A Touch of Hostility... Week 15

[Hostile]

I would like to begin my thread with an information snippet. If we win our last 2 games it will mean we have 56 regular season wins against the Giants, Cardinals, and Eagles. The Game against the Eagles will match this game against the Commanders as our 100th career regular season matchup against that team. The Commanders our the first team that the Cowboys have beaten 60 times. The career record is now 60-38-2.

As you all know by now, Jason Witten passed a milestone with his 600th career reception. Only three other TEs have eclipsed that mark. Ozzie Newsome (662), Shannon Sharpe (815), and Tony Gonzalez (1057 and counting).

This team is mind boggling at times. They are running better overall, but at crucial times they run badly. The goal line stand in the first quarter is an example. Only Jon Kitna looked effective running the ball. If the Punter for Washington was the greatest tripper in town it might have been a moot point.

I continue to be happy with the way that Brian McCann uses his speed in the return game. No hesitation, hit the gas, make them trip you. McCann averaged 27 yards on 2 punt returns and 22.3 yards on 4 kick returns. And he just keeps making plays to help this team.

While I am on the subject of Jon Kitna, let me once again eat crow about being wrong about him. Jon has flat out shut my festering gob and each week I look dumber for my pre-season stances that he would doom us. He has absolutely done all I could ask and more. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG about him. That was me.

I like the way Dallas jumped out to a big lead. I detest the way that we let that big lead slip away. I will take ugly wins, but I confess, I would like to rest my peepers on some pretty wins. I believe ugly wins build character. I also believe pretty wins build confidence. I would like to see some confidence built by this team.

I rarely talk about Kickers unless it is to spew my venom. Have David Buehler and the coaching staff finally tempered early season criticism enough to think we did a decent job sticking with him? I realize the Internet magnifies every failure one hundred fold, but no one who saw the early jitters can believe he'd be 22 of 29 at this point.

My only complaint about 4 of 5 on FGs is that 2 of them were chip shots that were examples of us leaving points on the field by not scoring TDs. Add the goal line stand by Washington and we left a minimum of 15 points on the field counting Buehler's two 20 yard chip shot FGs. Throw in Buehler's missed FG and it is 18 points left on the field.

Only 2 of Buehler's misses have been under 39 yards and only 1 from over 50 yards and that one was 59 yards. Combine that with 2 game winning kicks in the last 3 weeks and he should have earned some slack by now from Cowboys fans.

Was it necessary for FOX to show McNabb on the sidelines every time Grossman did something bad or good? Yeah, I get it, his benching is a big story. I just think it is disrespecting the guy in there trying to do his job. I am no Grossman fan by any wild stretch and I certainly have been a frequent admirer of McNabb. I just can't stand the innuendos behind the tactic.

I continue to insist that the Off Season focus needs to be on this Defense. I want to overhaul the Offensive Line, but we simply have to fix this Defense. You cannot win in the NFL giving up so many points. The Offense is clicking despite missing the starting QB, RB, and 3 of the top 4 WRs and a way too often ineffective Offensive Line. The Defense on the other hand simply is not doing much right other than some takeaways in recent weeks. I want those. I crave those. But we have got to stop teams. Create 3 and outs. Keep their Offense on the sidelines and ours moving. It isn't happening. Other than DeMarcus Ware no one on the Defense (and I realize we are missing a key component in Marcus Spears) is playing the kind of football needed to win Championships.

The key off season move will be the decision who is the DC of this team next year. One person yesterday informed me that they did hear that Dom Capers is signed through 2011 in Green Bay. I have not heard it myself so I do not know. The point is he might be a pipe dream. We need something. There is too much High Draft round talent on this Defense to be giving up so many points. Especially given how well these same guys did last year at not allowing points.

Yes, I do realize the irony of complaining about high draft picks on Defense and being a shill for even more high round draft picks to happen. I just think it is vital. Especially the secondary. We give up way too many pass plays, especially deep. No one is afraid to throw the football on this team.

