Dallas Cowboys Open Home Schedule With Sloppy 16-10 Win Over Tampa Bay

by Ryan Bush

Hey, it’s only fair to give credit where credit is due.  And, for once, the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager nailed it perfectly.  Arlington was, in fact, the sight of spectacular and improbable happenings on this second afternoon in autumn.  An attraction was in plain sight for all to see at Cowboys Stadium.  Yes, everything was bigger – and dumber – in Texas.

Jay Novacek was there.  Randy White.  So were 80,000 other fans.  If only the Cowboys didn’t have to show up the afternoon would have gone by without a single hitch.

The starred ones were out and about Sunday, ready to prove to the football world that last week was an absolute aberration.  Don’t trust them to inform you of what, because there were too many similarities that surely had many in attendance making early dinner reservations.

Jason Witten was dropping passes.  Tony Romo spent four quarters in life-preservation mode.  And Dallas receivers were running enough dysfunctional pass patterns to make Romo wish for the return of Roy Williams.

Just maybe the Cowboys didn’t realize that there was an actual game to be played.  It is, after all, quite possible in these parts.

Elaboration pertaining to in-game matchups was minimal this week.  Everybody was too busy talking about kneel-downs to concern themselves with worrying about Ronde Barber, Vincent Jackson, or anyone else on the Tampa Bay roster.

Oh, and the owner was busy trying to conceive of a magical way to attract fans to Arlington’s glass-plated mosque for a Dallas-Tampa Bay home opener that held little local appeal.  Who really cares about banners from two decades before anyway?  The magic from those years departed from Valley Ranch in a windstorm the minute Jerry up and kicked Jimmy out of his trophy-lined office.

The last time Tampa Bay was in town for a home-opener was in 2001 at the dawning of the infamous Quincy Carter era.  I guess Jerry’s busy trying to usher in a new era of his own.  Oh, well.  Just the latest operation of futility around here.  What’s one more?

And speaking of futility, how about pegging these 2012 Cowboys.  Love’em one week, spit on ‘em the next.  What should the proper attitude be this week by Dallas’ world-famous reception committee?  It surely won’t be as forgiving as today’s.

Let’s give a shout out to the home faithful who stuck it out through three hours of perplexing miscues.  It would have been understandable had they walked out.  Especially after such a familiar start.

For the second consecutive week, Dallas received the game’s opening kickoff only to turn the ball over.  In Seattle it was Felix Jones offering up a fumble as an offering – no surprise registered here – and this time it was Tony Romo celebrating an early Christmas with an early interception to former Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib.  Tampa Bay used that early gift to move 29 yards and go ahead 7-0 on a Josh Freeman touchdown pass.

But if there were any concerns of a impending re-run from last week when Seattle used an early score as impetus to run away with the game, those were as wasted as all those high-flyin’ pre-game predictions.

Romo didn’t throw for 500 yards like Eli Manning did against these same Bucs a week ago.  His 283 doesn’t even come close.  But he was able to move the offense, blessed with a short field after a Sean Lee interception, in position for a Demarco Murray touchdown run to tie the score.  Murray finished the day with just 38 yards on 18 carries.

Romo, meanwhile, was dealing with his own set of problems.  When it wasn’t his receivers running ill-advised patterns, it was his offensive line breaking down in their protections, leaving Romo primed and ready for a Texas-sized beating.  Romo was hit from every angle throughout the course of the game, resulting in two second-half fumbles that did nothing but keep the score close.

The Dallas defense completely shut down Tampa’s passing game, holding Freeman to just 110 yards through the air on ten completions, about half of those yards coming in the final two minutes.

As much as team officials try to shrug off Dallas’ 13-11 record inside the palatial Cowboys Stadium, it’s evident that the Cowboys possess anything but a home-field advantage.  Some might say they don’t have any advantage, but that’s beside the point.  Today was a day of homecoming, a day to salute the raising of five banners commemorating championships from so long ago.  While we’re at it, let’s honor Jason Garrett’s team for walking with Lady Luck in a game that each team seemed content to give away.

It wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done at the end of the day.  There was a blocked punt that wasn’t, and a fumble return for touchdown called back, even when replays showed that it shouldn’t have been.

It was a game the Cowboys could not afford to lose.  But enthusiasm should be tempered by realizing that it was a victory with as much meaning going forward as Jerry’s overdone banner raising.

This mess is going on two weeks running, and needs to be cleaned up in a hurry.  Otherwise, it could be another seventeen years before the next banner is hoisted.

Time For Dallas Cowboys To Move On Without RB Felix Jones

by Ryan Bush

Ah, one more game down and we’re all just wondering when the end will come.  It surely can’t come too soon for certain reporters who brought the obvious necessity of it to Jason Garrett’s attention again on Monday.

The Dallas Cowboys need to throw their pre-draft scouting report on running back Felix Jones down the drain, and let Jones slip and slide right along with it.  The months that have elapsed since he last made a defender miss will soon turn into a full year.

