This is new for me; a positive thread and how to win this week

Ok, everyone knows how I feel about JJ, JG, and the rest of the coaching staff. So, for 5 minutes I'll put that on the side burner and try to think like a fan of a regular, competitive, team that has a real, fighting chance to make the playoffs with a win tomorrow. Here are 5 things I think would allow us to win tomorrow. Feel free to add to the list, or some of you who think I've gone to far to the dark side, bring me back to reality, HAHA...

1) Run the ball, make Murray the focal point of the game plan. Don't be dumb and run because you don't have complete trust in Orton. I'm not talking about running on 3rd and 5 from the 40 yard line because you want to play for the FG either. All I'm saying is come out and establish that Murray is going to carry the ball 20-25 times. This OL has played better than I expected this year. Let's go out there and play some smash mouth football.

2) As I said in #1, forget the "we don't trust our QB" stuff you hear all the time in situations like this. Jerry already has eluded to Orton not having the same freedoms as Tony. That was a mistake that we need to get out of our minds immediately. JG does not have any other option right now. Like it or not, Kyle is our QB for the rest of the season. Trust him and let him play without having to worry about a 41 year old "never was that good" high school guy, coming in and taking over.

3) Remember that Jason Witten has always been the go to guy. Before Dez, and before Austin, and when Murray was hurt, JW has always been Mr. reliable. Orton would not be in the NFL if he couldn't throw a 10 yard out route, or a 15 yard pass in the seams. Witten can get open almost at will against the Eagles LB's. He should easily have 10 catches tomorrow. It will only lead to good things happening.

4) If we run the ball effectively, and use JW as I described, that should allow Dez or even Austin to get open deep a couple of times. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!! I don't feel like Romo has been right the entire season. The most evidence I can come up with is the lack of his down field accuracy. How many times this season has he over thrown our WR's on a semi-deep route, and how many times has he under thrown the WR's on deep routes. I think the coaches have went away from taking chances down field because they knew Tony couldn't make the throws.

5) I have ZERO faith that our defense can stop anyone. I heard someone say last week that a HS team could move the ball against this defense. Although I wouldn't go that far. I would say that there are so many fundamental flaws with the scheme, the personnel, and the basic football skills of this defense, that it would be crazy to think we can hang with the offense that Chip has developed in Philly. They are not the same team we played earlier in the year. The best way to beat a team that is rolling, is to keep their offense off the field. We need to go back to the ball hawking that was evident 15 weeks ago make a couple key stops on 3rd downs. If we allow them to stay on the field with their hurry up ,and run 70-80 plays, It will be OVER and be ugly.

According to everyone, this game is already over. I haven't heard anyone say we have a shot to win this game. And, as much as I HATE what has become the "Norm" in Dallas (8-8), I always have hope that we will find a way. Not for Jerry's sake. But for the sake of the Cowboys fans who still make them Americas team.

The Eagles are going to force us to pass because they know if they contain Murray, and they will, it will be on Orton's shoulders. Can Orton play very well and give us a chance? On defense we will HAVE to slow Shady because without Lee they are going to try and run it down our throats. I think Orton can play well but I don't think we can slow Shady. It could get ugly. I think we need a lot of screens to Murray because I don't see many holes up the middle. I would try to get the ball to Dwayne Harris as much as possible because he can get tough yardage. We need players like Orton, Harris, Beasley, and Escobar to really step up because the "stars" have a big bullseye on their backs.

Dallas will win this game. I love the home field advantage and look forward to a crazy and pumped up loud stadium. It doesn't matter. I'll take a win from special teams or some lucky breaks. I expect a ball control offense and I expect each team to get 9 offensive possessions. Lets make ours count. This one is in the book.

This team has stressed me to no end this season, last 3 seasons for that matter but if we win I will be absolutely giddy. I won't even be disappointed if we lose because this squad has trained me to expect the worse.

I think they will play a lot of nickel stuff. That'll last as long as they don't get gouged with the run. But the Nickel is also how they will try to stop McCoy. They have to tackle him or life will be difficult. The Nickel is how we stopped them last time. But we had Lee in the Middle then, too.

The Eagles haven't beat the Cowboys in over two years. Their last win against us was 12/24/2011.

I like all of your points. Especially point #4. Ortons fresh arm can win this game.

On offense:

Keep Dez in the slot and create mis matches like in our first meeting. If Philly shows 8 in the box, we still need to run. If we can gain their respect on our running attack, it'll leave receivers open on PA. I want to see screens as well. I would even throw them off with lining up Beasley and Murray in the backfield in the shotgun set. We could do draws, PA quick pass to Beasley in the flat. This would make them think twice about blitzing.

