, as speculated Matt Cassel will be the starting QB next week. Garrett said they evaluated the film and they decided it was in the best interests of the team to make the switch. The bye week is really the best possible time for such a move because it gives Cassel an extra week of prep before making his first start.

Second, the Cowboys will also replace left guard Ron Leary and La'el Collins will be the starter going forward. Collins made a start a couple of weeks ago when Leary was out with a groin injury. Leary had a bad game last Sunday against the Patriots getting beat on plays and also getting penalized on several plays. One of the problems with the Cowboys in this first 5 weeks of the season is dumb penalties by the O-line. Penalties weren't really a big problem last season for the line who played in dominant fashion and played clean with few mental or physical mistakes. This season has been different so far and in his limited starts so far this season Collins was the one guy, along with center Travis Frederick, who played with power and without penalties or mistakes. Collins, whose draft stock fell off the draft board completely because he was a person of interest in a murder investigation prior to the draft, was signed as an undrafted free agent and, if pre-draft projections end up being correct, Dallas got 3 first round caliber players with a 1st and 2nd round draft picks and a UFA which could be the coup of the new millennium. So jar Byron Jones, Randy Gregory and Collins have shown real promise. Time will tell but so far the 2015 draft looks pretty good.

eagle eye

10-15-2015, 02:54 PM

Yesterday Dallas made another roster move by signing RB Rod Smith off waivers. Smith, an undrafted rookie from Ohio State, was on the Seahawks practice squad until last week when they signed him to their 53 man roster. He got 2 carries for 5 yards in the game against Cincinnati last Sunday. Smith is tall (6'3") for a RB and at 226 lbs he brings a load with him. Here's a scouting report on Smith from DallasCowboys.com's Bryan Broaddus. Smith filled an open spot in the Cowboys roster that was opened up when Dallas cut WR Vince Mayle who was brought up from the Cowboys practice squad for depth when Brice Butler was out due to a pulled hamstring in the Saints game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/15/scouting-report-new-rb-smith-looks-good-scheme-fit-dallas

Apparently a man was shot outside of AT&T Stadium on Sunday after the Patriots-Cowboys game and he ended up dying. I have not found out the why of the matter but local Dallas beat writer Clarence Hill wrote the man who did the shooting was egged on by bystanders to shoot the victim. The man who did the shooting was arrested and I hope they drive him straight to Huntsville and he gets the needle as soon as possible. The victim, a 43 year old man had a family and did not deserve to die at a football game because of some shithead with a gun. Hill also reported that the same man held the gun to another man's head prior to the shooting. The guy is obviously crazy and I have zero sympathy for a person like that. As for the people who egged the gunman on, they should go to jail as accessories to murder and we'll see how funny it all is then.

It was reported yesterday that Brandon Weeden "was pissed" because he was no longer the starter. Wah, Brandon, Wah! Try playing better. You have nobody to blame but yourself. You brought nothing to the table and you lost 3 straight, 2 games of which you probably should have won. Dallas messed up because they thought they were getting something Weeden isn't, an NFL caliber QB. I also think that the other QB on the roster, Kellen Moore should get some reps. The guy was a highly successful QB while in college at Boise State going 50-3 in his college career. The guy is no rookie, he's been on the Lions practice squad since coming into the NFL as a UFA in 2012 before Dallas signed him a few weeks ago. I know the rub against Moore, he's only 6'0" tall but, if a guy can play who cares? Who else do you have if Matt Cassel falls flat on his face? The Cowboys going back to Weeden? Gawd I hope not. Moore is shy on game experience and I get that but a guy has to start somewhere, right?

Latest I've heard and later confirmed by DallasCowboys.com that Dez Bryant was in uniform, shoulder pads and helmet at practice today. It is the first time he's been dressed for practice since his surgery on his foot after Week 1's injury during the Giants game. Dez didn't work with the team, he was doing conditioning work with trainers and medical staff on the side but he was there which gives hope that he will be available to play in 10 days against, ironically enough, the Giants.

Today was the last practice of the bye week. Sean Lee returned after missing a day with an illness. Randy Gregory returned to practice yesterday after being out since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 1. He was at practice again today and looks like he will be full go against the Giants after the bye week. Brandon Carr, Jeremy Mincey, Danny McCray and James Hanna missed practice today. Hanna has been nursing a sore ankle and no reason was given for the others because, being a bye week, the Cowboys were not obligated to. The next Dallas gets together will be next week when they begin preparing for a trip to New Jersey. At least no bad news will come down and no way in hell will Dallas lose a ballgame this weekend. Looking for silver linings here.

eagle eye

10-21-2015, 12:10 PM

Dallas, as is most of the other NFL teams around the league, begins practice in earnest for this weekend. Fans of the Cowboys are left speculating on what is going to happen when Dallas plays the Giants Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys will have a different QB, a different left guard and a guy at RB that has been with the team about 1 month. How much different will the offense be? It all depends on Cassel. Will he be a check down queen like Brandon Weeden? If he is there will be no difference at all. Same story, different writer. If Cassel has the wherewithal to push the ball up the field a little bit then Dallas will have a chance to move the ball more consistently and it should open up the run game as well.
It's no secret that LG Ron Leary was struggling. If you saw highlights of the New England game of the sacks and knockdowns on Weeden and TFL it seemed Leary was in the frame and it was his man who made the play. I think Leary is injured and he tried to come back too soon from the injury he had in training camp that is affecting the quality of his play. I think he rushed back because he saw La'el Collins poised to take his job and now, because he's not able to play to the standard he usually plays at, Collins is taking his job anyway. Collins is a pre draft top 10 prospect and he was the coup of the undrafted free agent class in May. It was only a matter of time before Collins took over for somebody, either Leary or RT Doug Free, now is the time for Collins to take advantage of his chance.
The Cowboys signed former Seahawk Christine Michael to add some juice to the running game. In the games since he has had exactly 1 carry in each of the 2 games he was active for. The word is on Michael is he has the potential to be a real stud but either his work ethic or his willingness to block or some missing piece in his psyche that just won't get him over the hump. The Cowboys appear to have seen a little something in Michael and they claim he will see more action going forward. We've heard this before from the Cowboys when they talk about TE Gavin Escobar and RB Lance Dunbar. It took 3 years before the Cowboys finally unleashed Dunbar and he ended up tearing his ACL in the 2nd week of the season. You would think Escobar would have made his mark by now but aside from a play or two here and there he has been a persona non grata in the Cowboys offense. With Dez Bryant out you would think Escobar would have been featured more but to date the phrase for his impact on offense would have to be, "not so much". It will be interesting to see how, and how much, Dallas uses Michael this week against the Giants.

It looks like the defense has all it's parts and are back to full strength with the return of rookie DE Randy Gregory to practice this week. The defense is back to what the Cowboys envisioned it was going to be during training camp. Now, lets see what we have. The hope is Dallas has such an overwhelming pass rush Eli Manning will look around after the game and ask, "Who were those guys?". The defense will casting an eye on the offense who has been no help since Tony Romo left injured during the Eagles game. Everyone is hoping Matt Cassel is really the guy they were needing all along.

Dez Bryant may or may not be back this week. He has been working on the side with trainers and it remains to be seen what he does in practice today and tomorrow according to Jason Garrett. In today's practice Dez wasn't even on the field, not even doing conditioning work. It is highly unlikely Dez will play this week but, barring any setbacks, he should not be far from his return. He was originally slated to return about the same time Tony Romo returns but he is said to be ahead of schedule. It would be nice to get Dez back early but, IMO, not at the expense of his long term health. Again, the monkey seems to be on Matt Cassel's back. Today Dallas had a whopping 62 players out of 63 on the roster and practice squad on the field at practice today which, at this time of the year, is pretty amazing.

eagle eye

10-24-2015, 11:23 AM

I have been avoiding posting on this thread this week simply because there isn't much to say. Romo and Dez won't be playing. The Cowboys listed him as "doubtful" for the Giants game tomorrow but he won't play. I believe that Dez won't be back until the Seattle game next week at the very earliest. So, not just for this week but for the next 4 or 5 games until Tony Romo gets back, the monkey is completely on Matt Cassel's back. If the Cowboys are going to be a contender for the NFC East Cassel has to be better than Brandon Weeden. The hope is Cassel, because of his experience in the league and his 75 or so starts, he will be able to see the field better than Weeden and push the ball up the field more than Weeden did. Maybe Weeden was just too unsure of himself to do more than be the dump off king. I doesn't matter now what the problem was it's Cassel's time now.
It won't be just on Cassel but he is the catalyst for the offense's success. The O-line has to play better, the running game needs to be better and receivers have to do a better job of getting open but it all begins with Cassel. If all Dallas can muster against the Giants, or any team for that matter, is the measly 6 points they scored against the Patriots two weeks ago the Cowboys won't win any of the next few games. Dallas moved the ball in the second half of the Patriots game but they were done in by the 6 3-and-outs out of 7 possessions in the first half of that game. That was pitiful and Dallas made the change to Cassel because they recognized just how pitiful that was. Other changes have been made but the key change is Cassel.
The Giants are a beat up team and judging by the way they played against Philly last Monday night you weren't impressed with either team. WR Victor Cruz is out as is starting CB Prince Amukamara. There are a host of other players listed as questionable and most are either LBs or CBs. Dallas will have everyone back including DE Randy Gregory who will play for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 1 against the Giants. Greg Hardy missed some time this week due to an illness but he's back as is WR Brice Butler, DE David Irving and ST man Danny McCray. TE James Hanna will miss yet another week with what is probably a high ankle sprain although it is simply listed as an ankle injury. The bottom line is Dallas, with the exception of Romo and Bryant are a lot healthier than the Giants giving them a distinct advantage except for one thing, QB. The Giants have a proven commodity in Eli Manning while Dallas coaches, players and fans are hoping like the dickens Cassel is better than average. So how do you make this call? How do you pick a winner that isn't the Giants? One thing I noticed in pictures of Cassel is that when wearing his helmet he looks a lot like Danny White. Is that an omen? Because White was a helluva QB IMO that didn't get his due because the Cowboys lost all three times he took them to the NFC Championship Game but you have to be good just to get that far. White was no bus driver. Some of the team passing records Tony Romo has broken belonged to White and if Cassel is even in the same ballpark as White we'll be okay.

http://thelandryhat.com/files/2013/04/dallas_u_white_600.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCJDQitrP28gCFVDBYwodT8EPbg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthelandryhat.com%2F2013%2F08%2F25 %2Flandry-hat-podcast-danny-white-interview%2F&psig=AFQjCNEtao6brYlZnq0KtjXmEAgl7Yp82Q&ust=1445793782099912)

https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/casselboys.jpg?w=720&h=480&crop=1 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCI7gusnP28gCFUPnYwodcyUIqQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2015%2F10%2F21%2Fmat t-cassels-first-start-for-cowboys-could-be-epic%2F&psig=AFQjCNHF-OW9lpglU36Yfu_In7TAoXSaLg&ust=1445793547421151)

See what I mean? With that in mind I suppose I've got to go total homer here and pick the Cowboys to win. Mainly because Dallas doesn't need to win, they HAVE to. This is a division game and it pulled Dallas back to .500 on their season and if Philly loses to Carolina Sunday Dallas will be, believe it or not, first place in the division. How crazy is that? All of that said what's the final score?

Dallas 24 Giants 13

eagle eye

10-26-2015, 01:33 PM

You know in my previous post I predicted that the Giant final score would be 13 points. If you take away the pick six in the first possession of the 2nd half and 100 yard kick off return in the 4th quarter after Dallas had just tied the game that is exactly how many points the Giants scored on offense. I didn't go into the game with real high expectations simply because Matt Cassel was such and unknown. He hadn't started an NFL game in 13 months and precious little before that. Naturally, he would have some rust. I thought Dallas ran the ball well except for a bad 1st down carry that seemed to necessitate 2 passes on the Cowboys final drive. Too bad, that was when Dallas really needed for the running game to dominate. I thought Cassel did a credible job all things considered. I thought the pick six was Terrence Williams fault, he didn't come back to the ball the way he should have and allowed Dominique Rogers-Cromartie jump the route. Cassel said in his post game press conference that the long pass that the Giants picked off at the Cowboys goal line was just a case of the ball coming out of his hand funny causing it to float allowing the safety time enough to come across and pick off the ball. Cassel's 2nd pick was all on Cassel. He wanted a deep in but didn't read the coverage right and Roger-Cromartie suckered him into throwing the ball and he jumped the route. 3 straight possessions to start the 2nd half and they all resulted in an INT. You just can't win games like that.
The refs screwed Dallas out of a TD in the 2nd quarter when Devin Street was called for offensive pass interference on a screen pass to Darren McFadden when it was clear Street was doing everything he could NOT to make contact with the guy covering him. The Fox broadcast team said it was bad call, Mike Pereira the former NFL official, said it was a bad call and I'm sure the head of the NFL league office officiating committee will say it was a bad call. When Street, who made a marvelous catch for the TD that tied the game, scored it really should have been 24-20 because of the 4 point swing between the TD that should have been and the field goal that eventually was.
Dallas beat the Giants in every statistical way except for the final score and the special teams because of the TD. What I saw was the Cowboys playing down the field the way they have been needing to but weren't under Brandon Weeden. If they can just keep from shooting themselves in the foot I think I like having Cassel as the QB. The only other stat that Dallas lost was the take away margin. Dallas was -4 with 3 INTs by Cassel and a fumbled punt by Cole Beasley that prevented Dallas from having one last shot at tying the game with 1:39 left in the game. The Giants didn't turn the ball over once. That is a disturbing theme of this 4 game losing streak Dallas is on--no turnovers at all. The Cowboys have had chances but they having been able to cash in and it has killed them. Last season the Cowboys were at the top of the league. The Cowboys were 12-4 last year too. They also had Tony Romo. We'll get Tony back around Thanksgiving. Dallas just needs to figure out a way to a game or two in the mean time. I believe they have a guy in Cassel that do that. Dallas, and Cassel, just needs to stop beating themselves.