But don’t try to get an exact read on the temperature on this subject at Valley Ranch, because they aren’t divulging any thing.  “Somebody asked me if we were going to replace [Jones[ or cut him from the team after the ballgame,” Garrett said.  “Every player is evaluated, really on a weekly basis, and what their role is.  Certainly, what they have done in the recent past is certainly significant, and what they have done in terms of their body of work is significant as well.  We’ll continue to evaluate Felix like we do every player on our football team and decide what that role is going forward.”

Let’s hope that Garrett and his staff don’t spend too much time searching for positives.  The reasons for keeping Jones around through his fifth NFL season are so few in number and so insignificant that they’re not even discernible.  He has gone from a rookie phenom with electrifying speed to a slow, overrated back with a skill set that has long since diminished.

Sunday’s fumble on the opening kickoff is just one additional reason to expedite this graceless Hog back to the Ozarks where he came from.

Wanting NFL To Bar Kneel-Downs Doesn’t Mean It Will Happen For Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones

by Ryan Bush

Jerry Jones

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thinks the NFL should do away with all kneel-downs.  Don’t expect it to happen, though. Jones, who considers the end-of-game kneel downs as anti-climactic, envisions a rule change as beneficial to the league.  It’s hard to understand why.

To eliminate kneel-downs would do nothing more than turn the final few plays of a game into a menagerie that is neither aesthetically pleasing to watch, nor productive for fantasy owners.  Instead of the usual scene of quarterback receiving snap from center and kneeling to stop the play, fans would be treated to a meaningless handoff to the tailback which is followed up by the runner falling unaided to the turf, where he will remain until the whistle blows the play dead.  It would be a lot of wasted movement for the same result, that much is for certain.

The teams that have the ball and the lead in the final two minutes of the game deserve the opportunity to milk the clock while protecting the football, and shouldn’t be forced to put their lead at risk unnecessarily.  The clock is their friend.  Letting them use it as such is a reward for a hard day's work, and a fitting conclusion for a captivating two-horse race against time.

Dallas Cowboys Blowout Loss To Seattle Not Indicative Of Direction Of Team

by Ryan Bush

Let’s be proactive about all this and agree that the Dallas Cowboys were mentally deficient in nearly every conceivable category Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.  Blocked punts, dropped passes, ill-timed penalties, and a gutless front-seven at crunch time… Those are all earmarks of any local junior high squad and provide the classic example of why so many refuse to consider the Cowboys as professional material.  Too often, they fail to resemble it.

Blocked Punt

So the big ‘Boys from Big D’ had their heads in the clouds after a statement win over the Giants, is that it?  Well, there are worse reasons to lose a football game.  Like, say, having your head served up on a platter.  Which was not the reality of Sunday’s 27-7 loss.

As many opportunities as Dallas made the most of during the opener in East Rutherford, they threw just as many away eleven days later. It was ugly in the extreme, as has been noted by the media since then, but in no way is an indication that this team is just another head-case that maximizes its potential by merely flirting with a postseason berth.

To compare this debacle to last season’s 34-7 loss at Philadelphia is doing Andy Reid and the Eagles a great injustice.  The Eagles team of a year ago was simply better than the Cowboys, no room for argument allowed. 

Such was not the case Sunday, even though the Cowboys’ superiority was never allowed to be evident.  It’s only fair to give Seattle credit for the victory, but there are a boatload of Cowboys that are deserving of a wholehearted assist.

1 of 4 Dropped Passes by Jason Witten

 When has Jason Witten ever dropped one pass in a game, let alone four?  And why couldn’t Dan Connor block the man right in front of him?  And why can’t Felix Jones hold onto the ball?  Dez Bryant let one pass from Tony Romo slip through his hands, as did Miles Austin.

Leave it to Cow-lovers to ignore the long list of football offenders above and fault the defense completely for this loss.  This is a classic example of why the majority of Cowboy fans are considered eccentric nerds.

It’s easy to blame Rob Ryan for a conservative game plan that failed to apply consistent pressure on rookie quarterback Russell Wilson.  But lack of a pass rush wasn’t the primary reason Dallas failed to produce a turnover.  The scoreboard, in fact, was.

By falling behind 10-0 and never recovering, the Cowboys never forced Seattle to divert from their run-first game plan they started the game with.  With at least one leg up on the competition from the game’s outset, the Seahawks head coach was able to ride the legs of Marshawn Lynch until the Dallas defense finally flopped down dead in the final quarter.

Arms weren't enough to tackle Lynch

Part of that can be attributed to fatigue, an understandable factor when considering Seattle controlled the ball for more that 20 minutes in the second half.  Yet a more perplexing problem was a lack of discipline by multiple players that allowed Lynch to gain extra yardage on several occasions.

The Dallas defense was playing without Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff in the middle, and it’s a credit to Garrett and Ryan for not overblowing his absence as an excuse.  Lynch’s 100-yard outburst in the second-half had little, if nothing, to do with any inadequacies of replacement Josh Brent. The Cowboys were either out of position defensively, or simply failed to wrap the ball-carrier up.  There were too many attempted arm-tackles and inconsequential big hits, two notorious no-no’s against a powerful runner such as Lynch.

