Hostile
The Duke
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When you whip a team 44-7 it is often hard to find a lot to gripe about, but not impossible. For the third straight week we've allowed a rusher to go over 100 yards on the game, and Fred Jackson's 8.8 yards per carry is not very pleasant to look at. I'm also not real thrilled about 8 penalties.
Now you can say these things did not matter, and that is correct. Much of Jackson's yardage was when the game was already out of reach and we were playing for the pass. It just remains two things we have to work harder on. Shutting down the run is a critical aspect of winning football and three straight games allowing a guy over 100 yards is a little disconcerting.
Can I talk about direction for a minute? With 5:48 remaining in the first half Phil Simms began to ratify this theory of mine a little bit when he talked about how impressed he was by the focus of this football team. Garrett demands that they work to live up to the past legacy of this team and Simms described that as well as how he feels Garrett's system builds towards it. I wish I had stopped and copied his comments word for word, but it was late and I wanted to get through the whole game.
Needless to say I really do believe you saw yesterday an example of what I am talking about. I'm not talking about the blowout so much as I am talking about what they are trying to build. They don't want to rely only on throwing the ball. They don't want to rely only on running the ball. They don't want to rely on just 2 weapons. This team wants the opponent to have to defend the entire football field and they want to attack from anywhere on the field at any time. It worked against a good football team yesterday.
You want to talk about a discrepancy between two halves of football? You certainly saw it yesterday from this team and in particular from Tony Romo's stats. Not from Romo himself, his stats. He was brilliant from whistle to final gun.
In the first half he was 18 of 19 for 237 yards and 3 TDs. The Offense scored 28 points.
In the second half he was 5 of 7 for 33 yards. The Offense scored 9 points and the Defense 7.
Does that jump off the page or what? Now, before anyone jumps to an incorrect conclusion that I am saying we have to throw more, I'm not. Had the Bills been scoring there is not a doubt in my mind that we'd have kept the throttle mashed to the floor. But unlike the Detroit game, we now have an established RB in DeMarco Murray. Tony Fiammetta is opening lanes like we have not seen since Moose. Our second half opponent was the clock, not Buffalo, and we played exactly that way.
Translation..you learn more from your mistakes than you do your successes in football. Now I am almost certain that some bitter fan will think I am praising or justifying the Lions loss. Again, I am not. This is what Garrett is talking about when he says it is a process. No team has ever gone from 1-7 to to undefeated juggernaut simply by changing coaches or players or the GM. You have to learn how to get there.
Direction. Get it?
Romo was brilliant, but he wasn't the only one. Fiammetta and Murray once again have me jumping out of my chair. No disrespect to Felix Jones at all, but Cat, you need to be the change of pace back. Murray is our hammer. He can do things that push you more towards winning than Jones can. In particular he is a guy who can get the hard yard.
In absolute ironic twist of truth Felix has 253 yards rushing on the season. Murray did exactly that in 1 game. with only 37 more carries he has 421 more yards. He has 7 runs of over 20 yards already. There is no reason to change what is working so beautifully. To Murray's everlasting credit, he is diplomatic about his role here.
If Felix Jones returns as the starter he will become the most hated Dallas Cowboy on the roster. I hate to make a prediction like that, but the fans can see the results of Murray's dominance. Yes, dominance. Think about this, and let it marinate. He is 11th in the NFL in rushing right now. With the exception of the 2 headed monster in Houston, every other RB ahead of him began the season as the featured back and still is.
Darrell Royal used to say, "Dance with the one that brung ya." Well, there is little doubt that this team is about to turn a corner and get on a roll because of DeMarco Murray. Easily our first half MVP and already in the running for second half as well. Felix may have an occasional better game. That is football. He is not a better feature back, and I know he did not have Fiammetta for all of his games. Murray is just that good.
Once again we took control of the Time of Possession on the game. It led to some absolutely great indicator stats that show progress. We were 8 of 12 on 3rd down. That is outstanding. That kind of success wins you football games.
