[Ed. Note]: We'll be sharing with you what's going on at our opponent's site every week on Saturday. We want to highlight other work being done around SB Nation. Now, if you go over there to comment, please be respectful. Trolling anywhere else just brings trolls back to BTB. Stay classy. For the sake of our own blog, don't be a troll. Thanks. [End Note]
Wow. The season is finally started. Feels good, doesn't it?
This is the first of a series of weekly looks at what is going on with the fans of our coming opponent. We are naturally obsessing here at BTB about our Cowboys' coming tilt with the New York Jets. So here are some things I picked up over at their SBN blog, Gang Green Nation.
Our injuries are a focus for them. A write up on Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman both being likely to miss the game has a quote referring to Jerry Jones in it:
However, owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday he (Newman) would not be available
Jerry Jones. One of a kind. Unfortunately, he apparently called this one, according to the injury report for the game. I strongly recommend you click on this link to view it. Not to read the post, but you'll figure out why. (Apparently, they do seem to acknowledge some things the Cowboys cannot be beat at.)
More after the jump
In addition to the cornerbacks, they are also hoping the injury to Tyron Smith is going to keep him out of the game. It makes me hope that the Dallas coaching staff is overplaying the injury issue. They certainly don't have a very high opinion of our O line.
Dallas' offensive line was not looking so hot to begin with.
Guess they think we should have stuck with the old line.
Another player mentioned by name is a new guy named Andrew Sendejo. This obviously caught my eye. There weren't any good quotes to pull, because the one really noticeable thing I saw is that nowhere in the article did it mention that Sendejo was signed after the Cowboys cut him. I'm sure that had nothing whatsoever to do with Rex Ryan picking him up.
Of course, they may not be all that worried about us. An evaluation of the contenders this year for the Super Bowl includes the Jets, of course, but leaves the Cowboys out. (The Packers get their own post in a two-parter.) Again, nothing to quote here, but it does leave a hope that maybe the Jets might be underestimating Dallas.
Jay Ratliff, of the shiny new contract, does get some respect in being singled out for analysis in his matchup with Jets center Nick Mangold. But not much.
I think the Jets have potential in this matchup. Mangold can counter everything Ratliff can do. I do not believe Ratliff can do everything Mangold can, though.
The article does not make any mention of the possibility of using Rat in a different role. I wish the coaches for the Jets didn't think about that either, but I doubt Rex Ryan is going to be easy for his brother to surprise. Not that Rob Ryan won't try.
One writer thinks the Cowboys will screen a lot - and doesn't like the idea.
Football Outsiders notes in its preview that the Jets were the worst defense in the league against screen passes in 2010.
That is a welcome stat.
Not everything was all serious football news. Apparently Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez are doing some endorsement work. It did have one very illuminating point about how Rex handled his role.
one could be forgiven for not seeing much of a distinction between acting and the dealing with the New York media part of his job.
I focused mostly on the front page, but I did poke around a little in the FanPosts. One that caught my eye was a look at the key matchups for the game. It was especially interesting to see that in some ways it did a bit of mirroring OCC's own take on the subject. As expected, the writer was very optimistic about the chances of his team against ours, but he came up with one original note that I liked, both for its insight and the fact it points out a possible advantage for Dallas.
The 'Boys last year were second in Punt Return Average. Dez Bryant proved to be an electric returner, and now that he is one year older (and possibly one year wiser), he will look to build upon his punt return success. The Jets have lost special team gunner Brad Smith and very important contributors in James Ihedigbo and Dwight Lowery. Never bet against Mike Westhoff, but this will be a good a test as any.
There was also one priceless FanPost whose title caught my eye. It made me reflect on all the discussions that we have at BTB trying to figure out how Tony Romo ranks among NFL quarterbacks. We look at his numbers, and try to decide how he stacks up against other top flight signal callers like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers. It is therefore very interesting to see a FanPost setting out to settle what is apparently a raging controversy at GGN about how Mark Sanchez stacks up against . . . Josh Freeman. This was the quote that really captured the gist of this post:
it is time people stopped putting Josh Freeman up on a pedestal.
I was just thinking the same thing.
Finally, a bonus article that does not come from GGN, or even from New York. I just couldn't go the whole week without pointing out this article from the Virginia Pilot (which, I believe, puts them in Redskins territory), Numbers say no, but TV execs still love the Cowboys.
The article begins with these sentences:
Another NFL season is about to commence and once again the Dallas Cowboys are being treated as if they are football royalty.
Apparently, the networks haven't gotten the memo. The Cowboys are just another team and have been for quite some time.
The Cowboys hate just rolls on from there. The writer's point seems to be that the network programmers are forcing Cowboys games on a public that doesn't really want them. However, if you go look at the 2010 season game broadcasts, which as you may recall had the Cowboys going 6-10, you will find these numbers:
NBC’s Eagles-Cowboys game on Dec. 12 was the most-watched Sunday Night Football game ever (25.73 million viewers). Vikings-Packers on Oct. 24 (25.68 million viewers) and Cowboys-Redskins (25.3 million viewers) are the second and third most-watched Sunday Night Football games in history.
That Dec. 12 game was after the season was done for the 'Boys, remember?
We are still America's Team, a title we did not give ourselves, despite the Pilot article again raising the old myth that the team invented the term. This week, we visit New York for the opener.
Don't be surprised if some records fall.