No, it wasn’t the ideal performance against an inferior opponent on the road, but it wasn’t nearly as ground-shaking as it appeared to some.  The Cowboys can play fundamentally sound football.  We all saw that against the Giants.  

There will be a come-back-to-fundamentals cry from Camp Cowboy this week, and with the humiliation of Sunday’s loss haunting them every step of the way, it’s safe to say next week’s game against Tampa Bay will introduce a refocused Cowboys team to their host of distraught admirers.

Circumstances Surrounding Hit On Dallas Cowboys LB Sean Lee Clear Indictment Of Replacement Officials

 by Ryan Bush

As bad a game as Sunday afternoon’s hit-parade was for the Dallas Cowboys, three hours in Seattle might have been just as brutal for the replacement referees.  No, the Dallas-Seattle crew didn’t bungle the game like their colleagues allegedly did in Philadelphia and St. Louis, but one particular fourth-quarter play is deserving of a second look.  And, if I know the media, they’ll replay it many more times than that over the course of this week.

 

Seahawks Golden Tate "blocks" Cowboys Sean Lee

Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee was in pursuit of a scrambling Russell Wilson when Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate reversed field and planted his helmet squarely in Lee’s chest, resulting in what is commonly referred to as a “de-cleater.”   Lee, one moment on his feet, blinked only to find himself on his back, while Seattle players erupted in celebration on the sideline.

As any rules guru would have expected, a yellow hankie then fell to the turf.  Tate’s hit was golden without a doubt, but also illegal.  Any defensive player in Lee’s position heading downfield at a vertical angle is considered in a defenseless position, which prohibits an offensive player from going against the grain and blocking him while leading with the head or shoulder.  The rule was implemented several years ago to avoid what happened Sunday, Lee on his backside staring wide-eyed through the stadium’s partially-enclosed roof.

Come to find out, the yellow flag wasn’t for Tate’s sniping incident, but for an altercation downfield involving Dallas linebacker Bruce Carter.  Carter was deemed guilty of a late-hit on Wilson, after the quarterback had scampered out of bounds. There was no mention of a Seattle infraction, and the officiating crew started marking off the fifteen-yard penalty.

It’s a mystery how the entire crew managed to miss a collision so close to the ball-carrier that nobody else in the stadium missed.  Couple that with replays of the personal foul penalty they managed to slap Carter with, who ran Wilson out of bounds only a few yards away from where Lee was unexpectedly reclining, and you could almost envision the Union and League reaching an agreement today in a consolidated effort to protect the league’s integrity.

Local writers tried to protect the refs, referring to Carter’s late-hit as a “soft shove.”  Actually, Carter barely laid hands on Seattle’s quarterback.  It was a powder-puff example of touch football.  Somehow, someway, somewhere, the refs interpreted the incident as unnecessary roughness, completely ignoring Lee’s pulverized frame nearby.

It’s a double-whammy against the replacement refs that could have affected the outcome of a game. Fortunately for all involved, this wasn’t one of those times.

“Just to answer that as unemotionally as possible,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said, “I thought that was a defenseless player who was hit.  Initially, that’s what we thought the call was going to be.  Apparently something happened at the end of the down where they called it on us… It seems to be that’s something the league is trying hard to guard against, and that might be a pretty good example of what that was..........There were a lot of football plays in the game.  And that really had nothing to do with the outcome of the game.”

Head Coach Jason Garrett reacts to Late Hit penalty

But with that said, it can hardly be considered good business for the NFL to have an officiating crew on the field who are oblivious to such an obvious foul, and then justify the landing of a flag by pulling a personal foul out of a place where nothing of the kind exists.

The NFL needs to stop squabbling over nickels and dimes, and get the pros back out there.  Before this gets any worse.

Self-Destructive Mistakes Cost Dallas Cowboys Big In 27-7 Loss

  by Ryan Bush

The self-destructive impulses of the Dallas Cowboys were out in full force Sunday afternoon at Seattle’s sunny sea of green and blue.  As has been the case of late, Felix Jones was the leader of a pack of clowns that contained more than just the usual suspects.

It was Jones’ fumble of the opening kickoff that set the tone for Jason Garrett’s squad, from which started a 27-7 west coast avalanche that promised no cover for any Cowboys player or coach this week.

There are no scapegoats from this debacle. From Jerry the Wipemaster himself, to Garrett the head coach, all the way down to the team laundry boy.  They’re all guilty…excepting quarterback Tony Romo.

The Cowboys had an unusual eleven-day gap between their season-opening victory at the Meadowlands and Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.  And all they could show for the extra time was a rotten egg that smelled far worse than Seattle’s latest chicken-fried version of a home jersey.

