Do we have more confidence going to Houston now?

[cowboyblue22]

ithink that if dallas loses this game sunday they will end the season way under 500

 

[SoupcanSam]

I defintely see Houston as more winnable than Jaguars.

We will score ZERO against the jags. We won't even sniff the 50 yard line.

We will shut down their run but Cole and Westbrook will streak wild from blown coverages.

If dak can move against that defense I will be blown away.

 

[aria]

You think the league and JJ don't have a vested interest in keeping people tuned into the Cowboys? Look at television ratings, which is this league's bread and butter.

Do you not notice how few games end in blowouts? Or how even the ones that do typically do not materialize till after the first half? It isn't just parity.

The officials will start siding with the losing team during the game. Every single 50/50 call starts going to the losing team. I watch tons of other games and it is apparent. If one team looks like they will jump way ahead early or does it, the calls or non-calls will start skewing to the losing side. No way to prove my opinion of course without firm evidence.

I’m not saying I believe in conspiracy theories, I don’t but I promise you if last Sunday ended with a Detroit win and the Cowboys were flagged 8 times and Detroit was only flagged twice when there were obvious holding penalties on them and one very questionable game changing roughing the passer penalty then all hell would have broken loose on this board.

There would be thread after thread of Mara and Goodell fixing the game, no one wants us to win, we’re the only team that gets screwed like this, blah blah blah. Since the penalties were strongly in our favor there isn’t one peep about the officiating. Comical.

I do agree with you that the Cowboys are great for Goodell, the NFL and ratings which is one of the many reasons why I’ve always called out the conspiracy theorists who say Goodell is out to get us. Cowboys are relevant, ratings go up, ratings go up, NFL income goes up, NFL income goes up owners make more money, owners make more money then Goodell gets more money.

Edit: My bad, there are several complaints about one officiating call, the PI against Rico but not one mention of Awuzie? tackling Tate? about 5 seconds before he even caught the ball for a TD. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways but had it been an incompletion and there was no flag, it could have been a game changer.

 

[VACowboy]

Detroit is 8th in the league in defense and fourth in sacks, one behind us. They gave up 48 and 30 points to the Jets and Niners in games one and two then 10 last week and pounded NE. Carolina and NYFG are actually the worst defenses we've played, at least statistically, for now. First quarter of the season is hard to judge. I usually start believing what I'm seeing around week 4-5, so I'm hoping this week was what our offense is going to be. OL played better. Dak missed endzone shots but he played better. And Swaim had a good day. My confidence that we'll win Sunday is about 60%.

 

[Bullflop]

I'm reasonably confident, considering we beat Detroit. I'd be far less confident if that weren't the case.

All things considered, I'm thinking we should beat Houston although their pass rush gives me pause.

Nevertheless, I checked with Google a while ago and it seems they're favoring Houston by 3.5 points.

 

[aria]

Yep, this is the Super Bowl for the Houston Texan fans.

Too bad the fans aren’t playing in the game, the paid professionals are and I guarantee our guys want to win as much as theirs. The friggin Gnats beat the Texans and they’re lucky to even have a win. Latest power rankings have them lne spot in front of the Giants and a few behind the Lions.

People are giving this team too much credit due their name and location. If they suck, they suck and they suck.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

This should be a fair test for both sides of the ball.

A win vs Houston will be a big step toward getting this season turned around.

In reality, yes, but the narrative will be we haven't beat anybody. Leading up to the game, we hear how great the opponent is. After we win, we hear how much they suck.

 

[CouchCoach]

Certainly better than a loss and easier to build on a win but it was not without concern. That defense couldn't shut them down with the game on the line and they were fortunate to have enough time on the clock and facing one of the worst defenses in the league.

DAL and HOU are off to less than exciting starts and they had to have some luck in the form of a HC decision that would have us storming the castle on Monday to escape with a win.

This game will be about which one can come out of the chute the fastest because DAL has to keep the HOU fans out of it. They want this win worse than the DAL fans do and a win could get their fans right back on the good ship lollipop.

 

[aria]

Detroit is 8th in the league in defense and fourth in sacks, one behind us. They gave up 48 and 30 points to the Jets and Niners in games one and two then 10 last week and pounded NE. Carolina and NYFG are actually the worst defenses we've played, at least statistically, for now. First quarter of the season is hard to judge. I usually start believing what I'm seeing around week 4-5, so I'm hoping this week was what our offense is going to be. OL played better. Dak missed endzone shots but he played better. And Swaim had a good day. My confidence that we'll win Sunday is about 60%.

