Rick Gosselin says the Cowboys get to have Super Bowl aspirations because we have Tony Romo. Thanks. I love you man!
As a Cowboys fan, I know way too much information about way too many players. I know Deon Anderson eats crickets. I know Roy Williams used to be engaged to a member of Destiny’s Child. I know Terry Glenn got caught urinating in public.
But one player I don’t know much about is Courtney Brown. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen much of him.
The DMN Blog’s Albert Breer steps in and highlights Brown as one of his sleepers. Man I sure hope so.
Breer points to the obligatory "he’s bulked up, the coaches really like him" talk that surrounds most players in the offseason.
There’s a lot of interesting talk out of Valley Ranch recently. Is Pacman Jones going to be reinstated? Do we trade Greg Ellis for Jason Taylor? Are we considering cutting Terry Glenn?
But we all know that Romo’s lovelife is more important than those trivial issues! Who Romo dates is way more important than adding a talented cornerback, trading for a former Defensive Player of the Year and our No. 2 receiver? Right? Hey don’t shoot the messenger.
Seems Romo has put Jessica on notice: get your pops out my business. I can agree with that sentiment encapsulated in this classic video. Dude, your daughter’s hot, I’m a nice guy, we’ve got this covered. Leave it alone.
The common perception is that if you sack the quarterback repeatedly and protect your quarterback from getting sacked you win. A lot. Ultimately that’s proven to be true.
But the Cowboys history seems to be somewhat contrary. Ray Buck discusses this in the new installment of the Old Boys Club: The Landry Code.
Some of the Cowboys’ deepest runs in playoffs have followed seasons with modest sack totals by the defense. And vice-versa.
The Cowboys’ five Super Bowl-winning teams averaged 42 sacks during the season. Not bad. Not great. This franchise has had 21 seasons of 42-plus sacks, including last year (46).
Of the Cowboys’ 10 seasons of 50-plus sacks, they won one Super Bowl (XII), lost one Super Bowl (XIII) and were eliminated in the playoffs five times without winning a game, including the 1966 NFL championship against Green Bay. They also missed the playoffs three times.
Buck then highlights Cowboys successes and futility in garnering and allowing sacks.
First he talks about Bob Lilly’s historic five-sack outing versus the Steelers in 1966. (Frank Luksa was covering the game that day more than 40 years. Yeah he’s older than dirt. But we still love him). Then Buck talks about Jim Jeffcoat’s monster day in 1985.
Jeffcoat ties Lilly sack mark
Date: Nov. 10, 1985
Site: RFK Stadium
Score: Cowboys 13, Redskins 7
What do you think happens when a Pro Bowl LT (Joe Jacoby) is replaced by an untested rookie (Dan McQuaid)?
"Jeffcoat had feeling it was his day," read the headline in the Nov 11, 1985, Star-Telegram.
Prophetic player. Proficient headhunter. Jeffcoat sacked Joe Theismann five times to tie Lilly’s 19-year-old team record.
Jeffcoat told reporters after the game: "I watched a lot of film this week. I figured [McQuaid] would try to sit right up on me and block me, but that I was just a little faster. In their scheme, I didn’t think there was any way they could double-team me.
"They were paying too much attention to Randy White and John Dutton and Don Smerek and Too Tall Jones."
The ’85 team owns the Cowboys’ single-season sack record (62) ... but all it managed in the playoffs was a first-round exit (LA Rams).
The next season, Jeffcoat would get a career-high 14 sacks but never have a single sack-game quite like this one ... and with so many of his New Jersey family and friends in the RFK stands.
Ray Buck then mentions an oldie but goodie from the past: Steve Pelluer. Again, this is another example of knowing way too much about my team. Pelluer came in as a third-string quarterback to fill in for an injured Danny White and Gary Hogeboom in 1985 helping us clinch the division title. He was also the last quarterback to start a game coached by Tom Landry.
True to his form as a scrapper, Pelluer took an absolute pounding against the Chargers in 1986. He was sacked 11 times yet still led the Cowboys to a comeback 24-21 win on the road.
For 21 years, Craig Morton held the dubious honor of being the Cowboys QB most sacked in a game — nine times in a 13-3 loss at Lambeau Field in October ’65.
Then, Steve Pelluer got caught in an onslaught led by Lee Williams, Leslie O’Neal and Joe Phillips of San Diego. Pelluer was sacked 11 times. O’Neal had five himself.
Perhaps most memorable about this game were: 1) Pelluer had to go to the locker room during the fourth quarter to get a Novocain injection for a hip pointer to continue to play, and 2) the Cowboys roared back from a 21-10 deficit to win.
Jay Ratliff and Chris Canty are buddies. Jay wants Canty to stay. So do I. Can we make this happen please Jerry? I got a few bucks on it once I get my stimulus package.