There were an inordinate amount of dropped passes, too many special teams gaffes, and an over-abundance of alligator-arm tackles of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch in the second-half.  All in all, it was just the kind of performance that the officials union so desperately needed.  Not even the questionable calls of the replacement referees could affect the outcome of this one.

From the very outset, the Cowboys were bound and determined to go down the toilet, and just as anxious to prove they needed no help from the second-team zebras sharing the field.  In that vein, an otherwise forgettable afternoon in balmy Seattle can be considered a success.  Better hang that on the wall, because that’s the only trophy of achievement Dallas walked away with from this showing.

Any advantage Seattle held in the defense and special teams departments were supposed to be nullified by Dallas’ edge at the quarterback position.  Even on the road in a loud stadium, the Cowboys were the logical favorites to take this one. 

Nothing nullifies a home-field advantage quite like a rookie quarterback.  They miss blitz assignments, throw into coverage, or anything that gives the defense an opportunity to turn the tide of the game.

As it turns out, both quarterbacks had little to do with the outcome.  The rookie Russell Wilson admittedly played composed for only his second NFL start, completing 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards.  It also should be noted that Rob Ryan’s defense applied minimal pressure on him.

Rookie QB Russell Wilson was Steady

On the other sideline, Romo did have one blemish on his stat-sheet, a first-quarter interception deep in Seattle territory.  But a failing support system around him rendered his mistake inconsequential.  Romo was good when his teammates allowed him to be, which, unfortunately, wasn’t very often.

Kevin Ogletree makes the tackle after a Romo Interception

 Felix Jones’ fumble on the opening kickoff set up a quick Seattle field goal of 21 yards.  That was followed by a Chris Jones blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, giving the home team a 10-0 advantage with less than five minutes gone.

Felix Jones Fumble

 When Romo connected with Miles Austin for a 26-yard scoring play in the second quarter to draw within three, it appeared the Cowboys were about to seize control of the game.  But a gutless defense and a myriad of drops from an unlikely source helped stall the comeback.

Miles Austin TD

 Perennial Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten is still not one-hundred percent recovered from a preseason spleen injury, as his career-worst four drops attest to.  Two of his drops were especially costly.  One came on third-down that set up a punting situation and another occurred after he got behind the defense in the first-half and had a good chance of scoring.

Jason Witten - 4 dropped passes

 Equally as mind-boggling was the performance of a new-look no-gut defense.  A week after manning-up against a notoriously tough Giants team, the Dallas defense laid down like a beaten dog in the second-half, allowing Wilson to control the game with handoffs and short, underneath passes.  Two consecutive second-half drives by the Seattle offense spanned 20 plays, totaling 178 yards, and turned a 13-7 score into a 27-7 rout.

Any hopes of a miracle comeback were then thwarted by personal foul and substitution penalties on the same drive, which allowed the Seahawks to virtually run the clock out.

It will be a long week at Valley Ranch, as players long to get the taste of this tail-whipping out of their swollen and bloodied mouths.

The Dallas Cowboys are Picked to Lose to the Seattle Seahawks?

 

Someone please tell me why the consensus around the Country is that the Cowboys are going to lose to the lowly Seahawks? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Head Coach Pete Carroll

You definitely can't point to the powerhouse program Pete Carroll has assembled in the Great Northwest. They definitely have a strong defensive unit. But that's supposed to be enough to derail the focused offense of Tony Romo & Co.? Remember, they just dispatched the reigning Super Bowl Champions?

Tony Romo & Co

The Seattle Offense, no more than average, is being led by a Rookie? And that's supposed to be enough to stop the revamped Cowboys Secondary who just prevented Eli Manning from working his 4th quarter magic? And Demarcus Ware? And the inside linebacker duo of Carter and Lee?

Dallas Defense Led by Demarcu Ware

There are times where the pundits seem to have their heads in the clouds. Maybe it's just insider information overload. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, hoping Romo experiences another disaster moment in his return visit the home of the slippery ball.

Whatever it is, the Cowboys should win this game. The one thing that they've exhibited under Head Coach Jason Garrett is focus while playing on the road. I expect them to do the same today! Now, if we could just get Jerry to focus properly!

Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Affecting Team Chemistry With Tony Romo Contract Talks

Jerry Jones is at it again!

by Ryan Bush

Just when the Valley Ranch soldiers were beginning to look like a disciplined unit…Poof!

It’s always something around here.  Or, in this case, a certain someone.

Why is it that some people simply can’t leave well enough alone?

Here’s the skinny: All was well at the little Ranch on the prairie…Valley Ranch, that is. And then the General Manager showed up with his checkbook.

Yes, that General Manager.

The Owner himself.

Some other time, Jerry.  Please.  Don’t mess with the team chemistry this time around.

Gotta hand it to Jason Garrett.  His 2012 Dallas Cowboys have looked focused and been all business from the time they convened for training camp out in the California wine country.  And after a yeoman-like win over New York, the ‘Boys went back home to prepare for another road battle, this time against Seattle.  No pomp.  No circumstance.  Just business.  That’s the way it should be.