I agree with you other than being optimistic after beating the worst run D in the league. We have one of the best RB’s and still one of best O lines in the league IMO, what did people think would happen? I’m honestly surprised it was as close as it was but I’m not surprised Zeke ran wild and our O line was good.

 

[CouchCoach]

This is one of the few games I’ve had confidence in since the preseason and it hasn’t gotten better or worse since last week. Their O line is horrendous and they’re lucky to even have one win. I don’t buy the “their fans will be pumped theory” because their fans aren’t playing and won’t make up the for difference in talent we have over them. I haven’t posted my score prediction yet but it I could easily see us winning by 10 points. From a betting standpoint, I’ll be all over this game.

Based on what I've seen from both teams, I wouldn't touch this one.

The one thing that leans me in the DAL direction is that Watson holds the ball the longest among all the starting QB's. The one thing that doesn't was watching Watt, Clowney, Hopkins and Fuller starting to come alive.

HOU does not look like a good team but neither does DAL. This will be one about which one doesn't **** up the most.

 

[Colombiacowboy]

Probably so. Good news is our division is looking more like it’s fallen back to us.

Eagles are looking 2-3 squarely in the face this week too with Vikings.

8-8 could keep us in the hunt this year.

I don't know about you guys, but being "in the hunt" is not what I want. I want to be dominate going into the playoffs, and dominate throughout the playoffs, and dominant in the big game...like our '92 and '93 teams.

 

[Reid1boys]

I wouldn’t call Houston a must win but if we lose then Jacksonville becomes must win.

I call it a must win. If you can’t beat avg to bad teams, you have no chance beating good teams...
Just like Seattle, w ended to win this game. Then you go into Jacksonville game as a toss up. It’s not like jags offense is stellar.

 

[Aviano90]

I don't know about you guys, but being "in the hunt" is not what I want. I want to be dominate going into the playoffs, and dominate throughout the playoffs, and dominant in the big game...like our '92 and '93 teams.

We need a big time QB and defense to do that. Haven't had the QB since Troy left and haven't had the defense since Parcells left.

 

[Turkish-Cowboy]

We get Irving back!!! Just kidding.

It will be a good test to evaulate the team and see what they are. What we saw against the Seahawks or the team that was somewhat impressive on offense last week.

All aside, I personally think that the team needed those weeks to rub the rust off which they built thanks to the beauty of coaching of Garrett and his decision not to play the starters in the PS.

 

[Direwolf63]

I call it a must win. If you can’t beat avg to bad teams, you have no chance beating good teams...
Just like Seattle, w ended to win this game. Then you go into Jacksonville game as a toss up. It’s not like jags offense is stellar.

The Jags offense isn't stellar but their defense is.

I'm struggling to figure out how this offense scores double digits on them.

 

[Reid1boys]

The Jags offense isn't stellar but their defense is.

I'm struggling to figure out how this offense scores double digits on them.

Jags lost to titans, and their offense isn’t much better than ours.

 

[CouchCoach]

I don't know about you guys, but being "in the hunt" is not what I want. I want to be dominate going into the playoffs, and dominate throughout the playoffs, and dominant in the big game...like our '92 and '93 teams.

And I want to be handsome, rich, thin and young.

I would settle for being in the hunt and relevant down to the wire. 92/93 was a long time ago, when I was thinner and younger.

 

[glimmerman]

This is one of the few games I’ve had confidence in since the preseason and it hasn’t gotten better or worse since last week. Their O line is horrendous and they’re lucky to even have one win. I don’t buy the “their fans will be pumped theory” because their fans aren’t playing and won’t make up the for difference in talent we have over them. I haven’t posted my score prediction yet but it I could easily see us winning by 10 points. From a betting standpoint, I’ll be all over this game.

Hope your right. Need to see a game that at the end the other team is not in it. Win one finishing with our backups.

 

[cern]

the new uber weapon, swaim, will contribute greatly to a victory over the texans.

 

[CouchCoach]

Hope your right. Need to see a game that at the end the other team is not in it. Win one finishing with our backups.

My friend, those days are long gone. If our backups are playing, it will not be because we've owned them. It will be because more starters are injured.