eagle eye

10-27-2015, 10:27 AM

So everyone knows about the Greg Hardy outburst after the Giants returned a kickoff 100 yards for the go ahead score in the Cowboys 27-20 loss on Sunday. It was an outburst borne of frustration after Dallas tied the score at 20 and immediately after the special teams broke down and allowed Dwayne Harris go the whole 100 yards untouched. I get it. I wanted to hit somebody too. As much as I've defended Hardy from what I saw as an over reaction to his domestic violence case, I have go agree with virtually everyone else in the world who saw what Hardy did as stepping way over a line in his sideline behavior. He slapped a clipboard out of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia hand and he engaged in a verbal confrontation with him as well. You do not lay your hands on a coach. It cannot be tolerated. I'm sorry, he crossed a line and he disrespected Coach Bisaccia by striking his hand and confronting him when was trying to prepare his kick return group for the ensuing kickoff. I am very disappointed that Dallas has not, and apparently will not, discipline Hardy for this event. According the Cowboys website Jason Garrett has had several talks, both during and after Sunday's game, about focusing his emotions and letting them play out on the field. I assume Garrett has laid the law down about his poor choices on the sideline that it won't be tolerated going forward. At very least Hardy should be required, next time he talks to the media, to apologize publically to Bisaccia and express some sort of regret about the incident. The post game interview with Hardy was childish and uncalled for with every response to any question, whether it was about his run in with Bisaccia or about the game, was met with a "No comment" which was actually rude as hell because he had no intension of answering any questions from the media. His behavior in the locker room and on the sidelines was absolutely uncalled for.
How would Dallas punish the guy? Would they suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team? IMO it's warranted because you cannot under any circumstance allow any physical confrontation with a member of the coaching staff or anyone other than a player. Just can't happen. The organization has a responsibility to protect it's employees. The Cowboys don't want to suspend Hardy because he already served 4 games for his domestic violence issue. I think this is going to be looked at by the NFL league office because of his obvious history of violence against others. The Cowboys haven't suspended him but I could see the NFL league office step in and do it.
Could Dallas fine Hardy? Sure they could and they probably should but they have done without Hardy for the first 4 games and they are talking about giving him a contract extension. Really? Reward a guy for behaving like a total tool bag? Belichick and Robert Kraft would not put up with this crap. I'm disappointed in Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones for putting up with it. The response by Garrett in his press conference yesterday that the incident has been addressed and made to look like the matter is over with is the Cowboys attempt to white wash a serious issue in that locker room. IF it is addressed any further it will have to be done by the NFL league office and that way the Cowboys won't be blamed for any punishment given Hardy because it is Roger Goodell and his group that will do the punishing. To me, the Cowboys are not being "the right kind of guys" letting Hardy slide the way they have. In this rare occasion I am ashamed of the Cowboys organization for facilitating Hardy's bad behavior and it would be one time I would be on the NFL league office's side if they do levy a suspension and/or a fine. Hardy deserves it.

eagle eye

10-28-2015, 12:05 PM

As much I still feel Greg Hardy was out of line I think I may have jumped the gun saying Hardy deserved some punitive punishment. I got caught up in the appearance of the event and much like many people did when Dez Bryant had an outburst on the sidelines a couple of years ago it looked worse than it actually was. Now Dez didn't do anything physical and the words he spoke were ones of encouragement, people just interpreted his actions based on body language. It was hard to mistake Hardy's body language on Sunday but if you look at the video of the incident after Hardy knocked the clipboard out of Rich Bisaccia's hand Bisaccia pushed Hardy back with both of his hands. Emotional game, emotional people. Listening to the podcast "Cowboys Break" on DallasCowboys.com yesterday the member of the panel which included senior writer Nick Eatman and former scout Brian Broaddus there were stories told of similar confrontations on the Cowboys sidelines over the years including one recounted about a guy being inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor this Sunday, Darren Woodson. As they say, shit happens. The good part of the coverage of an NFL game is all the angles you can see of the plays made on the field and one of the bad things, IMO, is the crap that happens on the sidelines that can be easily misinterpreted simply going on body language. The guys on Cowboys Break saw had no issue with the way Jason Garrett handled the situation and throw in the panel the Cowboys other podcast "Talkin Cowboys" which included Mickey Spagnola and former Cowboys guard Nate Newton and they had no issues with how Garrett handled the situation. Everyone agrees Hardy needs to not do what he did but the need to fine or suspend Hardy was really sort of a non-issue. We'll see how things play out but for now Hardy and Bisaccia have no doubt talked it out and the matter is settled.

As mentioned above, former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson will be inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor at halftime of this weekend's game against Seattle. It's ironic that Seattle is the Cowboys opponent this week because back in 2002 Woodson set the record for most tackles in team history against Seattle. The mark was overshadowed because in the same game Emmitt Smith broke Walter Peyton's all time rushing yards record. Dallas has been trying to replace Woodson since he retired in 2004 unsuccessfully. The Cowboys may have a guy who can finally fill Woodson's shoes in their 1st round draft pick in this year's draft, Byron Jones, but he's got a long way to go before we know if he's the next Woody. Woodson is a guy who deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and maybe this induction and Woodson's work on ESPN will be enough to have the folks at the HOF take proper notice of him. There are three Cowboys players I feel deserve to be in the HOF and they are Woodson, Drew Pearson and Harvey Martin. That's just me but all three guys have the credentials compared to their peers to warrant that honor. I also think, but it will never happen, that Bill Bates should be inducted. If the HOF is a chronicle of the story of the history of the NFL then Bates qualifies. He was an undrafted free agent in an era when the NFL draft was 12 rounds who earned his way on the Cowboys roster simply because of his special teams work. He excelled at special teams so much that a special designation was created to include a special teams player in the Pro Bowl. It can rightly be argued that Bates and the Bills Steve Tasker were the players who brought recognition to special teams specialists. Bates was the first and he deserves to be recognized for that.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/27/woody%E2%80%99s-week-often-overshadowed-woodson-finally-getting-%E2%80%9Chis-day%E2%80%9D

Well, at long last there is a real, honest to goodness Dez Bryant sighting at practice today. I'm not just talking about Dez in practice pads working out with the training staff on the side, I mean Dez actually in practice with the team. This is a very good sign for his availability for this week's game vs Seattle. When Dez broke a bone in his foot in Week 1 the time frame for his return was 6-8 weeks. Last Sunday's game against the Giants was 6 six weeks to the day that he broke his foot. Sometime this week will mark six weeks since he had the surgery to repair the bone and Sunday will be 7 weeks removed from the injury. I'm sure Jason Garrett will say they are happy to have Dez back in practice and they will monitor him closely and the trainers and doctors will see how he feels after his first practice in 7 weeks. Coachspeak, you know the drill. I would not be at all surprised if Dez plays against Seattle this week and that is a good thing.

One of the worries going into the season about Joe Randall becoming the starting RB for the Cowboys was his ability to pick up the blitz in pass protection. It was considered a strength of Darren McFadden's game. Randall hasn't been terrible at pass blocking but Brian Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com breaks down McFadden's blocking ability in the video linked below. He also breaks down the pass interference penalty called on WR Devin Street that negated a Cowboys TD in the first half of the game last Sunday. Everyone agrees that was a bad call on Street and the 4 points Dallas lost as a result was a definite handicap to Dallas during the game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/10/27/film-room-street-pi-call-mcfadden-shines

eagle eye

10-29-2015, 01:34 PM

Joseph Randle can't seem to buy a break. He begins the Giants game and he has 2 runs for 24 yards and is done for the game with an oblique strain in his back. Darren McFadden becomes the beneficiary of the best game the O-line has played so far this season continuing what Randle had begun eventually ending up with 29 carries for 152 yds and a TD. He also added 2 catches for 10 yds but he was robbed of a 3rd catch for 30 or so yards and a TD by a horrendously bad call by a back judge 25 yards from the play. It has to be noted there was a side judge right there 5 yards from Devin Street's supposed PI on Antonio Rogers-Cromartie who never made a motion to call the PI. The point is Darren McFadden earned more playing time because of his performance in the game. Judging by the start Randle had he might have been the one to rush for a buck fifty two. Bad luck. Another situation haunting Randall now has nothing to do with luck, just poor judgment. Remember when Randle had been detained for a domestic violence issue that also involved him having a gun in his possession in his home town of Wichita, Kansas this past February involving the mother of his child? There seems to be some rumors, based on some information coming from reliable sources, that Randle could be facing a suspension by the NFL league office for violating the domestic violence policy. Yesterday Randle was upset to the point that reporters were asked to leave the locker room area to prevent a serious confrontation with members of the media. Randle soon left the facility at that time but he is back at Valley Ranch in meetings with coaches and front office staff presumably in reference to what may be coming down the pike for him.

As a result the three RBs that will be active this Sunday against Seattle will be McFadden and two guys who weren't even on the team back in Week 1. The #2 man will be Christine Michael and another ex-Seattle Seahawk practice squadder Rod Smith who is a rookie this season out of Ohio State. I could be that Michael and Smith will have some motivation to play extra hard since they are facing their old team but that is another story altogether.

At practice today was Dez Bryant who was listed as limited yesterday in his first practice with the team since his foot injury. Jason Garrett said the Bryant was feeling fine after his Wednesday practice and Bryant was even more involved in today's practice but I would be when they release the injury report I would bet Dez is listed as limited again. Judging by what I've heard I would also guess Dez is playing Sunday.

Demarcus Lawrence missed yesterday's practice with a sore back but he was back on the field today. Randy Gregory will not be listed on the injury report at today. Since Week 1 he had a high ankle sprain and even in his first game back this past week he was on a pitch count so to speak limiting the plays was on the field for. His work load this week should be at or near normal. CB Morris Claiborne missed practice today with an illness. It was probably the same illness that caused Greg Hardy to miss earlier in the week. Seems to be a bug going around the whole NFL and it must be a doozy because teams are telling the players to stay home so they don't make everyone else sick.

S Barry Church was limited as he rehabs an ankle injury suffered against the Giants but he is expected to be alright for Sunday. A name you may have forgotten in that of LB Mark Nzeocha who was a 7th round pick by Dallas in this year's draft. Nzeocha has been on PUP/Designated for return since the season began because of a torn ACL he suffered while still at Wyoming. Dallas will have 3 weeks to evaluate him before they need to decide to put him on the 53 man roster or put him on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

eagle eye

10-30-2015, 02:06 PM

It really looks like Dallas will everyone back on the field this week. Dez is still practicing and so is practically everyone else except for S Barry Church who has been treated for an ankle injury from last week's game. The ankle has kept Church off the practice field all week and Jason Garrett said he hoped that Church would be able to do something today. If Church can't practice today he is highly unlikely to play Sunday. Backups to Church include JJ Wilcox, Jeff Heath and rookie Byron Jones. It's Jones' name that keeps coming up as the starter this week and based on his play so far this season he's sort of earned the opportunity. Jones has been good in coverage, especially against tight ends, so far this season. In fact he held the Patriots super tight end Rob Gronkowski to just 4 catches for 67 yards which is a low water mark for Gronk this season. The best thing about Jones is not that he's good in coverage it's that he doesn't shy away from tackling, even a beast like Gronk. It would be fitting if, on the weekend Dallas inducts Darren Woodson into the Cowboys Ring of Honor, Dallas finally gives the guy who can finally fill his shoes 11 years after Woodson retired his first chance at starting at safety.

It will be interesting to see who goes back to field punts this weekend for the Cowboys. Will it be Cole Beasley again or will it be Lucky Whitehead? Beasley fumbled a Giants punt with 1:39 left in the 4th quarter at the end of the Giants game last Sunday and that cost the Cowboys their final chance to come back and tie the game if they could have managed a TD. That is a great big IF but Dallas never got the chance to try when Beasley failed to catch the punt. The thinking in Cowboy-nation is that Lucky will replace Beasley as the punt returner. Whitehead was involved in the offense a lot more this past game and he assumed a role filled by Lance Dunbar. He ran the ball 4 times for 35 yards and looked good following his blocking. It's kind of ironic that I say Whitehead assumed a Lucky Whitehead role given that Whitehead didn't catch a ball but his ability to run as that scat back Dallas has missed is what I'm talking about. First of all Whitehead probably should be given a chance to return punts but it won't matter who's back to receive the kicks as long as the Cowboys do as bad a job as they have done blocking.

One guy who will be key to Dallas stopping the Seahawks this week is MLB Rolando McClain. McClain was suspended for the first 4 games of the season because he violated the NFL drug policy. He also missed virtually all of training camp because he was rehabbing a knee that he had surgery on at the beginning of the summer. So, over the last 3 weeks with 2 games sandwiched around the Cowboys bye week that has been his training camp. Despite his lack of work in the two games Dallas has played McClain has recorded 15 tackles, 2 QB pressures and a sack. Against the Giants last week despite being sick with the flu McClain had 6 tackles, one for a loss, and a quarterback pressure. He also had a hands to the face penalty that ultimately kept a Giants drive going. If McClain doesn't commit that penalty on a 3rd down play Dallas stopped the Giants and would have gotten the ball back but instead kept the Giants drive going and they eventually led to a Giants field goal just before halftime. In this article from DallasCowboys.com Brian Broaddus talks about what Dallas will need to do to beat Seattle this Sunday which includes having a great game from McClain.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/30/scouts-eye-cowboys-seahawks-will-be-decided-play-lines

Here's an article talking about the plan the Cowboys are working when Tony Romo is able to begin practicing next week. Yes, I said next week. He won't be eligible to play a game until around Thanksgiving but he will be able to begin rehab work next week.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/10/29/coaching-staff-devising-plan-romos-return-practice-next-week

Last but not least today I give you a link from DallasCowboys.com to a video of highlights of S Darren Woodson who is going into the Cowboys Ring of Honor this weekend. For those not old enough to remember Woody, he was a hybrid safety-linebacker from Arizona State who came to Dallas as a 2nd round draft pick. He came in and became one of the best strong safety's in the NFL. He was a 3 down player who was good in coverage, he often covered tight ends and receivers out of the slot and he also was a force in the box stopping the run. It's taken 11 years to replace him and they still really haven't done it yet. Although rookie 1st round draft pick Byron Jones out of UConn looks like he's a strong candidate.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/10/29/throwback-thursday-darren-woodson-highlights

Also, if you want to get to hear some of the stories from the Cowboys heydays in the 90's check out this Cowboys Legends Show that recaps Woody's career.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/10/28/cowboys-legends-darren-woodson

eagle eye

10-31-2015, 10:42 AM

I have been forgetting to post this but I got a reminder from an article from NFL.com. A couple of weeks a go former Cowboys Jay Ratliff was released by the Chicago Bears after a confrontation with Bears GM Ryan Pace at Halas Hall, the Bears practice facility. It is totally reminiscent of the shouting match between Ratliff and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after a Cowboys loss on Thanksgiving 3 years ago. Ratliff had not been playing because of injury at the time and Jones told Ratliff that the team needed him. That sent Ratliff into a rage and thus the confrontation. When the season was over the Cowboys did not offer Ratliff a contract allowing him to become a free agent. Ratliff, who began going by his given name, Jeremiah, after leaving Dallas is reported to have gotten into several verbal confrontations that resulted in him being escorted off the property and Chicago police remained on site after Ratliff was forced to leave Halas Hall. Of course, the Bears white washed the incident in a statement about Ratliff's release. GM Ryan Pace said that it was felt it was in the best interests of the Chicago Bears organization to move forward without Jeremiah Ratliff. He went on to thank Ratliff for his contributions to the Bears in his time there and they wished him well going forward. Sort of a nice way to say, "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!". On NFL.com yesterday an article, linked below, talked about how Ratliff said he fell like killing everyone in the place (Halas Hall). This guy has some serious problems that involve some sort of mental therapy.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000568884/article/police-ratliff-threatened-bears-staff-after-release

