2017 Dallas Cowboys Season

I had a thread of this same title going but it seems to have disappeared off the site. Okay, we'll just start another one to take its place.

Dallas came off their bye week with a huge victory over the San Francisco 49ers. 40-10 to be exact. It was the 3rd game in a row Dallas had scored 30 or more points and ironically enough two of them were losses. Because of inexplicable losses to the Rams and Packers Dallas is now 3-3 instead of 5-1 and by the same token they are 2 games behind first place Philadelphia in the NFC East. So is Washington, the Cowboys opponent this week. The difference is Washington is banged up all across their roster with their offensive line the hardest hit. Up to 4/5 of the Redskins offensive line is liable to miss the game and one of their backup linemen is also injured. The only thing that could save Kirk Cousins from being buried under a sea of Cowboys pass rushers is the fact that there is 100% chance of rain in Washington tomorrow which will make the field slick and difficult to run on.

Dallas has gotten healthier over the last two weeks getting LB's Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens back on the field. Last week they lost K Dan Bailey for at least 4 weeks when he pulled a groin muscle warming up for what would have been his 3rd extra point try of the day against San Fran. Dallas signed veteran kicker Mike Nugent this past week to fill in for Bailey. Nugent played most of his career in Cincinnati until he started having trouble kicking extra points. Hopefully, those troubles are behind him. Nugent doesn't have as strong a leg as Bailey which limits his effectiveness to 49 yards or less. To make room for Nugent DT Demontra Moore was released. There have been posts on Facebook that claim Moore was let go because he raised his fist in a 'black power' salute at the end of the National Anthem at home against the Packers. Who knows if this is true but teammate David Irving did the same thing at the same time in the same game and last week he raised the 'black power' salute after the National Anthem in San Fran so there is no real evidence Moore was released for anything other than he wasn't playing all that well, they needed to get first round pick Taco Charlton more reps and they needed a roster spot for Nugent. Facebook, I'm finding out, is notorious for twisting facts to fit an agenda.

Dallas also let QB Kellen Moore go and they brought up practice squad player TE Blake Jarwin from Oklahoma State. According to DallasCowboys.com the team was afraid another team would poach him off the practice squad so they signed him to the active roster. Apparently, the Cowboys have no such fears about Kellen Moore.

Two weeks ago the NFLPA filed a motion for an injunction against the NFL's suspension of Ezekiel Elliott which has not been ruled upon yet because the presiding judge has been on vacation. So far a win for the Elliott/NFLPA since he has been able to play the past two games. The judge in the case is due back this week and the NFL has asked for a rush to a ruling because they feel the apocalypse will occur if he doesn't serve his suspension. If the NFLPA lawyers can keep the focus on the unfair appeal hearing that Elliott got then Elliott has a real chance to play out the rest of this season. If the NFL makes it about the improper process the NFLPA's lawyers took in filing their injunction before the final decision of the appeal was announced then Elliott is toast from the suspension standpoint. So, will this be Elliott's last game until mid December or will it be the next in a season for Elliott? Only time will tell but when Jerry Jones tells the media Elliott is getting screwed you kind of hope he wins. The fact is, the NFL disciplinary appeals process is a joke and it needs to be fixed and an Elliott win would be just the impetus for just such a change.

Jerry Jones said last week while the team was coming off their bye week that any player who kneels or otherwise does something that is disrespectful of the National Anthem and what it stands for will be benched. So far, the Cowboys have had no players kneel as part of the Colin Kaepernick-led protest for police mistreatment of black people and now it seems unlikely there will be anyone going forward doing it. Good for Jerry to take a stand on this issue.

Cowboys-Redskins, a classic rivalry and it should be fun. I just hope nobody is seriously injured in the rainy weather.