 

Give credit to Garrett for this positive development.  In a league where a team often takes on the personality of their head coach, it should be a comfort for fans to have someone like Garrett leading America’s Team at this point in time.  Garrett has been on Super Bowl teams before, and knows how to handle success.  More importantly for a first-time head coach employed with the task of cleaning up from Wade Phillips’ headfirst dive into the NFL furnace, he was there firsthand when the Dallas dynasty of the ‘90s fell apart from the top down.  He knows the trademarks of a puppet, Barry Switzer, when faced with one, and was determined not be the next in a long line of Jerry’s Puppets that earned an inauspicious exit down the Valley Ranch garbage shoot.

The media tires of his straightforward press conferences laced with what are perceived to be worn-out cliché’s.  But at least his steady demeanor is rubbing off on the right people. By each and every early indication, this year’s Cowboys appeared to be taking on some of that personality.  That’s big news after so many seasons of emotionally-charged collapses.

 

And then the rumor began swirling this week that Jerry Jones was negotiating with Tony Romo’s agent about a contract extension. Why now, Jerry?  Why not wait till later, huh?  After all, it isn’t like Romo’s contract expires at the end of this season.  This isn’t the fabled “contract year” Romo’s laboring under.

 

Ah, it’s been a good seven, eight, nine days (however long it has been since Dallas last played a football game) for the Cowboys genial owner.  His $2.1 billion empire goes into New York with an underpaid, underweight offensive line and takes down the mighty Giants by the strong arm of Romo.  Brilliant!

Then, a few days later, the invention of JerryWipes hits the market, Jones’ new pet eyeglass cleaner that can also be used to wipe clean so many other things not worth mentioning.  Believe me, the appearance of Jones’ personal portfolio has been greatly improved with this stroke of genius.  Brilliant again!

But what’s a perfect week without a little splurge?  What better way to let the world know that the Cowboys are “back” than by throwing a few wads of cash around the parking lot?  Especially at your big-name, big-smile quarterback.

So goes the thought process of Jerry Jones.  As much as he likes to say it, winning isn’t happiness to him.  If it was, the almighty dollar wouldn’t get mixed up in the equation so often.

And he would have known better than to broach the wormy subject of contract extension with the captain and savior of his franchise.  Nothing is more of a distraction for a player or a team than to have a contract hanging over the franchise quarterback.

Garrett has worked eighteen long months to rid the locker room of any, and all, distractions.  Bespeaking of his character, Garrett loathes distractions.  That’s why Marion Barber and Leonard Davis are gone, and why he’s given the Mike Jenkins and Felix Jones situations such kid glove treatment.  That’s why he is a one-day-at-a-time-while-going-forward type of guy.

 

The Cowboys were only beginning to reap the rewards of Garrett’s philosophy when Jones walked around the corner wearing newly-shined eyeglasses and waving cash under Romo’s nose. It’s the last thing the doctor would have ordered for the second week of this season.  This isn’t time for handouts.  It’s time to prepare to go on the road to one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL.  It’s time to try to win back-to-back road games for the first time in nearly three years.  It’s time to try and get a leg-up within the NFC East, not to mention the entire conference.

Yes, Jerry, Romo is a special player, but his bank account isn’t really suffering at the current date. Remember, it wasn’t even five years ago you gave him that $67 million deal.  The only thing Romo needs concern himself with for the next five months is reading blitzes, throwing touchdown passes, and the welfare of wife Candice and baby boy at home.  That’s it.

 

Romo is confident with this offensive cast, he’s happy at home.  No need to mess that all up with worries of financial security when his playing days are done.  Because, let’s face it, in all probability this will be Romo’s final contract as an NFL player.

Garrett and the Cowboys don’t need Romo preoccupied with a full season in front of him, nor do they need him, even subconsciously, resting on his laurels with his future set in stone.  Should Romo relax, then it’s safe to say it’s only a matter of games before the evidence starts to reveal that the rest of the locker room has followed his example.  This is too important a season for everyone involved for that to happen. 

So, Jerry, shall we wait on the compensation act?  The probabilities of it turning out for the good are next to none, if even that good.

Fining Dallas Cowboys Left Tackle Tyron Smith For Horse-Collar Might Be Overdoing It For NFL

Tyron Smith's Horsecollar Tackle

Leave it to the NFL front-office to throw a bucket of cold water on a hero.  And just why did they have to pick on this guy?  Surely, out of fifteen other games over the weekend there was some other available offender to soak.

Perhaps you heard the news that came over the wire earlier this week.  Tyron Smith, the Dallas Cowboys’ No. 1 pick from last year’s draft and latest experiment at left tackle, was docked $15,000 by the league for his horse collar tackle of Giants linebacker Michael Boley.

Now, let’s give the NFL at least a smidgen of credit here.  When they set out to make a point about rules and regulations, they do just that.  Ask the New Orleans Saints. But isn’t it going way past the point of fairness to apply the sponge to a player’s pocketbook who was just doing his job?

