Hostile
The Duke
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With it being Thanksgiving week I don't have time to wait 24 hours to post this thread and then another 24 hours before the Primer thread for the Dolphins as I usually do. My apologies to all who can't stand these thread contributions I try to offer. I will be posting both threads earlier than usual.
At least we can all be thankful for a Cowboys win today. In this time of Thanksgiving we all need something to be thankful for. If you are not thankful to see this team pull out a win today then I don't know what you are doing as a fan. Easily this game could have been a loss. I'll say it again for emphasis, easily. Since I said that, I will repeat the other comment, we should all be thankful.
Now this is going to sound real strange. I never had any doubt we were going to win today. Not even when the wheels were coming off. Not even when their FG Kicker lined up for a potential game winner, and I of all people know how other team's Kickers never miss against us. Newsflash, he missed 2. I don't even know how far back you have to go to see a team miss 2 against us. I certainly can't recall it right now.
It's kind of hard to explain why I never doubted. I hope you will bear with me for a moment while I try. Literally every college game I cared about this weekend seemed to come down to the last quarter to be decided. In every case the team I was pulling for ended up winning. I just felt it was a week of good karma and we were going to pull it out.
Now, I am not superstitious, but I am superstitious if you know what I mean. In recent years when my college teams have lost, so have the Cowboys. It just kind of rounds out a completely sucky weekend and I've started to get edgy about the Cowboys games when I see the college games. Yesterday was just a real fun football day for me, and all along as the edge of my seat was screaming at me to sit back, I felt calm.
I was kind of laughing at the people falling apart in the Game thread. Hard not to. The thing I love most about football is that it is so unpredictable. No one saw that Skins team playing equal to us. No one saw them possibly winning that game, and make no mistake it was theirs for the taking. Yet that happens in football.
I will take a gut it out win every week. Yeah, it is hard on the heart to root for the Cardiac Cowboys, but it is good for the football team in a lot of respects. It builds character and chemistry. I have been saying that all season, but someone will have an issue with it as if it is brand new.
Jason Garrett is now 3-0 in OT games as our Head Coach. All 3 games have been 3 point wins on the road. He is also 3-0 against the Commanders and we completed our 16th season sweep of them. Two wins by a total of 5 points. If you know anything about the History of this rivalry it is that at any time these 2 teams can play each other so close that either team could own a sweep. We are 2 missed FGs away from staring at that.
That is why this team is the Cardiac Cowboys. They give you heart attacks.
Okay, let's talk about the game a little. First with some general observations. 9 penalties is simply too much. This team has to make a move towards cutting down on penalties.
Once again, we took a decisive advantage in Time of Possession. Once again we did not turn the ball over. How did we almost lose then? Simply put we allowed Washington way too much momentum. This team seems to get a little full of themselves and turn in a flat effort too often. We can't have that against a division opponent. I will take the win and not gripe, but there is still room for improvement here. We cannot think this is a contender. They cannot think they are a contender.
That seems obvious to me. Another really obvious factor is how much better the running game with Fiammetta on lead blocks. Wow is it ever night and day. Give Murray all the credit he is richly due; that kid is one hell of a runner. He is one hell of a weapon. Give Fiammetta the credit he is also due. He is a difference maker on this Offense. It really is a stark contrast. Even to the naked eye. Fiammetta's main job today would have been to neutralize London Fletcher. He looked all world to me today. I have so much respect for that guy as a player.
Let's look at the opposite side's running attack. I wish to start by letting Stephen Bowen know that our former best RB looked as pedestrian today in burgundy as he had this year in blue. About the only thing he did right was hang onto the football for the Skins. I am tickled beyond words though that we did not allow a 4th straight 100 yard rusher. In fact, we held them to 60 yards rushing as a team. It was through the air that we could not stop them way too often.
You could see the rust on Felix. I have no doubt he will knock some of it off, but I had the sense today that Phillip Tanner could have given us more than Felix. Long haul when we need him, no. So getting Felix acclimated was crucial to the long term success of the season. he could be a huge factor against the Dolphins on Thursday because Murray is going to be sore trying to recover in 4 days. In other words, I like the timing of his return. It bodes well for the remainder of this week and the near future.
Our OL was a little scattered today. Romo got dropped 4 times. Laurent Robinson and Romo were off. There is no doubt the Defense was way off despite a very impressive 9 tackles for loss.
The lone bright spots on Defense have been Ware and Lee. Lee continued his impressive season today with 10 tackles. Ware added a sack to tie himself and Jim Jeffcoat for 3rd best seasons all time for sacks. Ware is only 1.5 sacks behind his 15.5 that led the NFL last year. His next sack or half sack will mean he owns the top 3 sack seasons in Cowboys History and is tied for 4th. These are of course unofficial numbers since sacks was not a counted stat in the days of Harvey Martin. Still it is impressive.