The only thing I am as concerned about as this Defense is the red zone Offense and make no mistake about it, that is Offensive Line. We have to make changes there. No one denies this, or at least, no one should. What we cannot do is reach. The fact remains that in this particular Draft there is not a lot of first round talent, but later rounds there are some bargains. Where Dallas ends up picking the value seems to be CB or DL. All of that could change by April, but as things stand now, it is what we are staring at.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that DeMarcus Ware is 1 sack behind Greg Ellis for 2nd All Time in Cowboys History. I should qualify that as Officially. Sacks were not an NFL stat until 1982. The Cowboys unofficially record is 114 for Harvey Martin. Followed by 111 for Randy White, 106 for Too Tall, 95.5 for Jethro Pugh, 94.5 for Jim Jeffcoat (Official record) and 94 for Bob Lilly. So Ware is about to Officially be 2nd all time, but Unofficially he will be 7th all time. He will end up being 1st all time. He is just an amazing football player. Perhaps his most impressive stat is the one we seldom talk about but he added another yesterday, forced fumbles. I believe yesterday's was the 25th he has forced in his career already. When you combine this with seeing him make plays all over the field and pursue the football you hopefully realize just how special what you are seeing really is.

The last thing I want to talk about is Jason Garrett. I continue to be impressed with the job he has done. On many levels he has exceeded my already lofty and perhaps unrealistic expectations. I see a lot more good things on the horizon because I honestly believe this team now buys into his systems, expectations, philosophies, or whatever term you wish to use. Yes, there will be a coaching search by Jerry Jones this off season. Yes, he is going to look at every possible and plausible candidate that he can. Yes, he will abide by the Rooney Rule, which I support wholly. No, he will not blow it and let Jason Garrett get away. You can take that to the bank.

 

[CoCo]

Agree that Buehler is at least working himself into the discussion at this point.

On where to focus our draft picks. The thought of 2011 with Davis & Columbo as starters is far scarier to me than the thought of Newman & Jenkins as our 2011 CB's. Just sayin...

That said, both groups need some talent infusion and the draft looks to fall as you indicated. We might well go defense early. But we desperately need some help for that o-line by some means in 2011.

 

[zrinkill]

As far as the Redzone worries.

I think the redzone will be fine after Romo and Dez have a full offseason together.

 

[TheCount]

I thought that Felix ran pretty well. Seems like every game though, he's in the middle of a big hole and looks like it'll be a huge gain... and he gets tripped.

One moment that stood out for me was Garrett imploring the crowd to make noise on the Commanders 4th down, it was a cool image. Would have been better if the D had any guts and actually made the stop, the crowd would have gone nuts. Nevermind the fact that you need the HC to convince your home crowd to make noise on a 4th down play.

I think we miss Spears on the D-Line, and we need a big, lane clogging NT to go along with a playmaking safety.

I don't think Jerry will be doing anything other than going through the motions when it comes to looking for a new coach, the job has been Garretts for years, Wade was just keeping the seat warm.

I think he needs to take the next DC search very, very seriously.

Oh also, best shot of the game. Commanders have a big play, cut to McNabb with the biggest yawn I've ever seen.

 

[aikemirv]

I don't know how many goal line plays that have been stuffed in the last three weeks but it is alarming to me. I just don't get why Davis and Gurode cannot get a push. That is just putrid by them. I understand KOsier because of his size but there is no excuse for the other too. It is just embarrassing.

I hate that Garrett is continuing to try and force that. At least spread the defense out and run it!

 

[jobberone]

I think James has had a good season. I think he and Ware are the only consistent performers on defense.

Newman has been hurt this year. He will rebound but his constant injuries are a concern. Jenkins needs discipline from coaching. Sensi is servicable albeit marginally. Ball needs to compete at CB and provide depth there.

I agree Garrett's main decision this year will be to shed some or all of the defensive coaches. He needs to make a quality hire at DC and let that coordinator have his pick of coaches. Jerry should stay out of it as much as possible. More than he will.

 

[Temo]

One moment that stood out for me was Garrett imploring the crowd to make noise on the Commanders 4th down, it was a cool image. Would have been better if the D had any guts and actually made the stop, the crowd would have gone nuts. Nevermind the fact that you need the HC to convince your home crowd to make noise on a 4th down play.