It is also important to note that our red zone success was way up yesterday and just as important but not being said anywhere we stopped Buffalo in the red zone twice. They had scored a TD or a FG every time they had ventured into the shark infested waters this year. They failed going for it on 4th and 2 in the first half and late in the game Frank Walker took the ball away for the 4th time in the game.
In the last two games we have 7 takeaways and only one give it back. That is on Bryant's goal line fumble after the catch and run. Dez was brilliant yesterday on numerous occasions but never moreso than on his TD grab where he literally went over the defender and simply plucked it away without riding him piggy back. He has unreal talent. It simply cannot be said enough.
Speaking of talent, was Laurent Robinson doing something different in St. Louis or San Diego, because the guy has been an absolute steal for us. I don't ever want him to leave. Unlike some people I do not start him over Miles, but I am also not willing to rush Miles back because I trust this kid so much. Tony does too. That importance cannot be over stated.
Our much maligned Offensive Line was magnificent yesterday. Even the current whipping boy Phil Costa. I loved the replay CBS showed of no one in front of Romo so he could see the entire football field. Had everyone been covered he could have run for the first down yardage. That kind of blocking matters. Let's hope they can keep it up.
Make no mistake about it folks, this Defense is simply better with Sean Lee in charge. Imagine yesterday if he had been healthy. He is that good. Good enough that Rob Ryan said he turned over the play calling duties to him at one time during the game. To every who panned that pick, you got mooned. He has been nothing short of fantastic all season and yesterday, with one hand and a club he played and directed this Defense to what is arguably their best effort this year overall. Guarantee you with two hands Fred Jackson doesn't have 8.8 yards per carry.
After the Eagles game we had allowed 162 points. If you take that and divide it by 7 then multiply that number by 16 you learn that we were on pace to give up 370 points on the season. After back to back stand up and be counted games by the Defense that number has nose dived to 323 points on the season. In my Primer to the season I said I wanted 100 points improvement from the 436 we gave up last year. We are now ahead of that pace and I have a feeling Mr. Ryan's wrecking crew are going to keep the pressure on and keep handing out scores with an eye dropper instead of the sieve we saw in Philly.
Direction again.
Our DBs suddenly look like every one of them is capable, focused, and charged up. Seen many Alan Ball sucks threads lately? Threads complaining about our Safeties? If you see one complaining about Terence Newman this week, you should laugh at it. From the time of that little sideline skirmish to the end of the game he was playing Daddy to the Bills WRs. He punished them and he punished Fitzpatrick too. Buffalo came into this game with the reputation as takeaway specialists, and we showed them we have that ability too. Jackson's fumble was caused by one of our DBs, Gerald Sensabaugh, putting all 4 of our takeaways in the DB ledger books.
Out freaking standing.
After the first play when Ware sacked Fitzpatrick did you think he was going to have a monster day? He did, despite that being his only sack. Sacks tell a great story but they don't tell you a whole story. I doubt there could have been a half dozen plays the rest of the game where Ware was not double and sometimes triple teamed. He still got in on tackles and more importantly he opened holes for tacklers to come in and deliver. There is not a better Defensive player in the NFL. Second place is a wide gap too. We are privileged to get to see this man do this.
Jimmy Johnson never beat the Cowboys while at Miami with the Dolphins. Yesterday Chan Gailey got added to the ledger of our former head coaches coming back to face us and losing. I don't know about anyone else, but I both like Chan Gailey as a person, and am thrilled that we took him and his team to the woodshed. I'd like to think that for the rest of his time in the NFL we would continue to beat him. I doubt Wade gets another Head Coach job, but I like having that record against our former Head Coaches. It feels vindictive and good.
The pressure should now be on this team not to let yesterday's blowout go to their heads the way the Rams blowout did. Philly reminded us of our mortality in a rude and frightening way. We were far from "unbeatable" as Mr. Bryant had proclaimed.