If it was Tony who was off in the hookup with Robinson, he was flawless almost everywhere else. Thank heavens because without him leading us to a 3rd come from behind victory this season we are stuck as a .500 team instead of having a very real chance for a leap forward to the top of our Division. Romo's TDs moved him past Don Meredith on our all time list. He is now 4th. He is also about 502 yards passing from knocking Quincy Carter's 2003 season off the top 10 list for us all time and notching his 4th top 10 effort in our History.
He is having a remarkable season in so many ways. He's on a great passing streak that can carry this team. Make no mistake about it, we go only as far as he carries us. If he continues to connect with Bryant and Witten in big situations like today we can go far. For that to happen we need the OL to have a rebound, because today was not their best effort.
I don't mind saying it, Jason Witten is the best TE I have ever seen. Yes, even better than the statistical best ever Tony Gonzalez. Tony has never been the blocker that Jason is and Jason is every bit as good as a pass catcher. His TD today was so clutch. If you watch it closely you will actually see him find Tony and point where he is going and where he was going was going to be a place where no one could stop him. Romo made a clutch throw and Witten provided the spark this team needed to actually win this game. He may never catch Gonzalez's stats, but there is not a doubt in my mind that he is simply more rounded over all. Today is the first time I have been ready to say this, but I am finally saying it. As a complete TE, he is the best I have ever seen.
For the last 2 years I have wanted to get a dedicated Return Specialist in the Draft. In fact, at one time Banks of the Commanders was a guy I was targeting. I continue to wish we had this type of weapon. I am not sure who the best in college football is right now, but I can tell you that I feel we are that guy away from being a very real contender. I prefer not to use Dez in that capacity even though he is clearly as good or better than even Banks was. I just appreciate that aspect of Special Teams.
One aspect that I normally do not appreciate and rarely talk about is kicking. Nothing has changed. I'm not going to do it here, but I imagine you have to know how thankful I am for what we have discovered in that aspect of the game.
As you prepare for your Holiday meal and the football game we all enjoy so much I hope that each of you will reflect on all the things you have to be thankful for, and I do not just mean the game today. There are members on this forum who have suffered incredible losses since last Thanksgiving, including myself. The last year and a half are undoubtedly the hardest I have ever had to endure as an adult. I appreciate everyone who has put up with me this year.
In other words, I am thankful for you. Enjoy the win...for 24 hours. The next one is coming fast.
At least we can all be thankful for a Cowboys win today. In this time of Thanksgiving we all need something to be thankful for. If you are not thankful to see this team pull out a win today then I don't know what you are doing as a fan. Easily this game could have been a loss. I'll say it again for emphasis, easily. Since I said that, I will repeat the other comment, we should all be thankful.
Now this is going to sound real strange. I never had any doubt we were going to win today. Not even when the wheels were coming off. Not even when their FG Kicker lined up for a potential game winner, and I of all people know how other team's Kickers never miss against us. Newsflash, he missed 2. I don't even know how far back you have to go to see a team miss 2 against us. I certainly can't recall it right now.
It's kind of hard to explain why I never doubted. I hope you will bear with me for a moment while I try. Literally every college game I cared about this weekend seemed to come down to the last quarter to be decided. In every case the team I was pulling for ended up winning. I just felt it was a week of good karma and we were going to pull it out.
Now, I am not superstitious, but I am superstitious if you know what I mean. In recent years when my college teams have lost, so have the Cowboys. It just kind of rounds out a completely sucky weekend and I've started to get edgy about the Cowboys games when I see the college games. Yesterday was just a real fun football day for me, and all along as the edge of my seat was screaming at me to sit back, I felt calm.
I was kind of laughing at the people falling apart in the Game thread. Hard not to. The thing I love most about football is that it is so unpredictable. No one saw that Skins team playing equal to us. No one saw them possibly winning that game, and make no mistake it was theirs for the taking. Yet that happens in football.
I will take a gut it out win every week. Yeah, it is hard on the heart to root for the Cardiac Cowboys, but it is good for the football team in a lot of respects. It builds character and chemistry. I have been saying that all season, but someone will have an issue with it as if it is brand new.
Jason Garrett is now 3-0 in OT games as our Head Coach. All 3 games have been 3 point wins on the road. He is also 3-0 against the Commanders and we completed our 16th season sweep of them. Two wins by a total of 5 points. If you know anything about the History of this rivalry it is that at any time these 2 teams can play each other so close that either team could own a sweep. We are 2 missed FGs away from staring at that.
That is why this team is the Cardiac Cowboys. They give you heart attacks.
