Dallas Cowboys 2018 Season

[eagle eye]

Dak sucked. There is no way to sugar coat it or gloss over it. As much as I was looking forward to this opening game of the 2018 season it was so disappointing to see the quarterback be as bad as he was. Oh, he maneuvered his way around a tenuous pocket pretty well but when it came time to actually throw a pass he was just gawd-awful. The running game got a little better as the game wore on but 15 carries for 69 yards and a TD isn’t what anyone in Cowboys-land wanted or expected. Dak didn’t throw any picks in the game but it could be because all his throws were either too high or short hopped in front of his receivers. The poor offensive output was almost all on Dak. It didn’t help that every time Dallas seemed to have something going they would hold or have a false start or something to shoot themselves in the foot. The Cowboys never made it past mid field until the 3rd quarter. Not good and between Dak being lousy and drive killing penalties Dallas couldn’t get out of their own way.
Do you think there will be some second-guessing and a bit of finger pointing as the first attempt in a regular season game, ever, for new kicker Brett Maher ended up wide right? It was a 47-yard attempt but when you have just released the most accurate kicker, and all-time Cowboys best kicker, for a 28-year-old “rookie” who has never made an NFL field goal in his life then you have the makings for the local Dallas media to start ripping the coaching staff for letting Dan Bailey go. As a matter of fact, Maher hasn’t even made an extra point yet as he didn’t get the chance to kick the Cowboys point after their only TD of the game because they went for, and made, a 2-point conversion.
I was excited to see this defense play and except for some blown assignments covering Dak in the first half and some poor tackling I thought the Defense played really well. If you consider the good field position the offense kept giving to Carolina’s offense especially through all the first half a lesser defense would have been steam rolled by the Panthers. The only down side was a collision by Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence when they met at Cam Newton in the offensive backfield that resulted in a concussion to Gregory. Hopefully, he will be fine and ready for next week’s game against the New York Giants.
The old Jason Garrett is a terrible game manager reared its ugly head. In the 4th quarter the Cowboys had a 4th and 10 near midfield with all 3-time outs and the 2-minute warning and around 4 minutes left in the game Garrett chose to go for it and, given how bad Dak was playing, was not a great idea. Of course, the Cowboys failed to convert and the subsequent field position gave the Panthers a great chance to score and put the game out of reach. If Dallas had punted and pinned the Panther down around their own 10 or so. If Dallas holds then they get the ball right back at midfield. As it was the Cowboys D did hold and the Panthers punt resulted in a touchback and Dallas had the ball at their own 20 with no timeouts. Garrett sacrificed 30 yards of field position for no good reason. In this case, he was guilty of poor game management.
Yep, a very disappointing start to the season. Hopefully, things will get better. Hopefully, Dak gets better.

[eagle eye]

It’s time to think about the New York Giants. All the hand wringing over the loss in Carolina last Sunday should be over. Right now, our only thoughts about Carolina and the east coast should be on the folks in the pathway of Hurricane Florence. Prayers and our sincere hopes that the people survive the storm with minimal loss of life and damage to property. We here in SE Texas know what it’s like to have a hurricane screw up your life. Also, here’s hoping this tropical storm in the Gulf dies out and spares us on the Gulf Coast from flooding rains. We’ve had enough with floods for the next 2 lifetimes.
The Cowboys traded for a backup OL just before the final cuts were made. Dallas sent CB prospect Charvarius Ward to Kansas City for OL Parker Ehinger. It was a move that was supposed to fix the depth issues created by the loss of C Travis Frederick and another free agent, Marcus Martin who was signed back in the spring who went to IR because of a torn ligament in his right big toe. The Cowboys have cut, resigned and cut G Kadeem Edwards 3 times in the last couple of weeks. The latest signing and subsequent cut happened Sept 7 and Sept 11 respectively. The reason Edwards was cut yesterday was because the Cowboys found someone better. That would be former Texans G Xavier Su’a-Filo. Su’a-Filo was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2014 draft by the Texans. He was slowed by injuries in his first two seasons with Houston, but he played in 31 of 32 games for the Texans in 2016/17. He became a free agent this offseason and he signed with Tennessee in March, but he was among the final cuts by the Titans on Sept 1. Given where he was drafted it is generally considered that Su’a-Filo was a bit of a bust but also, given that he’s played in 55 games in the NFL he is the best available option that Dallas had.
It's been said before, but it bares saying again, Connor Williams will struggle during his rookie season. Why? Because he is not strong enough right now to be a dominating guard in the NFL. It’s not his fault. He came out of Texas as an accomplished left tackle but that was college. Williams is in the NFL and he’s still a boy in a man’s world in terms of his strength. It widely accepted as fact the jump in strength and conditioning takes the biggest jump in a player’s career between his rookie and 2nd year in the NFL because he will have a full season with the team and a full offseason in the strength and conditioning program. Connor Williams will be better next year and Dallas has made the commitment to stick with him, flaws and all, this year. He didn’t do bad against Carolina but he was overpowered a few times simply because he is not a strong as he will eventually become.
The one to worry about is Dak Prescott. Bryan Broaddus broke down the film of the Carolina game and Dak missed a lot more than all the errant throws he had. According to Broaddus, Dak missed on a lot of open receivers on Sunday. Part of the reason critics gave Dak a pass on his performance on Sunday was because they assumed nobody was open but in his postgame interview WR Cole Beasley told reporters to check the tape, guys were open and Broaddus confirmed that statement. So, going back to last season there are an alarming number of games the Cowboys have only been able to score in single digits. What’s wrong with the offense? The primary burden falls on the shoulders of #4. If he cannot see open receivers and, when he does, fails to get the ball to them consistently then you have a lame duck QB. What’s different from the Dak of 2016 and the first half of 2017 and the Dak of the last 10 months? Who knows but you suspect it’s mental with Dak right now. He was never as accurate as Tony Romo but he isn’t as bad as he showed in Carolina last Sunday. Does Dak miss his old QB coach Wade Wilson? Current QB coach Kellen Moore isn’t much older than Dak and he hasn’t got the wealth of experience in the NFL that Wilson had. Who knows but, Scott Linehan didn’t become an idiot overnight and the Cowboys had receivers open so it all comes back to Dak. Dak seems to have a confidence problem. He’s failing to spot open receivers, he’s double clutching too much and he’s not standing in the pocket to deliver the ball. Dak was sacked 6 times in Carolina. Some of that is on the O-line, once it was Zeke’s fault for whiffing on a block and it was also on Dak. When Dak saw the film of the Carolina game I’ll bet he would have liked to excuse himself to go to the bathroom and pull a Jim Carrey and kick his own ass for all the missed opportunities. I’m sure Dak has taken ownership of his failures in Week 1. Now, he has to learn from his mistakes and get better because Week 2 is upon him.

