Instant Snapshot

I’m certainly concerned about the lack of a pass rush, with the high powered bronco’s offense coming up they need to address that now. Can’t say enough about the cornerback play may be the most significant upgrade from last year. Aaron Glenn has look good filling in for Henry and Newman is finally looking like a top 10 draft pick this season.

This was just a slight let-down from Monday’s kismetic and karmatic win over the chickenheads. True, defensive line play will be crucial on T-Day as will us being able to run the ball. I told you ALL that Cundiff would be back!.
 
GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought both the O-line and D-line had a few drives between them where they controlled the line of scrimmage, but overall it was like watching a replay of Monday Night – only the Lions couldn’t capitalize like the Eagles did.

This is two substandard games for Bledsoe…hope that’s not a trend.

Julius looked good in the first and the fourth. My gripe is, why take him out in the first when he’s obviously the hot back? We ended up in the end zone on that first drive, but after two big runs by JJ, Barber trotted in and stayed there until the TD.

Of course, JJ couldn’t sniff out the goal line three straight times in the second. But I saw more than one missed block on all three of those plays.

Poke

We’ve won 2 of the crucial 3 games Parcells was mentioning. The Denver game is not looking good for us with the lack of pass rush the last 2 weeks. The O-line needs to do a better job in protecting Bledsoe. He gets easily rattled if pressured early. I agree with Raf that Bledsoe’s throwing today was very sloppy. At one point, I thought he was injured or something since his passes were either sailing over the receivers head or just bouncing a yard in front of ’em. A couple could have been intercepted. No time to worry though since Denver is coming in 4 days and the return of ex-Cowboys Ekuban and Myers.

Guys, I haven’t seen all the games, but that was a very good performance against a decent offensive team.

Our O left a lot to be desired, but JJ was clearly superior to MBIII. Yet, you could see JJ was hurt.

Bledsoe was very decent. Nothing great, but Detroit’s D played well. I was extremely disappointed in Rivera and Pettiti. Tucker was average. Al Johnson was clearly superior, but Gurode spelled him very well. Nice rotation.

I’m selfish. I’m spoiled. But I expect more. Close, boys, but that ain’t gonna cut it against Denver.

And in no way is anyone on this blog allowed to give this game away. Denver is a good team.

So are we. This team has not played it’s best game yet. I want to see it vs. the AFC’s best (yes, I consider them better than Indy).

Cowboys need to regroup quick.

Wow. A hole lot of nothing after this game from you guys.

I lived in Denver for 5 years during the late 90’s. They’re line play is so singular that I’m still surprised they’re allowed to continue the practice. But more on that later.

Since I can remember, every time I’ve moved from one location to another, the local team wins the Super Bowl, followed soon thereafter by a Boys ring.

In ’88, I moved to S.F. They won two. I moved to D.C. in ’90 and they won the next year. The Boys went on their run soon after. I moved to Denver in ’95 and soon therafter, Elrod won his two. Upon moving to Tampa in ’01, I started to get freaked out.

Five moves, five Championships. Something’s freaky. But they’re always followed by Cowboys dynasties.

I’m not sure, but I think this team can do it.

Carolina – got dominated by a bad team. No O.

Seattle – If Cundiff was there, we win in dominating fasion at their place

Tampa – Not near as good as us.

Atlanta – Please!

Chicago – How many points can they score on us? 3? Over/Under can’t be 30.

Washington – Our first (almost) shutout

Giants – Eli has no chance.

Who else is there?

Fighter15:
“Chicago – How many points can they score on us?”
Bears’ offence can score 6. Bears’ defence scoring against Cowboys’ offence is another possibility.
Someone said that Bledsoe had a concussion.
Who elso had injuries? I heard about Shanle’s ankle, and Petitti’s ankle, and Canty’s knee.
I want to see a more convincing win against the Broncos on Thursday.