Okay, let's talk about the game a little. First with some general observations. 9 penalties is simply too much. This team has to make a move towards cutting down on penalties.
Once again, we took a decisive advantage in Time of Possession. Once again we did not turn the ball over. How did we almost lose then? Simply put we allowed Washington way too much momentum. This team seems to get a little full of themselves and turn in a flat effort too often. We can't have that against a division opponent. I will take the win and not gripe, but there is still room for improvement here. We cannot think this is a contender. They cannot think they are a contender.
That seems obvious to me. Another really obvious factor is how much better the running game with Fiammetta on lead blocks. Wow is it ever night and day. Give Murray all the credit he is richly due; that kid is one hell of a runner. He is one hell of a weapon. Give Fiammetta the credit he is also due. He is a difference maker on this Offense. It really is a stark contrast. Even to the naked eye. Fiammetta's main job today would have been to neutralize London Fletcher. He looked all world to me today. I have so much respect for that guy as a player.
Let's look at the opposite side's running attack. I wish to start by letting Stephen Bowen know that our former best RB looked as pedestrian today in burgundy as he had this year in blue. About the only thing he did right was hang onto the football for the Skins. I am tickled beyond words though that we did not allow a 4th straight 100 yard rusher. In fact, we held them to 60 yards rushing as a team. It was through the air that we could not stop them way too often.
You could see the rust on Felix. I have no doubt he will knock some of it off, but I had the sense today that Phillip Tanner could have given us more than Felix. Long haul when we need him, no. So getting Felix acclimated was crucial to the long term success of the season. he could be a huge factor against the Dolphins on Thursday because Murray is going to be sore trying to recover in 4 days. In other words, I like the timing of his return. It bodes well for the remainder of this week and the near future.
Our OL was a little scattered today. Romo got dropped 4 times. Laurent Robinson and Romo were off. There is no doubt the Defense was way off despite a very impressive 9 tackles for loss.
The lone bright spots on Defense have been Ware and Lee. Lee continued his impressive season today with 10 tackles. Ware added a sack to tie himself and Jim Jeffcoat for 3rd best seasons all time for sacks. Ware is only 1.5 sacks behind his 15.5 that led the NFL last year. His next sack or half sack will mean he owns the top 3 sack seasons in Cowboys History and is tied for 4th. These are of course unofficial numbers since sacks was not a counted stat in the days of Harvey Martin. Still it is impressive.
If it was Tony who was off in the hookup with Robinson, he was flawless almost everywhere else. Thank heavens because without him leading us to a 3rd come from behind victory this season we are stuck as a .500 team instead of having a very real chance for a leap forward to the top of our Division. Romo's TDs moved him past Don Meredith on our all time list. He is now 4th. He is also about 502 yards passing from knocking Quincy Carter's 2003 season off the top 10 list for us all time and notching his 4th top 10 effort in our History.
He is having a remarkable season in so many ways. He's on a great passing streak that can carry this team. Make no mistake about it, we go only as far as he carries us. If he continues to connect with Bryant and Witten in big situations like today we can go far. For that to happen we need the OL to have a rebound, because today was not their best effort.
I don't mind saying it, Jason Witten is the best TE I have ever seen. Yes, even better than the statistical best ever Tony Gonzalez. Tony has never been the blocker that Jason is and Jason is every bit as good as a pass catcher. His TD today was so clutch. If you watch it closely you will actually see him find Tony and point where he is going and where he was going was going to be a place where no one could stop him. Romo made a clutch throw and Witten provided the spark this team needed to actually win this game. He may never catch Gonzalez's stats, but there is not a doubt in my mind that he is simply more rounded over all. Today is the first time I have been ready to say this, but I am finally saying it. As a complete TE, he is the best I have ever seen.
For the last 2 years I have wanted to get a dedicated Return Specialist in the Draft. In fact, at one time Banks of the Commanders was a guy I was targeting. I continue to wish we had this type of weapon. I am not sure who the best in college football is right now, but I can tell you that I feel we are that guy away from being a very real contender. I prefer not to use Dez in that capacity even though he is clearly as good or better than even Banks was. I just appreciate that aspect of Special Teams.
One aspect that I normally do not appreciate and rarely talk about is kicking. Nothing has changed. I'm not going to do it here, but I imagine you have to know how thankful I am for what we have discovered in that aspect of the game.
As you prepare for your Holiday meal and the football game we all enjoy so much I hope that each of you will reflect on all the things you have to be thankful for, and I do not just mean the game today. There are members on this forum who have suffered incredible losses since last Thanksgiving, including myself. The last year and a half are undoubtedly the hardest I have ever had to endure as an adult. I appreciate everyone who has put up with me this year.
In other words, I am thankful for you. Enjoy the win...for 24 hours. The next one is coming fast.
