December 2007 - Posts
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 Of course, Bill Parcells is going to take a look at Cowboys vice president of college and pro scouting Jeff Ireland for the Dolphins general manager’s job. That’s was a no brainer, and he cleared the way on Monday by cleaning office. Ireland will head out to Miami on Tuesday. Interview? What, Bill doesn’t know the guy? It’s a recruiting trip. The job is his unless Cowboys owner Jerry Jones can convince him to stay, if you know what I mean. But as Jones said, the NFL won’t approve the hiring unless it’s convinced Parcells is hiring him to be a real GM, not in name only, and then Parcells still calls all the shots. Jerry’s example was a beauty, saying the NFL wouldn’t allow him to hire a guy as the Cowboys GM, knowing he was still calling every shot. Let’s see what happens.
Suddenly everyone is an offensive expert, and Boy Wonder Jason Garrett can’t call a play to get himself out of a paper bag. What gives? Are we sure if the Cowboys are playing so poorly someone wants to hire him as a head coach? Why, the Cowboys haven’t scored a touchdown in two of their past three games. You think Tony Romo is tanking to keep him here? OK, come on, just kidding.
So, and I know this irks a bunch of people, but can any of you argue Terrell Owens’ importance to this team’s success? To Romo’s success? To Garrett’s success? To Marion Barber’s success? To any of the Pro Bowlers’ on offense, with the possible exception of Nick Folk? I think not.
Now, everyone take a deep breath and relax for a week. Happy New Year.
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So I could hear this ringing in my ears as our charter flight churned home after the 27-6 loss to the Washington Redskins: Oh boy, the Cowboys don’t want to play the Redskins a third time this season. Excuse me – don’t the Redskins have to play the Cowboys a third time? Did they not split the two games, or does that first time around not count, a 28-23 victory for the Cowboys? The game would be at Texas Stadium, too, no?
Was it me, or were those officials patrolling the Redskins sideline – the right side of the field for me, and I’m thinking you too on TV – having major problems calling this game? Seems like every questionable call, every challenge occurred on that sideline. Even the questionable interference on Alan Ball when Antwaan Randle El simply ran him over on Ken Hamlin’s pick of a ball he’d never have gotten to, leading to the Skins’ first touchdown.
Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn kept saying he was OK after being rolled up on by Redskins safety LaRon Landry on that sideline incompletion, but all the time he was talking he kept rubbing his lower right leg. And he was hot about the late hit, because in his eyes, after what he said he heard before the game, Landry had a bull’s-eye on his right knee, knowing no Glenn would make their job easier if the third time around occurred. “You could see it, he was running at me low, came down and goes at my knee like that,” said Glenn, normally not so outspoken, about Landry sliding into him well after the incompletion. “I don’t know, what I heard was the guy was really trying to take me out.”
This probably got lost in the game, but Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware did get a sack – causing a Todd Collins fumble – giving him 14 this year, tying Jim Jeffcoat’s 1985 single-season franchise high. (Note: Sacks did not become an official NFL stat until 1982.) Not a bad draft choice after all, eh? And the Cowboys finished the season with 46, their first 40-sack season since recording 47 in 1994.
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Everyone seems to be talking about Tony Romo needing six more completions to break the team’s single-season record and Jason Witten needing six catches to become just the second NFL tight end to catch 100 passes in a season. But wait, what about DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis chasing the NFL sack lead? You realize, don’t you, that Ware (13) is just 1½ sacks behind NFL leader Patrick Kerney and Ellis is just two sacks back. Ware is tied for fourth in NFL sacks (second in the NFC) and Ellis tied for sixth (fourth in the NFC).
The Cowboys’ patience this year paid off with Greg Ellis, not flying off the handle during training camp when he was overly cautious about returning from his Achilles repair. Now only if their patience with Terry Glenn can be similarly rewarded. Not many teams keep a guy on the active roster 16 weeks, hoping he returns at some point – even if for only the playoffs . . . or the last game of the season. But that is what the Cowboys did, foregoing that roster spot all season to keep him active. Now they desperately need results, especially if Terrell Owens isn’t ready to play that first playoff game.