[eagle eye]

Dallas has to play better than they did in Carolina last week. That is a given. The trouble is, Dallas has failed to score more than 10 points only 3 times in their last 8 games dating back to last year. This is a Dak Prescott problem. He needs to play better, he needs to get back to his 2016 form. Heck he played pretty well in the first 8 games of 2017. We need THAT Dak then the Cowboys will be much better off. And fans like me will be better too! It's hard to say why Dak hasn't played any better than he has. Did he lose confidence during Ezekiel Elliott's suspension last year? Or during Tyron Smith's injury problems? Did Scott Linehan's offense become too predictable? Who knows - and who cares- as long as the Cowboys figure it out. The Giants and Cowboys have played a lot over the years and during the Romo era those games often ended up being a shootout. The winner had to score at least 30 points to win. Eli vs Tony. Eli is still around but he hasn't been THAT Eli for a couple of years. The Giants went out and got their own running back in Saquan Barkley. The Giants have Odell Beckom Jr and the Cowboys don't have an answer for that. Well, they didn't until they finally put together a good defense. That's the one thing Dallas was missing during the Romo years so now Dallas needs their QB to step up. The Cowboys defense held Carolina to just 16 points having to overcome lousy field position most of the game because the offense was so bad. The Giants strength of their defense is at cornerback and with Landon Collins at safety. The Cowboys will need to run the ball to loosen up that secondary so Dak can throw the ball. The defense will need to shut down Barkley and pressure Eli. This defense can do this based on what I saw last week. Sunday night football. Prime Time. Just like Jerry likes it.

So, who wins? I'm a homer and I don't like Eli so I am saying the Cowboys will prevail and I think it will be a higher scoring game than most think. I am saying Dallas' defense will prevail and Dak will find a little of his mojo, enough that the Cowboys will win 24-20.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys had a pretty good first and fourth quarter but they sort of went back to their mediocre selves in the 2nd and 3rd. That was on offense. It was good enough for the win as the Cowboys defense kicked the crap out of Eli Manning and the NY Giants offense. The Cowboys D is the strength of the team right now and the offense showed signs of life at times. This Cowboys defense has the makings of a really excellent group. Randy Gregory didn’t play due to concussion issues and David Irving missed because he is in the middle of his 4 game suspension. Xavier Woods is still out with a bad hamstring so this defense isn’t even at full strength! Pretty awesome to see a Dallas defense that kicks arse.

Now, all we, as fans, need is for the offense to build on the good things they did on Sunday night. I would hope Tavon Austin gets more than 18 snaps. Dallas also needs a decent tight end. All that said, I’m happy for the win. It’s on to Seattle and I feel pretty good about the Cowboys heading into the city of Seattle with what I saw against the Giants. It will be DB’s coach Kris Richard’s first trip back to Seattle since moving to Dallas this past off season. I would think Richard will have a little extra incentive this week. The Cowboys are 1-1 and tied for the division lead. Right where they need to be, I’d say. For this week, all is right with the world.

[eagle eye]

So, I'm right in the middle of a shutdown at my plant. I working way harder than I ever expected to and the one thing I had to look forward to was coming home to see the Cowboys and Texans games that I DVR'd knowing I would be at work. What a piece of crap this turned out to be. I covered the Texans failures in another post so I'll just cry over the spilt milk the Cowboys made a mess of. Dallas didn't just drop the carton of milk on the floor, they kicked it, dropped it again and fumbled it until milk was freaking everywhere and nobody was there to clean the mess up.