The Cowboys look like they are going to be fairly healthy going into the game with Seattle at 3:25 PM tomorrow afternoon. WR Dez Bryant and S Barry Church are listed as questionable on the injury report but I suspect both will play. TE James Hanna is probable after missing the last few games because of an ankle injury and DeMarcus Lawrence will play after missing some practice time this week with a sore back as will Mo Claiborne who was sick most of the week. The only guy who is definitely out is RB Joseph Randle but we knew that already since Jason Garrett said Randle would miss this week's game as he dealt with a personal issue that the Cowboys did not elaborate any further about. Speculation has been that Randle is looking at a suspension under the NFL code of conduct policy related to an issue with his child's mother in Wichita, Kansas back in February. No confirmation of any of the rumors has been even addressed by the Cowboys and Randle hasn't been available for comment. It looks like Randle will miss this week and next at very least as the Cowboys have described Randle's personal issues as "serious". About the only guy not back is Tony Romo and he has at least another 3 weeks because he is on the PUP/designated for return list. It was reported that he will begin throwing next week which is a very good sign.
With all that being said Dallas has a game tomorrow against the Seattle Seahawks and this could be a season defining game much in the same way beating Seattle last season in Seattle was. As with tomorrow's game Dallas will be a prohibitive underdog. As of the most recent betting line Dallas is a 6 point underdog. Even though Seattle has been less than world beaters this year they had a good game beating the San Francisco 49ers this past Monday. What could be lost is how the Niners pressured Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense all evening but they got little to no help from their offense. Does this mean the defense, which has struggled about half the time this season, is fixed? Or are the 49ers just that bad on offense. As with many things in this world the answer lies somewhere in the middle. On the other side of the ball Dallas has all their parts in place and with 2 games under the belts of Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain to knock off the rust that had to accumulate during their 4 game suspensions to start the season they should be good to go by now. No excuses on defense. Last season Dallas went into Seattle with everyone expecting a loss. Everyone but the Cowboys themselves and they went toe to toe with Seattle and every punch in the mouth Seattle dealt out Dallas countered with a punch of their own. Heck, they even spotted the Seahawks a 10 point lead to start the game with a punt blocked for a TD and a field goal. It didn't matter as Dallas battled all day and DeMarco Murray made the Seahawks see what it was like to be on the wrong side of a punishing ground game. This time around there will be no Tony Romo and no DeMarco Murray. The Cowboys will be sending Matt Cassel and Darren McFadden up against the Legion of Boom. Dallas will be in their own home stadium and the Seahawks generally struggle on the road. Cassel was better than Brandon Weeden despite the 3 INTs he threw. He showed the coaches, the team and Cowboys fans he could push the ball down the field and he threw some pretty darn good passes in that game. He's no Romo but if he can at least be Danny White that should be enough. Especially if the line and Run-DMaC (McFadden) can pound the rock like they did against the Giants last week. Toss in former RB Christine Michael and Dallas may have the key to beating the Seahawks tomorrow. Both teams need to win because losses have piled up on both teams. Dallas sits at 2-4 after losing 4 straight since Tony Romo broke his collar bone against the Eagles in Week 2. Seattle is 3-4 in 3rd place in the NFC West 2 games behind division leading Arizona. Seattle went to the Super Bowl last year and Dallas was 12-4 and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs last season so, my point is, nobody on the planet expected both these teams to be under .500 nearly halfway into the season. Despite expectations here we are. If there was a must win for both teams this game is it. It should be an old fashioned smash mouth football game. To win this game Dallas has to run the football effectively, they can't turn the ball over and the defense has to find a way to break their 4 game turnover drought and force Seattle to cough up the ball. We have seen Dallas win the battle of statistics in recent games except for the most important ones---the turnover ratio and the final score and if you think the 2 aren't related you haven't been paying attention. If Dallas does all these things then I believe the Cowboys win. So what's the final score???

Dallas 27 Seattle 25

eagle eye

11-02-2015, 09:22 AM

My prediction was a 2 point win by Dallas and they came within about one minute of doing just that. Seattle kicked a field goal with 1:10 left in the game to take a 13-12 lead. Dallas had their chance but, pretty much like the rest of the game Matt Cassel couldn't get it done throwing the ball. It was if Brandon Weeden knocked out the real Matt Cassel and he put on his uniform and one of those Mission Impossible face disguises and he went out and did his best to lose the game. It was all a plot to get his starting job back by Weeden. Okay, I know that's ridiculous and not true but where was the guy who started last week? Did the coaching staff neuter Cassel this past week? Now, the times he did try to go downfield Cassel was totally off target. If Dez Bryant hadn't played some good defense Cassel may have thrown 2 picks in the game simply because his passes were off target. This is getting hard to bear. 5 losses in a row since Romo went down. It makes me hate Philadelphia even more than I did and I honestly didn't think that was possible.
I got a problem with Lucky Whitehead too. He was coming in motion when Dallas was on the Seahawks 29 with a 2nd and 10. Whitehead came in motion from the left sideline toward the middle of the field and he broke a half count early to block for a sweep by Darren McFadden. The sweep worked to perfection with D-Mac gaining 25 yards to the Seattle 4 yard line. Whitehead's block was not the reason McFadden's run worked so well but he illegal motion cost the Cowboys field position and ended up forcing Dallas to kick a field goal from 52 yards out. That 4 point swing cost Dallas a win because instead of scoring 12 points Dallas would have had 16 forcing the Seahawks to score a TD. The way the defense was playing they would not have made it. If Dallas had scored 20 points the way they did against the Giants last week we would have won. If "ifs and buts were fruit and nuts we'd all had a Merry Christmas". There are a lot of tears over a lot of spilled milk right now in Dallas.
It was said that if Dallas didn't turn the ball over and they won the turnover battle and even won on special teams Dallas would win and the Cowboys did all three of those things but they didn't happen to mention to the offense they needed to score more than 12 lousy points. Dallas didn't turn the ball over but they came close on several occasions. Dallas got their first turnover since Week 2 in Philly when Greg Hardy tipped a Russell Wilson pass in the air and he caught it. Russell Wilson was able to trip up Hardy just enough to keep him from running the ball in for a TD. The shame Dallas offense came on and went 3 and out kicking yet another field goal. The run game did their part gaining 129 yards on the ground but the passing game was no help at all with Cassel passing for a meager 91 yards. This despite getting pretty good pass protection and Cassel actually scrambling for 43 yards on 4 carries. Now, I know some of you will say that the great Aaron Rodgers passed for an even more meager 77 yards going 14/22 against the Broncos but the difference is the Broncos pass rush lived in the Packers backfield and Rodgers never had a chance as he was running for his life or having to throw off his back foot with a defender or two in his face. The Broncos only sacked Rodgers 3 times but he had 22 hurries and almost as many knockdowns. The Broncos defense kicked the tar out of the Packers offense and there is no two ways about it. As I mentioned before Cassel was not under any thing close to that pressure. As much as I had hope for Dallas this week it was based in large part on his performance last week. There have been 3 games in the last 5 that Dallas has lost that they should have won but they found some way to lose to the Saints when they were reeling, The Giants last week and Seattle yesterday. Dallas was the better team on the field yesterday but the score says otherwise.
I am thoroughly depressed. I'm not suicidal--yet--but if this keeps up much longer you just never know.

eagle eye

11-04-2015, 09:46 AM

Wow, Joseph Randle must be in a world of hurt or there are things going on with him that are team related that John Q Public doesn't know about because the Cowboys waived Joseph Randle, pretty much kicked his ass to the side of the road. He has been dealing with a back issue that he suffered in the Giants and there have been rumors some of his personal problems involve an incident with the mother of his child back in February in Wichita, Kansas. There is a story going around that when Randle hurt his back against the Giants he could have gone back in the game but he refused. That will cause the coaching staff and his team mates to write off the player because everyone plays hurt. When a guy refuses to give his all to the team he sort of burns bridges with the team. Regardless, for a franchise that forgives just about everthing, it's very telling that Dallas just cut Randle loose. Darren McFadden had earned the starting job anyway because of his

You know, besides being screwed over by the refs way too much lately and all the self inflicted miscues the Cowboys have had to deal with we are facing, for the 3rd time in 4 weeks a team coming off a bye week or a Thursday night game which is like a bye week once the Thursday game is over with. 3 Weeks ago Dallas faced the Patriots after their bye. After their bye week the faced the Giants coming a Monday night game. Last week Dallas faced off against the Seahawks who played the Thursday night before and this week Dallas will play the Eagles coming off their bye week. When it rains it pours I guess but if we had won a game or two in the last 5 Weeks this may not be all that big a deal.

You want to bitch about the plays left on the field by Matt Cassel after his 91 yard passing performance against Seattle? Let me steer you to DallasCowboys.com's Brian Broaddus break down of what coulda, shoulda been if only Cassel had seen what he should have seen last week.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/11/03/film-room-missed-opportunities-against-seattle

The Cowboys have signed a new RB to replace Joseph Randle. They picked up Trey Williams off the Washington Redskins practice squad. Williams is a rookie out of Texas A&M and he will be the 2nd Aggie RB in the Cowboys backfield. Williams will remind Cowboys fans of Lance Dunbar because he is a smaller RB like Dunbar. Williams is 5'8" and 195 lbs but as you will see in Brian Broaddus scouting report the guy runs with power as well. This guy could become very important to the Cowboys offense in the same way Lance Dunbar was before he was injured and lost for the season. The Eagles game in Week 2 was a very costly one for the Cowboys as they lost Romo and Dunbar in the same game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/04/scouting-report-new-rb-williams-shows-surprising-physicality-size

eagle eye

11-05-2015, 12:47 PM

The link below shows a video that has become a popular one on the internet of a little boy sitting on his mother's lap crying after another Cowboys loss, this time to the Seattle Seahawks, and when he's asked why he's crying the boy replied, "I want Romo back.". It's similar scene that took place at my house with me being consoled by my wife after the Cowboys lost their 5th game in a row since Romo was injured. Not really, but it was in a lousy mood for about a day beginning about 6:30 pm Sunday evening.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/05/cowbuzz-6-year-old-cowboys-fan-distraught-after-another-loss-without-room (http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/05/cowbuzz-6-year-old-cowboys-fan-distraught-after-another-loss-without-romo)

Brian Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com sees 2 matchups this week that Dallas could exploit against the Eagles. In the link below he points out both of these matchups.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/05/scouts-eye-cowboys-defense-has-two-favorable-matchups-vs-philly

Just remembered that I didn't mention anything about whether Tony Romo is actually practicing after I posted that there was that possibility last week. Well, he is practicing--although on a limited basis and nothing with the team as yet. He is working with trainers as he begins to throw the football and do conditioning work but he is out there on the practice field. The first game he is eligible to play is Week 11 on November 22nd against the Miami Dolphins. That will be the eighth week which is the exact duration of the PUP/Designated for Return list. At least there is hope going forward.

There is something else fans are hoping for is that Matt Cassel can strike a balance between pushing the ball up the field and avoiding turnovers. You don't want the 3 INTs he threw against the Giants and you don't want 91 yards passing checking down to the short receiver either. Here's an article from DallasCowboys.com's Rob Phillips about the need for Cassel to play somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/04/making-plays-avoiding-turnovers-key-cassel-vs-eagles%E2%80%99-opportunistic-defense

eagle eye

11-08-2015, 07:03 AM

There is controversy and then there is WTF. l think the Greg Hardy thing has elevated to WTF with the release of 48 pictures of Hardy's ex-girlfriend's bruises following the domestic violence incident last May. Pretty bad stuff I have to admit. I still have to go back to the verdict a female judge handed down in the court case that followed. It wasn't even a slap on the wrist. The NFL saw the photos and handed down a harsh penalty of 10 games that got reduced to 4 which has been served. Hardy refused to appeal the suspension any more because he didn't want to be a "deflate-gate" type of distraction to the team. Sounded like Hardy wanted to be a good team mate at the time. Then came his outburst on the sideline with special teams coach Rich Bisaccia. Looked bad and admittedly was bad. Add to that the petulance he's shown to the press and it paints a picture of Hardy as a real sociopath. I want to see Hardy play well and help the Cowboys get out of this 5 game losing streak but even I, who have sort of defended Hardy up until now, kind of wish they could do it without him. Jerry Jones released the following statement after DeadSpin published the pictures and article about Hardy.

“While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence. We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career.” (taken from DallasCowboys.com article)

This is a public relations nightmare for the Cowboys and a dilemma of epic proportions for them as well. How can the Cowboys even want this guy on the team going forward? Why, as many people are calling for, doesn't Jerry give Hardy his release? As bad as the photos are doubt has be cast on them when even North Carolina police and judicial system didn't levy a harsher punishment on him. I know Jerry is a man of his word and I know he believes in his player assistance program and as he said in the statement the Cowboys have given Hardy a second chance. I believe the Cowboys and Hardy will lay low media-wise for a while and the subject of a contract extension for Hardy will have to go on the back burner for a while. To his credit Hardy tweeted out a response to the photos. “Just had to say I express my regret (https://twitter.com/OverlordKraken/status/663159859374780416) 4 what happened in past and I’m Dedicated to being the best person & teammate that I can be,” Hardy said on Twitter, “but mostly I am Grateful 4 the opportunity (https://twitter.com/OverlordKraken/status/663159876651122688) to play in NFL.” Sounds like a guy doing damage control doesn't it? At any rate Hardy will be playing against the Eagles tonight which brings me to the real subject of this post.

Dallas will have almost everyone on board for the game from an injury standpoint as will the Eagles. It will come down to the fact that this game will come down to offense vs defense. Can Dallas outscore the Eagles? Simple as that. Matt Cassel will have to be better than the first two starts. He will have to push the ball down the field and do it without throwing picks like he did against the Giants two weeks ago. Pretty simple. The Cowboys have to win tonight or they can kiss their season goodbye. They stand at 2-5 but it's just one game back of the division leaders in the loss column and two games back in the win column. This is the official halfway point for Dallas tonight and they need to reverse this disturbing pattern of doing things to beat themselves. They have been right there except for the Atlanta game when the Falcons flipped the 2nd half on Dallas and ended up beating them soundly. One point loss, 7 point loss, 6 point loss in overtime. This is a chronicle of the past 3 games with the Seahawks, Giants and Saints. All really should have been Cowboys wins but weren't because Dallas found ways to shoot themselves in the foot. Can we just win a freaking game is the mantra around Dallas' practice facility and it has come down to the Cowboys needing to beat the Eagles in prime time tonight. All the Greg Hardy stuff will be forgotten for the 60 minutes the game is being played. Strap it up, play your ass off and win. Dallas NEEDS to win tonight and I think they know this better than anyone. The question is, can they get it done against a bitter division rival. The same rival that caused them to play the past six games without their starting QB and cost Dallas their Darren Sproles in Lance Dunbar. Even though Dallas won the first meeting it has cost Dallas 5 straight losses. I hate the Eagles, always have, and it would be poetic justice if Dallas can beat those green clad booger eaters. So, what might the final score be? I don't know and I don't care as long as it's one point more than Philadelphia scores and ends up in a long overdue Cowboys win.

eagle eye

11-09-2015, 12:55 PM

It's like Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say on the original Saturday Night Live, "It's always something.". Either you get a pick six or your defense can't stop the other team's offense. Also like Roseanna used to say when somebody did something gross, "Hey, Quit doing that, you're making me sick!" After 6 straight weeks of finding ways to lose close games I have to say, "Hey Dallas, quit doing that, you're making me sick!" Matt Cassel had a nice game throwing for 299 yards and 3 TDs but he threw one pick that Philly took to the house and Dallas was on the verge of establishing some momentum when Cassel threw the pick. Dallas was in Philadelphia territory driving for a score when a simple out pattern got jumped and there was nobody and nothing but grass between the Eagle defender and the end zone. It's a pass Cassel should never have thrown. It's the type of pass Tony Romo got crucified for early in his career. Cole Beasley was finally included in the game and he responded with a career high 112 yards and 2 TDs. Dez had a hundred yards receiving and an incredible catch of a hail Mary type throw by Cassel, that was probably supposed to end up in the stands, for a TD. The pick six and the loss of Sean Lee to another concussion cost Dallas the game. After Lee went out in the 3rd quarter the Eagles scored on every possession they had for the rest of regulation and overtime except for one series. The Eagles went TD, punt, FG, FG, TD. The pick six was in the series to start the 4th quarter. To the Cowboys credit they kept up with Philly the whole way until the rules of overtime when a TD by the receiving team on their 1st possession ends the game. This is the second time in four weeks Dallas has lost in overtime when the opposing team scored a TD on their first drive. Four weeks ago New Orleans did it when, again, Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens were both out of the game and there was a missed assignment by someone. Last night's miscue came when Byron Jones fell down covering Jordan Mathews on a crossing route leaving Mathews a clear path to the end zone on a 41 yard catch and run. It didn't help that JJ Wilcox took a horrible angle and never even laid a hand on Mathews as he coasted in for the winning score. "It's always something!". DeMarco Murray flipped his horrible game in Week 2 around as he gained 161 yards rushing and receiving in the game with a TD. This was a win Dallas needed in the worst way and to have to lose to the most hateful team known to mankind is adding insult to injury. Did I ever mention I HATE the Eagles? I'm sure I did. Maybe once or twice. In case I didn't, I HATE THE EAGLES! Turns out the guy who made the pick 6 for Philly was the same hunk of steaming puss that broke Tony Romo's collar bone in Week 2. That guy is linebacker #58 Jordan Hicks, a rookie out of Texas. I hate that guy.