And the score . . . can I pass? This isn’t fair. I see where the Vegas line suggests those guys have no confidence in the Cowboys actually playing this game for real, making the Redskins nine-point favorites. The Redskins are desperate, but are they good enough to win four straight with Todd Collins at quarterback after losing four straight? No T.O. and no Terence Newman scares me. Redskins 24, Cowboys 20.
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That Tony Romo was able to throw 42 passes and complete 67 percent of them with that sore thumb certainly was not a given heading into the game. Not even in his mind. “Adrenaline is a great equalizer,” Romo said, finally letting on that thumb was pretty sore. “I’ve always had this saying of get me close, and on game day I’ll find a way to get it done.” Get it done he did, even if he had to play part of the second quarter and the entire second half with what the Cowboys would have considered before the season began their third, fourth and fifth wide receivers.
So much was being made of Romo’s sore thumb possibly inhibiting his ability to take snaps under center and Cory Procter starting his first NFL game at center for the injured Andre Gurode. And what happens on the first snap from center, but Romo and Procter have a bad exchange, with the ball hitting the ground and Romo forced to recover the ball. But remember, the Cowboys, by trying to allow Romo to nurse that thumb throughout the week, did not ask him to take any snaps under center during practice. He either caught shotgun snaps or was given the ball. Said Romo, “I don’t think I took one real snap from (Procter) all week. That was the first.”
Did you realize the Cowboys had 50 snaps the first half, and eventually 79 for the game? That’s unreal. No wonder they ran the ball a season-high 37 times, yet still had the ball enough to throw it 42 times, the third-most attempts by Romo this season. The key thing here was not the fact the Cowboys ran the ball so much – and of the 37 attempts, nine of those attempts came after they took a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter, including three kneel downs to kill the clock and six runs by Romo – but that they ran the ball more effectively than they have in several weeks.
My game ball goes to Marion Barber: 22 carries for 110 yards and one touchdown. He was able to pick up the considerable slack caused by Owens’ departure, and clearly demonstrated this night why he is a Pro Bowl running back. The guy was a beast running the ball.
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This is pretty amazing, but a good reason why the Carolina Panthers are just 6-8, and maybe to be commended. Panthers starting quarterback Jake Delehomme threw eight touchdown passes in the season’s first three games, leading the club to a 2-1 record. But after an elbow injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season, the gaggle of Panthers quarterbacks thereafter have thrown eight touchdown passes in 11 games, and the Panthers have gone 4-7. You think having a creditable starting quarterback is important?
How the Panthers play their 12th-ranked defense against the Cowboys will be interesting. Previously they have played a lot of single coverage on the wideouts, which the Cowboys have taken advantage of this year in the passing game. Remember the Green Bay game. The Packers thought Pro Bowl corner Al Harris could handle Terrell Owens, and when he couldn’t, they pulled back into a little more Cover 2. Carolina head coach John Fox is a pretty darn good defensive guy, and was with the Giants when Jason Garrett was the backup quarterback.
And the score . . . can’t believe, of all things, the Cowboys only scored six points last Sunday to ruin my perfect record predicting games this year, which means, in the mindset of a true gambler, I didn’t make a bad pick, the Cowboys just played poorly. Ha! OK, let’s get back in the saddle this week: Cowboys 24, Panthers 10, the home team doing all they can to play a close-to-the-vest keep-away game.
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Roy Williams’ suspension, assuming the one game sticks through his appeal, made me start thinking back to when the last time a player was suspended for something he did during the course of play. I’m told by the NFL office the last time a player was suspended for on-field violations, other than Albert Haynesworth last year for his cleat-scraping of Andre Gurode’s forehead after the play, was 2002 when Denver safety Kenoy Kennedy was suspended one game for his third illegal helmet-to-helmet hit of the season and when then San Diego safety Rodney Harrison was suspended after an illegal helmet hit, his third serious rules violation of his past 16 games. So there is precedent for Williams’ suspension.