The Cowboys had as many 3-and-outs as Houston did in the first half. Dak looked like do-do throwing the ball and Zeke had nowhere to run. It wasn't bad enough that the Seahawks defense was making life hard on the Cowboys, the Cowboys pulled out their pistols and shot themselves in the foot and several occasions. Half way through the 4th quarter Zeke broke loose on a run and when he tried to change directions a Seahawk defended cause him to fumble which Seattle recovered. A different series saw a pass to Michael Gallup jarred loose and Earl Thomas caught the damn thing pinning it to his ankle. That's when you know it's not your day. Between the errant passes, the drops when Dak did manage to actually hit a receiver and the freakish turnovers made this day very frustrating. It was kind of summed up by the play just before the half when Dallas held the Seahawks on a 3rd down back around the Cowboys 40 but as the defense was walking off the field a Seattle lineman was talking smack to Randy Gregory who couldn't let it go. He reached out and shoved the guy in the face drawing a 15 yard personal foul penalty and gave the Seahawks the field position for a Sebastian Janikowsky field goal. Instead of going into the locker room trailing 14-3, Janikowski nailed the field goal to give the Seahawks a 17-3 lead at the half. Or how about Zeke catching a ball about 15 yards downfield and having an easy run for a TD which would have made the score 17-10 in the 3rd quarter. Oops, Zeke drifted too far to the sideline and he was standing out of bounds when he caught the pass. Instead of a TD Dallas had to settle for a field goal to trail 17-6. Big difference there. It was just a comedy of errors. Dallas didn't have many penalties but they made up for it with lousy play. Now the Cowboys are 1-2 on the season and if they don't figure out a way to force Dak to go down the field with the ball Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan should be canned. The one deep play Dallas has tried was the long TD pass to Tavon Austin on the very first play from scrimmage last week against New York. On a day (much like the Carolina game in Week 1) Dak Prescott proved that if he has to carry the offense with his arm he just can't do it. It's year 3 in the Dak era and he has not showed squat. I can't believe this guy took Tony Romo's job. Yet another reason Jason Garrett is on my bad side. That is saying something because I have been a supporter of Jason Garrett right up to the point in 2016 when Romo was cleared to play the decision was made to stick with Dak. The old adage is football is a starter doesn't lose his job to an injury but it happened to Romo and now the Cowboys looked like crap in 2017 and they look like crap now. This is Garrett's 9th year as head coach with 1 playoff win to his resume? This may be the year that his team plays him right out of a job. It's early yet, plenty of time to light a fire under Scott Linehan and Prescott and start throwing the ball down the field a little more. It just seems like the Cowboys are trying real hard not to lose rather than winning the game. How many of you, be honest now, miss Romo? I know I do - big time.

[eagle eye]

So far this season Dak Prescott has not thrown for 200 yards in any game yet. That is a fact. So far, he’s thrown for 170, 160 and 168 yards in the 3 games played so far. In Dallas’ two losses Dak’s QBR in Carolina was 81.1 and against Seattle it was 54.5. Yikes, that’s bad! In the Cowboys win Dak’s QBR was a good 95.4 but his QBR for the season is an anemic 74.9. I have heard on Cowboys website podcasts that when game film is reviewed Dak’s receivers are said to be open. This assertion is corroborated by Cowboy receiver Cole Beasley who was sited in an NFL.com article today that when the players review game film they are open most of the time. For all these people who are trying to analyze why the Cowboys offense is so bad they can check the ‘receivers not getting open’ box as ‘N/A’.
There are legit reasons why the Cowboys passing game is struggling. Many believe the play calling is not good and there have been many questions to Jason Garrett about the possibility of him taking over the play calling. To be honest, I don’t believe the play calling is that much of an issue. People seem to want a more diverse group of plays but a former Cowboys player from the Super Bowl years in the 90’s said there weren’t that many plays those Cowboys teams used. People likely knew what was coming but those teams simply were adept at executing those plays. I think we can agree execution is a big problem for these Cowboys. So, check the ‘Play calling’ box “N/A”.
I do think it’s legit to criticize the Cowboys for mental mistakes. Things like pre-snap penalties, dumb holding calls away from the ball, blocking failures. Sometimes it looks like the team isn’t really prepared at times and they certainly lack self-discipline. When you know the snap count, there is no reason for a false start penalty. No reason at all. Getting called for delay of game is inexcusable and that’s on the QB and the coach sending him the plays. I would submit that we can check the “Mental mistakes” box a definite “Yes”.
The O-line is getting a ton of criticism as well and they should. In their two losses Dak has been sacked 11 times so I’ll give you an answer on a scale of 1 to 10 how much the line’s failures have contributed to the lack of passing success. In my eye that answer would be a 6 with 10 being the most impactful. It would be higher if not for the fact that Dak has had time in many cases, but it comes to the final check box on the survey, ‘Poor QB play’.
Prescott looked great in 2016. He was so good everyone, including the Cowboys coaching staff and front office caught a serious case of Dak fever. It was such a severe case that poor old Tony Romo was kicked to the curb like he was some sort of chump, which was far from the case since everyone seems to agree that Romo’s numbers would be Hall of Fame worthy if not for the fact that the Cowboys did not win a championship with Romo at QB. In my opinion, that isn’t Romo’s fault. During his entire tenure as Cowboys QB the team never had a defense that could make a stop when it counted. It didn’t matter in 2016 because the O-line was healthy with LG Ronald Leary on the job. Dez was still Dez and Witten was steady as ever and Ezekiel Elliott was running his ass off. Dallas offense was clicking and Dak constantly checking down didn’t hurt the team. After 9 straight wins after an opening night loss to the Giants Dak fever was a plague of epic proportions. So much so that Tony Romo was a forgotten man. Not one time in 2016 was Dak ever put in a position to have to carry the team with his arm. The first few games of 2017 looked like ’16 until Zeke’s suspension took effect, Tyron Smith missed time with a bad back and Sean Lee missed several games. The run game failed and Dak needed to put the team on his back but, he couldn’t carry the team like Romo had done for over 10 years. So far, in 2018, it is more of the same lack of proficiency from Prescott. He has receivers open, game films proves that but he’s not seeing the field. When he does find an open guy it’s 50-50 that he will put the ball in a place where they can catch it. In other words, Dak is not an accurate passer. NFL analyst Greg Cosell who has been on ESPN on Mike and Mike and now Golic and Wingo made the comparison between Dak and Tim Tebow. Another guy who was about as inaccurate a passer as anyone who ever donned an NFL uniform could be. Right now, Dak Prescott is a lousy quarterback. He says all the right things and practices hard by all accounts but if he has the opportunity to pass the ball downfield he chooses a safer pass that results in 4^th down in most cases. Could that be changed? Gosh, you hope so if you’re a Cowboys fan. Given the fact that receivers are open, Dak may just have to be encouraged to trust his eyes and throw the doggone ball! Maybe they need to give him assurances that if he throws a pick going down the field the world won’t come to an end. Ben Roesthlisberger throws picks all the time but, he also throws for 350-400 yards and 4 TD’s a game. The best QB’s in the NFL play aggressively and they challenge defenses at all levels on the field. Dak doesn’t play with that abandon, he plays like he’s trying not to lose rather than playing to win. Dink, dunk, duh. Check the box ‘Poor QB Play’ and emphatic “Yes”.You hope that the Cowboys coaches, Jason Garrett, Scott Linehan and Kellen Moore can foster an atmosphere of how fun it is to complete passes for big chunk plays. Passes that fire up a home crowd and shut up a crowd on the road. Passes that fire up your teammates and demoralize a defense. When you play street ball everyone wants to ‘go long’ and the QB wants to make that throw. There is joy and grandeur in completing a long bomb. Right now, Dak is cheating himself, his team mates and the fans out of a lot of fun. Sometimes you need to convert a 3^rd and 18 and a 25-yard pass is just the ticket. C’mon Dak, learn to have some fun playing football. Trust what you see and let the damn ball go or step aside for someone who will.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys need to play better. That is not rocket science, it's plain for anyone who is looking. The defense is one of the best in the NFL allowing just a shade over 17 PPG. The defensive backfield will be really tested today by Flower Mound native Matthew Stafford. The thing is pass rush may not be much of a factor as Stafford often gets rid of the ball in just over 2 seconds after the snap. The cornerbacks and safeties will be put to a stern test today. We will find out just how good the Cowboys pass defense is today. It will be a real challenge for Byron Jones, Chido Awuzie and company to put the brakes on the Lions pass attack. At the same time Detroit has their first 100 rusher in a long time that will be up to the Cowboys front to stop. Add to that Dallas will be without Sean Lee who will miss some time with a bad hamstring. It could be the very first start for the Cowboys 1st round pick in this year's draft, Leighton Vander Esch. If he doesn't start he will certainly see a lot of playing time. In the recent past, losing Lee would have been a disaster. In six games Lee missed in 2017 Dallas lost 5 of them. The defense without Lee was not good at all. Things look to be different this year. In the offseason Dallas picked up Joe Thomas who is only in his 5th year in the NFL and at 27 he's in his prime. He's fast and he's a sure tackler and he played very well in the preseason and he's carried that over into the regular campaign. The great hope, three years ago was that Jaylon Smith would recover from a devastating knee injury that included nerve damage and become the top ten talent he would have been had that injury not happened. He missed his rookie season recovering from knee surgery and hoping that the damaged nerves would also recover fully. In 2017 Smith made his debut and he played okay, not great, and he still had to wear a brace to make up for a case of drop foot. As the healing process progressed the drop foot went away and Smith shed the brace. He's moving like he did before the injury and he's playing near the high level the Cowboys hoped for when they took a chance taking him in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft. There is still former 4th round pick Damien Wilson and, of course, Vander Esch. The defense should not suffer that much but that remains to be seen.