For those of you who don't remember, or never heard of Roseanna Rosannadanna here's a video of one of her ranks on from the original cast of SNL. Check out a very young Jane Curtain and Bill Murray.

https://screen.yahoo.com/roseanne-rosannadanna-smoking-000000279.html

eagle eye

11-10-2015, 10:36 AM

From the "Poetic Justice" files the Eagles have placed rookie linebacker Jordan Hicks on season ending IR after he tore a pectoral muscle in his chest during the Cowboys-Eagles game Sunday night. I didn't come before Hicks made his impact on the Cowboys-Eagles series this season. In Week 2 he blitzed on a pass play and when he tackled Cowboys QB Tony Romo he broke his collar bone. Romo is still out and not expected to return until Week 11. In last week's game Hicks picked off QB Matt Cassel and took it to the house for a pick 6 that seemed to deflate the Cowboys at the time. I'm glad Hicks doesn't have a career ending type of injury but I'm glad he's out. Is that terrible of me? Probably, but I don't care at this point.

The Cowboys have a day off today and will resume practice tomorrow. They will have to do it without MLB Sean Lee who is said to have to miss 2-6 weeks because of his second concussion suffered in the past 4 weeks. Hopefully, Anthony Hitchens' injury is not severe enough to keep him out of the lineup. The Cowboys really miss Lee without him in the lineup. When he was concussed the first time against the Saints the Cowboys couldn't stop the Saints offense and the same thing was true of the game against Philadelphia last Sunday evening. This is a huge blow to the Dallas defense. Despite the projections of Lee's absence from the lineup Jason Garrett has said Lee is actually "day-to-day" as he is evaluated for concussion symptoms. Lee's health is paramount but if he's well I'm sure we all agree it would be sweet to have him back this week. I would hold my breath on that though.

Has anyone noticed that Dallas' newest defensive lineman, David Irving, is playing his ass off? In limited action he is making plays for Dallas and it's getting him more chances to do his thing every time out. Not only that but he actually was able to block a field goal in the Seahawks game a couple of weeks ago. Irving played for Iowa State but he lost his eligibility in his senior season because he claims he was mistakenly thought to part of a campus riot when he was photographed and videoed holding a stop sign that was ripped out of the ground. Irving claimed he was handed the stop sign but because of the picture evidence he was dismissed from the Iowa State football team. Kansas City gave him his first chance to rekindle his football career and that is where Dallas got him by signing him off the Chief practice squad several weeks ago. Irving is big (6'7" and 273 lbs), fast (4.84 40) and athletic (38" vertical jump and 128 inch broad jump) so it's no wonder Dallas didn't take the opportunity to snatch him away from KC. Irving is young and talented and he is a rookie which mean he's got a tremendous upside for the future.

eagle eye

11-11-2015, 02:13 PM

I know this sounds crazy but with all the whiz-bang over Greg Hardy since Deadspin released photos of his ex-girlfriend's bruises after the domestic violence incident last year the media seems to be on a rampage to get Hardy kicked out of the NFL. The Cowboys won't talk about it and any dealings with Hardy are not being commented upon and are being handled in house. Of course the first sentence is meant to be a stab of humor but the subject is not really a humorous one. The media circus is sort of a joke. There was misleading title to an interview with Roger Staubach which was only half the story. There has been every Tom, Dick and Harriet coming out of the woodwork demanding Hardy be banished from the NFL. Much like deflate-gate this is getting way too much media attention. Unlike deflate-gate the subject matter is quite serious and deserves a voice but the persecution of Hardy seems borderline prejudicial. The media has forgotten Ray Rice and the sharks are after Hardy with a vengeance. Does he deserve it. To an extent, yes. However, the lynch mob is out with the rope and torches demanding a public hanging. Sometimes the voice of reason comes from very unexpected places and this article written by former NBA HOF'er Charles Barcley is just that--a voice of reason. I was really surprised at Sir Charles and happy he wrote such a thoughtful piece. It's a long article but it is definitely worth a look.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2587885-charles-barkley-greg-hardy-was-wrong-but-he-needs-help-not-more-punishment

Back to football.

Injury report from today is long with the most devastating members of the list being Sean Lee (concussion) and Anthony Hitchens (ankle). Dez missed practice today with a sore knee that he twisted when he caught the TD hail Mary from Matt Cassel against the Eagles. If I had a guess, he will play this week. The Cowboys have activated LB Mark Nzeocha from the Non-Football Injury list and to make room for him on the roster the Cowboys have released 3rd string backup QB Kellen Moore. The feeling is that if Moore clears waivers Dallas will sign him to the practice squad.

For a rundown of today's practice here's the article from DallasCowboys.com.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/11/practice-update-defensive-starters-missing-backup-rbs-sitting-out-more

In case you don't remember the 2015 draft Mark Nzeocha was the first of the Cowboys 2 7th round draft picks. Nzeocha come out of Wyoming and it's possible he fell so far in the draft because in the 7th game of the 2014 season he tore his ACL and he has been rehabbing it ever since. With the availability of Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens in question Dallas could use a little reinforcement. Here's a scouting report that Brian Broaddus did when he was drafted in May.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/11/scouting-report-re-visiting-mark-nzeochas-skillset-lb-special-teams

The strange saga of former Cowboys RB Joseph Randle continued today when it was announced that he would be suspended for 4 weeks for violating the personal conduct policy. In the article linked below DallasCowboys.com writer David Helman wrote he would be suspended 4 games. On the Cowboys podcast Talkin Cowboys Mickey Spagnola read the official NFL release about Randle and it said 4 WEEKs. It was noted by Spagnola because most suspensions are in terms of games and not weeks. The Helman article does chronicle Randle's many trials and tribulations over the last year or so going all the way back to the shoplifting incident at a Dallas area mall in the summer of 2014.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/10/former-cowboys-rb-randle-suspended-4-games-conduct-violation

eagle eye

11-13-2015, 06:25 PM

I know you have all heard by now about blow up in the locker room yesterday by Dez Bryant that was directed first at Dallas Morning News reporter Jean-Jacque Taylor and a second tirade directed at Monday Morning Quarterback Reporter Robert Klemko for tweeting about the first outburst. In the article from Bleacher Report that includes the video of the second rant by Bryant it describes what made Dez so mad. Apparently, Taylor had been very critical of Bryant in the Cowboys loss to Philadelphia last Sunday saying the Cowboys should get more from their "$70 MM man". What really set Dez off was when fellow WR Devin Street said Taylor called him the N word. Taylor, who is black, claims he did not say anything of the kind. Regardless, Bryant took Street's side and he went off on Taylor and Klemko. Jason Witten interceded and Jason Garrett came in and left the locker room with Bryant to defuse the situation. In today's press conference, which was dominated by questions about how Garrett handled the situation, Garrett said the Cowboys chose to use yesterday's incident as a teaching experience. Garrett said that Dez handled the situation wrong and he said he talked to Dez and the team about what happened. Without really saying so, Garrett probably instructed them how to deal with situations like this in the future. Garrett slipped up and said that the best thing when a reporter antagonizes you, you just walk away and say nothing. The inference being that Taylor baited Bryant to get a rise of him but when questioned about if Taylor did bait Bryant Garrett sidestepped the question and never answered it. Then he did what Garrett does, he repeated the statement about using what happened as a teaching tool. Linked below is the article from Bleacher Report and after that today's press conference with Garrett. Both videos are short but very telling if you pay attention. For my money, I have seen Jean-Jacque Taylor on various Cowboys related programs on FoxSportsSouthwest and he has always come off to me as a self important, pompous tool bag. I have no doubt that he baited Dez or egged him on just to infuriate him which obviously worked. It's also clear that Dez believed Devin Street when he said Taylor called him a "street n*gger". Whether Taylor said it or not Dez believed he did.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2588806-dez-bryant-blows-up-on-media-members-over-alleged-use-of-racial-slurs

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/11/13/garrett-isolated-incident-handling-distractions

The final link I'm posting is an article by senior columnist for DallasCowboys.com, Mickey Spagnola, who talks about the fight that Dallas is still exhibiting despite their 6 game losing streak and the turmoil that seems to be following the team this season.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/13/spagnola-no-matter-what-cowboys-still-kickin%E2%80%99-and-uh-screamin%E2%80%99

eagle eye

11-15-2015, 10:37 AM

This is likely to be the last game before Tony Romo returns to the lineup. So far the Cowboys are 0-6 without him which is not what the team and the fans expected. First Brandon Weeden had his chance and he proved to be too conservative and he went 0-3 despite having a real chance to win 2 of the 3 games he started. Now it's Matt Cassel at the helm and he's gone 0-3 despite having a chance to win all 3. The Patriots game is the only blowout the Cowboys have suffered. I know Dallas lost to Atlanta by a score of 39-28 but Dallas actually led 28-17 at the half and had 3 different 14 point leads in the game. The 2nd half of the game Atlanta turned around the strong 1st half by the Cowboys and a weak 1st half by them and they shut out the Cowboys in the 2nd half and they scored 21 unanswered points to beat the Cowboys. When I sat down to think about this post it occurred to me that maybe Weeden and Cassel weren't the whole problem after all. In the offseason the Cowboys strove to upgrade their defense by drafting Randy Gregory and Damien Wilson and Byron Jones. They went a step further by signing controversial DE Greg Hardy after he was released by the Carolina Panthers because of a domestic violence incident in May of 2014. A signing Dallas continues to have to deal with fallout over. The upgrades have not returned the dividends expected. When the chips have been pushed into the middle with the games on the line the defense has failed to make a stop. Just one stinking stop. Dallas has been undone by first drive TD's by opponents in two overtime games and they allowed a 17 play drive for a winning TD against Seattle. One stop and Dallas could have been the ones to win those games. Philly was the final slap in the face as they won the toss in overtime in last week's game and drove the ball right down the field and scored on a 41 TD pass to Jordan Mathews. A play where the man covering Mathews fell down as Mathews made his break across the middle and a simply horrible angle on the tackle by S JJ Wilcox. Touchdown. Game over. We lost our 6th in a row and it was to a division rival. Not good. We are now looking at yet another game Dallas NEEDS to win. If the Cowboys have any hope of making a playoff run they have to win this game today. They need a win and they needs to stack wins together in the same way they have accumulated losses. No two ways about it, the future is now. I don't know, or care, how much the Cowboys win by as long as they win. I predict a Cowboys win and that's all I can say. Because they have to have it. They just need a win and lot of problems won't seem so bad because that pressure will be off---for one week anyway.

eagle eye

11-16-2015, 11:06 AM

This losing streak has gotten to a viral point with everyone pointing fingers at the offense, the defense, the quarterback, the receivers and the coaches. I have never seen so many dropped passes by the Cowboys. Why didn't Dez make an attempt to catch the 50 yard pass in the end zone that was intercepted by a Tampa DB to end the game. Which brings me to my next point. When the game was on the line the Tampa defense made a play the offense did not. When the Cowboys had a 6-3 lead and they needed to make a stop which would have won the game for them they did not. In fact on a scramble by Jameis Winston in which Winston was tackled at the goal line and he fumbled on the hit that Dallas recovered Jeff Heath was flagged for defensive holding that took away the fumble recovery and gave Tampa a 1st and goal at the one yard line. Winston ran the ball in untouched on the next play to give the Bucs their first lead of the game with :59 seconds left in the game. The refs have their hand in it too with some calls and non-calls but the most damaging one was on that long pass to Dez. The Bucs DB pushed Dez in the back in much the same way Terrence Williams did last week against Philly. Williams was flagged for it and it cost the Cowboys a TD and the Bucs DB was not flagged and cost Dallas a TD. A TD that would have stolen the game back from Tampa. S Jeff Heath was both hero and goat in this game. The hero part was the two interceptions he got to stop Tampa drives, both of which were deep in Cowboys territory. The goat part was he was the Cowboy flagged for defensive holding on the Jameis Winston fumble that ultimately cost the Cowboys the game. Geez, this is a tired story.
The thinking seems to be that Tony Romo will solve all the Cowboys problems when he comes back next Sunday against the Dolphins. I'm sorry but it isn't going to work that way. Do you remember that prior to last season the Cowboys held Tony Romo back in training camp and how rusty he was because of a lack of work. Romo threw 3 picks against a sub par 49ers team that really was the reason Dallas lost the game. It took Romo several games to get into "mid-season form". Romo has been out 8 weeks. Think he won't be rusty? Miami just came back and beat the Eagles by one point yesterday. The Cowboys will have to travel back to Florida, on the east coast this time, and they will have to beat a motivated team that just broke out of their own losing streak. We are not out of this mess yet. The Cowboys have to feel like they are in quicksand. The harder they try to escape the deeper they are sinking.

eagle eye

11-18-2015, 09:13 AM

The Cowboys didn't take their Tuesday off sitting on their hands. First, they activated Tony Romo and he is scheduled to play his first game in 9 weeks after getting his collar bone broken against the Eagles in Week 2.
There were moves made on the roster that were surprising in some cases and expected in others. So, here is a rundown of the roster moves made by the Cowboys.
> Brandon Weeden was released on Tuesday creating room for Tony Romo to be activated from the IR/Designated to Return list.
> Last Thursday, with Sean Lee out because of concussion the Cowboys signed LB Keith Smith to the 53 man roster for linebacker depth. Smith was waived yesterday when Sean Lee passed all of the concussion protocols. Also, Rolando McClain who played last Sunday, and Anthony Hitchens were in doubt prior to the Tampa Bay game. If Smith clears waivers he will likely be resigned to the practice squad.
> Last week Kellen Moore was waived to make room for Smith but after Moore cleared waivers he was resigned to the Cowboys practice squad.
> Yesterday RB Christine Michael was released. (surprising move) He didn't get many carries in the games he played in since being signed and he under achieved in practice by all accounts.
> S/CB Corey White was released yesterday. (another surprise) It was a surprise to see White released mainly because the Cowboys may be without starting CB Mo Claiborne to has a high hamstring injury suffered against the Bucs.
> This one flew under the radar a little bit last week. The Cowboys signed RB Trey Williams off the Redskins practice squad. With the release of Christine Michael that means that former Seahawks RB Rod Smith and Williams are the primary backups this week headed to Miami.
> It is being reported that Dallas is going to sign former Seahawks and Browns RB Robert Turbin for additional depth. The Seahawks released Turbin prior to the start of the season because of a nagging leg injury that caused Turbin to miss most of training camp. The Browns signed Turbin and waited until he was healthy. In the mean time Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr established themselves as the lead backs on the team and Turbin didn't many chances to show his stuff. Turbin had been the primary backup to Marshawn Lynch since 2012 before he was cut by Seattle. Seattle was apparently impressed with rookie RB Thomas Rawls enough so it made Turbin expendable. Turbin makes the 3rd Seattle running back the Cowboys have signed this season so far. Christine Michael and Rod Smith were the other two. The signing of Turbin will happen if he passes his physical today.

