Weird article by some guy I've never heard of on some site I've barely heard of. It does raise an interesting point though: has Jason Garrett escaped criticism? Is he to blame for some of our offensive struggles?

Eerily, head coach-in-waiting Jason Garrett has escaped criticism. The offensive coordinator has not been creative enough in terms of play calling (or play designing) to jump-start a running game that the teams desperately needs. Johnson should not have been put in a position to attempt 33 passes.

I would say he deserves as much blame as anyone else. We seemed to struggle offensively in the Washington game and the situation hasn't gotten better. The lack of touches for Felix Jones. The lack of slants to our two huge, fast, expensive receivers. The lack of production for our offense overall. Injuries have played a role in our struggles clearly but it's still troubling.

Be that as it may, we still have a pretty highly ranked offense. Tony Romo's numbers were spectacular. Marion Barber is having a Pro Bowl year. So is Jason Witten. The fade route to Roy Williams last week was a good call. Nobody was complaining when we hung 41 on the Eagles. Hopefully, if Witten is out, this will give Garrett an opportunity to utilize our receivers more instead of exclusively throwing to our backs and tight ends.

And more importantly, he doesn't play defense, which is where a lot of our problems are located. And he's trying to make chicken salad out of chicken $#!@ with a 40-year-old weak-armed QB and a suddenly leaky O-line.

It would be helpful if the media wasn't so fixated on Wade's eventual dismissal -- real or imagined. But I don't think there's any conspiracy here to cover for the Red Baron.

Zach Thomas. The man has more than 100 tackles in eight games and Akin Ayodele had less than 100 tackles last year.

Yeah. He was a good pickup. 

Zach Thomas just wanted to fit in when he came to the Dallas Cowboys.

After 12 years in Miami, the seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker felt like he needed to earn the respect of his new teammates and new coaches.

"Once you get the respect, then you can get up and speak," Thomas said. "I know when I was in Miami, I didn't want somebody that just came in to get up. They needed to prove themselves to the team. That's the way I look at it."

You got my respect, Zach.

Sporting News writer Vinnie Ivey says we're in for a shellacking against the Giants. He makes some good points and the article is well-written. Thorough analysis.

Think back to two years ago when the Giants' pass rush was all over Drew Bledsoe, prompting the Cowboys to make what turned out to be a great QB change to Romo. Now with Romo sidelined with a broken pinkie, it's back to the same uncomfortable feeling for Dallas under center, except Brad Johnson doesn't have Bledsoe's arm.

Also, the Giants' pass rush is a whole lot better these days with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo calling the shots. They prey on immobile quarterbacks who can't threaten them with the deep ball. If Romo were healthy, it would change everything -- his mobility keeps so many extra plays alive, and he has the gun to consistently stretch the field with Terrell Owens.

The Giants can be more aggressive with much less fear of the deep ball. If they focus on stuffing Marion Barber early in the game, they'll be in good position to tee off on Johnson later, probably forcing Dallas to sub in Brooks Bollinger.

Burger King, Grizz's coffee buddy, pops in with a prediction.

The Cowboys had a goal in mind prior to last week's game against Tampa Bay: split the next two games before the bye, enter the second half of the season 5-4 with Tony Romo returning from his broken pinkie injury, and go on the kind of run they were on in September, when they started the season an explosive 3-0. Mission already accomplished. And the Brooks Bollinger rumors? True. You should see him early in this game.

Prediction: New York Giants 23, Dallas Cowboys 12

Dr. Z is not a big fan of Brad Johnson.

He does have us ranked No. 6 in his weekly rankings though, which is a lot higher than I've seen in other sites.

Their defense will be able to hold off Eli Manning and the Giants next weekend, if it plays with the same intensity it showed against Tampa Bay, but unfortunately, their offense also must take the field. And that will be an overmatch because Brad Johnson, as fine a warrior as he's been through the years, simply can't compete at this level. He's heady enough to know not to take foolish chances, but at 40 he doesn't have the physical tools to keep the thing rolling by means of escape. And you know what happens to a player when his mental skills are acute, but the physicals are a memory? He becomes a coach.

Moose Johnston was inducted into the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Sweet!

Apparently, he said thank you and then criticized the 'Boys. Not so sweet.

Here's a midseason report from Sporting News Today, which includes the 'Boys.

Not a lot of nice things are said about our season. It's still worth a look though.

Shout out to DC_fan for his fanpost here.

Anthony Henry will start and Anthony Spencer will play. Heck yeah!

Here's some Brooks Bollinger handiwork. I realize he's got an arm. I'm just worried that he can't run our offense. But he can't be much worse than Brad. He's definitely got that argument. And it's a powerful one.

Shout out to sublimezg and his fanpost here.

If you guys recall, Mike Singletary was interviewed for the Cowboys job a few years back. I was leaning toward Ron Rivera at the time but I liked Singletary too. Wade eventually got the job and I was certainly pleased. I knew Singletary would light a fire under Jerry Jones. I liked the fact that Wade seemed to have done the same thing. That impressed me. 

With that tenuous connection in mind, I give you a Hall-of-Fame worthy tirade. Just think. He could've been giving this speech to Pat Watkins after his penalty in the Washington game or to T.O. after his endzone penalty versus Cleveland.