Let's not let the Commanders serve up a similar reminder. Three in a row and staring at Miami for Dead Bird Day would be a hell of a way to keep this train rolling. It's time to take our brooms to the Nation's Capital and sweep up the trash.
Now you can say these things did not matter, and that is correct. Much of Jackson's yardage was when the game was already out of reach and we were playing for the pass. It just remains two things we have to work harder on. Shutting down the run is a critical aspect of winning football and three straight games allowing a guy over 100 yards is a little disconcerting.
Can I talk about direction for a minute? With 5:48 remaining in the first half Phil Simms began to ratify this theory of mine a little bit when he talked about how impressed he was by the focus of this football team. Garrett demands that they work to live up to the past legacy of this team and Simms described that as well as how he feels Garrett's system builds towards it. I wish I had stopped and copied his comments word for word, but it was late and I wanted to get through the whole game.
Needless to say I really do believe you saw yesterday an example of what I am talking about. I'm not talking about the blowout so much as I am talking about what they are trying to build. They don't want to rely only on throwing the ball. They don't want to rely only on running the ball. They don't want to rely on just 2 weapons. This team wants the opponent to have to defend the entire football field and they want to attack from anywhere on the field at any time. It worked against a good football team yesterday.
You want to talk about a discrepancy between two halves of football? You certainly saw it yesterday from this team and in particular from Tony Romo's stats. Not from Romo himself, his stats. He was brilliant from whistle to final gun.
In the first half he was 18 of 19 for 237 yards and 3 TDs. The Offense scored 28 points.
In the second half he was 5 of 7 for 33 yards. The Offense scored 9 points and the Defense 7.
Does that jump off the page or what? Now, before anyone jumps to an incorrect conclusion that I am saying we have to throw more, I'm not. Had the Bills been scoring there is not a doubt in my mind that we'd have kept the throttle mashed to the floor. But unlike the Detroit game, we now have an established RB in DeMarco Murray. Tony Fiammetta is opening lanes like we have not seen since Moose. Our second half opponent was the clock, not Buffalo, and we played exactly that way.
Translation..you learn more from your mistakes than you do your successes in football. Now I am almost certain that some bitter fan will think I am praising or justifying the Lions loss. Again, I am not. This is what Garrett is talking about when he says it is a process. No team has ever gone from 1-7 to to undefeated juggernaut simply by changing coaches or players or the GM. You have to learn how to get there.
Direction. Get it?
Romo was brilliant, but he wasn't the only one. Fiammetta and Murray once again have me jumping out of my chair. No disrespect to Felix Jones at all, but Cat, you need to be the change of pace back. Murray is our hammer. He can do things that push you more towards winning than Jones can. In particular he is a guy who can get the hard yard.
In absolute ironic twist of truth Felix has 253 yards rushing on the season. Murray did exactly that in 1 game. with only 37 more carries he has 421 more yards. He has 7 runs of over 20 yards already. There is no reason to change what is working so beautifully. To Murray's everlasting credit, he is diplomatic about his role here.
If Felix Jones returns as the starter he will become the most hated Dallas Cowboy on the roster. I hate to make a prediction like that, but the fans can see the results of Murray's dominance. Yes, dominance. Think about this, and let it marinate. He is 11th in the NFL in rushing right now. With the exception of the 2 headed monster in Houston, every other RB ahead of him began the season as the featured back and still is.
Darrell Royal used to say, "Dance with the one that brung ya." Well, there is little doubt that this team is about to turn a corner and get on a roll because of DeMarco Murray. Easily our first half MVP and already in the running for second half as well. Felix may have an occasional better game. That is football. He is not a better feature back, and I know he did not have Fiammetta for all of his games. Murray is just that good.
Once again we took control of the Time of Possession on the game. It led to some absolutely great indicator stats that show progress. We were 8 of 12 on 3rd down. That is outstanding. That kind of success wins you football games.