Are you as tired of Dallas getting screwed by the refs as I am? Don't answer that, it's a rhetorical question. Of course we're tired of being screwed by the refs. In this video link by DallasCowboys.com's Bryan Broaddus details the bad calls and bad non-calls that occurred in the Bucs game.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/11/17/film-room-debatable-penalties-vs-bucs

eagle eye

11-21-2015, 10:17 AM

The Cowboys, to paraphrase the Depeche Mode's song the Cowboys have "their own personal Jesus", Tony Romo, back on the field this week. I would like to point out 2 things. 1) Don't expect Romo to be mid-season sharp. He's been out for 9 Weeks and 7 games. There is going to be some rust. 2) The same problems on defense and special teams are not fixed so expect this to be a hard fought game and it may be Romo who is the difference, good or bad. There is one other thing, the run game. That has been decent with Darren McFadden showing up much better than expected but he is on this week's injury list with a groin injury and is classified at questionable. We all know that it's about 50-50 whether the player plays on Sunday. This past week the Cowboys signed former Seahawks and Browns RB Robert Turbin. Turbin made his first appearance in Dallas at Valley Ranch on Wednesday and 15 minutes later he was at practice with the team. Word out of the Cowboys camp is they are extremely impressed with how fast Turbin has picked up the Cowboys offense. A stark contrast to Christine Michael who was such a disappointment Dallas released him. Turbin has done so well, in fact, the Cowboys have indicated that Turbin is the 1st backup to McFadden lapping rookies Rod Smith and Trey Williams who have been on the roster longer than Turbin. The advantage Turbin has over both rookie RBs is his experience. Turbin has started games in the NFL for Seattle when Marshawn Lynch was out with an injury. If McFadden can't go or needs a lot of help Turbin is the best alternative Dallas has right now.

The Cowboys unveiled the uniforms they will be wearing on Thursday. Like the other teams who have been playing recently on Thursday Night Football the Cowboys will wear a new monochrome style uniform. It will be all white with navy blue piping on the pants and numbers. On the shoulders is a modified look of the old shoulder star alternative unis from the 90's. It's a clean look and for a one-off game like Thanksgiving it isn't a bad choice at all. Below are picks of the uniform.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/galleries/2015/11/19/cowboys-nike-color-rush-uniform#335451

This week as Dallas tries to break out of this 7 game losing streak there are a couple of milestones worth mentioning and both involve Jason Witten. By starting in Miami this week Witten will break the great Bob Lilly's record of most consecutive starts as a Cowboy. Lilly is referred to as 'Mr Cowboy' because he was the first player ever drafted by the Cowboys back in 1960 and was a lynchpin of the famed Doomsday Defense for the Cowboys defensive line for his entire career. It is a consensus that if Lilly's record is should be Witten who is the epitome of the best of the Cowboys. Currently Witten is tied with Lilly with 196 consecutive starts and it is the longest consecutive game streak among active NFL players. Number 197 will be a momentous accomplishment. Another momentous accomplishment will be possible to achieve this week. Witten needs 8 catches to get to 1,000 career receptions. When he gets to 1,000 he will be only the 11th player in NFL history to reach the mark. There are 9 wide receivers on the current list with one lone tight end, Tony Gonzalez. Witten is a sure fire Hall of Famer and we should all feel privileged to see a player of Witten's caliber play.

Here is a link to a Bryan Broaddus article from DallasCowboys.com in his Scout's Notebook column as he talks about what to look for in this game against the Dolphins.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/11/20/scouts-notebook-lineup-changes-rb-plan-among-final-thoughts

eagle eye

11-22-2015, 09:41 AM

Dallas has a very daunting task ahead of them. Forget that they need to win 5 straight just to get to .500. Forget that they probably need to win all 7 of their remaining games to have a snowball's chance in hell of making the playoffs. You see, that sounds like a mountain nobody could climb because the slope is too steep and has way too many pitfalls. What we need to do, and what the Cowboys will do, is take it one game at a time. It is kind of like having a lot of weight to lose and when you look at how much you have to lose you give up because it is just too daunting. Regardless of how much you lose it is still not enough and eventually despair over the size of the mountain eventually causes you to lose heart and give up. It's not so much a flaw in human nature as it is setting your goal too high to reach. So, as in weight loss, NFL teams facing a big task of winning a lot of games can't look at the whole schedule. It's just too hard to imagine you could ever reach your goal. Instead they look ahead to the next game. That is manageable. We can do this. Just one stupid game. We can do this. To quote Lou, the manager of the Cleveland Indians in the movie "Major League II", "Alright, you guys, let's listen up. We won a game yesterday and if we win today, that's two in a row. If we win tomorrow that's called a winning streak. It has happened before so let's go out and show some hustle. Let's jack it up a little bit. I have a feeling things are about to turn around for us." The Cowboys will be trying to just win this one game. It won't be easy because Miami is not a pushover and winning on the road isn't easy. Add to that, the weather in Miami is supposed to be lousy with thunderstorms likely (70%). Talk about a hill to climb Dallas has one this week. All I want is the same thing I've wanted the last two weeks--a victory. I don't care what the final score is and I don't care if it's by a single point. Dallas has the guy they've been waiting for is back. Is Romo the Cowboys savior? You just don't know but there aren't any more excuses. Win and hope lives. Lose and it's over. The season will be in the tank which is such a shame considering the high hopes everyone had going into the season. I don't want to throw any water on the comeback fire but right after his big speech Lou had a heart attack. Now, Lou didn't die and the Indians won the pennant so maybe we can have a happy ending to this story after all. I just don't wish Jason Garrett any ill health to get there.

eagle eye

11-23-2015, 01:56 PM

On the Cowboys first possession of the game yesterday I got this feeling of dread because when Dallas got the ball the sky opened up and rain was just pouring out on the Dolphins stadium. You could see the water pouring off the uniforms soaking everyone to the bone. Now, I know it was soaking the Dolphins too but this scene was eerily reminiscent of Week 5 on October 25th when the Dolphins took charge of the game against the Texans, eventually whipping them 44-26. BTW that score was not indicative of the game. The Dolphins beat the snot out of Houston exceeded only by the whoopin they took from Atlanta in Week 2. The sunny side of that story is the last TDs given up by Houston was in the first half of that game when Miami was up 41-0 by halftime. But this is about the Cowboys so I'll end this sidebar. It looked bad with Dallas taking possession after a Dolphins punt at their own 4 and on 3rd and 10 Romo went back to pass when a Miami defender broke through and had Romo by the jersey a tick away from being sacked for a safety. At the last moment Romo switched hands with the ball and he shot putted a pass left handed to Darren McFadden from the back of the end zone. McFadden caught the ball at the 5 and ran it out to the 13. It was a yard short of the first down but Romo had turned disaster into breathing room for Chris Jones to punt the ball back to Miami. That play, even though it did not result in a first down was vintage Romo. It was then I started breathing again because I truly felt that Dallas was going to win the game. Romo was good, better in some ways than I expected because of the 9 week layoff he had. Things were going to be okay today, I thought, and I was right. He showed rust and he tossed up 2 passes up for grabs that I'm sure wouldn't normally happen but he was back. Everyone seemed to play better on both sides of the ball. Romo hit 8 different receivers and he threw 2 TDs as well. One to Terrence Williams and one to Dez. Darren McFadden was back gaining 129 yards on 29 carries and Robert Turbin added another 7 carries for 35 yards. The defense did better too. Rolando McClain intercepted a pass deep in Miami territory and took it in for the Cowboys first score. Dallas recorded their first sack in the 4th quarter of a game this season and they added 2 more after that.
It wasn't perfect by any means but the attitude on the field as I saw it on TV just different. Maybe it was just my attitude that was different. That is what Romo brought to the game with him. Now, before we get all full of ourselves and start talking playoffs (cue Jim Mora "playoffs" video) we need to understand this is but one small step in the right direction. Yes, Dallas is just two games behind division leading NY and one game back of Washington and Philly but there are only six games to be played and the next one is against the undefeated Carolina Panthers. The same Carolina Panters who just destroyed the Washington Redskins yesterday. Not long to revel in breaking a 7 game losing streak but that's the NFL for you. The Cowboys are back to work today getting ready for Thursday at 3:30. It's nice to get the haters off your back at long last isn't it? Dang right.

eagle eye

11-25-2015, 06:05 PM

Short week. Unbeaten opponent. Odds squarely stacked against them. The Cowboys are one point underdogs--at home where being the host team is usually considered anywhere from 3-7 points alone. The Panthers are 10-0, Dallas is 3-7. Even the most stalwart fans of the Cowboys have to raise and eyebrow when someone asks if the Cowboys will win tomorrow in the Cowboys annual Thanksgiving soiree at AT&T Stadium at 3:30 PM. I saw something at work today. You know the talk of turkey and dressing and ham and sweet potatoes eventually turns to football and being where we are the subject of the Cowboys-Panthers came up. The most typical question was, "What do you think the Cowboys are gonna do tomorrow?". But, unlike last week when the question was asked nothing definitive came out of people's mouths. It was all, "Romo's back and I hope he can put them over the top." or something to that effect. Uncertainty was the feeling that was most prevalent but this week it's different. Fans saw what Romo's presence did for the Cowboys. Now, despite not being even close to perfect, the Romo Effect has taken hold. There is hope and light in Cowboyland again.
Here is a stat for you. With Romo at QB the Cowboys are 3-0 in 2015 and 8-1 in their last nine regular season games with Romo under center. The lone loss came on Thanksgiving one year ago. There were extenuating circumstances though. First, the Cowboys were forced to play the Giants on Sunday Night Football in New York. Dallas won the game but they didn't even leave New York until the wee hours of the morning arriving in Dallas around daybreak Monday morning. Day one of 3 they had to prepare for Philadelphia shot. Second, Romo took Wednesday's off to rest his surgically repaired back. It was a routine that the Cowboys followed throughout the 2014 season. With a very short week before their Week 11 game Romo didn't get his recovery day and he was showing the ill effects of the short week as he had a lousy game against Philly in the final loss of the season until the Green Bay game in the playoffs. This year is a different animal. Romo's back problems are a non-factor and the broken collar bone he suffered is healed. He even took some big shots against the Dolphins last Sunday with no apparent ill effects. Another thing is Romo didn't have time to prepare for Philly last year but as he recuperated from that collar bone he was able to get a head start on both Miami and Carolina preparations. Now, Romo was rusty in Miami as evidenced by the 2 INTs he threw but he still made plays that Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel would never have made. Romo is healthy and he's an elite level quarterback. People will roll their eyes at this but you ask anyone these days and the consensus is Romo is in the upper echelon of NFL QBs. Stats, video and the overall eye test proves this out. Another thing Romo gives the Cowboys is help on defense. How so? Did you happen to see the time of possession last week? The Cowboys controlled the ball for 38:50 to just 21:10 for Miami. Do you think it's a coincidence that the Cowboys D got their first sack of the season in the 4th quarter plus two others? Not hardly. The defense wasn't bone tired and they had an extra gear. Romo gave them that. How about this stat? The Cowboys defense has only allowed 4 TDs in 3 of their last 4 games. My point? The defense has been playing pretty darn good so it's not like the Panthers hold a big advantage over the Cowboys. If Dallas can stop the run and keep Cam Newton from working the read-option on them the Cowboys stand a good chance of winning. The offense has shown with Romo at QB they are the good offense they looked to be going into the season and their offensive line is good enough to stand up to the Panthers defensive line. What I'm seeing is a close game, at home, with our New Hope (Star Wars reference -- I couldn't help it) to lead the way. More than once I have heard Romo referred to as a Jedi because of the magical ways he avoids trouble in the pocket and delivers a good play on the other side. I think our Jedi can beat their Superman because of the Jedi mind tricks Romo can do. So, what is the final score? I don't care as long as Dallas wins and I'm predicting just that. Happy Thanksgiving.

eagle eye

11-28-2015, 06:51 AM

I have nothing to say about Thursday's beat down by Carolina. It wasn't as if Cam Newton was all that. the Panthers offense only scored 16 points they had to earn. The other 17 points came off turnovers. 2 of the turnovers were pick sixes and the defense held the Panthers to a field goal after Romo's 3 INT of the first half. With all the Cowboys playoff hopes on the line and having a history of beating previously unbeaten teams to lean on their would-be savior, Tony Romo, had a terrible game. Or should I say a terrible half because early in the 3rd qtr Romo was tackled again by a linebacker who landed right on top of him driving his shoulder into the turf and again it resulted a broken collar bone. With 5 games left in the season Romo is done for the duration. Son-Of-A-Bitch! After a 12-4 season and a bad call away from advancing to the NFC Championship game last season the expectations were so high for the Cowboys this season and it all came crashing down around the Cowboys heads in Week 2 when Romo broke his collar bone for the first time. The seven subsequent games that followed that day resulted in zero wins and dug a hole for the Cowboys that was really unrealistically possible for them to climb out of. Hope reigned when Romo came back and even though he was obviously rusty he led the Cowboys to a win. Cowboys fans, me included, figured Dallas still had a shot at the playoffs IF they won out. Enter the Panthers who were and are undefeated. It obviously is by luck, or smoke and mirrors, the 2015 version of the Carolina football team is pretty darn good. It was the defense and a couple of bad decisions by Romo that put Dallas in a 23-3 hole by halftime. Take away the 17 points scored off Romo's INTs and it's a 6-3 game at half. If Dallas scores a TD when they drove the ball inside the Panthers ten instead of kicking a field goal it would have been 7-6 Dallas. If, on that trip inside the 10 the refs had called pass interference like they should have on a 3rd down pass to Darren McFadden the Cowboys would have had first and goal around the 3 yard line but the refs missed it. How I don't know because the replay was clearly a PI. It's been that sort of year for the Cowboys. It's almost like after Dallas signed NFL persona non grata Greg Hardy the refs decided to punish Dallas as much as they could. It's just sour grapes on my part because the refs have shown a level of incompetence in almost every single game this season. As a fan of the Cowboys it just seems like Dallas has suffered more than most because of the refs. It's time to stick a fork in the Cowboys, they're done in terms of the playoffs. We can only hope Matt Cassel learned enough from seeing Romo play Miami that he can get us some wins down the stretch. Or, it he continues to fail leading the Cowboys to wins in the next 2-3 weeks, Maybe it's time to give Kellen Moore a look. It sure couldn't hurt. It's ironic that all the years Romo and the offense has carried this team the one season they play well is the season the offense takes a vacation. Geez, it's hard being a Cowboys fan sometimes.

eagle eye

12-01-2015, 12:10 PM

The 2015 season didn't end last Thursday afternoon with Tony Romo lying on the football field with another collar bone injury. It just seemed like it at the time. But as has been preached by Jason Garrett the time to dwell on the last game is over and it's time to move on to the next game on the schedule. It just so happens that the next game up is pretty important because it is against division rival Washington in Washington this coming Monday night. Now, amazingly enough Dallas isn't out of the running for the division which, for a 3-8 team is downright amazing. However, when the division leaders, Washington and NY Giants, are tied at 5-6 a mere 2 games up with 5 to play you just can't write off the season at the end of November. What Dallas is going to have to do is figure out a way to win with their backup QB which is something they couldn't do for the 7 games Romo missed between September and November. Oh-and-seven by Brandon Weeden (who is no longer with the Cowboys) and Matt Cassel. It's Matt Cassel's show now. No matter what it's all on him. That is why they made the trade for him way back at the end of September. The Cowboys knew Weeden wasn't going to get it done so they turned to the more experienced, more proven Cassel. That didn't work out so well but that was then and this is now and amazingly there is still something to play for.
Here's the remaining schedule for NFC East teams listed according to current division standings.