It must be admitted that Smith was doing anything but blocking on this play, to acknowledge the technical fine print in Smith’s contract, so he was obviously out of his comfort zone.  Smith was, instead, running downfield with all the speed that one could expect out of a 300+ lb NFL lineman, trying to cut off the streaking Boley before the Giants linebacker reached the end zone.

Tyron Smith in hot pursuit!

Unlike the rest of his teammates, Smith caught up to the ballcarrier inside the five-yard line and took Boley out of bounds with a semi-flying, half-lunging tackle that drew a flag because he took the defender to the ground by the back of his shoulder pads.  For a  psychologically fragile team like the Cowboys have proven to be at MetLife Stadium in recent visits, Smith’s flag-inducing takedown could be considered a game-saver.

Were Boley to have scored then, all chaos ensues.  Romo goes pick-happy again, the defense caves-in and the Cowboys lose by two-dozen or more.  But he didn’t, and the Dallas defense walks off the field three plays later strutting and chest-bumping after an unlikely goal-line stand.  

It’s not often a team finds inspiration in giving up three points, but this was one of those times.

Which brings us back to Smith.  So he committed a horse-collar.  And what does that mean these days?  Every horse-collar is a personal-foul in the game, and a fifteen-yard walk-off, yes, but not every one is subject to a monetary fine by Park Avenue constituents. 

Advantage Belongs To Dallas Cowboys Against Inferior Seahawks Team

by Ryan Bush

Lingering Memories?

      1-0  and headed for trouble.  That’s the warning call for Jerry Jones’ bunch of party crashers as they board their flight for a second consecutive road contest to begin the 2012 season.

No, the “trap” cries coming from the gallery have nothing to do with players possibly feeling good about themselves after an impressive victory to open the season.  But there’s an uncommon amount of support to the theory that the Cowboys are the inferior team of the two.  Seahawks lassoing Cowboys?  Who woulda thunk it?!

It’s only Week 2 and we’re already trying to convince ourselves that Pete Carroll has turned the dirty birds of Seattle into the NFL version of USC. Sorry, but last week’s loss to the desert birds of Arizona extinguished any, and all, hopes of Carroll fielding an NFL giant in 2012.  He is a likable guy, but is still starting a rookie quarterback, and couldn’t even get past the Cardinals, of all teams, with an extra timeout in the second half last week.

Depicting Sunday’s clash in the Great Northwest as a “trap” game for the visiting Dallas Cowboys might be considered a mere turning of a benevolent face toward a home team that is desperately seeking for something good to happen to them early in the season.  Trying to convince yourself that Carroll is fielding a better team than Jason Garrett’s bespeaks of some incurable form of mental illness.  And, anyway, how can anyone call any road game in the NFL a “trap” these days?  Whatever happened to parity and equality of conditions?

Speaking of conditions, it should be much, much cooler at kickoff time on Sunday than back in Big D’.  All you Texas tailgaters can thank the NFL scheduling committee for preventing you from having to flip burgers off the hood of your truck in sweltering 90-degree heat.  Heat-stroke, metallic burgers, and Jerry World.  The consequences of mixing the Seattle Seahawks into all that would likely result in a monotonous three-and-a-half hours. Ah, the weather.  Just one of the many indicators that the Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks are not on equal footing at this juncture.

Running backs.  Demarco Murray versus Marshawn Lynch.  Though only in his second NFL season, the edge is obviously in Murray’s corner.

Receivers?  The Cowboys not only outclass Seattle in this department, they out-universe them.

Offensive line.  Little evidence to support the theory that the Cowboys actually possess one.  Advantage Seattle.

Front-seven.  Edge belongs to Dallas, but only because they have a guy named Demarcus Ware.

Secondary?  Still too early to call on this one.  Let’s call it a draw.

Owner Jerry Jones Has Clear Vision for Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones knows Profit

Well, leave it up to the Dallas cowboys Owner Jerry Jones to take advantage of the constant media scrutiny aimed his way. If there's any way to make money from such detailed and sometimes humorous curiosity, Jerry will add to the huge bottom line of the Cowboys empire.

The surprising thing about Jerry's latest venture is that nobody saw it coming........except his son-in-law Shy Anderson. I'm not sure what the job description of Anderson is within the family run Empire, but has been seen publicly cleaning the glasses of Jerry Jones. It remains unclear whether advanced age has diminished Jerry's ability to multi-task or if he has simply grown extremely fond of personalized attention. Nevertheless, this care provided was caught on public video during the Cowboys first game of the season against the Giants this past Wednesday night.

Now it seems that this cleaning idea has been turned into a money maker by Jones. The catchy title of these multi-purpose cleaning towels? You guessed it! Jerry Wipes! Now, even the common Cowboys fan can experience the refreshing feeling of clear vision as well as have other non-desirable taints removed from the surface of cherished objects. The versatility of these items has been sorta mentioned, but details have been rather scarce in being provided. Imagination is clearly a part of the marketing scheme of this newest entry into the market of All Things Cowboys.