Running game was pretty good today….but JJ fumble is troublesome. Bledsoe looked terrible. We need great QB play next week and we best stop the running game in the first half or Anderson and Bell will be gobbling us up.

How about that first drive……..almost 10 minutes……that is what Big Bill is looking for. A long clock eating opening drive that scores 7.

Since when can we not score on the 6" line? Play action pass on 2nd down already Payton! Eli did it on 4th in NY.

Defense looked pretty good, shut down some big recievers without A Henry not bad. Well he played late. Still…….that is a big difference from last year. Needed some sacks though! Ware had some nice tackles for loss.

Dat don’t look like himself with those long sleeves and neck brace…..hey hope it helps but I keep thinking he ain’t Dat.

Just once I would like to see our Defense, our Running game, and our QB play a good game for 4 quarters. I give this one to the O LIne and the two RBs. Pretty good stuff from both of em. I sort of like the MB at the goalline and JJ in the open field switch. Worked so far.

If Marcus Spears isn’t going to block better than that then put in Polite!

I feel like Dallas only won this because Detroit is so undisciplined and sloppy.

Am I being too critical?

I don’t know who here called the Cundiff return but it’s the first place I thought of when I saw him kicking today. Who needs CowboysPlus!

Sorry guys, I know this is WAAAYYY too early to use the P-word, but I was looking at the standings, and correct me if I’m wrong…but I think if the playoffs began today the cowboys would be second seed? is that right?

Maurice,
I and quite a few others called Cundiff’s return, but then we’ve all been calling for his return since Week One!

Jon,
Spears threw a great block on MBIII’s TD against the Eagles. The one where he went left and slipped, then they went right and scored.

Lee,
Brett Pierce tore his right ACL and is out for the season.

I think we’ll be at our best come Thanksgiving. This will be a huge test for our defense, but I think they’ll be ready for it. Denver is 6-0 at home, but only 2-2 on the road.

Great to have Cundiff back, isn’t it? I like this kid from the moment he kicked 7 field goals back in the 2003 game vs. Dallas. Hell of a game, you guys remember it? Anyways, I wouldn’t be to afraid of the Broncos. It seems to me that whenever Dallas has a big game, they come together as a time and everything clicks. It will be close, but I think that the pash rush will get to Plummer a few times, and I think we could probably spy him with Ware if he starts running. Ware is faster than Plummer, so this matchup will work out well.

By the way, who will we sign as a 3rd TE? Didn’t Landon Trusty sign with the Chargers? I bet they’ll bring Sean Ryan in. Anyways, look for a low scoring game on Turkey day guys, this one’s going to come down to who’s defense is better.

Haha vs. Washington i mean. This is what I get for depriving myself of sleep…

cmm dallas?- 7 fg`s against washington?i thought it was against the giants???

cnm dallas,
Bring sean Ryan in??? he’s already on our practice squad, he’ll be activated to replace Pierce, or is that what you meant when you said bring him in?

Hey Guys -

The 7 FG’s were against the Giants – I was there. That was the crazy Matt Bryant kickoff out of bounds game.

Hey Cowboy Fans,

Ugly or not the only stats that count are W & Ls.
OK now it`s statement time !!!
With The Panthers,Atlanta & Wash losing yeaterday.
If somehow we can rise up & beat Denver on Thursday, Dallas will have to be considered one of the favorites to represent (& rightfully So) NFC in the bowl this year. Don`t get me wrong, a lot of things have to get right on this team, but there is enought time to make corrections.Lets face it if we can stay healthy we have a very good shot @ the NFC Championship.
Denver is a very tough opponent! They run very well & have a good passing game.We MUST stop the run. I would rather deal with Plummer then be run on all day.Question is can we stop arguably the best running game in the league.

jesse,

even when Plummer was a bad qb he terrorized the cowboys in dallas. Now he is a better qb on a darn good football team…….somehow on both sides of the ball which I still don’t get…….a bunch of Cleveland and Dallas rejects find a new life in Denver……must be the thin air….at any rate…….I agree stopping the run is a must but we still need pressure on Jake.