As I sit here counting the minutes until the Astros-Dodgers Game 6 I find myself really not giving a damn about anything else. Oh, I don’t mean I don’t care about my family or friends or my job, it’s just that other things are so not on my mind right now. I have to keep my stuff together so I’ll just force myself to look outward a little bit. Darned if my first outward thought was about the Cowboys. I heard on Mike and Mike this morning Elliott’s bid for an injunction was denied by Southern New York Justice Katherine Failla. She did grant a 24-hour grace period before the 6-game suspension levied by the NFL back in August goes into effect. This grace period allows Elliott’s attorneys to decide on their next course of action, if any exists, to stop Elliott from serving the suspension until the real matter of the original injunction is heard. The real matter is whether, or not, Elliott was given a fair appeal hearing by the arbitration judge, Harold Henderson. In the appeal, the woman who originally accused Elliott of domestic abuse was not allowed to be questioned. Nor was Commissioner Roger Goodell to testify. Evidence previously unknown to either the NFL or Elliott’s lawyers was allowed into evidence during the appeal. Not only that but, one of the NFL’s own investigators who turned in the opinion that no action should be taken against Elliott was not allowed to testify. Sounds like a railroad job to me, and to a lot of other people as well. Instead of the case being about the unfair appeal Elliott got the NFL lawyers made the case that Elliott’s lawyers made the mistake of filing the original injunction in the Texas Circuit court before the verdict on the appeal was rendered. The NFL argues that Elliott’s lawyers failed to wait on the verdict and while they were waiting on the verdict Elliott’s lawyers filed the injunction meaning Elliott and his lawyers had not exhausted all avenues of the appeal process before filing the injunction. A ticky-tack point of order and the reason we all hate lawyers. Jerry Jones is disappointed over the suspension being upheld and he said Elliott was overcompensation for the debacle Goodell made of the Ray Rice incident and other rulings that have hurt the NFL League Office credibility. Goodell is a monkey boy and needs to be fired and rumblings around the owners is Jones is actively trying to block the contract extension of Goodell. Jones is not on the contract committee but he carries a ton of clout amount the owners. Jones and Patriots owner Robert Kraft both have felt betrayed by Goodell and they would like nothing better for the Goodell era as commissioner to be over.
BTW, Mike Nugent did a good job last game in place of Dan Bailey. Nugent made four of five field goal attempts, missing his first attempt of 49 yards, and 3 extra points. Maybe we can breathe a little easier about the kicking game for a while.
Demarcus Lawrence got another sack against the Redskins meaning he has at least one sack in each of the first 7 games and he is second in the league with 10.5 sacks. In his second game following a 4-game suspension to begin the season David Irving got 2 sacks giving him 3 in the two games played. Maybe Dallas has finally, and quietly, got themselves a pass rush. Maybe.
The Cowboys opponent this week is the Kansas City Chiefs who struggled to a victory on Monday night against the Oakland Raiders. Without Elliott, this game could turn out to be a shootout type of game featuring a rejuvenated Alex Smith and Dak Prescott. I am not sure if Dak is able to carry a team in a shootout. Prescott is good but he’s not a huge threat to carry a team on his back throwing the ball. Unlike Tony Romo who spent most of his career carrying the team on his back Dak depends on Elliott and the running game to be successful passing the ball. This will be a very interesting, and nerve wracking game, this Sunday.

Just like my disappearing thread of the Cowboys 2017 season, it's hard to explain the rotating mess this Ezekiel Elliott thing is. On Thursday, Elliott's lawyers got a brief stay from the 6 game suspension that Elliott actually began serving on Tuesday. This legal Hokey-Pokey dance has got to be exhausting for everyone but most of all by Elliott himself. The NFL doesn't want the real issue to come out in these proceedings. You know, where the NFL stacked the deck against Elliott determining that, despite all the evidence to the contrary, they were going to suspend Elliott for 6 games and they rigged his appeal of the suspension so he couldn't possibly win? Yeah, that one. You all know this Odyssey by now. Suspended, granted an injunction to halt the suspension, injunction invalid in New Orleans, injunction put on hold in the Southern District of New York because the judge was on vacation, reinstating the suspension because the judge, coming off vacation, agreed with the New Orleans court and now the temporary stay from the New York appeals court. So, Elliott gets to play this Sunday against Kansas City and that's a good thing but it seems there is no end in sight for this saga. At what point would you think the NFL league office gets tired of blowing a boat-load worth of money on ridiculous crap all the while losing fans and money over the National Anthem protests. This is easily the worst tenure of a pro football commissioner in my lifetime. Seriously, Roger Goodell is the worst and he can't be ousted soon enough for me.

The Cowboys spent a little time in a court related matter as Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft and Bob McNair had all their phone, email and text records subpoenaed as the Colin Kaepernick collusion case moves forward. Kaepernick is claiming there was collusion by the NFL to deny him a job based on his National Anthem protests which began last year. In truth, the protests may have something to do with his leper status to NFL owners but the fact is between the fact that Kaepernick isn't all that great a QB and the numbers since Jim Harbaugh left the 49ers prove that and the fact Kaepernick wants to make top QB dollar, wants to start, doesn't want to be a backup and just an overall diva attitude has a lot to do with why he's unemployed right now.

So, there's a game today if everyone can tear themselves away from court long enough. Kansas City is coming to Arlington and the most interesting thing about this game is the fact that Tony Romo is making his Dallas broadcast debut. Yep, the Cowboys and Chiefs will be on CBS this afternoon and Jim Nantz and Romo are calling the game. Should be interesting TV for sure. That's not to say the game with the 6-2 Chiefs won't be a nerve-wracking, nail biting, sweat producing contest. It will, given the Chiefs are getting a suddenly Aaron Rodgers-like performance out of Alex Smith and Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey have stepped up to put a punch in the Chiefs offense to compliment the strong defense the Chiefs have had. To me, this game comes down to who has the ball last. I think it's going to be a shootout type game that Dallas really needs to win. They are less able to afford a loss than the Chiefs and the Cowboys need to keep the Eagles within a stone's throw as they are already 2-1/2 games behind the front running Eagles. What happens over the next 4 or 5 weeks will go a long way to determine whether Dallas will make the playoffs and right now it looks like if they make it they will have to do it as a Wild Card. It all starts today with KC. I thought when the Astros finally won I would leave this nerve-wracking stuff behind. Oh well, I guess that's just sports.