The lesson to emerge from this scenario? Please, don't ever underestimate Jerry's ability to make money. The man definitely knows how to turn a profit. Now, his managerial skills? Let's discuss that at a later time!

Worry Over Dallas Cowboys Running Back Depth Uncalled For

by Ryan Bush

Demarco Murray

Eleven days in between games is just too much time.  Not for the Dallas Cowboys, but for the whole circus around them.  Especially after a victory, when magicians start chanting and dreamers start dreaming, and a token sample of reality is tossed into the fray as a comical source of combustion.  And what a combustible moment it was this time around, when fans peered into the backfield behind local hero 1A, Demarco Murray, and saw….........

Yeah, that’s what they saw.  Ghosts of emptiness.  No sight sets more teeth on edge nor as many brains on a hysterical path of concern that spills its way onto Internet webpages.

It was a frightening moment for some careworn fans when they realized the ramifications for America’s Team should Demarco Murray happen to go down with an injury during the course of this season.  Uh, yes, it wouldn’t be good, that much is known, and has been known since Murray’s last ailment cropped up last December.

So will Murray last?

He’d better, so the operative reply has been going.  For Jason Garrett’s longevity.

Come to find out, it’s Garrett that everybody’s busy pointing fingers at right now.  A shared backfield is the chic thing in the NFL nowadays, and it’s Garrett’s fault for not providing the Cowboys with one.

 So everyone wants two running backs.  As if that’s the way it’s always been.

When Bill Parcells drafted Marion Barber III in the 2005 draft, only twelve months after selecting Notre Dame’s Julius Jones, it was considered a stroke of innovational genius.  A two-back system!  What a thought!

Nobody around the Ranch had even considered such a formula before, chiefly, because there was no reason to.  Besides the fact that Jerry Jones never took the responsibility of filling the position very seriously, the reason Emmitt Smith never enjoyed the benefits of a capable backup in his thirteen years on the beat, excepting, maybe, Chris Warren, was that he didn’t need one.  It wasn’t the star-like qualities of Sherman Williams that convinced the Cowboys to give the Alabama running back a shot in the second round of the 1995 draft.  It was his lack thereof.  Williams wasn’t good enough to be a starter.  That’s why Dallas drafted him, as sad as it sounds.

 

To Jones, Emmitt was too good to have somebody nipping at his heels begging for playing time.

Nobody seemed concerned about his health, or the consequences of a fly-by-night injury.

But, you say, Emmitt never got hurt!

That’s exactly the point, and one small coincidence that makes the Cowboys’ success in the ‘90’s so amazing, and this rant about Garrett’s supposed slipshod methods to piecing together a roster so ridiculous.

Murray has no one reliable behind him because the head coach hasn’t had enough time to find someone to put there.  

 

Has one victory blinded so many to the fact that, yes, Garrett, in year two, is still cleaning this roster out from the Wade Phillips era?

Left Tackle Position Has Dallas Cowboys Seeing A Lot Of Yellow

Left tackle Tyron Smith - Beaten

 by Ryan Bush

Twelve years of Flozell Adams.  Then two with Doug Free.  And now here we are one game, and three false starts, into the Tyron Smith era.

Is it too early to suggest a pre-snap jinx has been laid upon the Dallas Cowboys’ left tackle position?

Perfect September A Real Possibility For Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys

by Ryan Bush

One of the benefits for the Dallas Cowboys of sneaking past a good Giants squad on opening day is a prime opportunity to enter the season’s second month with a good head of steam.  Few thought it even a remote possibility a week ago, but the Cowboys could very well embark upon October with an unbeaten record.

With Seattle starting rookie quarterback Russell Wilson, who couldn’t even beat a suspect Arizona team with four second-half timeouts, the Cowboys will be heavily favored for this weekend’s game in the great northwest.  And then a week from Sunday Dallas returns to open their home slate of game against another offensively-challenged team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The toss-up game will be Dallas’ only Monday Night Football appearance of 2012 when Julius Peppers and the Chicago Bears come to Cowboys Stadium for an early season inter-conference battle that will test the Cowboys in a similar manner as the Giants did.  The Bears boast a tenacious pass-rush that will challenge the Cowboys’ makeshift offensive line, and make another sharp outing from Tony Romo imperative for victory.

Tony Romo On Target

The Cowboys haven’t started a season 4-0 since 2007 when they finished 13-3 and entered the playoffs as the conference’s top seed.  Though the latter number may be putting the cart before the horse, an undeniable opportunity is knocking for Dallas to make the former an unexpected reality.

And The Greatest Lesson Learned About the Dallas Cowboys After Their First Win Is…????

Miles Austin Tochdown Celebration

A Victorious Tony Rom

 by Ryan Bush

A flair for exaggeration and overreaction has contaminated Cowboy-lovers across this great land in the wake of what amounts to a generally unexpected season-opening victory against the reigning Super Bowl Champs, New York Giants.  It’s known as CowboyMania.  A more infectious disease has never been acknowledged in the psychiatric community.