NY Giants - (5-6) Jets, Dolphins, Panthers, Vikings and Eagles
Washington - ( 5-6) Cowboys, Bears, Bills, Eagles and Cowboys
Philadelphia - (4-7) Patriots, Bills, Cardinals, Redskins and Giants
Dallas - (3-8) Washington, Green Bay, NY Jets, Buffalo and Washington.

As you can see, the Cowboys and Redskins are tied together pretty tightly in these last 5 games. Of the 4 division rivals on paper it looks like the 'Skins have the easiest row to hoe. Only the Bills are in the conversation of who is a playoff team or not. The Giants have no picnic with the Panthers and Vikings on their plate with the Jets and Dolphins bringing up the rear. The Eagles are done. Stick a fork in them because they seem to have given up. They might have a one game lead on Dallas but even Dallas shows some fight. The last two weeks the Eagles have looked like dog doo-doo. It seems that Chip Kelly isn't the genius everyone seemed to think he was. The Eagles have looked so bad the debate has been so far this week is if Kelly will still be the Eagles coach next year. Not only that but they have the Pats, Bills and Cardinals to deal with in the next 3 weeks. The most you can hope for is they can play spoiler by beating the Redskins and Giants. In a perfect world Dallas goes 5-0 and ends up 8-8 while the Redskins and Giants only manage 2 wins and the Eagles actually win their last two games to knock the Redskins and Giants out of the way of the Cowboys. It all starts this Monday night. Dallas will need to begin the journey by beating the 'Skins and we will need the Jets to do something they haven't done much of lately--win. They really need to beat the Giants in what amounts to a home game for both teams. The Jets are 2-4 in their last six games but they did beat the Dolphins rather handily last week. They need to step up and do it again this Sunday. The Jets at 6-5 have their own playoff hopes at stack so you know they will be motivated. Let's hope that motivation results in a win.
Don't believe it can be done? You just never know what can happen and if you need some proof that a winning streak is possible look no further than cross state rival Houston who started 2-5 and after winning 4 straight they stand at 6-5 tied for the AFC South division lead. If the Texans can string together some wins why not Dallas? Slim hopes to pin you season on but when it's all you've got you just have to run with it.

eagle eye

12-03-2015, 09:46 AM

The Cowboys begin preparation for the Washington Redskins today for their Monday Night Football game here in Week 13. Because of the MNF schedule the Cowboys had an extra day off but the Cowboys didn't spend it goofing off at Valley Ranch. The players and cheerleaders teamed up for their annual Christmas visits to Dallas area hospitals for visit kids and to bring gifts for them. I mention this because so much bad press gets air time for the bad things that occur and the vast majority of the NFL players are good people who routinely give back to the communities their teams represent. This is an annual trip for the players and cheerleaders and it is beneficial for the kids and it puts life in a little more perspective for the players who get caught up in the intensity of their sport. The Cowboys made some roster moves on Tuesday in preparation for this week. The biggest surprise is probably the fact that the Cowboys didn't put Tony Romo on season ending IR. There seems to be a feeling that if Dallas can win out they stand a chance of making the playoffs. The feeling is that if you can make the tournament then anything can happen and if it's possible for Romo to come back for the NFC Championship or, God forbid, the Super Bowl then they want Tony available. Jerry Jones won't give up on Romo and he stated in a radio interview at 105 The Fan in Dallas that he feels that Romo has 4-5 good years left and he's going to do whatever he can to get to the Super Bowl and that includes this season.

It's unfortunate that the chips have not just failed to fall Dallas' way those chips fell right off the table and rolled down the hall. Dallas has lost Orlando Scandrick and Lance Dunbar to season ending injuries. The Cowboys had to deal with the 4 game suspensions of Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain to begin the season. They lost Dez for 5 games after he was injured in Week 1 against the Giants and they lost Romo for seven games in 8 weeks when he was injured in Week 2. They had injuries at just the wrong time in 2 overtime losses that resulted in defensive breakdowns that allowed TDs in the first series of those OT games. A special teams gaff gave up a 100 kickoff return to former Cowboys special teams ace Dwayne Harris to lose to the Giants moments after scoring the go ahead touchdown. The only blowout losses they suffered were to at the-time-unbeaten Patriots and to unbeaten Carolina. Every other game they've played was inherently winnable. If it wasn't one thing or another Dallas found ways to lose winnable games. They have even been screwed in at least 3 occasions I can name now by the refs that directly cost them wins. How the Cowboys even have morale much less the fighting spirit they continue to show is a tribute to Jason Garrett and the players themselves. Think Dallas has no heart or character? I respectfully disagree with that line of thinking. There has been no give up visible by the Cowboys even after the game was out of hand against the Panthers on Thanksgiving. Maybe things will be different in these last five games. Maybe the Cowboys have paid their Karma penance and the football gods will back off a little bit. Maybe, but probably not likely.

The actual roster moves made were bringing QB Kellen Moore up to the active roster off the practice squad. Room was made on the roster on Monday when RB Trey Williams who they signed off the Redskins practice squad a couple of weeks ago. 2015 3rd round draft pick Chaz Green was put on the 53 man roster activating him off the Injured/Unable to Perform list. Green, an offensive tackle from Florida had hip surgery during training camp and he's been recovering since. He has actually been practicing for the past 3 weeks per the league rules so Dallas could determine whether or not he would be placed on season ending IR or signed to the 53 man roster. Apparently his progress was good enough to justify putting him on the roster. To make room for Green on the roster Dallas put 2015 5th round draft pick DE Ryan Russell on IR because of an abdominal injury he's been dealing with. The Cowboys added 3 players to their practice squad to fill open spots. One was RB from TAMU Ben Malena. They also added developmental DE Efe Obada who was brought in to training camp when a Cowboys scout was alerted to his play in a semi-pro league in London when Dallas went there last year to play Jacksonville. Obada has tremendous athletic talent but he's only played American football for a couple of years. It is felt that Obada just needs time to develop and he will be a good player. The third guy signed to the practice squad is CB Terrence Mitchell who was a 7th round pick by the Cowboys last year. Williams was a scrappy player but he was cut in the final cuts last season. Williams has been with the Chicago Bears ever since until he was cut a couple of weeks ago.

The hottest topic in the Dallas area since Thanksgiving has been the need to draft a new franchise QB with this latest setback to Tony Romo. Everyone wants the Cowboys to get the next franchise-worthy guy. The guys with a little perspective think fans should tap the breaks a little and there are 2 reasons for that. 1) There is no guarantee that even a 1st round draft pick will be "the guy". Stats prove that even first round picks bust at a higher rate than the successful draft picks. 2) You take a QB with a first round pick you may or may not have the next guy and you sacrifice getting the next stud at another position. You have an owner who feels his current franchise QB has 4-5 more quality years left which means the guy will sit until Romo hangs 'em up. Former Cowboys OG Nate Newton is an analyst on the Cowboys.com podcast Talkin Cowboys as well as a commentator on FoxSportSouthwest said recently, "Jason Garrett and the Cowboys are trying to build a team for the long haul. The really good franchises in the NFL like the Patriots, Broncos, Steelers all have deep rosters that can absorb injuries and still play at a high level and that's what they are trying to get to. The Cowboys are trying to build a roster to take advantage of the short window left for Tony Romo to lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl. So, you don't draft a QB of the future in the first round when there is someone who can help you win right now. Who would you rather Dallas draft, a QB who won't play for 5 years or the RB from Alabama, Derrick Henry or one of the RBs from Oklahoma Samaje Perine or Joe Mixon? Most people would choose the player that can help the team now." OMG how awesome would it be if Dallas could get Henry. 6"3" and 240 lbs he's a tank with a Ferrari engine. As it stands now Dallas would get a top 2 or 3 draft pick. If Dallas wins out and makes the playoffs they draft in the middle of the pack in all likelihood which means Henry would be off the table. That is a hard choice. Make the playoffs despite being undermanned with little or no chance of winning it all or continue to lose and get a stud in the draft and reload for 2016. It is hard for me to root for Dallas to lose but it's hard not to look at the possibilities during a season that is probably going nowhere.

eagle eye

12-07-2015, 10:54 AM

It's not like things didn't go completely wrong yesterday but things could have been better for sure. The one thing that did go right was that the Jets beat the Giants. It took an overtime period to get it done but the 23-20 win was just what the Cowboys needed to happen. The thing that went wrong yesterday was the stupid Eagles took advantage of some uncharacteristically bone head play by the Patriots and they beat the Pats 35-28 in Foxborough. You know it's a weird day when the Patriots lose at home and even weirder when the Patriots do dumb things to beat themselves. So, the standings in the NFC East are as follows. Giants 5-7, Eagles 5-7, Redskins 5-6 and Dallas 3-8. If Dallas wins tonight the Eagles, Giants and Redskins will be 5-7 with the Cowboys one game back at 4-8. How crazy is that? The Cowboys will have to overcome the fact that they are oh-fer with a backup QB so far this year. They also have to overcome the fact that Washington is 5-1 at home and winners of 5 straight at home. With a 3-8 record you can't really say anything about Dallas except they have won 2 of their 3 wins on the road. Yeah, I know right? Big friggin' deal. What is the important is this is Cowboys-Redskins, one of the most bitter rivalries in the NFL. Moreso for the fans especially in Washington but long time Cowboys fans have no love lost on the hated Redskins. Like all rivalry games the respective records don't mean much and I'll bet this game is no exception. Dallas needs to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive but so does Washington. The records don't say so but collectively this is a big game with a lot on the line. It is Cowboys-Redskins and it's been while since this game meant anything. Since RGIII's rookie season when the last game of the season was a play-in game to the playoffs. The Redskins won that day so you would think the football gods may tip the scale in Dallas' favor tonight. You just never know especially with this snake bit 2015 Cowboys team involved. All I know is I want Dallas to win and I don't care if it's by one stinking point. Like Al Davis used to say, "Just win, Baby!".

eagle eye

12-08-2015, 10:06 AM

It wasn't pretty but it was a win. It looked for all the world that neither team really wanted to win the game last night. When the score is 3-3 at halftime you know that both teams were offensively challenged. It got a little better in the second half but not much. The real fireworks started when Dallas tied the game at 9, that's right I said NINE, at around the 5:30 mark of the 4th quarter. Dallas forced the Redskins to punt on the possession after the tying field goal and the Eagles returned the favor by forcing Dallas to punt from their own 43. DeSean Jackson fielded the punt on the right side of the field and he began running left giving ground trying to find an opening in the Dallas punt coverage unit. At about the 10 the Cowboys tackled Jackson hard enough to force a fumble which was recovered at the Washington 15 with 1:26 left in the game. Two plays later Darren McFadden broke through for a 6 yard TD. After the Dan Bailey extra point the score was 16-9 Dallas with 1:14 left in the game. Now, I'm used to Dallas giving up easy TD or FG drives at the end of the half or the game. It happens way too often to this team. I don't know why but I suspect it has something to do with the so-called "prevent defense" most teams employ in such situations. Special teams played a hand in this too because on the ensuing kickoff the coverage unit allowed the Redskins to return the ball 41 yards to their own 42 yard line. To make matters worse the Cowboys were flagged for a facemask penalty giving the 'Skins the ball at the Dallas 43 but there was still just 1:06 left in the game with Washington needing a TD to tie. Advantage Dallas, right? Wrong. 4 plays and :17 seconds was enough for the Redskins to score the tying TD on a 28 yard pass from Kirk Cousins to DeSean Jackson. It wasn't terrible coverage by Mo Claiborne but it is typical of what the Cowboys do at the end of halfs and games. In the first half with a 3-0 Dallas lead the Redskins got the ball after a Dallas punt at their own 13 with 6:31 left in the half. The Redskins proceeded to use every second of the clock in a 14 play 61 yard drive for a field goal that tied the game at the half. At the end of the game they pulled a bonehead special teams play with a personal foul penalty added on to set the 'Skins up in great shape for the tying TD and the Cowboys allowed that to happen too. Of the 16 points the Cowboys allowed the Redskins for the game 10 came at the end of the half and the end of the game. Dallas' defense cannot make a stop when it counts and it's been that way for the entire time Tony Romo has been the starting QB of the Cowboys. Doesn't matter the personnel, doesn't matter who the DC is, doesn't matter who the head coach is. The Cowboys defense just plain sucks in the clutch. In the other losses the Cowboys have suffered this season 5 of them were as a result of this type of bonehead defense or special teams work and it directly cost them those games. Last night looked like it was heading for overtime and another probable loss but, for a change it didn't happen that way. First of all, the Redskins scored too fast giving Dallas :57 to work with. Next the Redskins gave up a good return to Lucky Whitehead out to the Dallas 44 for a 46 yard kickoff return. Matt Cassel then hit Dez Bryant on two passes for a total of 20 yards giving Dallas the ball at the Redskins 36. The Cowboys failed in two attempts to pick up 2 yards for a 1st down to keep the drive going but by that time there was just :14 left in the game. Dan Bailey came on and just nailed a 54 yard field goal to take the lead 19-16 leaving just :09 second left in the game. Dallas kicked the ball near but not into the end zone and the Redskins began the endless lateral play to try to salvage the game but they were finally stopped and the Cowboys had finally won a game with someone other than Tony Romo at QB not only this year but since Stephen McGee did it in 2010, six seasons ago.
Of course now the NFL media is shaking their collective heads in wonderment over the Cowboys, with a 4-8 record on the season, being just one game out of first place in NFC (L)East. It is possible if Dallas wins its last four games to even their record to 8-8 that they could actually win the division. Just like the NFC South last season and the AFC South this season a poor record doesn't knock you out of playoff contention. After all, Carolina end up with a 7-8-1 record and won their division last season so it is possible, however improbable, that Dallas could sneak into the post season tournament. Hope is still alive in Dallas!
We will all have to tap the breaks here. Dallas has the most difficult schedule down the stretch. All four teams are playoff possible teams. Green Bay leads the NFC North, the Jets are in contention for a wild card in the AFC and Buffalo is also in contention. The Jets and Buffalo are in the same division so they may cancel each other out before it's all over but right now they are playoff team. The Cowboys last game is against the same Redskins team they beat last night and who are also pushing to win the NFC East division crown. To make matters worse the Cowboys have play the Packers and Bills on the road. Those are two places you don't want to play in December in must win situations.
The other problem is if Dallas hopes to beat any of the rest of the teams on their schedule they will need to put up more than 19 stinking points. The Redskins play much better at home than on the road but c'mon man. Matt Cassel looked like crap in the first half. There is no other way to say it. He tried throwing two passes to Dez that were so laughably high Shaquille O'Neal couldn't have caught them and it's lucky they didn't get picked off. The Cowboys were throwing up 3-and-outs left and right. If the defense hadn't been playing lights out this game could have gotten ugly in the hurry. Another problem is Dallas lost the turnover battle yet again in this game 3 to 1. Fortunately, none of the Cowboys turnovers were INTs by Matt Cassel. There were two fumbles by Darren McFadden and one fumble by Devin Street. All 3 Cowboys turnovers were in their end of the field and the defense only allowed one field goal.
Dallas will have a short week to face a rested Packers team that beat Detroit last Thursday. This is like the 4 time Dallas will play an opponent coming off a bye or a Thursday night game. Seems kind of unfair to me especially with the Cowboys having a short week off themselves.