The 2nd District Court in the state of New York denied Ezekiel Elliott's application for a stay of the 6 game suspension until his official appeal is heard which we now know to be December 1st. This means Elliott will miss four games before his case is even heard. Because of a technicality the application for a stay filed in Texas, which was granted, was filed incorrectly. The NFLPA lawyers representing Elliott jumped the gun and filed the appeal before the appeal to the NFL was ruled upon. That is the technicality, believe it or not, that the NFLPA's lawyers knew good and well that the NFL would deny Elliott's appeal so with the opening day of the 2017 season looming close Elliott's lawyers felt they would expedite matters by going ahead and filing a temporary stay with the District Court in Texas. The trouble with that was, subsequent to the ruling by the Texas judge granting the stay the NFL lawyers contended that Elliott's lawyers improperly filed the temporary stay meaning they didn't wait on the NFL arbitration ruling which mean they didn't exhaust every means in the appeal process with the NFL. It was for this reason that the NFL filed an appeal with the Texas judge which, of course, he denied. He wasn't going to overturn his own decision any more than the NFL was going to overturn their own decision to suspend Elliott.

After the Texas judge denied the NFL's emergency appeal they took their case to the District Court in New Orleans where a 3 person jury ruled in favor of the NFL thus re-instating the suspension. The NFLPA lawyers appealed the District Court decision in New Orleans which was denied and then they filed an appeal for a hearing with the NFLPA claiming the NFL's suspension appeal was unfair, the NFL stacked the deck against Elliott to make sure he would fail which is fundamentally against the law. The NFL did it simply because they could and it gave Elliott no honest chance to win. That's exactly what the Texas judge ruled granting the first stay saying, in effect, the NFL was completely unfair in Elliott's appeal and Elliott deserved his day in court. The NFL lawyers never wanted to address that, they instead leaned on the failure of the NFLPA lawyers to follow the process completely thus negating any right for a stay based on any reason. What's funny is every appeal the NFL filed was an emergency appeal which is totally ridiculous. There was no emergency other than the NFL, like a spoiled little child wanted to get its way. The NFL argued that the NFL league would be irreparably damaged if the suspension didn't go forward. I'm sorry, what? The proof is right there for everyone to see, the NFL has not disintegrated into a big ball of goo despite the fact we are now 10 weeks into the season. On the contrary, it continues to flourish despite sagging ratings and lost revenue as a result of the National Anthem protests that have been taking place since last year. What's even funnier is Elliott is being suspended despite the fact that the Columbus Ohio police would not bring charges against Elliott for the simple reason that the woman who filed the complaint against Elliott was not a reliable witness. The woman is gold digger who made the claims ostensibly to punish Elliott for breaking up with her. She is bat-crap crazy to boot! Even one of the NFL's own investigators recommended no action be taken against Elliott. It's a snow job that Elliott is paying the price for because the NFL fucked up its handling of the Ray Rice situation, the Greg Hardy incident and the kicker for the New York Giants multiple incidents. T

he NFL, in all it's sanctimonious, pompous bravado, wanted a win and Zeke Elliott was the sacrificial lamb. So, the NFL is suspending Elliott 6 games for something the police wouldn't even prosecute under the NFL's Code of Conduct policy. That's the ultimate joke because in that same Code of Conduct it clearly spells out just exactly how players are supposed to behave during the playing of the National Anthem and the NFL, as well as 31 of the 32 owners, have said and done nothing to stop this travesty of a protest. Roger Goodell is a terrible commissioner and he's fucked up every controversy beginning with Ray Rice to date. His biggest fuck up could be that he made a dyed in the wool enemy of one Jerry Jones who has been maintaining Elliott's innocence from day one and he continues to stand behind his player. I could see a bunch of owners falling in line behind Jones for no other reason than Goodell's mishandling of the Anthem protests. If you believe reports the NFL is hemorrhaging money with one their biggest sponsors, Papa John's, accusing the NFL of costing them business and revenue. Other NFL sponsors have also jumped ship refusing to support a league who appears to support un-American behavior. That last statement is correct as can be because despite having a legal means to stop the protests Goodell won't chance pissing off the players in fear that all the players will walk out as a result. Goodell works for the owners and he is taking the hit on the jaw on their behalf so they are culpable in all this too. A group party without a single nut between them for sure. Jerry Jones is the only owner who has taken a stand and he told the world that if any of his players kneels or otherwise disrespects the flag, what it stands for and the people who fought and died for that flag that player, or players, would be benched. So far all the Cowboys players have stood for the National Anthem with only Demontre Moore and David Irving throwing up the Black Power salute after the end of the Anthem. This was not during the Anthem but post Anthem. Demontre Moore was released last week but it wasn't because of the BP salute, contrary to the fake news on Facebook claiming he was released because of it. Moore was let go to make room on the roster so Dallas could sign kicker Mike Nugent who was needed to replace an injured Dan Bailey who pulled a groin muscle during the San Francisco game. What made Moore expendable was the depth they had on the defensive line with addition of David Irving who returned to the lineup after serving a 4 game suspension to begin the season and the fact Moore just hadn't been playing all that well.