The best way to beat denver is to run the ball well ourselves keep them on the sidelines and they have not been a good road team and they travel on a short week……those things favor us. The matchup that worries me is the rushing attack and the play action. Oh well……that is why we play the game. I think we can win it in a close one.

But we need good play from Bledsoe. We need no turnovers from our RBs and WRs…….and no INTS. We also need to create some turnovers. A Henry and TNew should help.

Is it just me or does 41 look like the old 21. When he was returning kicks and on that pass he defended against Roy Williams………Newman is having a great year……the sophomore slump is over and he is back to business! I for one hope Bill keeps letting him return punts til Crayton gets back.

I never thought I would be so happy to see Billy Cundiff on the field. If he can extend his sub-40-yard accuracy out to 50 (or 55????), Dallas will have a lot better shot in the playoffs.

Is something wrong with Bledsoe’s arm, or hand, or throwing motion? He’s been spraying the ball around into the ground the past two games. I think he had the same problem at the end of the Washington game, too.

Or is it just the opposing pass rush making him hurry too much?

I’m thankful for the win and enjoyed the game but I do have to comment on how terrible the officials were as well as the television production. We benefitted from several calls that shouldn’t have been called(roughing the passer and 2 personal fouls come to mind) Not only did they over officiate the game there was no continuity due to the long conferences after ever play. I hate attorneys(no offense to any that are Cowboys fans) and Ed Hurcules is no exception. Does anybody else find his Mr Olympia pose on first downs sickening? I don’t think the outcome of the game was affected because they stunk it up equally on both sides. I’m writing my congressman to have NFL officials drug tested.

Any chance Tony Romo can make the Pro Bowl as the holder?

If not, maybe the Rangers could use him as a backup catcher — he has saved a lot of wild pitches lately.

Jon:

I agree,

Yes are best defense is a good offense.

If we can win the time of possession battle, which we have many times this year we will have a chance to win. Lets face it we need our A game thursday. Like you said no turn overs, no stupid penalties which are drive killers. What we need is good 1st down yardage. If we can get 4-6 yards on 1st down in will constantly put us in 3rd & short situations. If this offense is constantly looking @ 3rd & long it can be a long afternoon.

But the fact is if Dallas does play their A Game They can win this. Dallas has not won all 3 games leading up to tThanksgiving since I beleive 1980.

Where is our pass rush? It never came back after the by-week.

And more specifically, where is Ware?

I also hate that Merriman has pulled ahead of Ware in sacks, especially because Merriman has not played as many snaps.

so are you saying Petitti can play with no head?

Ya it was against the giants, i feel so ignorant now, but that’s what I get for typing and trying to think after a long day of work. But really, I did watch that game, and it was crazy. I remember Bryant kicked it out of bounds at like the 1, then Carter threw a pass to Antonio Bryant who went out of bounds, eventually leading to a long Cundiff field goal. Anyways, when I say bring Sean Ryan in, I mean sign him to the active roster. He looked decent to say the least, in preseason. His role shouldn’t consist of much more than blocking in goal line and short yardage situations however.

I think the key to beating dever wont be the improvement of the pass rush. If we can put 6-7 in the box and stop the run, which would limit plummers ability to rollout and play-action. I think we can have succes if we trust the corners in man-to-man. Newman has found his confidence and we all say that wouldbe touchdown of a Glenn int. Bradie and the Boys need to stuff that runn no matter what. This is gona be a big game for ferguson.

Stop the run and we stop the Broncos.

Easier said than done Alds…if we put that many people in the box, they would playaction the hell out of us, or maybe score an easy one with a flea-flicker. If I know Parcells, he’ll start the game out with some basic 3-4 packages, probably a cover 2, and get a feel for the Broncos. I expect Roy Williams to play a key role in stopping the run.