The probable one-game suspension of Williams, to me, hurts the Cowboys more than it hurts Williams. Because of his salary structure, the fine is $35,000, far less than the one assessed Darren Woodson for his helmet-to-helmet hit a few years back. Heck, he’s already been fined $27,500 and that didn’t seem to make an impression. But this suspension will make an impression on the Cowboys, because, no matter what you think of Williams’ play this year, they must replace him with guys who just haven’t been on the field much, especially since it seems probable backup free safety Patrick Watkins (ankle) won’t be available.
Should have seen the smile on Leonard Davis’ face after learning of his first Pro Bowl selection, somewhat vindicating his No. 2 spot in the draft after all these years . . . So Pro Bowler Terence Newman, at last, somewhat of a vindication for me after arguing his merits with those who didn’t think he was this team’s most indispensible player . . . And darn it, I know asking for more than 11 Pro Bowlers from one team is excess, but Greg Ellis, come on, the guy has a chance to lead the NFC in sacks – he’s two behind the leader with two games to go – and he can’t even earn a backup spot? Maybe there will be justice since he’s the first alternate.
How good a season is Tony Romo having? He puts up a 22.2 QB rating in this past game and he still has the highest QB rating in the NFC (101.0), the most touchdown passes (35), the highest average gain per attempt (8.37) and the highest percentage of touchdowns (7.6), 1.8 higher than the next guy.
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You know, you just knew it was coming, the NFL suspending Cowboys safety Roy Williams one game without pay for his fourth horse-collar violation in two years, taking down Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb Sunday by grabbing his shoulder-pads collar from behind. And to think, before the rule was adopted in 2005, Williams caused four serious injuries to players with horse-collar tackles during preseason and the regular season. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said he’s just using his instincts, but that “he’s got to learn to lay out and wrap up.” Well, his instincts better change. They allow you to use your shoulder pads to tackle in the NFL, you know.
Here’s maybe the worse part of this one-game suspension is the fact backup safety Pat Watkins suffered a sprained ankle Sunday, and he likely will be no better than questionable for the Carolina game, and all this coming on a short week. The Cowboys better hope Ken Hamlin has no priors after his hit on Matt Schobel, otherwise they’re going to be in a heap of trouble. Courtney Brown, come on down.
This just occurred to me when weighing the benefits of home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs: The Cowboys’ last five regular-season losses all have taken place at Texas Stadium. What home-field advantage. Think about it: Philly, New England, Detroit, Philly and New Orleans. Come on, road trip. The Cowboys head to Carolina this Saturday having won their past nine straight road games, dating back to the end of last season.
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By the end of the first quarter Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had more incompletions, 0-for-6, than he did the first time around against Philadelphia when he completed 20 of 25 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. Romo was just off all day. His first interception in the end zone was thrown right to Eagles safety Quitin Mikell, who didn’t even move, and the second on that out to Terrell Owens, Lito Sheppard was sitting on. Either Romo was late or Owens didn’t work back for the ball.
The Cowboys did a decent enough job of containing Brian Westbrook until he got loose for that game-clinching 24-yard run he purposely stopped at the 1-yard line to run the clock down to 2:00 with the Eagles leading 10-6 and the Cowboys out of time outs. To that point, Westbrook had 17 carries for 57 yards rushing and nine catches for 63 yards. You could live with that providing your offense is kicking more than two field goals.
That’s it, teams evidently are done kicking off to Miles Austin. After returning on 60 yards last Sunday against Detroit, the Lions resorted to pooch kicking the rest of the way, willing to give the Cowboys the ball at least at their 35 the remainder of the game. And then here Sunday, even though Austin moved to the left so he could field the left-footed David Akers’ kickoffs, the Eagles kicked to the right twice to Nate Jones instead.