So, the NFL, who will be referred to, by me, from here on out as the Nazi Football League. I will continue to refer to the league as Nazis and Roger Goodell as Adolph as long as he has a job as NFL commissioner. That shield Adolph is so fond of protecting should be emblazoned with a swastika instead of the Red, White and Blue with stars because there is nothing American about the NFL league office any more. Adolph and his cronies don't dispense justice for the good of the league, they dispense punishment just because they can. 70 odd years ago when the original Adolph and his henchmen for the 3rd Reich did the same thing to 6 million Jews and even more Russians than that just because they could. Those people didn't fit into their Code of Conduct policy. What the real Nazis did was not comparable to stacking the deck against a player who is trying to clear his good name but the same disregard for what is fair and just is not all that far off. I wonder if Adolph will mind if I refer to his wife as Eva? Fuck it, I don't care.... Eva, Eva, Eva, Eva............................................... .............................

I apologize for the profanity in my post, it's not my habit to write like this but sometimes I get really mad and really frustrated and I start to drift toward the dark side.

One last item, did you all hear about the proposed NFL boycott this weekend? It is centered around Veteran's Day which is officially Saturday. The boycott is appropriate as most people feel the kneeling bit during the National Anthem is disrespectful on many different levels, especially to the military, police, firemen and other first responders who serve our county and communities. For that reason, and for the reason that my son is in the military, I will not watch any NFL games this week beginning Thursday night and ending Monday night. I will not buy any products advertised during NFL games for the same time frame. People think that the players have a right to protest (they don't but that's another rant) but we all have a right to protest a league that allows this disrespect to continue. I'm not talking about the players because I honestly believe the vast majority of players are good people with families that do really good things in their communities to help the less fortunate. There are just a few who have chosen, what I believe is, an inappropriate way to protest. No, this boycott is for Adolph and the rest of the Hitler youth that run the NFL. I encourage each and every one of you who is sick and tired of these disgraceful displays to join me. I have to admit, it will be hard not to watch my Cowboys play Atlanta especially now that they are on a bit of a roll. I would love to see how they do without Elliott. As for Elliott? We won't see him play until Christmas Eve against Seattle. See ya then, Zeke. Say goodnight, Gracie.

Looks I picked a good week to boycott the NFL. It seems that the Cowboys and Texans decided to boycott too. Not only that but, I kind of follow the Broncos and you all know my NFL guilty pleasure is Cleveland and both teams had a rough day too.
There are two players who should be candidates for team MVP honors because you saw the Cowboys fall flat on their faces without those two players. The first player is LT Tyron Smith who was out due to a groin injury along with back issues he’s been battling all season. Smith’s replacement was Chaz Green and he was absolutely terrible. It was ugly the way Green played as Dak Prescott was sacked 8 times in the game mainly because of failures by Green to do his job not to mention the countless times Dak was running for his life. Adrian Clayborn of the Falcons clowned Green and most of Clayborn’s 6 sacks in the game came at the expense of Green.
The other player Dallas missed was Sean Lee who reinjured his hamstring in the second quarter. The game was still tight at the time Lee went out but the floodgates opened wide after he left the game. In the games Lee has finished for Dallas this season the defense has given up an average of 18 PPG and that includes 42 points in that stinker of a game against Denver in Week 2. In the 3 games Lee failed to play or finish the defense has surrendered 32.3 PPG. If that isn’t evidence enough, with Lee Dallas has given up an average of 82 YPG rushing by opponents. Without Lee that number balloons to around 155 YPG. Yesterday, Dallas gave up 132 yards primarily to Tevin Coleman.
One thing I do know, if Dallas has no run game Dak isn’t able, at this point in his career, to put the team on his back and win with his arm. This is when Dallas misses Tony Romo because for 10 years that is just exactly what Tony had to do every week. Tony is more accurate than Dak, quicker with his reads and he knew how to throw guys open. I’m not saying Dak will never learn those things but right now in Year 2 of his career he is just not as good a Tony. The other thing is, Tony is a Jedi Master. We saw it too often, Tony was going to be blindsided but, at the last second, he spun out of the way and avoided a sack. There is no other explanation other than The Force was strong with him. Only a few QBs are Jedi’s and Tony is definitely one. It doesn’t mean Dak doesn’t have skills, Tom Brady is no Jedi but it doesn’t stop him from being great. Dak will get better but he’s only started 26 games over a year and a half. He is still a Padawan. He will learn. Okay, so now that I have totally geeked out I just want to say signing off now I will.