Miles,

Apparently so. Petitti was dazed and confused. So much so that Bledsoe had to call a timeout so he could get some attention.

Alds,

We’ve seen how losing Henry affects the defense. Roy Williams spent a lot of time playing deep yesterday and it affected the rush. I thought they would blitz Harrington silly, and the few times he faced pressure he flaked out. Problem was, they only got close to him a couple of times.

I expect Roy to play a lot in the box Thursday. They’ll need him to defend the run.

What concerns me more is the sudden crappy play of Ware and especially Fujita against the run. Denver wants your front seven moving laterally and if your ends can’t contain, well, it won’t be pretty.

I agree that cundiff is a big improvment for us. Bledsoe is having problems because every team is rushing the crap out of us because they recognized his ablilities in the first part of the year, i think hes reacting well…..hes still productive and not screwing up to much…..no int’s last game….so what if his passes are a little short every once and a while, at least there not in the defenders arms. The running game is improving drasticly, JJ is getting back into his groove which is good and MB is a good compliment to keep them both fresh. The Defense is kinda leveling out which is not good…..they need to keep the intensity up, they should be staying fresh with the rotations so there is no excuse to not knock the crap out of everyone on the other team each and every play. The reason D. Ware isnt getting there as much because teams are paying more attention to him now, he surprised alot of teams early. I think if we play the same game we played against Detroit we are gonna have trouble winning but we will win…..defense is still solid when it comes down to our side of the field, offense has troubles but we only had one turn over last game and once JJ gets a handle on it and back into himself we will be fine.

GO COWBOYS!!!!

Madcowboy,

Yeah everyone has been talking about Merriman. 7 sacks, thats alot. I havent seen him play but the mediots love the guy and think hes a beast. Ware hasnt had a sack in a while, either. I kind of wish Merriman was a bust so we wouldnt have to listen to comparisons throughout their careers.

- I think the biggest key against Denver is to STOP THE RUN. We lose if we dont. We should be the ones that have the energy playing in front of the home crowd. We need to protect Bledsoe and get him started.

- I hope Henry is back and 100%.

- I know Plummer has played well, but I really think we can force an INT.

I can’t see D Ware having a good day on Thanksgiving. These young guys need to mature fast, or there will be 200+ rushing yds hung on us.

Denver is a rush first team. Everything is predicated on being able to run the ball and set up the passing game.

However, I’ve noticed a trend from Shanahan. He still scripts his first 15 plays to “test” the defense and schemes.

Against good teams, he’ll air it out early, throw in some trick plays, and run a significant number of lead draws. After that, he’ll go to the run.

Stacking the box early will get us behind. Expect to see a lot of 3- and 4-wide formations early. Those chop blocks aren’t near as effective without the movement created by a blitz heavy attack.

A soft defense usually fares better in the beginning. Denver is not a team that can slug it out. They want the lead and then sit on it.

The only people who will care about comparing Merriman and Ware are on this board… I don’t think you’re going to be hit over the head with this topic much through the years.

Merriman is a beast. One isn’t an idiot to think so. Because he’s not a Dallas Cowboy doesn’t mean he’s a bad football player, and it’s OK for those in the media to appreciate non-Cowboys.

It is annoying how the media brings up just about any player the Cowboys pass on in the draft. They have been doing it with Merriman – and even mentioned yesterday about Kevin Jones being upset Dallas didn’t draft him. And if I here one more time about Moss being passed up I think it’ll make me ill.

Chris:

I agree. Maybe everybody secretly wants to be a Cowboy, maybe the media like to crank up controversy, maybe some athletes need to look for slights to motivate themselves, maybe all of the above.

If TO doesn’t become a Cowboy after the mediots have decided only JJ is idiotic enough to ruin his team by signing him, look for the “Cowboys disrespect TO by letting (some other team) sign him” stories. It all kind of makes me ill, too.

Congress testing NFL officials for drug use! SWEET! LMMFAO!

Just say NO to TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!