The Cowboys do run the ball, don’t they? Well, they didn’t Sunday against the Eagles, trying just 15 times and never trailing by more than four points the entire game.
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Terrell Owens was a guest Wednesday night on the Sirius satellite radio show Late Hits, featuring his former San Francisco teammate Jerry Rice as a co-host. He repeated many of the things he said of Keyshawn Johnson at The Ranch earlier in the day, but this was a good one since ESPN has chosen to make this whole deal a national issue: “What I said was an early Christmas gift to ESPN.” No kidding. This was another good point he made, playing off how he can’t win if he gives Wade Phillips credit, because that means he’s dismissing Bill Parcells’ input. So when asked if Tony Romo has a lot to do with his success this year, Owens told Rice, “If I was giving too much credit to Tony Romo then people would say I’m taking a stab at Drew Bledsoe.” The guy can’t win, can he?
Think about this one: During the span of Philadelphia winning five of the previous six NFC East titles, the other division members had hired such well-known coaches as Bill Parcells, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs and Tom Coughlin. Only Coughlin was able to wrestle away a division title from the Eagles, but that took the T.O. blowup and injuries to Donovan McNabb to accomplish. But now, who should interrupt their division dominance but Wade Phillips, considered by some before Jerry Jones hired him as a head-coaching afterthought. Ha, those folks ought to think again. Phillips has been exactly what the doctored ordered – or should have ordered – for the Cowboys.
And the score . . . win this one and the Cowboys will win out if they so choose, but doing so won’t be easy. How ‘bout Cowboys 27, Eagles 17, and remember the Cowboys’ 38 points the first time around are the most scored against the Eagles this year – more than the likes of New England (31) and Seattle (28) did in victories. But I do caution, they better not take this game for granted . . . or else.
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To me, this is an amazing percentage. The Cowboys have converted 29 of 73 third downs (40 percent) when having to pick up six or more yards and the conversion percentage goes up to an amazing 50 percent when needing but six to 10 yards. That right there is efficiency. And if you were wondering, when it’s third-and-11 or more, the Cowboys have turned 29 pass plays into seven first downs, 24 percent.
Sounds as if the Cowboys moving seventh-round draft choice Alan Ball to the 53-man roster has been long overdue. Been hearing good things about his coverage skills. Also, the Cowboys don’t want to take a chance of another team signing him away, and I saw where the Seahawks worked out three defensive backs on Tuesday, including, yep, last year’s late addition Pete Hunter again. Teams retain exclusive negotiating rights to players with one, two and three years experience after the season is completed. If not on the 53-man roster, practice squad players become free agents, and can be immediately signed by any team.
Sure makes for a festive club Christmas party the night after you win a game, even if the Cowboys only beat the Lions by one, 28-27. And the annual Christmas season hospital visits earlier in the day Monday were a lot more fun, too.
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Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo didn’t wait for head coach Wade Phillips to start handing out games balls after the game. He handed one right to left guard Kyle Kosier, who alertly pounced on Romo’s third-down fumble during the game-winning touchdown drive to preserve a fourth-and-6 opportunity at their own 40 with 59 seconds left in the game. “I told Kyle, ‘Hey, that’s the play of the game. That’s a game ball there.’” No kidding.
Would you believe that was only the third time in 40 games the Detroit Lions have rushed for three touchdowns in a single game? The Cowboys got pushed around up front, with the Lions paying particular attention to doubling nose tackles Jay Ratliff and Tank Johnson to open up some huge cut-back gaps. But where were the safeties filling up front?
If Romo wants to anoint Kosier’s fumble recovery the play of the game, then how about DeMarcus Ware, held without a sack for only the second time in the past six games, putting that huge pressure on Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna on the third-and-9 play from the Detroit 37, helping to force an incompletion with 2:26 left and a punt. If the Lions had converted there, lights out for the Cowboys.
Two scary halftime stats. Terrell Owens had no catches, and I don’t recall even a pass being thrown his way, and the Lions had 107 yards rushing, more in a half than they had rushed for in seven games.