 From a 24-17 game that can be boiled down to a handful of toss-up plays, the Cowboys walked away with a newfound respect from fans and dissidents alike.  Monday morning quarterbacks no longer see a Cowboys team that crumbles near closing time, but a group of something special that has yet to be determined, or maybe even realized.

What’s different about these Cowboys?  Truly, the question of the week, though the significance of it has been diminished somewhat after so many disturbingly empty answers have been put forth lately. Saying the Cowboys are a championship team after a victory that could have easily swung the other way is a learned exercise in futility around Cowboy Nation.  No team has been better at teasing the public in recent seasons than the Dallas 

Cowboys.  Too bad so few realize this.  

Proclaiming Tony Romo as a “much-matured quarterback” reeks of an overreaction disorder.  True, Romo was brilliant against Big Blue, but it wasn’t the first time he’s been.  And saying that Rob Ryan’s defense was “significantly improved” from last year’s unit is only stating an obvious fact that even Ray Charles couldn’t have missed.

What we learned from this victory is that Brandon Carr is a significant upgrade from Terence Newman and that Morris Claiborne is a solid player who will only get better with experience.  Barry Church is more mobile than predecessor Abram Elam, and Bruce Carter is able to stop stretch plays with far better effectiveness than Keith Brooking.

In hindsight, the game had many similar storylines to Dallas’ 2005 season-opening contest against San Diego.  The Cowboys proved to be penalty-prone in each.  Just like Romo faced a first-and-30 situation in the fourth quarter, Bledsoe found himself backed up on his own 8-yard line in the second quarter after four penalties in five plays left the offense in another and-forever position.  Kevin Ogletree is the out-of-nowhere hero at wide receiver currently, just like Patrick Crayton’s 89-yard, one touchdown performance made him then.  A year after finishing 6-10 with multiple double-digit losses with an atrocious defense, the 2005 bunch had mettle enough to win on the road against a good San Diego team.  And only eight months after being throttled by seventeen points against these same Giants on the same turf, this group of Cowboys calmly, and collectively, beat what is still considered to be a great team in their own backyard.

Yet, for all of that, the intangible evidence garnered from Wednesday’s win was probably the more encouraging sign that Garrett’s team is heading in the right direction.

Upset Victory Over New York Giants Carried Extra Meaning For Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones

 by Ryan Bush

Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones - Happy once again!

Forgive Jerry Jones for being his usual gushing self in a victorious Dallas Cowboys locker room the other night.  Because nearly seventeen years after his last Super Bowl championship, he may have actually had a legitimate reason to wave his indomitable silver and blue pom-pom like a schoolgirl in front of her graduating class.

You see, Wednesday’s 24-17 victory over the defending champion Giants was more than about just the upset and the glory of winning a division game on the road, a recent novelty around the Ranch.  For Jones, it was a definitive in-your-face gesture toward the New York front-office.  Exactly the kind of moment that Jones enjoys best.

Jones’ off-season was marred when the NFL came down hard on the Cowboys for overreaching their financial bounds in doling out huge payments to Miles Austin, Demarcus Ware, and a handful of others, during the uncapped 2010 season.  The league docked the team according to how much they calculated Dallas went over the “cap,” which was determined to be $10 million.  So Dallas was operating with $10 million less in their 2012 salary pool than they expected.  Now, compare that number to Washington’s $36 million reduction, and things don’t look quite so bad.  But $10 million is still a good chunk of change to play with in free-agency.

Jones vowed to appeal the ruling, claiming that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was delving into a legally compromising position of semantics and double-talk.  Jones wanted to know how a team could be penalized for violating an unwritten gentleman’s agreement by signing contracts that the league office had stamped their approval upon.

Giants Owner - John Mara

It was then that Giants owner John Mara smugly acknowledged that the Cowboys had gotten off lightly, and should be grateful for this reprieve from Goodell’s cabinet.  It could have been much worse for those poor little extravagant ‘Boys from Dallas, Mara assured the world.

Mara, it was later reported, was the leading figure who brought the infractions before the league office, and patiently waited for its results to swamp the coasts of his division rivals.  Now that the verdict had been officially declared, Mara was simply basking in the moment of personal triumph and smearing it in the face of Jones.

For undisclosed reasons, Jones eventually decided to drop the appeal and play the season shorthanded, though it greatly upset his off-season plans.  $10 million out of pocket, Jones and the Cowboys were unable to re-sign wide receiver Laurent Robinson, who tallied eleven touchdown receptions last season, forcing them to enter the 2012 campaign with a group of unknowns behind Miles Austin and Dez Bryant on the depth chart.

It was especially satisfying for Jones to witness not only his Cowboys take it to the Giants on the scoreboard, but little-known Kevin Ogletree step into Robinson’s former position and fill up the stat sheet with two scoring grabs of his own.  Realizing that the Giants had fallen from champs to division cellar-dwellers I’m sure didn’t cause him to lose any sleep, either.