I can’t help it. I’m mad again over this Adolph Goodell issue. I won’t rehash stuff you already know but yesterday Ezekiel Elliott told his legal team to withdraw his appeal of the 2nd District Court of New York decision to uphold the 6-game suspension levied by the NFL and serve all six games of his suspension. The NFL responded in typical classless fashion by saying in a prepared statement, “Elliott’s decision (to drop his appeal) speaks for itself” meaning he is admitting guilt and he’s serving his penance. An arrogant statement on behalf of an arrogant commissioner. Adolph and the other Hitler youth are smug in victory. Did I mention that I have grown to hate Adolph Goodell? May seven plagues visit Goodell and his family and torment them for a generation.
The NFL league office was done with the Cowboys. This morning on Mike and Mike the boy reported that Jerry Jones received a letter from Adolph and his cronies saying Jones’ recent involvement in blocking the contract extension for Adolph “was conduct detrimental to the NFL and subject to disciplinary action.” WHAT???!!! Adolph, you’re saying one of the men who is your boss questions your contract which he subsidizes and HE is violating the NFL Code of Conduct??? WTF, dude? The blatant arrogance of that move is almost shocking. I’ll bet, by turns, Jones thinks that letter is funny AND infuriating. People forget, when Jerry first came into the league he was best friends with the Raiders Al Davis who was true renegade. Davis took on Pete Rozelle and the NFL on issues and won every single time and Rozelle was much more beloved and respected than Adolph Goodell ever will be.
What’s especially irksome is Goodell is claiming that old standby, violating the NFL code of conduct policy, crap when he sits by and allows the National Anthem protests to continue when kneeling during the Anthem is a clear violation of the Code. Adolph is a gutless swine and he’s great when he can marshal the resources of the league office against one player but he won’t test the waters if a group of players are banded together. That’s kind of how bullies operate, isn’t it? Nacissistic, egotistical, megalomanical bullies.

In a little over an hour we will see if Dallas can rally together and play some football or if suspensions and injuries have derailed their season. Dallas is in 2nd place in the NFC East and Philly is in 1st, 3 games ahead. Dallas can erase 2 of those games by sweeping the season series but nobody is counting any chickens. Nobody, not the football experts, not Monday morning QBs and not the wise guys in Vegas. But, none of those people matter because the teams still have to play and this is a division game against a bitter rival. You just don’t know what is going to happen. Did I ever mention I hate the Eagles? All I can say is, Dallas you need to figure out a way to stop people without Sean Lee and offense you need to score a bucket-load of points. Go Cowboys!

How many times this season has Dallas had the lead at the half and then was blown out in the second half. Compare that to Herman and the attitude turnaround at Texas. You can't blame it on injuries or missing players. I don't know what it is but I'm beginning to believe that the Cowboys are not even going to make the playoffs this year.

What am I going to say that I haven’t already said, on several occasions, Dak Prescott isn’t good enough to put a team on his back and lead them to victory. He doesn’t read the defenses correctly all the time, he tends to force the ball to Dez too much and he’s just not that accurate a passer. Add the happy feet he’s got since Tyron Smith went out and has been getting killed, especially from Smith’s left tackle position. It didn’t matter if it was Chaz Green or Byron Bell they couldn’t stop the pass rush. Green was epically bad against Atlanta last week and Bell wasn’t as bad as Green but he did give up a blind side strip sack that turned into a Philadelphia TD. I believe it was Bill Parcells who said if you are kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns you are kicking yourself to a loss. Three first half scoring drives end up in field goals and despite the fact Dallas was ahead 9-7 I knew the Cowboys were in trouble. Who knew that Dallas would fail to score in the second half. On the flip side the Cowboys defense, after giving up a long TD drive to the Eagles to open the game Dallas shut down the Eagle’s offense – in the first half. Just like Dallas and Atlanta last week the Cowboys were just 3 points down before the Falcons blew up and ran away with the game on offense while shutting the Cowboys offense down completely. Against the Falcons Dallas scored 7 points, in the first half, and nothing in the second half. Last night Dallas scored 3 field goals, all in the first half, and nothing in the second half. In the last two games Dallas has been outscored by their opponents by a margin of 67-16, not coincidently, in games they were without Sean Lee, Tyron Smith and Ezekiel Elliott. It also seems like the Cowboys are also being stopped by bad officiating. There was a pass interference that should have been called on a guy covering Dez, even Cris Collingsworth mentioned he didn’t know how PI was not called. The real trouble was Dak should have thrown a back shoulder to Dez and it would have been an easy TD. Instead Dak threw it upfield forcing Dez to have to fight through a defender to get to the ball. Dak’s inaccuracy is a big issue with his receivers and it’s really killing Dez. Tony Romo knew just where to put the rock to make it easier on Dez but Dak can’t do the same. The back-shoulder throw was bread and butter for Tony and Dez but Dak can’t seem to make that throw to save his soul. So, now all I have to look forward to on Thanksgiving is another Dallas loss because there will be no Tyron and Dallas will face the LA Chargers who have the best pass rush in the NFL led by Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa. Dallas will also be without Sean Lee so Phillip Rivers is liable to hang 50 on the Cowboys. Happy Freaking Thanksgiving. Good Grief, Charlie Brown.