The real challenge is on the offense. An offense ranked 30th out of 32 teams in total offense and 31st in scoring points per game. The Cowboys average a horrendous 13.7 PPG and the only team worse is the Arizona Cardinals scoring 6.7 PPG. All it will take is for Dak Prescott to play better. Display a little accuracy for one thing and use the speed he has in Tavon Austin and Devonte Thompson by going downfield with his passes a little more. The one thing that Dallas does have in it's favor is Zeke. The Lions are the worst rushing defense in the NFL and that is right up the Cowboys alley who would love nothing more than pound the rock. Their offense is based on that and this game could see Zeke rushing for 200 yards if the Cowboys don't fall behind early and are forced to pass.

So, what is the final score? I have faith in the Cowboys defense. I think Dallas will run the ball and, like Week 2 when Dak actually threw the ball down the field, I think the passing game will be better. All that said, I think Dallas wins at home by a score of 24-20. Close but, in the end, a Cowboys win evening their record to 2-2.

[eagle eye]

Last week the Cowboys came through for me. I predicted a 24-20 Cowboys win and got a 26-24 nail biter. Dallas had a decent lead before Matthew Stafford brought the Lions storming back and they actually took the lead 24-23 with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott led the Cowboys to a game winning drive capped by a field goal by new Cowboys kicker Brett Maher. Big moment for Maher (pronounced Maw-her. We might as well learn how to say his name since he will sticking around for a while.) and a validation for the Cowboys coaches and front office who decided to move on from Dan Bailey. Last Sunday was the first time Dak had passed for over 200 yards in a game this season and just the 2nd time in the last 11 Cowboys games. Which Dak will travel to Houston this week? The accurate Dak whose heads up play against Detroit was really good or the rumblin', stumblin', fumblin' Dak who shuffled through the Carolina and Seattle games? That's the question that arise in this week's matchup against the Texnas.