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Boy, I sure hope all you folks – and I mean all you folks – who have been bashing Troy Aikman for being particularly hard on the Cowboys or not giving Tony Romo any love during his game-day analysis for Fox read his comments or watch the entire interview from Thursday out here at The Ranch on DallasCowboys.com. Here’s just a taste. Of Romo, Aikman said, “You always feel he’s going to make a play.” And of the Cowboys, Aikman said, “I believe the best chance for the NFC to win the Super Bowl is with Dallas.” Apologies accepted in Mick’s Mail.
Even though the Lions will be without leading wide receiver Roy Williams (63 catches for 836 yards and five touchdowns), count on offensive coordinator Mike Martz to continue running his three-receiver sets as the team’s base offense. That means more of the Cowboys sub-packages being played. Just as last Thursday, pressure on the quarterback will be important, and to think the Cowboys, with 33 sacks, will be facing a team having already given up 50 sacks this year. And don’t forget, even with their stationary defense of last year the Cowboys sacked Jon Kitna five times.
And the score . . . this is the seventh consecutive season the Cowboys have played the Lions, and even though the Cowboys have lost eight of their last 10 games played in Detroit and nine of 12 overall dating back to that 1960 first meeting at Briggs Stadium, Cowboys 34, Lions 20. Hello NFC East title – the Cowboys are revved up for this one.
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A four-game losing streak will do this to a team, and the Detroit Lions, after getting off to a 6-2 start, have fallen to 6-6 and it’s being suggested in the Motor City the club might be fracturing from within. When quarterback Jon Kitna was asked about everyone being together, he said, “We don’t have a lot of people in our boat right now.” Whoa. And then this from head coach Rod Marinelli when discussing some “non-talent issues” and asked about possibly taking too much responsibility for his players’ play, he said, “If I don’t like what I’m getting within that 53 (-man roster), I’ll start somebody else. I’ll put in somebody else, or I’ll cut playing time. They know that.”
You know what, either someone is giving Terrell Owens some good advice or he’s finally listening or he is figuring things out – maybe all three. Because a year after holding his self-indulgent birthday party in L.A., Owens turned this year’s bash into a charity event at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine, Texas, the funds going to his Catch A Dream Foundation, which will help 81 needy families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Owens, who turns 34 on Friday, attracted such celebs as Jamie Foxx, model Claudia Jordan, singer Michelle Williams, Serena Williams and a dateless Tony Romo, who reportedly coughed up $55,000 for a Las Vegas weekend package at the Palms Las Vegas.
The Cowboys already have scored 395 points with four games to go. If they hit their average of 32.8 a game, they will finish with a franchise single-season record of 526 points – 47 more than the existing record of 479 set in 1983. The Cowboys also set the club record that year for most 30-point games in a season with nine. They already have eight. Scoring five points against the Lions will give the Cowboys just their second 400-point season since 1995 and just fifth since setting that record in 1983.
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Cowboys owner Jerry Jones certainly has not given up on Terry Glenn returning this season, and even said he likely would hang onto his roster spot for the playoffs even if he didn’t play in a regular-season game. Remember, if the Cowboys earn that first-round bye, Glenn would have two more weeks to get ready for the first game. But interesting note here: Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton have combined for 27 touchdowns in 12 games. The trio last year combined for 18 in 16 games. Add in Glenn’s six, and that still only gets you to 24. Rather remarkable, no?
Word coming out of Washington State is that Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman’s name has come up in the papers as a potential candidate for the vacant head coaching job. Sherman, in his 20th year as an NFL assistant coach and 34th in coaching, has never has been a head coach and says he hasn’t been contacted or contacted anyone about the position.
You guys always complain about not giving the offensive line enough love, so here is a hug from Jones, who said when asked about his front five: “That offensive line, I don’t know there is a part of this team I’m prouder of than the offensive line.” So there.
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