On defense:

If Ware is really banged up, we need Wilson's speed off of the edge. We need to make a collective effort in containing McCoy. Their biggest threat is Cooper and we need Carr to have his best game. At this point we need to gamble more and send different looks on blitzes.

Overall, our defense needs to give us a chance in this one and tighten up.

Lets do it!!

nake said:

The Eagles haven't beat the Cowboys in over two years. Their last win against us was 12/24/2011.

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Indeed. I live in Pennsylvania and am sure to remind Eagles fans of this at every possible opportunity. And it'll make winning tomorrow just that much sweeter. Not to mention sweeping the division entirely. This would be a huge win.

Arkyvarminter said:

The Eagles are going to force us to pass because they know if they contain Murray, and they will, it will be on Orton's shoulders. Can Orton play very well and give us a chance? .... I think we need a lot of screens to Murray because I don't see many holes up the middle.

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Because i too think that the eagles will try to stop our running game first and force us to beat them by pass i do think that all the shorter routes will be taken away also.

if orton is able to burn them with some longer passes (play action maybe a good choice in this game) it could get interessting. i just dont think orton will be able to do that.

As an Eagle fan I worry most about Dwyane Harris having a big impact in setting field position.

I also worry about Cole Beasley and Terrence Williams on the short underneath routes...those have been a thorn in the Eagles DBs side.

Here would be my points....
RBs need 30 carries to win time of possession.

Short, quick passes because Orton cant scramble like Romo does to buy time.

Short stuff to Witten over the middle, RBs on screens/ swing passes and quick slants to Dez.

On a couple of 2nd and shorts, take a chance on a deep pass to Dez.

Milk as much of the play clock as possible on every down.

On defense, play mostly nickel. Let them run the ball. Just limit the long pass gains.

Hope and pray Dwayne Harris returns a kick or a punt for a TD and sets us up with short fields a few times.

I think on offense it is imperative to show we can nullify their blitzes from the get go. We also need to take care of the ball.

The defense has proved it can get timely stops late in the game to enable us to win, and we will probably need them to do that tomorrow night. However, when the D does bend, we need to get a few stops in the red zone to hold them to FG attempts or make big 4th down stops. If there was ever a time to recover fumbles and to hold onto potential picks, this is it.

The season could not end any better than it will if the Boys send the Eagles home tomorrow so they can catch up on their knitting, eat some Chunky Soup, and watch the Cowboys in the playoffs on their huge big screen TVs.

nake said:

I think on offense it is imperative to show we can nullify their blitzes from the get go. We also need to take care of the ball.

The defense has proved it can get timely stops late in the game to enable us to win, and we will probably need them to do that tomorrow night. However, when the D does bend, we need to get a few stops in the red zone to hold them to FG attempts or make big 4th down stops. If there was ever a time to recover fumbles and to hold onto potential picks, this is it.

The season could not end any better than it will if the Boys send the Eagles home tomorrow so they can catch up on their knitting, eat some Chunky Soup, and watch the Cowboys in the playoffs on their huge big screen TVs.

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When has the defense proven they could do anything?

Who'ste="cowboys1981, post: 5385135, member: 36391"]On offense:

Keep Dez in the slot and create mis matches like in our first meeting. If Philly shows 8 in the box, we still need to run. If we can gain their respect on our running attack, it'll leave receivers open on PA. I want to see screens as well. I would even throw them off with lining up Beasley and Murray in the backfield in the shotgun set. We could do draws, PA quick pass to Beasley in the flat. This would make them think twice about blitzing.

On defense:

If Ware is really banged up, we need Wilson's speed off of the edge. We need to make a collective effort in containing McCoy. Their biggest threat is Cooper and we need Carr to have his best game. At this point we need to gamble more and send different looks on blitzes.

Overall, our defense needs to give us a chance in this one and tighten up.

Lets do it!![/quote]

Who's Wilson?

Stop the Eagles running game and you beat them. That includes both McCoy and Brown. If you look back at the Eagles wins and losses. The teams that beat the Eagles were the ones that stopped McCoy and Brown in the running game (as well as limiting them out of the backfield). The one exception being the Eagles at the Raiders (Though McCoy had a receiving TD).

I respect Foles and think he's a fine QB. With that being said, I may be one of few who believes he is an easy QB to handle with an aggressive D that stops the run and gets in the backfield.

I like our D-line vs Eagles O-Line. Foles has a slower time to attempt than most of the QBs we've faced this season, and we can disrupt him. The teams that have lived in the Eagles backfield being aggressive - Well, those are the teams that have been Foles' kryptonite.

We would have given the Eagles a goose-egg in our last match up if it wasn't for one turnover that gave them their 3 points.

As far as the Cowboys Offense vs their Defense. Our run O and pass O should tear them to shreds with our offensive line. So long as we stop the Eagles run, then our O will have plenty of attempts.