This week, tonight as a matter of fact, Houston hosts the Dallas Cowboys. It's a big game for both teams. Dallas, at 2-2, is trying to keep pace with the Eagles and Redskins in the division and Houston is trying to stay alive in the AFC South. It's an uphill battle for sure when you begin the season 1-3. There is a case to be made that both teams are capable of winning. Both teams won hard fought games in Week 4. Both have some flaws in their offenses and defenses. Houston isn't a good running team but they make up for it passing the ball well. Dallas runs the ball well but they are inconsistent passing the ball. Both teams have talented defenses but the Texans secondary isn't very good at all. The Texans front 7 is pretty darn good with Watt and Clowney leading the charge and their linebackers are a talented group. Dallas front, led by Demarcus Lawrence, is good. Their linebackers are good bordering on great. Sean Lee used to be the key to any kind of success the Cowboys defense had but with the emergence of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, as well as free agent Joe Smith, the Cowboys linebackers are pretty doggone good. The Cowboys are better at cornerback than Houston. 2nd year player Chido Awuzie and veteran Byron Jones have played really well under new DB's coach Kris Richard's coaching. Geoff Heath is solid as the strong safety but free safety has been a bit of an issue so far. There is no telling how good this defense would have been if Dallas had completed a deal to get Seahawks safety Earl Thomas. The Cowboys O-line is a lot better than the Texans line despite the fact that they are starting a rookie at left guard and All Pro Travis Frederick is out with a rare nerve disease. Connor Williams is doing pretty well as a rookie but, his best years will come with a full offseason of weight training. Joe Looney has stepped up and filled in nicely for Frederick but he's no All Pro if you know what I mean. The Texans receivers, TE's and WR's, are better than the Cowboys and the Texans probably have an edge at QB. That edge is lessened or expanded depending on which Dak Prescott shows up for a given game. Dallas will need the Week 4 Prescott to show up for the Texans otherwise it will be a very long night for the Cowboys in Houston. Dallas has the NFL's leading rusher in Ezekiel Elliott and the NFL's leading sacker in Demarcus Lawrence but JJ Watt is 2nd to Lawrence in sacks and Clowney had his best game as a Texan last week.

I'm a fan of both the Cowboys and the Texans but I've been a Cowboys fan a lot longer than I have been a Texans fan so I'm rooting for the Cowboys to win. I hope it's a good game. I don't want to see either team embarrassed. My real dream come true would be a Texas Super Bowl but given their slow start, I'm not sure that Houston can hold up their end of the deal this season. I'm a little different than most Texans fans in that I can honestly root for both the Texans and Cowboys. The majority of Texans fans hate Dallas. I think it's a bit of jealousy because of the Cowboys long term success and the fact they are so popular as a franchise. Houston has always been second fiddle to the Cowboys even when the Texans were better. On the flip side, Dallas kind of knows their place in the NFL hierachy and they don't seem to feel the animosity Texans fans feel. That said, this is a big game for both teams. Dallas could survive losing going 2-3 on the season but if Houston loses and falls to 1-4 it's game over playoff-wise for Houston. The 'fire Bill O'Brien' talk will escalate and the mood around Houston Texans football won't be very good.

This is a hard game to pick because of their respective strengths and weaknesses but, like I said before, I will be rooting for the Cowboys tonight. If Dallas plays like they did against Detroit I think the Cowboys will win a close game. Dallas will need to score at least the 26 they mustered against the Lions, if not more. The Cowboys will need to pressure Deshaun Watson and they will need to generate some turnovers, which they have not been good at so far in 2018. The Cowboys O-line will need to stave off the Clowney/Watt onslaught enough to give Dak a chance to throw the ball downfield to tak advantage of the Texans weak secondary. With all that said, what is the final score? I believe Dallas wins 31-27.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys need some direction at WR. They have a slot type receiver in Cole Beasley. They have a possession type of receiver in Alan Hurns. They have speed guys in Tavon Austin and Deonte Thompson. Trouble is, they don’t seem to be used to their strengths. We’ve seen Austin used twice in 5 games as a downfield receiver who stretches the defense. In Week 2 on the first play of the game Austin did a double move and hauled in a 64-yard pass from Dak Prescott and he used his speed to run the ball the final 30 yards or so in the end zone to take an early lead against the NY Giants. This past week Austin caught a 44-yard pass on a broken play against Houston. That’s it, Austin has a total of 6 catches on the season. Thompson hasn’t caught a ball for more than 13 yards. A real legit gripe fans could point to is Dallas hasn’t defined the roles of the WR’s and, IF they actually have defined roles, they are not being used to take advantage of their strengths. Scott Linehan is the OC and is the person responsible for using his players in the right way. In 2015 when Romo went down with a broken collar bone the Cowboys had Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore and none of them was able to do squat with the same group of players Romo had success with. In hindsight, the main issue was that Dallas didn’t go downfield with their passes. It was dink, dunk and doink down the field such as they were able to and they didn’t have a dynamic RB like they had in DeMarco Murray to carry the load for the offense. My point here is, without Romo the offense was nothing and the passing game suffered because they never took any shots down the field. That’s on the coach. When Brandon Weeden left Dallas and went to Houston Weeden won games for the Texans because Weeden threw the ball down the field in Bill O’Brien’s offense. Again, coaching. We are seeing the Cowboys offense as an anemic limp wristed offense, especially on the road, and from what I can see it’s because the guy calling the plays doesn’t have the stomach for a vertical passing game which is weird given that he used to coach Matthew Stafford. So, maybe it’s not Scott Linehan who has feet of clay. Maybe it’s Garrett. How many times did Tony Romo change a play at the line of scrimmage because he didn’t like the play, or he saw a weakness in the defense he knew he could exploit? Part of the reason for Dallas’ offensive woes is on Dak but I am not convinced Dak can’t do better. Dak has made some really good throws in his two and half years in the NFL but he’s not nearly as consistent as we all would like. Right now, he is not a franchise QB but, he has shown flashes that he could be. In Sunday night’s game Dak showed flashes of a Romo-esque escape ability and he has made some very accurate throws. Dak is not like Romo, he’s no Jedi, but he’s got some connection with The Force. Maybe he needs better coaching so he doesn’t turn to the Dark Side. But, that opens a whole can of worms about the OC and HC. Do you need a change? Do you need to change just the offensive coordinator or, do you need a new head coach too? It’s so ironic that for the bulk of the last 22 years since the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX the offense has been the strength of the team. Now, finally, Dallas seems to have finally got themselves a quality defense and now the offense is a dumpster fire. Some days (decades?) you just can’t seem to win.