Jason Witten became only the 12 player in NFL history with 1,000 receptions in his career. Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald became the 11 player on Sunday. During the game Witten needed 2 catches to reach 1,000 and he ended up with 5 catches for 45 yards giving him 1.003 for his career. He is now the 10th all time leading receiver as he passed Fitzgerald (1,000) and Hines Ward (1,000) for tenth place in NFL history. He is currently 21 catches behind former Rams WR Isaac Bruce for 9th place on the list. Witten is most certainly going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer and his place in Cowboys history is approaching legendary status. In 2012 his 110 receptions were the most ever by a TE in NFL history and his 77 receptions per year average over his career is a testament to his reliability and longevity. If Witten manages to play two more years and average 60 catches a year plus however many catches he gets in the final four games of this season he will vault all the way up into 3rd place in receptions in NFL history behind only Tony Gonzalez and Jerry Rice. If he does it would be interesting to note that 2 of the top 3 receivers of all time are tight ends.

I need a nap, Monday night games keep me up way too late!

eagle eye

12-10-2015, 01:28 PM

Monday night could be the game that turns Dallas' season around. As noted by Jason Garrett in his post game locker room speech the Cowboys were far from perfect on the night. They had a lot of opportunities to lay down and give up. They had every reason to give up on the game with an "it isn't our night" mentality. But, as Garrett pointed out, they didn't give up and they never stopped fighting and they got a win they would not have gotten earlier in the season.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/video/2015/12/09/jason-garrett-locker-room-speech-after-redskins-win

Sometimes when a team gets a win like the Cowboys got on Monday night it can change the whole darn season. This was a huge game for Dallas. They finally got a win with a backup QB. They finally got a few breaks to go their way and they capitalized on an opportunity to win which they hadn't done 8 times before. A rivalry game, on the road, with the whole deck seemingly stacked against them Dallas pulled it out on a 54 yard field goal by Dan Bailey. Can you imagine the load of pressure that was lifted off Matt Cassel's back? No wonder he looked like crap for most of the game. Pressure with mess you up but when he finally said eff it, I'm going to go for it and he finally found Dez Bryant when it really counted. It's got to feel like a thousand pound weight was lifted off his back Monday night. That win could be the thing that give Cassel enough confidence to display the talent he has instead of being that journeyman QB who is trying not be the reason the Cowboys lose. It could be he feels like he is part of the reason Dallas won. How nice would it be if Cassel has turned a corner and he was the guy who led the Patriots to an 11-5 record in 2008 when Brady tore his ACL in the first game of the season. How about the confidence the defense is playing with. I still need them to be better at the end of the half and the end of the game. They need to stop giving up points in those situations but they have been playing really well since the first of November and they were really good last Monday night. We are finally seeing the impact a healthy Sean Lee and a healthy and not suspended Rolando McClain have on this defense. They were the top two tacklers on the defense against Washington with Lee getting 13 and McClain 11. Lee was spectacular for most of Monday night and he seemed to be everywhere. Except for the TD to DeSean Jackson that tied the game late in the 4th qtr CB Mo Claiborne played a nice game, his first since pulling his hamstring 3 weeks ago. This defense is really playing well. Now, if Cassel is finding himself and Dez is finally healthy this offense can maybe start to click again and if Dallas does go on to win out and make the playoffs that frustrating Monday night game in early December could be the game everyone points to as the one that turned the whole dang season around.

And for the record, Dez caught that ball the last time Dallas went to Green Bay.

eagle eye

12-13-2015, 06:52 AM

You know the storylines. The story practically writes itself doesn't it? Catch or no catch. Revenge for the perceived robbery of the Cowboys opportunity to play in the NFC Championship, one game away from another Super Bowl in what had been a sort of magical season by the Cowboys. Damn Dean Blandino and the gutless, spineless sheep at the NFL league office. The Cowboys would have beaten Seattle, beaten them at their own game of smash mouth football just like they had done in September. Done it at their house and the Cowboys were ripe to do it again. "Finish The Fight" was their mantra and darned if it didn't look like the Cowboys were a team of destiny. Tony Romo was finally going to get his Lombardi Trophy and join Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman in the Hall of Fame. Romo's time had finally, finally come. But no, the bastard Blandino ruled Dez didn't make a football move and he didn't maintain control of the ball through the catch. Horse hockey. What do you call catching the ball at its highest point, coming down with it and in the course of righting himself he changes hands with the ball and lunges forward extending his arm with the ball toward the goal line trying to score? It is a freaking catch. Period.
The other storyline is the defense. Last season they were ranked number 19 in the NFL but their Achilles heel was they didn't get to the QB. In that game this past January Aaron Rodgers was hobbled and he could barely walk much less run but the Cowboys could not seem to put any pressure on him. They managed two sacks but that wasn't nearly enough as Rodgers threw for over 300 yards in the game and he engineered a drive after the Dez Bryant non-catch debacle that chewed up the final 4+ minutes of the game. Dallas couldn't pressure Rodgers and they couldn't get off the field on 3rd down. That futility is why Jerry Jones decided to take a chance on media poison DE Greg Hardy. That's why the Cowboys chose CB/S Byron Jones in the first round and, what was considered a savvy move, the Cowboys jumped on DE Randy Gregory from Nebraska in the 2nd round. They resigned LB Rolando McClain after allowing him to test free agent waters prior to the draft and the Cowboys were getting Captain America, I mean Sean Lee, back from a season lost in 2014 due to a torn ACL. Now, the question begs to be asked can this revamped front seven along with the outstanding play of Jones, not to mention the successful return of Mo Claiborne, stop Aaron Rodgers? The Packers are hurting. Their offensive line is a shadow of what it was because of injuries and without Jordy Nelson the WR corps is pretty weak. TE Richard Rodgers hasn't set the world on fire but he had a good game in Detroit last week including hauling in that 61 yard hail Mary to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat. If the Packers don't complete that improbable game winning desperation pass for a TD and lose to the Lions the Packers would have lost 5 out of their last 6 games. Going 2-4 in their last six isn't all that much better. This isn't the same old Packers. Eddie Lacy has been a complete bust between poor performance on the field, being benched for missing curfew and fighting a reported alcohol abuse problem he just hasn't been a factor in 2015. James Starks was given every opportunity to keep the starting job but he wasn't setting the world on fire either. It's just Rodgers and a weak supporting cast with a piece-meal, struggling O-line. As Nate Newton said earlier this week, the Packers are ripe for the taking. He sounded like his old coach Jimmy Johnson. You could almost hear him frothing at the mouth the way the 90s Cowboys did in their prime. Nate smells blood in the water and he was jacked up with the prospect of pouncing on the Packers on Sunday. God, I wish this Cowboys team would get that shark mentality, find that killer instinct and bury these guys on their own frozen tundra.
It all starts and ends with Matt Cassel. I hate to put pressure on him like that but as is the current cliché, it's a quarterback driven league. However your QB goes is how your team goes. I believe the defense can hold down the Packers. They have been playing extremely well over the last month except for the Carolina game and they got sabotaged by 3 INTs by Romo before he was lost again with that pesky collar bone. Even that game the defense only gave up one TD and 3 field goals. Yeah, this defense will be solid. The way that Rolando McClain and Sean Lee have gelled they are making it better for everyone across the board. Byron Jones has been amazing for a rookie and he has specialized in shutting down opposing TEs. You can be sure he will be stuck like glue on Richard Rodgers today. The question is, did the win over Washington on Monday night give Matt Cassel the confidence to start unleashing this offense? I said in an earlier post that we could look back at that final 2 minutes of that game in Landover, Maryland as the turning point of the Cowboys season. If that is going to be true it needs to start today.
So, what's the final score? As I have done recently I am making no prediction on the final score. All I'll say is the Cowboys will win. I don't care if it's by one point, one TD or a blowout, I just believe they can win. Thanks Nate Newton for giving me some confidence that we can pull out this win. Now, LET'S GO COWBOYS!!!!

eagle eye

12-14-2015, 07:27 AM

I really don't know what to say about how awful this season has been. What I figured could have been a springboard for the last month of the season when Dallas won in Washington was just smoke and it was dissipated in the rain in Green Bay yesterday. The only real difference in the Packers yesterday was on the sideline and that was head coach Mike McCarthy decided he was going back to calling the offensive plays instead of offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett. The primary difference in McCarthy's play calling was his dedication to the run. It didn't hurt that Dallas had no answer for the run game. Could it be Rod Marinelli was too worried about Aaron Rodgers passing and the fact that the Packers running attack has been just this side of non-existent that Dallas wasn't properly prepared for the run game? Who knows but a beat up offensive line full of subs overpowered a healthy Dallas D line and the Packers rushed for 233 yards on the day. That was 31 more yards than Aaron Rodgers threw for in the game. His 202 yards looked pretty anemic but compared to Matt Cassel's 99 yards passing it was a bloody explosion.
To say I'm fed up with Cassel is an understatement. This guy just plain sucks. He had one great season leading the Patriots to an 11-5 record and even that wasn't enough to get the Patriots into the playoffs. I'm sorry, but the guy has had six starts since taking over for Brandon Weeden and he's 1-5. The real damning stat is that Dallas has scored a grand total of 7 TDs in the six games Cassel has started. That is 1.2 TDs a game. Is it any wonder that Dallas is 1-5 in Cassel's 6 starts. That puts Dallas 2 full games behind both Washington and Philly, who both won yesterday, with 3 games left to play. The Giants will probably win tonight in Miami but even if they don't Dallas has no shot at winning the division in a real sense because of the piss poor offense the Cowboys are putting on the field. I think the Cowboys need to bench Cassel and give Kellen Moore a shot. It's for damn sure he can't do any worse. Yesterday Cassel's passes were consistently high and the real kick in the pants was on the Cowboys opening drive. They drove down the field on the strength of a 50 yard run by Darren McFadden and they had 1st and goal at the 2. The Cowboys got nothing out of the possession because on 3rd and goal from the 3 Cassel threw way high on a slant to Dez that Dez only managed to tip resulting in an INT by the Packers and the end of the only threat of a Dallas score until the end of the 3rd quarter. The past two weeks the Cowboys are 2-20 in 3rd down conversions. It is just sad. It's a short week because Dallas has to play the Jets on Saturday night but considering just how bad Matt Cassel has been I have no problem with Moore taking over. Moore has been here most of the season so the learning curve isn't steep and the guy had a tremendous amount of success in college at Boise State going 46-2 over his career breaking Colt McCoy's record for most wins by an FBS QB of 45 wins. Give the kid a shot. The reason he's in Dallas is because Scott Linehan had him in Detroit and he brought him in after Tony Romo got hurt the first time in Week 2. It's clear Cassel isn't getting the job done, give the kid a shot.
Of course there are a lot of other problems the Cowboys have but the lack of offensive production is on QB. The absolutely awful 3rd down conversion rate goes on Cassel but the O-line hasn't gotten the job done either. None of those guys has played anywhere close to Pro Bowl level this season even when Romo was healthy. The play calling is suspect too. How long does it take to realize that when you go into the bunch formation with 3 tight ends in the game and everyone crowed up from tackle to tackle and the defense knows you are going to run the ball AND you get stuffed every single time that you change what you do. Third a one is a death knell for any Cowboys drive and it's pathetic that Dallas can't convert these short yardage plays for first downs more often than they do.
After going 12-4 last season it is disheartening to see how bad they are doing this season. It's a shame to waste what has been a really nice defensive effort this year. You can see the players that have been brought in and the draft picks and free agents have really accomplished what was intended. It's a crying shame the offense has been as limp as a wet noodle. It's also a testament to the culture Jason Garrett has developed that the Cowboys are giving the effort they had to this point. Their failures have not been a result of lack of effort. Jason and his staff will be back next year, of that I am certain. Hopefully, they can feed off the misery of this season to find new highs next year.

eagle eye

12-15-2015, 12:27 PM

Looks like we will have Matt Cassel again this week vs the Jets. I really don't know if it's because it's a short week, we play the Jets on Saturday night, or the coaches have no faith that Kellen Moore can step in and play. I'm not saying "if" Dallas loses on Saturday night, I'm saying "when" they lose and they are mathematically eliminated from all possibility of making the playoffs then perhaps Dallas will see if Moore is a viable option going forward or if Dallas has to purge the current crop of backup QBs and start over. The harsh fact is I really don't think Kellen Moore can be as bad as Cassel has been and even if he is at least we'll see what we've got heading into next season.