The Cowboys really need to get their you-know-what together today against the Chargers. The Chargers have a decent team but there is a reason they are 4-6 on the season. The most encouraging thing is the Chargers defense is the worst team in the NFL against the run and that is exactly what Dallas should be planning to do. There is a rumor that Tyron Smith will be back from injury today but I am not counting on it. I will continue to hope Byron Bell keeps getting better, much like Jonathan Cooper did, after getting more playing time. Personally, I want Dallas to hold back on Smith until he is 100% recovered from his groin injury. That's me. One thing for sure, Dak Prescott has to play better than he has the last couple of weeks. At some point he has to put his team on his back and carry them to a win. Dallas has to find a way to slow down the Chargers offense. Traditionally, Phillip Rivers picks the Cowboys defense apart so the best way to compensate for the missing Sean Lee is pressure Rivers and knock the hell out of him at every opportunity. It's time for the four 4 of the Cowboys to get busy. It's time Demarcus Lawrence and David Irvin put a smackdown on the Chargers and if they can consistently pressure Rivers the DBs may just have an opportunity for some picks. Dallas has to learn how to win when they have people missing. They need to learn how to cope with a Tyron Smith injury. They have to learn to play better defense with Sean Lee missing and Dak needs to learn how to pass his team to a win. Anyone missing Tony Romo about now? I am.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

What happened to the 6 games in a row where Dallas' offense averaged over 30 points a game? Where is it? Tell me, please because I'm not buying that Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee make that much of a difference. Stats wise, the loss of Sean Lee was a killer but that is no explanation why in the last 3 games the offense has averaged 7 points per game and they have only scored 2 touchdowns. They did flip-flop the recent pattern of being shutout in the 2nd half of games. On Thanksgiving, Dallas was shutout in the first half, presumably to break up the monotony. The only thing to be thankful for in the Cowboys game was there wasn't another quarter that would have given Phillip Rivers and company more time to run up the score.
Let me tell you what I think is the biggest difference in the Cowboys offense, Dak Prescott. Dak's lack of accuracy, his seeming inability to check out of plays and into plays that would have given Dallas a better chance to succeed, bad decision making and an unwillingness to challenge defenses with deep passes. Lord, do I miss Tony Romo. Scott Linehan isn't helping matters by not using the one thing Dak is better at than Romo and that's the read option play. It takes advantage of Dak's size and running ability and could help loosen the pass defense up. Against the Chargers the Cowboys didn't have anyone with more than 9 carries and Dallas rushed for only 79 yards for the game. That's against a Chargers team that came into the game dead last in the NFL in run defense. Dead freaking last! You wonder about the 'next man up' mentality and the Cowboys steadfast adherence to the same game plan each week. People talk about the apparent lack of halftime adjustments the Cowboys are making but my problem is the piss-poor job the coaches are doing going into the games given the personnel they are missing. I wonder if the Cowboys haven't seen Jason Garrett lose the locker room? In the pick that Dak threw that resulted in a 90 yard run for a TD I didn't see a Cowboys player in the last 30 yards of the play. There was total give up on that play and that isn't like the Cowboys under Garrett. They might not always play well but they always have played hard. This version of the Cowboys is very disheartening. How can a team who looked so good demolishing Kansas City just a few short weeks ago turn into the Cleveland Browns? I don't understand how a team can go from 30+ points a game to a total poop burger. I don't know why the defense can play stifling defense for a half and get slashed worse than a Jack The Ripper victim in the other half of the game. Trying times we live in. Maybe my buddy Thad is right. He says since the Astros won the World Series it's just too much to expect the Cowboys and maybe even the Texans to do anything worthwhile. I don't believe in Karma so much but the way things are going the only thing I have left to root for is Jerry Jones sticking it up Roger Goodell's rear end and ending that jackass's tenure as NFL commissioner. I hate to give up on the Cowboys before December even begins but the evidence is pretty clear, this Cowboys team is going nowhere fast.

Well, I guess I have to eat my words. In my last post I figuratively stuck a fork in the Cowboys season. What did they do My? They beat division rival Washington soundly and evened up their record to .500 and got back into the 'if everything goes their way' playoff conversation. Atlanta didn't help matters when they came back and beat the Saints on Thursday night. Dallas really needed Atlanta to lose. Given recent events I'm sure Jerry Jones wishes Arthur Blank's Falcons had bit the big one on several levels. It's been stated in many different forums but teams like Dallas, Green Bay, Detroit and others have been in 'playoff mode' for a couple of weeks. That will be the case until they lose or they are finally eliminated from contention. There are four games left and the next opponent up is the NY Giants. They of the fired head coach and GM and the defensive coordinator being the interim head man. The Giants have been lousy all season and they head into tomorrow's game a pitiful 2-10. The worry is with Eli Manning slated to be the starter after a one week pain in the ass that signaled the end of Bob McAdoo's tenure as head coach. That is a worry because the whole team might have found a breath of fresh air and a renewed vigor with all the changes this past week. It's a trap game for sure. Dallas is the clear favorite but the Giants might have found a reason to play again. My money's on Dallas but I have this itch that won't go away. Anyway, the misery will be over early tomorrow with both Dallas and Houston playing at 12 o'clock. If the Cowboys can find a way to persevere tomorrow and next week against Oakland then Zeke will be back and with Seattle and Philly to close out the season they are going to need him.

The battle between Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell took a turn for the Evil Empire when the owners salary council gave Roger Goodell that extension to his contract. It's a doozy too. Goodell is scheduled to make over $200 MM over the next 5 years. When was the last time you heard of a company giving a shit-load of money to a tool bag who constantly fucked up his job? Never would be the answer to that question but a small committee of rich billionaires apparently like how Goodell dutifully bends over and takes the media abuse so they don't have to. That is the only way I can see that man even still has a job. Don't worry though, Jerry Jones still has an ace or two up his sleeve if he chooses to play them. We'll see but I doubt this feud between Jones and Goodell is far from over.