[eagle eye]

Good grief, Charlie Brown! The Cowboys are sure a conundrum. Right now it looks like the 'Boys are on a roller coaster ride as they look like crap on the road and look pretty decent at home and their record reflects that up and down as they have lost their 3 road games and won both home games. The wins are not all that impressive as they beat a really bad Giants team and they hung on to beat a decent Detroit Lions team. This week, Dallas plays host to the Jacksonville Jaguars who are a good playoff team. The Jags also boast the league's #1 defense. As the Jetson's dog Astro would say, "Rot row Reorge!" Rot row, indeed. Add to that, the Jags were stomped at home by the KC Chiefs so they will likely be in a very surly mood. The only hope for the Cowboys lies in one hope, that the lousy Blake Bortles shows up at AT&T Stadium today. All this will depend upon how much pressure Dallas can muster against a so-so Jags O-line. That was the perceived advantage for Dallas last week but the Texans line played the best game in literally years against Dallas. The Cowboys did manage to pressure Deshaun Watson and they beat him up pretty good but in the end it wasn't enough. The Cowboys were good in the red zone but they had trouble stopping the Texans between the 20's. They need to do better today, much better, if they have a glimmer of hope in beating Jacksonville.

One roadblock to the Cowboys applying pressure is the news that DE DeMarcus Lawrence aggravated a torn labrum he says has been torn for 2 years. In last week's game Lawrence said it was the first time his shoulder popped out and it was very painful. He is supposed to put on a harness to stabilize the shoulder and he will see if he can go today. In all likelihood, this shoulder thing isn't going away any time soon. Tyrone Crawford dealt with the same thing for two years before he finally got surgery done to repair the damage. It's not something a player wants to hear when he is playing under the franchise tag and he's hoping for a long term deal from his team for next year. In all likelihood Dallas will franchise Lawrence next year while the see if offseason surgery fixed the problem. The good news is the franchise tag means that Lawrence will make around 20 MM bucks on a fully guaranteed deal for one year but it won't be the financial security he was hoping for. That is a next season issue, today we all hope that Lawrence is well enough to play at a high level against the Jags. Dallas will also have DT David Irving back for the first time this season. He will likely only play 10-12 snaps but it might be enough to help the Cowboys up the middle stop Bortles and company. The one real weakness for Dallas' defense is at safety and 3rd CB. Blown coverages and bad tackling by Xavier Woods cost Dallas on a few plays and Anthony Brown's blown coverage on DeAndre Hopkins in overtime literally cost the Cowboys the game. The defense played well enough for Dallas to win though. No doubt about that but no matter how well the defense plays, unless are as good as the '85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens (they are not), the offense needs to score more than 16 points. The inaccurate Dak showed up in Houston, as did the scared to throw the ball downfield Dak. The receivers didn't help much with numerous drops and two caroms off a receiver's hands resulted in two picks by the Texans. Every single person on the offensive side of the ball needs to play - well - less offensively. As a group they sort of stink. But, that's on the road where Dallas is averaging 12 PPG. When they are at home they are averaging 25 PPG. They might beat Jacksonville if they can score 25 points.

I have to take my homer hat off this week. I just don't think Dallas can fix what's wrong with them any time soon. I think it will be a lost season as Dallas tries to make a franchise QB out of a sow's ear. Dak's not that bad. This is a group failure by the line, the receivers, Dak and the coaching. Does that meanwill be surprised if Dallas wins today and that's why I think the Jags beat Dallas 31-16. It will be just one more reason for Houston fans to hate Dallas I'm afraid, as they get pummeled by their division rival.

[eagle eye]

What can you do but shake your head? Dallas was a clear underdog going into yesterday’s game against Jacksonville and they have given no reason to believe that they, the Cowboys, could pull off a win, blowout or otherwise, over the Jaguars. That’s exactly what happened though. The Cowboys put a 40-7 smackdown on the Jags. Heck, it was 24 zip at halftime! Nobody in their right mind could have seen this coming. Dak looked good, not great, but he did account for almost 300 yards of offense passing and running. Zeke had 100+ plus yards rushing and Cole Beasley had 100+ yards receiving and 2 TD catches. I don’t understand why this offense is so much better at home than on the road but, for whatever reason, Dallas is 3-0 at home and 3-3 overall.
The defense kicked butt too as they stuffed the Jags run game and pressured Blake Bortles into a lot of mistakes. The Cowboys defense held the Jags to just 65 rushing yards and 149 yards passing. Bortles had one TD and one pick but the 214 yards of total offense tells the tale of how the Cowboys defense dominated all day long. I lost count of the 3-and-outs the defense forced on the day. I think it’s possible that the Cowboys defense took it a little personal when everyone made a big deal about the Jags #1 ranked defense coming into Arlington. I think the Cowboys wanted to make a statement about how good THEIR defense is. All you can say today is, “Point taken!”
It was a really nice win against a team who went to the AFC Championship game just a few months ago. Now, Dallas has to figure out a way to take this offense on the road. With the 40 points scored yesterday Dallas is averaging 28.7 PPG at home but on the road it’s a much different story. In 3 road games Dallas is averaging just 12.3 PPG. The Cowboys are showing improvement though. In Week 1 in Carolina they scored 8 points. In Week 3 against Seattle they scored 13 and against Houston in Week 5 they scored 16. This coming Sunday they play old division rival Washington at their place where they just beat Carolina yesterday 23-17. Will the crappy road offense be the ones taking the trip to DC or will the Cowboys pack up and bring their good home offense for the trip? Who knows but it’s not hard to figure out who I’m rooting for to make the trip. Anyway, enjoy the win. We all deserve it after last week.