It is also important to note that our red zone success was way up yesterday and just as important but not being said anywhere we stopped Buffalo in the red zone twice. They had scored a TD or a FG every time they had ventured into the shark infested waters this year. They failed going for it on 4th and 2 in the first half and late in the game Frank Walker took the ball away for the 4th time in the game.
In the last two games we have 7 takeaways and only one give it back. That is on Bryant's goal line fumble after the catch and run. Dez was brilliant yesterday on numerous occasions but never moreso than on his TD grab where he literally went over the defender and simply plucked it away without riding him piggy back. He has unreal talent. It simply cannot be said enough.
Speaking of talent, was Laurent Robinson doing something different in St. Louis or San Diego, because the guy has been an absolute steal for us. I don't ever want him to leave. Unlike some people I do not start him over Miles, but I am also not willing to rush Miles back because I trust this kid so much. Tony does too. That importance cannot be over stated.
Our much maligned Offensive Line was magnificent yesterday. Even the current whipping boy Phil Costa. I loved the replay CBS showed of no one in front of Romo so he could see the entire football field. Had everyone been covered he could have run for the first down yardage. That kind of blocking matters. Let's hope they can keep it up.
Make no mistake about it folks, this Defense is simply better with Sean Lee in charge. Imagine yesterday if he had been healthy. He is that good. Good enough that Rob Ryan said he turned over the play calling duties to him at one time during the game. To every who panned that pick, you got mooned. He has been nothing short of fantastic all season and yesterday, with one hand and a club he played and directed this Defense to what is arguably their best effort this year overall. Guarantee you with two hands Fred Jackson doesn't have 8.8 yards per carry.
After the Eagles game we had allowed 162 points. If you take that and divide it by 7 then multiply that number by 16 you learn that we were on pace to give up 370 points on the season. After back to back stand up and be counted games by the Defense that number has nose dived to 323 points on the season. In my Primer to the season I said I wanted 100 points improvement from the 436 we gave up last year. We are now ahead of that pace and I have a feeling Mr. Ryan's wrecking crew are going to keep the pressure on and keep handing out scores with an eye dropper instead of the sieve we saw in Philly.
Direction again.
Our DBs suddenly look like every one of them is capable, focused, and charged up. Seen many Alan Ball sucks threads lately? Threads complaining about our Safeties? If you see one complaining about Terence Newman this week, you should laugh at it. From the time of that little sideline skirmish to the end of the game he was playing Daddy to the Bills WRs. He punished them and he punished Fitzpatrick too. Buffalo came into this game with the reputation as takeaway specialists, and we showed them we have that ability too. Jackson's fumble was caused by one of our DBs, Gerald Sensabaugh, putting all 4 of our takeaways in the DB ledger books.
Out freaking standing.
After the first play when Ware sacked Fitzpatrick did you think he was going to have a monster day? He did, despite that being his only sack. Sacks tell a great story but they don't tell you a whole story. I doubt there could have been a half dozen plays the rest of the game where Ware was not double and sometimes triple teamed. He still got in on tackles and more importantly he opened holes for tacklers to come in and deliver. There is not a better Defensive player in the NFL. Second place is a wide gap too. We are privileged to get to see this man do this.
Jimmy Johnson never beat the Cowboys while at Miami with the Dolphins. Yesterday Chan Gailey got added to the ledger of our former head coaches coming back to face us and losing. I don't know about anyone else, but I both like Chan Gailey as a person, and am thrilled that we took him and his team to the woodshed. I'd like to think that for the rest of his time in the NFL we would continue to beat him. I doubt Wade gets another Head Coach job, but I like having that record against our former Head Coaches. It feels vindictive and good.
The pressure should now be on this team not to let yesterday's blowout go to their heads the way the Rams blowout did. Philly reminded us of our mortality in a rude and frightening way. We were far from "unbeatable" as Mr. Bryant had proclaimed.
Let's not let the Commanders serve up a similar reminder. Three in a row and staring at Miami for Dead Bird Day would be a hell of a way to keep this train rolling. It's time to take our brooms to the Nation's Capital and sweep up the trash.