Oh well.

eagle eye

12-17-2015, 01:34 PM

Kellen Moore? Matt Cassel? The debate continues every single day on Cowboys fan sites and blogs. The facts are these. Matt Cassel is 1-6 in his seven starts this season. The stats say he has not done well. The Cowboys record says he has not done well and the eye test says he has not done well. To be honest he has sucked. Kellen Moore has been in the NFL for 4 years, all as either a backup or practice squad player. He has not taken a snap in a regular season game in the NFL. The coaching staffs of the Detroit Lions and the Cowboys have not seen fit to play the young man.
The argument for playing Moore over Cassel has mainly been, "He can't be any worse!". This statement is both true and indicates give up on the part of fans. The argument for Moore is that he had a very successful college career as he set the NCAA FBS record for number of wins in his career. I understand fans frustration with Cassel and feeling that Moore could be much better. He was successful in college and Aaron Rodgers and our own Tony Romo sat for 4 years before getting their chance. The marriage of frustration and hope is usually a bad one.
The main reason the Cowboys are giving is that they feel Cassel is still the QB who gives the Cowboys the best chance to win. Jerry Jones said if they didn't put the best QB on the field it would be disrespectful to all the players busting their hump to put a guy who has never taken an NFL snap on the field. I get that but former Cowboys OL Nate Newton said the players who are there in the locker room know what both men can do and they know how bad Cassel has been and unless Moore is just not showing anything in practice they would probably be open to a QB change. Now the question here is, is he not showing up in practice or are the Cowboys too stubborn to take a chance on Moore? Who knows but if Dallas loses to the Jets on Saturday (yes, I said Saturday!) I would test the Kellen Moore waters in a heartbeat. I don't know that Dallas would do that but if they lose I believe they will be mathematically eliminated for playoff contention. What's the harm in letting Moore start the last two games? Sometimes you may think the coaches or the people who write about the team are too conservative for their own good. I can understand the coaches being conservative because their jobs are on the line. In a losing situation making rash moves is usually equal to becoming unemployed. But, I fall back on the old definition of stupidity which is -- doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result -- and that is what seems to be happening with Cowboys and Matt Cassel at QB. Short week, still an outside shot at winning the division. Okay, I get it. Play Cassel but if history repeats itself yet again I am lobbying for Kellen Moore for no other reason than we keep doing the same damn thing with the same damn guy and getting the same damn result. Hasn't this 2015 football season been frustrating enough?

CB Tyler Patmon was cut earlier this week and the word is he has not been doing his job. When asked about why Patmon has been released Jason Garrett admitted it was performance based decision. I heard that analysis by the DallasCowboys.com writers who study film that Patmon deliberately avoided making tackles when he had the chance. There was an instance when Patmon blew his coverage responsibilities on the TD pass to James Starks in the first half of the Packers game. He also had a chance to help out on the tackle attempt on Aaron Rodgers who converted a 3rd and 11 on a scramble that netted the Packers a first down on the drive when they extended their lead to 21-7 late in the 4th quarter. The Cowboys probably wouldn't have done anything on a drive after the Packers punted but at least Dallas would have had a chance to tie the game and create a chance to win. Didn't happen and now because he wasn't putting out the effort Patmon is gone. One thing, the Cowboys have played hard and the defense has been pretty damn good for the most part they just aren't getting any help from the offense to give them hope and inspiration. It's a natural wonder that Jason Garrett and his staff are not going to quit on the season. Cutting a guy like Patmon who was dogging his job is a prime example of expectation by the coaches and sends a clear message to the team that they had better not give anything less than their best every single play. For that I say, thank you Jason.

eagle eye

12-18-2015, 10:34 AM

Dallas plays Saturday night on the NFL Network. Probably be wearing those "color rush" unis. I was checking out the Tampa-St Louis game and I still don't know if I like either team's color rush attire. Tampa's were red from the neck down with grey numbers and accents while the Rams had all bright yellow unis with dark blue numbers and accents with their throwback blue and yellow helmets. The all yellow was something I am a bit ambiguous about but I do like the navy and yellow colors better than the navy and gold they currently call their own. Never liked those. Since the Rams switched colors back in 2000 the Rams haven't won squat and it spelled the end of the "Greatest Show on Turf". But I digress. Dallas' color rush unis I like. I'm not sure I like the all green color rush unis the Jets sport but, to be honest, all the teams look like Christmas tree ornaments to me anyway. All that said I don't believe Rolando McClain will play this week because of the concussion he suffered at the hands, er, feet of team mate Jeff Heath who kicked McClain in the head while both were trying to make a tackle last Sunday. McClain hasn't practiced this week and usually if a player doesn't practice he doesn't play. We'll see because Jason Garrett said yesterday that they are still hopeful McClain can play. Everyone else is relatively healthy and that includes Dez Bryant who his position coach said he has had the best week of practice this entire year this week. This is a good thing but it won't matter if Matt Cassel continues to be as lousy as he has been up to this point. It did leak out that backup QB Kellen Moore got a few 1st team reps this week. Will it matter? Eh. At this point I want Dallas to win games, heck they even have an outside chance at winning the division, but oddly enough I sort of hope they lose so they improve their 2016 draft position. If you're going to suck why not get something out of it? Dallas is at home so there's that but then again, how long can Jason Garrett keep this team motivated? Can I say I hope Dallas sucks bad enough for the Cowboys to put Moore in for Cassel and let the chips fall where they may? I'm sorry, I just have no faith in Matt Cassel any more. More importantly, I have lost faith in this 2015 version of the team. It doesn't mean I don't love my Cowboys but sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. The 2015 Dallas Cowboys are a big old deuce--of spades. As for the outcome of the game? I just hope the Cowboys don't embarrass themselves. Win or lose, I hope they continue to put out the same effort I've seen out of them all season. All that effort hasn't gone for squat but at least they haven't ever given up.

eagle eye

12-27-2015, 12:33 AM

The Cowboys lost again. No big whoop there but I, and a lot of fans, got their wish. It came in the early stages of the 2nd qtr after Matt Cassel stunk it up on 4 consecutive possessions after a promising first drive died inside the Jets 10. Dallas's 4th QB to play this season came in and provided some spark to the Cowboys offense. Dallas still didn't light up the scoreboard but they did manage a nice drive that led to a game tying field goal by Mr Clutch, Dan Bailey. But, as has happened at least 5 times this season that I can remember the defense made a critical mistake with the game on the line. This time the D was in cover 2 with Byron Jones covering short and JJ Wilcox was supposed to be giving Jones help deep. Jones took responsibility for allowing a 30+ yard completion that put the Jets in position to kick the game winning field goal. IMO it was JJ Wilcox who blew the play. Yet again he took a bad angle on the play AND he was late getting over to help Jones.
Kellen Moore is the story. He provided the offense with a spark and you sort of believed Dallas could win with him. Moore showed enough to get the start in Buffalo tomorrow and I hope he does well. He did okay against the Jets but 3 INTs, including a costly one in the end zone, were his and the Cowboys undoing. It would be nice if Dallas could win at least one of the next two but after the fight the Cowboys showed against the Jets last Saturday I know this team won't quit.

Predictions are a moot exercise now. With the loss to the Jets Dallas is mathematically eliminated from winning the NFC East. Tonight the Redskins clinched the division by beating the Eagles. So now the Cowboys will be playing for pride and roster spot next year.

4 Cowboys made the Pro Bowl as the Pro Bowl rosters were announced earlier this week. Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Travis Frederick each made their 2nd straight PB. The 4th cowboy to get a PB nod was K Dan Bailey. This Bailey's first time to be named to the PB.

Kellen Moore will get his first ever NFL start but he will have to do it without Dez Bryant. Dez is a likely scratch because of a sore knee, foot and back. Truth be told, Dez has been hurting somewhere on his his dodgy since training camp. It's time the rest of the receiving corps to step up and show something or think about playing elsewhere in 2016.

eagle eye

12-31-2015, 10:56 PM

Happy New Year! I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year's Eve. I'll wager that by the time a lot of you read this post you will have made it back from a night of revelry and are nursing the inevitable January first hang over. It's ironic that on a day when you feel like crap that the traditional food is black-eyed peas and cabbage. I am not drinking tonight and I am still cringing over the potential gastric distress! I just got home from vacation and I will tell you that Florida, Orlando and Miami anyway, is still there and doing well and it's a darn sight warmer than here!

A lot seems to have happened since I left for Disney World in the Dallas Metroplex. First, the Cowboys lost their 11th game of the season up in Buffalo. Like most of their losses the Cowboys were just a hair short and a step slow. The Cowboys continued their offensive futility despite a pretty decent performance by QB Kellen Moore. The Cowboys have scored no more than one TD in the last 4 four games and they were unable to score even that against the Bills. Two Dan Bailey field goals were all the 'Boys could muster and I guess being named to his first Pro Bowl was enough to jinx Bailey into a miss around the new extra point range. It wouldn't have made a difference. Dallas was 50% on 3rd down conversions and Moore did provide an offensive spark that neither Matt Cassel nor Brandon Weeden could and that bodes well for him going forward. It won't mean squat if he and the Cowboys can't figure out a way to score some TDs.

Dallas lost more than the game last week. Both S Barry Church and DT David Irving both suffered broken bones and ended up on IR by Monday morning. Church broke his forearm and Irving broke his wrist. I feel bad for both players because Dallas needs Church on the field and since he was signed earlier in the season off the Kansas City practice squad Irving has seen his playing time grow each week. Dallas may have stumbled on a diamond in the rough in the rough and I would really liked to have seen him one more time before the end of the season Sunday afternoon. Dez Bryant was placed on IR yesterday with complications from his foot surgery he had after breaking it in Week 1.

Happy New Year!

eagle eye

01-03-2016, 10:34 AM

This is it. It's the final game for Dallas in the miserable 2015 season. Hasn't it seemed longer than 17 weeks? It has to me but maybe you don't catch hell every single Monday after yet another Sunday disappointment the way I do. It's all in fun but it was a lot more fun last season when Dallas went 12-4, won a playoff game and was a bad call away from winning another. This season was supposed to be redemption for that "non-catch" in Green Bay last January. But, no. It was punishment for that failure. Tony Romo was the key loss as he only played in 4 games and was only able to finish 2 as he went 3-1 as the starting QB for the Cowboys. As we currently stand the backups to Romo when a measly 1-10. Nobody could have foreseen how bad Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel would be and the 4th guy to start for Dallas this season, Kellen Moore, didn't have any better success than the other two guys although he did move the football better. Still, he was just as touchdown challenged as his predecessors scoring 0 TD's against Buffalo last week in his first ever start in the NFL.
What we're hoping (or not, I'll explain later) is that Moore finds that added spark to push his team over the goal line for a TD or two or three. Maybe they can just score one. That seems realistic considering Dallas has scored just 3 TDs in their last 4 games. However, I believe it will take more than one TD to beat the Redskins. They have been on a tear averaging 32.3 points in their last 3 games. The last time the 'Skins were held to under 20 points was in Week 13 against---wait for it----Dallas who won 19-16 on a 54 yard last second winning field goal by Dan Bailey. That was in Washington and today the game will be played in the Death Star in Arlington. (There's my Star Wars reference for the day!) Unfortunately, the Death Star hasn't been all that great of a home field advantage for the Cowboys since it opened in 2009 but the Cowboys didn't have much in the way of talent in the years hence. But, to be fair, last year the Cowboys set a league record by going 8-0 on the road and they were 4-4 at home. Not exactly domination. This is a game Dallas can win if all things fall right but so far in 2015 nothing has fallen right yet.
We will get to see some young players get some playing time. Guys like QB Kellen Moore, DE Randy Gregory, CB Terrence Mitchell, CB Deji Olatoye, DT Casey Walker, WR Lucky Whitehead and WR Bryce Butler to name just a few. It was commented earlier this week that Dallas will have 17 players in the lineup this week with 2 years or less experience. Talk about witnessing the future! It shouldn't be a cake walk for Dallas because despite the Redskins clinching the division championship last week they say they intend to play to win to keep their momentum going. Now, that could change if Dallas jumps out to an early lead but I don't look for that to happen.
For whether Dallas should win or not, that is an item open to debate. If Dallas loses they almost guarantee a top 5 pick in the 2016 draft. If they lose they might fall to 8 or 9 in the draft order. Jason Garrett won't let this team quit but they might just be out matched without Romo, Dez and maybe not Sean Lee. Dallas is talented in their starting roster but their backups, particularly on offense, have not been good enough to win. I am going to be happy to see this season pass into the mist of history like some bad dream but this is the last time for 9 months Dallas will play a game that matters so I will suffer through the whole darn thing. What's the final score? Dallas just can't seem to get out of their own way and I don't expect any different today. So.....................

Washington 31 Dallas 9

eagle eye

01-06-2016, 06:44 PM

It's time to put this thread to bed. Or maybe take it out in the back yard and give it a decent burial. I can't say I'm sorry to see the pain of this season gone because it just plain sucked. Not the whole season just 14 and a half games of it. When Tony Romo went down in a Week 2 victory over Philadelphia that was the end of the line although at the time we didn't know it. First we thought Brandon Weeden, who spent the last year getting a full practice to himself on the "Romo Wednesdays" when Dallas went 12-4 in 2014. The handwriting on the wall was there however. When Weeden came into a game in progress he seemed to do okay, case in point a Monday night game in October. Tony Romo goes out when he got speared in his back and he left the game. Weeden comes in and leads the Cowboys back to tie the game. Dallas ultimately lost in overtime when Romo came back in and failed to orchestrate the comeback. The next week Weeden started at home against the Arizona Cardinals and he looked like crap. Of course Dallas lost the game for their only 2 game losing streak of the season and the only games Romo did not play start to finish all year. When Romo went out in Week 2 Weeden came in and led the Cowboys to a victory over the Eagles to stake the Cowboys to a 2-0 start to the season. Unfortunately, Weeden's next 3 starts were not good. It all started out good as Dallas jumped out to a 28-17 halftime lead over the Falcons but the offense stalled and defense collapsed allowing the Falcons to score 22 unanswered points while shutting out the Dallas offense for a 39-28 loss. Then Dallas lost a heartbreaking game against New Orleans when Weeded led Dallas back to 20-20 tie late in the game forcing overtime. Dallas lost the coin toss and the defense gave up a 70 yard TD in the first possession of overtime thereby losing the game. The 3rd start was against the Patriots and nobody in their right mind expected the Cowboys to win and they didn't. They were actually blown out 30-6 and the ineptitude of the offense got Weeden benched for the rest of his tenure in Dallas. When Romo came back the Sunday before Thanksgiving Weeden was cut. This wasn't the end of the story for him. He was signed by Houston after starter Brian Hoyer went out with a concussion and Ryan Mallett was released for being a douche. Yates tore his MCL and was lost for the season and he came in for his second look at the Patriots. He got blown out there too but it was the last game Houston lost in the season and Weeden actually led the Texans to a victory over Indianapolis in Indianapolis to break an oh-for-forever steak for Houston in Indy and gave the Texans a one game lead in the division which they never relinquished. Weeden also led Houston over the Titans in Week 15 giving way to Hoyer for the season finale last Sunday in the final game of the season. It's still a conundrum why Weeden was successful in Houston and inept in Dallas. Back to the Cowboys, after Weeden came a 10 game losing streak broken up by a random win in Week 14 game against the Redskins. Matt Cassel never was able to get the Cowboys offense over the hump in his tenure. He was even less able to lead the Cowboys to touchdowns than Weeden was. For the final two games the Cowboys brought in practice squad QB Kellen Moore. He didn't do much in his first NFL start in Buffalo except throw 3 picks. Still no TDs for the Cowboys. In the season finale last week Moore actually got the Cowboys offense in gear as he threw for 435 yards and 3 TDs. He did have have 2 INTs and a fumble that helped Dallas fall into a 24 zip hole which they never recovered. Obviously, either drafting Romo's eventual replacement or signing a decent veteran backup in case Romo goes out again should be on the to-do list this off season. The hurting is over and I am totally washing my hands of this season and this tread. Thanks to the folks to have read my posts. I wish there was more interaction with you all but I really do appreciate you at least giving this thread a look.