[eagle eye]

No predictions. No analysis. I just want the Cowboys to beat the Redskins today. I don't care if it by 30 points or 1 point, just as long as Dallas has more points than the Redskins. Go Cowboys!

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have added an #1 WR in Amari Cooper. Nice job by the Cowboys front office to address a need early enough to impact the offense in a positive way while also sending a message to the team that they have not given up on winning the NFC East THIS SEASON. It gives the fans a hope as well.
Sometimes the best additions are made by subtraction. That seems to be the way the Cowboys went when they fired their offensive line coach Paul Alexander. Dallas moved on from Frank Pollack after the line struggled in 2017 and they hired former Bengals O-line coach Alexander. Alexander had 27 years NFL coaching experience with 23 years in Cincinnati. Evidently, the message Alexander brought in was falling on deaf ears. Besides a definite lack at the WR position the other main problem plaguing the team was poor O-line play, especially on the road. We kept hearing that there was a communication problem with the line on the road because crowd noise disrupted the process. Balderdash. The other 31 teams deal with crowd noise on the road and you don’t hear a lot of crap about communication issues. It sounded like a big bag of excuse making to me and the firing of Alexander sounds like the Cowboys figured the same. To replace Alexander, Dallas named assistant line coach Marc Colombo as the new line coach. The Cowboys didn’t stop there. They brought in Hudson Houck to be a consultant to Colombo. Long time Cowboys fans will remember Houck was the O-line coach during the Cowboys 90’s teams and he came back for 4 seasons to coach the line in 2008 through 2011. Colombo played O-line 10 years in the NFL, six of which were in Dallas. Colombo felt so strongly about his time in Dallas when he retired he came back to Dallas and signed a one-day contract so he could retire as a Cowboy. Colombo went into coaching and he was hired as an intern in Dallas and he worked his way onto the staff as an assistant line coach. When the Cowboys were looking to replace the position after the 2017 season Colombo was in the running for the job when they decided to go with Alexander. Colombo has skins on the wall as a player and now as a coach with the Cowboys. The fact that the Cowboys brought in Houck as a consultant is a definite attempt at solving the ‘communication’ issues going forward.
The Cowboys next game is a home game which means that, had nothing changed over the bye week, Dallas would probably win. That’s the pattern so far. With the addition of Cooper and the change at O-line you would figure Dallas should beat a Tennessee Titans team that really isn’t great. They are good at times, but they can be had. It’s the week’s after this Week 9 matchup that will test the Cowboys’ mettle. The Cowboys play the Eagles and Falcons on the road and while both teams are not as good as they were in the past playing them on the road will be a huge challenge. If Dallas can win the next 3-games, they come home to host the Redskins on Thanksgiving and they will have played 4 games in 18 days. Dallas, if they are going to the playoffs, needs to win all 4 games to have a shot at overtaking the Redskins 2 game lead in the division. After Philadelphia and Washington both won this past weekend Dallas has gone from tied for 2nd place in the NFC East with Philly to 3rd place. Dallas has 9 games to erase that 2-game lead the Redskins hold and they only play them one more time. Winning the next four is imperative and both Philly and Atlanta are definitely beatable teams. Dallas just needs to learn how to win on the road.

[eagle eye]

Some random thoughts and notes about the Cowboys.
On a show on FoxSportsSouthwest last night I saw the weekly ‘Cowboys Insider’ program and on the show the panel, which included Cowboys media regulars Bill Jones, former player Nate Newton, Dallas sportswriter Rick Gosselin and former player Darryl “Moose” Johnston, talked about the firing of O-line coach Paul Alexander. The interesting thing was the revelation that Alexander taught a style of pass blocking that is more passive than the previous style the line employed. Alexander’s style was described as a ‘catch’ where the line sort of backed up and absorbed the blows from the D-line whereas the old style was called a ‘punch’ method where the line fires out and delivers the first blow and forces the defense to absorb the punishment. This O-line group are maulers used to dishing out punishment rather than sitting back taking punishment. The new O-line coach, Marc Colombo, was a mauler when he played. The Cowboys will be reverting to the ‘punch’ method which should bring the line back to a more effective state. Colombo played for new consultant Hudson Houck when he came to Dallas and that is the style Houck taught during his career. When Tyron Smith was drafted Houck was the O-line coach.
The reason for the firing of Alexander was the fact that Dak Prescott, through 7 games, had been sacked 23 times. To give perspective, Dak was sacked 25 times total in 2016 and 32 times total in 2017. It was obvious something needed to change. Of the major changes made during the bye week the change of O-line coach might be the most impactful.
Dak Prescott gets more time in the pocket we should see some better accuracy and with Amari Cooper we should see more chunk plays. Cooper should open up opportunities for Michael Gallup and Cole Beasley which should open up opportunities to run the ball. That’s called balance people which mean consistency which means Dallas offense will consistently be more dangerous. So, yeah, the O-line getting fixed is a pretty big deal.
I’m tired of all the stupid crap about how Jason Garrett was at the World Series Game 3 in LA a week ago Friday. The players all went their separate ways during the bye and there is no reason for coaches to get a little break either. Jimmy Johnson going all postal about how it sends a wrong message to the team and the fans is just a load of dung. Who’s to say Garrett wasn’t on a business trip? For sure, the decision to let Paul Alexander go had already been made by last Friday so it wouldn’t be beyond a shadow of doubt to think the Cowboys had also decided to promote Marc Colombo but having the notion of doing that, Colombo had never been the top position coach before so maybe Garrett was in LA to talk Hudson Houck out of retirement to mentor Colombo? People, we live in an age with cell phones and high speed internet for our computers. There is no reason to bang on a guy for going to a baseball game.
The Cowboys will be back at practice today to begin preparing for their Monday night game against Tennessee. Normally, teams begin practicing for the next game on Wednesday but with a Monday night game, to keep their routine consistent, teams including the Cowboys don’t start practicing until Thursday.