I have had my entire fall go down into a flaming fubar pile of junk.
I can’t say the whole of September to date has been bad because the Astros are World champs after all but the rest hasn’t been pretty.
It all started with Harvey. Stupid, rotten, nasty Harvey. I have almost virtually missed football season because of Harvey. I have only seen the Cowboys on a screen bigger than my phone twice. The Texans lost half their defense in week 2 but they found their franchise QB the same week. They lost him a few short weeks ago for the season and the Texans season swirled down the commode.
The one saving grace is the Cowboys are still hanging on by a thread to playoff hopes and will be getting Ezekiel Elliott back this week. The only question is just how rusty will he be in his first game back. Dallas is in a must win situation for the rest of the season. Green Bay is out of contention, but Dallas needs a load of help to earn a playoff spot. Any external help is meaningless if the Cowboys don’t win the last two games then my fall of despair will be complete. Merry Christmas- - bah humbug.

Dallas will square off against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday and the Cowboys will try to take advantage of a crippled 'Hawks D while trying to keep Russell Wilson and company in check. There is an outside chance that Dallas can still get into the playoffs but they need a lot of help. It looks like there could very well be 3 teams coming out of the NFC with Atlanta, Carolina and the resurgent Saints still battling for the NFC South division crown.
It would be one the few years that a 10-6 team failed to make the playoffs since the Patriots failed with an 11-5 record in 2008. It is a testament as to how much stronger the NFC is right now than the AFC. That's no consolation for Dallas who have let a couple of games slip through their fingers and the 3-game losing streak at the start of Ezekiel Elliott's suspension. With Elliott Dallas lost heartbreaking games against the Packers and Rams when they should have won but let both games slip away late. The 3 game losing streak was a result of bad play calling IMO. I think that Scott Linehan believed he needed to make Dallas a passing team without Elliott. As good as Dak Prescott has been over the past 2 seasons it's clear he's not at the point in his career that he can carry a team on his back the way Tony Romo had done for most of his career. When the Cowboys recommitted to the run and turned Alfred Morris and Rod Smith loose the Cowboys offense started to click again and they won their last 3 games.
This is also a year when Dallas found out they cannot live without Sean Lee. The defensive numbers when Lee is on the field and off are ridiculous and Lee missed all 3 games the Cowboys lost during Elliott's suspension. The defensive backfield has changed a lot too. Orlando Scandrick was the old man of the bunch early on and when free agent Nolan Carroll was a bust the workload shifted to the rookies and 2nd year players on the roster. For the most part the newbs have done a good job. 2nd year CB Anthony Brown is suffering through a sophomore slump but he's gotten better of late. There seems to be a bright future as far as the Cowboys secondary goes and that is definitely not a bad thing.
LB Jaylon Smith has played but it's clear he's not 100% back from the devastating knee injury that robbed him of his first season in the NFL in 2016. The fact he has been on the field and contributing gives coaches and fans hope he will be the stud he would have been had he not been injured. What is clear is Dallas needs a linebacker, or two, that can play so if Sean Lee is injured the Cowboys defense won't turn into a yardage relinquishing sieve.
Dallas defense overall is getting better but despite the newest Cowboys pro bowler, DeMarcus Lawrence, best efforts Dallas still has yet to have a consistent pass rush. As with all the years under Tony Romo, the Cowboys go as the offense goes.
It's really important for the team's psyche to win these last two games to get to 10-6. Even if they don't make the playoffs they have been in playoff mode for the entire month of December and, so far, they have answered the call. They need to beat the Seahawks Sunday and finish the season with a win in Philly and no matter how the chips fall the team, and their fans, should be proud of themselves. With all the distractions, and injuries and suspensions and general BS, not to mention an open feud with the NFL commissioner by their owner this Cowboys team showed a grittiness and heart that maybe they didn't even know they had. Finish 10-6 and I think you can call this season a success even if they don't make the playoffs.

Explain to me how an NFL play caller, in this case Scott Linehan, waits 7 weeks to be able to hand off the ball to his best player in what was essentially a playoff game and you have a 1st and goal at the opponent's 3 yard line and you fail on 3 tries to hand said player the ball. Is there any explanation for this? I can find none. Troy Aikman and Joe Buck could find none. Nobody on Facebook has an explanation. You know why? There is no freaking excuse! For the second time this season Dallas has been without LT Tyron Smith but before I go any further let me address the idiots who want to get rid of Smith because he can't stay healthy -- get a life losers! Smith has missed some time this year with a groin injury and now yesterday a sprained LCL ligament in his knee. He should have been on the sideline with that bad knee but he tried to play through it. He was sacrificing for the good of the team in what could have resulted in a long term injury to that knee. Give some props to a guy who does that, don't talk about trading, cutting or replacing him. It's just ignorance and frustration that makes people say stupid things like that.

