Hopefully, everyone is ready to move on from the debacle of Sunday night. What happened Sunday night? Exactly. The Seattle Seahawks are coming to town this coming weekend, and if you thought the hysteria and disappointment that rained down on Monday was ugly... imagine a loss to the Seahawks.
There were still some lingering discussion yesterday in regards to the Philly game, so let's do a quick run down of the latest links of Cowboys goodness to help get you through your work day.
Jerry Jones gets testy in defending Cowboys, reiterates he is not worried | Star Telegram
Jones snapped that he just spent 10 minutes explaining his position then offered, "I think we’ll go right back. We just have to do that. In my life, I’ve stuck my head in the sand and not recognized and dwelled on the situation, because if you do, you’ll become the situation. I just want us to move on past this one."
"In my perspective, when we have a quarterback that’s healthy -- Romo -- that can play at the level that I believe he can play at, then I don’t think you ought to lower your expectations," Jones said when asked if fans should have championship expectations this season or understand that the Cowboys are in a rebuilding process.
Put the gloves on, Jerry! That's your quarterback!
More...
Is Dez Bryant Becoming the Next Terrell Owens? | Yahoo! Sports
Myself personally, I'm more worried about the player that gets embarrassed on national TV and doesn't get emotional and frustrated, but to each his own. This writer makes the case some fans make as well, that Bryant is becoming a disruptive force based on what the network's producers have decided to show the public.
He wasn't really quiet on the field of play in the Eagles game though. Bryant never caught a pass until there was 6:50 remaining in the contest. He ran around the sidelines, yelling at anyone who would listen including his own receivers coach. He yelled so much, some players began to turn away. He threw his helmet. He went off on an official for not calling a pass interference call and later for not calling a holding penalty. He was a disruption on the sidelines.
Seahawks need a rare win at Big D to turn their season | CBS Sports
Seattle head coach Pete Carroll knows that he has a daunting task ahead of him; as his team sits at 2-5 on the year and four full games out of first place in the division. He hopes his team can right their ship against the 3-4 Dallas Cowboys this coming Sunday.
"So we've got to do it one day at a time and both sides of the ball. My meeting as well with the full team, we all addressed what's going on right now, what the issue is and how we want to get in focus, and we want to play like we're capable of playing and catch the balls we're supposed to catch and stay (onside) when we're supposed to stay (onside) and give ourselves a chance to play like we're capable of playing."
Seattle is 2-5 all-time on the road against the Cowboys, losing by an average margin of 27.8 points a game.
Seahawks 'D' Earns 'A' so far | The News Tribune
Seattle’s defense has allowed two touchdowns in the second half this season, the fewest in the NFL, and has given up just 33 points total in the final two quarters of games.
The Seahawks also remain stout against the run, giving up 3.16 yards per rush attempt, the best in the league. They rank 11th overall in rushing defense, giving up 102.9 yards a game.
Something stuck out to me on several occasions on Sunday night that I couldn't speak to because of the misery. I didn't think he was having an all-world game, but I did not see rookie center Jason Kelce "handling" Jay Ratliff as the announcer opined. PFF agrees and then some.
3-4 Defensive Front
Defensive Line: Vaughn Martin, San Diego Chargers (+3.7), Jay Ratliff, Dallas Cowboys (+3.6) and Calais Campbell, Arizona Cardinals (+2.9)
We’ve got two very different types of 3-4 ends, with Martin putting in an excellent display in run defense and Campbell delivering the pressure (one sack, two hits, and three pressures). On the nose, Jay Ratliff may not have got to the QB (outside of one hit) but he did hurry Michael Vick five times.
Miles Austin on undrafted rookie RB Phillip Tanner | SportsDay DFW
"I have nothing but love for big Tanner," Austin said. "He is one of the first dudes here because I try to get here early, too, and he's always usually here a few minutes before me. But now that I know that, I'm going to have to start coming a little earlier. He's the man. He works hard every day. He's a professional. He's been treating it as professional as anyone could, especially coming in this year. He's a great teammate and a great player for us and he's doing awesome things."
Eagles Brent Celek: Cowboys Tried To Use Cover-2 | DMN
Celek also divulged that Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg warned his group that Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has used a Cover-2 defense in the past against quarterback Michael Vick.
"And, man, that's exactly what they did the whole game," Celek said. "And we had Cover-2 beaters ready to get after them, and that's what we did. They tried to take away the outside with our skill guys and we had to work it in the middle of the field. So it was more on Jason [Avant] and I to work it there."
Ryan took blame for the loss and admitted after the game that [Eagles head coach] Andy Reid "was reading my mail. He kicked my [expletive]. I've just got to go back and work harder. I've got to be smarter than this."
Week 8 DVOA Ratings | Football Outsiders
Cowboys rank 16th overall, 15th in offense, 8th in defense and 26th in special teams.
Philadelphia Dismantles Rob Ryan's Defense | Advanced NFL Stats
Cowboys Dominate PFF's "Had A Bad Day" Week 8 Team | Pro Football Focus
Ugh. Jason Hatcher, Anthony Spencer, Keith Brooking And Bradie James all made the "cut".