[eagle eye]

I have written several posts this past week that I thought better of and I hit 'delete'. Most of the stuff I wrote was out of pure frustration and even though what it wrote was factual it only served to fuel that frustration to higher and higher levels. I'm not going to lie, I was pissed. There is no way in the world should Dallas, who had 15 days to prepare for this game, should have looked that bad. Tennessee had a bunch to do with that but it was like Dallas forgot they were at home and they played the game like they were playing on the road. We all know how important the game against the Titans was and see the Cowboys fall flat on their faces the way they did was disheartening.

I was listening to Colin Cowherd on Friday and there were things said that made me shake my head in agreement. We all blame Dak. A lot of people blame Scott Linehan and Jason Garrett and a lot of people, including Troy Aikman, blame Jerry Jones. Most of the animosity for Jones comes from the fact that Jimmy Johnson quit after winning the second consecutive Super Bowl in after the 1993 season. Jimmy quit and Jerry was glad to see him go because their relationship had become toxic and most of that toxicity was because of Jimmy. People, get over it, that was 25 years ago and Jimmy has admitted he bailed and he did it not giving a rat's ass about the dynasty the two JJ's had built. History be damned, legacy be damned, Johnson's ego would not tolerate the guy who owned the damn team and paid ALL the bills to acknowledge said owner had a bit of an ego too. The Cowboys players weren't mad at Jones they were mad at both of them because they refused to do what they asked the players to do, sacrifice for the good of the team. In my mind, Jerry Jones is possibly the best owner in the NFL. As an owner, he single handedly changed the way the NFL does business and it made him and the other 31 owners richer than ever. He was so good he got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We can also freely admit that as a GM he wasn't nearly as good. In recent years however, Jones has listened to his son, Stephen, and the football guys that HE hired. Guys like Will McClay who has, through the draft and free agent acquisitions given Jones a very talented team. The defense, even though they didn't play well last week, has finally gotten good and the offense still has a lot of talent and with the addition of Amari Cooper, the team is set up with talent for years to come.

No, Jones isn't to blame for the product on the field but he can be blamed for not putting a foot in the arses of Jason Garrett or Scott Linehan. Cowherd had a guest on and I wish I could remember who the heck it was because he said something that is nothing short of gospel. The guest said the Cowboys were not interesting at all this year because they are BORING. He was 100% right and the reason they are boring is because they refuse to use the talent they have in the way to best take advantage of their talent. It seems as though they see what plays work and make a concerted effort NOT to use them again. They hung 40+ points on Jacksonville and they chucked that game plan and haven't run the offense that way since. Why? I don't know. I can't explain it but teams know what Dallas wants to do and game plan accordingly. The Cowboys seem to think this is 2016 and they run what worked then. Trouble is, this isn't the same team. The O-line is different and the play calling is predictable as hell. Run Zeke into the line and get stuffed. Incomplete pass, screen pass to Zeke, get stuffed and punt. The give textbook examples of what the definition of insanity is because they keep running the same plays expecting a different result. Frustrating and frigging boring. The guest on Cowherd's show said the Cowboys need a new offensive mind for things to change. Does that mean Linehan has to go? Yes. Does that mean Garrett has to go? Maybe. Probably.

With all that said, what has that got to do with tonight's game against Philly? Dallas needs to fuel inject the play calling. They need to use scheme, some imagination and they need to use Dak as a read-option and RPO QB to best take advantage of his talents. They need plays that call for passes down the field and they need a line who can give Dak time to do it. It's the only way Dallas has a chance against the Eagles. This past week Jerry Jones has said he won't be changing coaches and he expects to give Dak an extension to his contract. Jones isn't delusional. What do you expect Jerry to do after just 8 games? Throw his coaching staff and quarterback under the bus like the rest of us have been doing? That would send the wrong message to the outside world and to the team. I suspect there has been closed door discussions about how unacceptable the past two games were. The fact that Tennessee went out and beat New England today doesn't help matters. Today has had it's share of upsets. Titans over Patriots, Browns over Atlanta, and Buffalo over the Jets come to mind. This gives us, as Cowboys fans, some modicum of hope but, far too many of the games went just how they were supposed to. Very few surprises and the only question is, did the winning teams cover the spread? I have no real hope that Dallas will change enough to beat the confounded Eagles. Anyone who knows me knows I Hate, no, I LOATHE, the Eagles. It still makes me sick to think those booger colored miscreants won the Super Bowl. Lord, how I hate Philadelphia. It's gotten to the point in my frustration that I have ceased to care if Dallas makes the playoffs. All I want is for Dallas to win two games, both of which being against the Eagles. It is that hatred that makes me go total homer there and despite the facts on the table I can't in any good conscience do anything but pick Dallas to win tonight. I am not going to venture a score but I hope the Cowboys figure out a way to hang 50 on the miserable excuses for human beings. Please Lord, all I want for Christmas is for Dallas to beat the Eagles.

Happy Veterans Day to all to have served and currently serve.