The trouble was, for the Cowboys, two-fold. One, Scott Linehan called maybe the worst game of the season and, given some of the bad play calling he's done this year, that is saying something. And two, Dak Prescott has sucked more often than he's been good. He's continued to show he can be rattled in the pocket and his lack of accuracy is disturbing. Both of his interceptions were his fault. First he tries to throw a dump-off to Zeke, a throw of maybe 10 yards, but he threw it off his back foot and the ball sailed 8 yards over Zeke's head right into the waiting arms of a Seahawk defender who took it to the house. Next he throws a pass to Dez doing a shallow cross over the middle but Dak threw it hard and behind Dez. Dez tried to make a play on the ball but it was high and behind him and all he could do was bat the ball in the air for another easy pick for Seattle.

Dak will get better, at least that's the hope. He is in only his second year and it's clear he is not the passer Tony Romo was. He will learn. Sometime the growing pains with a young QB are painful. Sunday's performance was painful. Sunday was like pulling teeth without an anesthetic. There is no anesthetic for crappy coaching and Linehan and Jason Garrett for the second time this season failed to give help to a backup left tackle who was getting his butt kicked. Earlier this season Chaz Green was clowned by the Atlanta Falcons giving up a record number of sacks in a game to the Falcons Adrian Clayborn and a total of 11 sacks in the game. Most of the reason for that was the lack of adjustments to help Green out. It happened again Sunday when Seattle's front four knock Prescott around forcing 2 INTs but also hitting him often so that he was intimidated in his own pocket. The Seattle onslaught was so punishing it even affected Linehan's play calling to the detriment of the Cowboys team. What should have been a rewarding end of the season was crushed to death on their home turf.

Happy Freaking New Year. Dallas will play Philly in Philly Sunday and they will undoubtedly get their asses handed to them. Even with Nick Foles, the Eagles are better than Dallas and anyone who knows me knows I just threw up in my mouth writhing this sentence. The Cowboys season will be over on New Year's Eve and I'm glad. I am so done with 2017. It's been a piece of crap year so it's fitting that it ends on a piece of crap note.

The Cowboys ended the 2017 season with a win but it was ugly. On the offensive side of the ball and I do mean offensive. Dak Prescott led the Cowboys to a win in spite of himself. He had 178 yards passing but it was a struggle. He continues to show his lack of accuracy and an inability to read the defense and check out of plays that would put his offense in a better position to win the play. Sort of like we got used to when the guy before Dak was starting. Dak is only in his second year and nobody except true homers felt like Dallas would go 13-3 again this year but the Cowboys needed Dak to step up and carry the team on several occasions this past season he didn't get it done. After the excellent year he had in 2016 the steps backward he took in 2017 was more than a little bit disconcerting. The hope is that he can have a good rebound year in 2018. He really could use a nice bounce back year from Dez Bryant. He had a real un-Dez like year that featured a lot balls he should have caught and didn't and too many of those passes ended up in the hands of the defense. He 29 years old so I don't think he's over the hill but I firmly believe he and Dak need to spend a lot of time together this offseason building, or rebuilding their chemistry.
The defense is good as long as Sean Lee stays healthy which is not likely going to happen. It's only happened once in his career that he played all 16 games and he didn't actually do that. In 2016 Lee had played in the first 15 games but when Dallas clinched the #1 seed in week 16 Lee and a select group of other players sat out the season finale against the eagles much like Philly did this past Sunday. The Cowboys have a good group of DB's from the last 2 drafts so that position is sewed up. What Dallas needs is for Jaylon Smith to step up next season and hopefully he's fully recovered all his nerve synapses in his foot so he can finally be the player Dallas thinks they stole in the 2nd round of the 2015 draft. They also need another impact linebacker so if and when Lee gets hurt somebody can step up and fill the position so it's not a total disaster.
Now I guess we have to worry about Dan Bailey. Up until week 15 he was the most accurate kicker in NFL history. But after missing 3 field goals and the first two extra points he's missed in he career could we be looking at another Nick Folk? You remember Folk, the guy who was totally money for Dallas until a hip injury combined with coming back too soon from that injury caused him to be so bad Dallas had to cut him. That's pretty much why Dan Bailey stepped in and he's done so well ever since he won the job. That is until a groin injury sidelined him for a big chunk of the season. Since he came back he's gone from Mr Automatic to the Uh-oh kid.
All in all it's been a pretty disappointing season that has thankfully come to a close. It has been a weird season.
Even here on BRI I had a thread started for following the Cowboys season that mysteriously disappeared. I guess saying goodbye to 2017 is a very easy thing to do for so many reasons. Unfortunately, for me sports-wise, 2018 isn't starting out any better. My Sooners lost to Georgia this evening in double overtime. Me and New Years Day bowl games have never been simpatico. Rarely does the teams I root for win. I was seeing a lot of turnaround so far in this bowl season but I would gladly trade a bunch of the wins I did get for a Sooners win tonight. Oh well, at least I am just sick and not with the flu. That is definitely a win.
This will be may last post on this thread. Hopefully Mike will update the pinned threads soon because, In my case, he's about 7 months behind. I'm just saying.