The Eagles didn't have to face Demarco Murray in the last outing. Nor, do I believe that have they prepared enough for a different Cowboys QB. Per Chip Kelly's Media call, it seems to me as if the most studied games the Eagles have done were the first Cowboys/Eagles game until now.

Kelly doesn't think our offense changes much with Romo out. I think he's wrong.

Our ST's will be huge with Harris back as well as Colt Anderson of the Eagles out.

Since our last meeting, we are minus Romo with the addition of Murray and Orton. On Defense we are minus Lee with the addition of Ware.

I've been lurking over at Eagles land. It seems to me that most of their players are focused on individual accolades and being in the spotlight (with the exception of their center and Avant). Those two players, and perhaps a few others, seem to be trying to get their team together as one. I don't think they will, not at this point.

As long as we stop their RB's; then the only other thing that slightly concerns me is their TE's.

Beyond that. I feel that the Eagles are a bunch of individuals in the same uniform. I like the Cowboys as a team, united under the same star, with the 12th man in this game.

The Eagles are in our way to the playoffs. We beat them earlier this season and I believe we'll do it again. I miss Romo and Lee as much as anyone. But our Cowboys are playing with full confidence as a unit.

As long as our Cowboys give the same team effort vs their RBs as they did in the last outing (only one rush of 10 yards). Then I think our Cowboys light the Eagles up and stomp 'em out.

It's how our Cowboys did it: McCoy 18-55 Rushing 0 TDs/6-26 receiving 0 TDs
It's how the Giants did it: McCoy 15-48 Rushing 0 TDs/4-17 receiving 0TDs
It's how the Vikings did it: McCoy 8-38 Rushing 0 TDs/5-68 receiving 0TDs

Refuse to lose!!!

jobberone said:

I think they will play a lot of nickel stuff. That'll last as long as they don't get gouged with the run. But the Nickel is also how they will try to stop McCoy. They have to tackle him or life will be difficult. The Nickel is how we stopped them last time. But we had Lee in the Middle then, too.

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Agreed. Hopefully our D can repeat these team stats from our first matchup in regards to stopping the run:

LeSean McCoy right end for 5 yards (tackle by J.J. Wilcox)
LeSean McCoy right end for 4 yards (tackle by Barry Church)
LeSean McCoy right guard for 1 yard (tackle by Sean Lee)
Nick Foles pass complete short right to LeSean McCoy for -7 yards (tackle by Brandon Carr)
LeSean McCoy right end for 1 yard (tackle by Drake Nevis)
LeSean McCoy left end for 2 yards (tackle by J.J. Wilcox)
LeSean McCoy up the middle for no gain (tackle by Jason Hatcher)
Nick Foles pass complete short right to LeSean McCoy for 4 yards (tackle by Brandon Carr)
LeSean McCoy left end for -3 yards (tackle by Sean Lee)
Nick Foles pass complete short left to LeSean McCoy for 6 yards (tackle by Morris Claiborne)
LeSean McCoy right end for 2 yards (tackle by Barry Church)
LeSean McCoy right end for 4 yards (tackle by Bruce Carter and Sean Lee)
LeSean McCoy right end for 6 yards (tackle by Barry Church and George Selvie)
LeSean McCoy right end for 6 yards (tackle by Barry Church)
LeSean McCoy right end for 10 yards (tackle by Jason Hatcher and J.J. Wilcox)
LeSean McCoy left tackle for 6 yards (tackle by Nick Hayden)
LeSean McCoy up the middle for 3 yards (tackle by Jason Hatcher)
LeSean McCoy up the middle for 2 yards (tackle by Ernie Sims and Sean Lee)
LeSean McCoy right end for no gain (tackle by Sean Lee)

mitchell2254 said:

This team has stressed me to no end this season, last 3 seasons for that matter but if we win I will be absolutely giddy. I won't even be disappointed if we lose because this squad has trained me to expect the worse.

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I feel ya. I just think this team begins a new mentality within every fan. One of complete confidence.

With some NFL fans - the glass is half full.
With other NFL fans - the glass is half empty.
With Cowboys fans these past few seasons - That same glass has been half-shattered.

Hopefully our Cowboys will bring us into the new year with a playoff birth!!!

Hot Toddy is back! Happy New Year Hot Toddy!! Hot Toddy is on here bright and early "liking" posts.
When it comes to "liking" posts, you cannot stop Hot Toddy. You can only hope to contain Hot Toddy.

We are going to need to run the ball, and run a lot, to keep our defense off the field and their offense off the field. It really shouldn't be that difficult of a task b/c the Philly defense is BAD. Control the clock by running early and often, keep it close and give ourselves a chance at the end.

The question becomes, are we willing to run the ball as much as it will take? With Orton in and Romo out, that becomes much more of a possibility (one would think).