I liked that too... certainly beats seeing Wade looking confused on the sidelines. (Cheap shot, maybe, but still... it's the truth).

As for the crowd, I have a friend who was in town for the Philly game and said the crowd was electric for a team that was so far out of it (he's a Cardinals fan though, so...)

But Bill Simmons was at the game as well and was talking about it. He said he loved the stadium and that the crowd was great the whole game.

 

[TheCount]

I liked that too... certainly beats seeing Wade looking confused on the sidelines. (Cheap shot, maybe, but still... it's the truth).

As for the crowd, I have a friend who was in town for the Philly game and said the crowd was electric for a team that was so far out of it (he's a Cardinals fan though, so...)

But Bill Simmons was at the game as well and was talking about it. He said he loved the stadium and that the crowd was great the whole game.

They sounded into it, I just mean on that particular play. They were making noise but when Garrett started waving his hands it went up a couple of notches.

 

[Wimbo]

The last thing I want to talk about is Jason Garrett. I continue to be impressed with the job he has done. On many levels he has exceeded my already lofty and perhaps unrealistic expectations. I see a lot more good things on the horizon because I honestly believe this team now buys into his systems, expectations, philosophies, or whatever term you wish to use. Yes, there will be a coaching search by Jerry Jones this off season. Yes, he is going to look at every possible and plausible candidate that he can. Yes, he will abide by the Rooney Rule, which I support wholly. No, he will not blow it and let Jason Garrett get away. You can take that to the bank.

The thing I really like about this team under Garrett is that the team comes on the field ready to play. Wade's team seemed to get beat to the punch every week. Under Wade, the team always seemed surprised by everything the other team was doing, which would result in a close up shot of Wade looking confused on the sideline. This team is now coming out confident & ready to play.

 

[Temo]

They sounded into it, I just mean on that particular play. They were making noise but when Garrett started waving his hands it went up a couple of notches.

Yea, that's not unusual. I live near NY so I go to a lot of Jets/Giants games... Antonio Pierce used to do that a lot, and you see Kris Jenkins of the Jets (who's been on IR a lot the past couple seasons) do it a lot on the sideline. And it always seems to raise the noise level a few notches.

Unfortunately I've never been to a Cowboys home game, so I don't know if anyone else on the Cowboys does it, but if they don't they probably should. Crowds respond well to direct appeals from players/coaches.

By far the loudest game I've ever been to was Jets-Patriots last year, after Rex sent out that voice-mail to season ticket holders asking them to bring the noise to the stadium. The media was kind of laughing about it, this being before they bought into the Rex Ryan Method, but damn... the Jets improbably beat the Patriots and I couldn't hear well for a few days. Loudest "Brady Sucks" chant ever in the 4th quarter-- made a little boy in a Brady Jersey near me start crying.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

While I am on the subject of Jon Kitna, let me once again eat crow about being wrong about him. Jon has flat out shut my festering gob and each week I look dumber for my pre-season stances that he would doom us. He has absolutely done all I could ask and more. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG about him. That was me.

Now that's pretty bif of you Hos. I feel the same way about my thoughts on Jason Garrett previously; I was very wrong in many ways about him. I never envisioned he would command the team as well as he has, and now I realize how much Wade Phillips handicapped the way Garrett was allowed to call games.

Now, I'm liking what I'm seeing from Garrett's game planning and play calling. He's much less predictable - still a bit, but much, much less so now. This is an area I'd like to see continued growth from Garrett. He would benefit from promoting from within (Wilson, Sherman, maybr even Wes Phillips?). This coordiantor does not need to be the guy to call plays, which is why promting from within would be a sound idea; he could simply have expanded responsibility to set up game plans and assist Garrett on the sideline in calling plays or to bounce idaeas to/around; but Garrett would remain the chief play caller. I would prefer that.

Only 2 of Buehler's misses have been under 39 yards and only 1 from over 50 yards and that one was 59 yards. Combine that with 2 game winning kicks in the last 3 weeks and he should have earned some slack by now from Cowboys fans.

The job was handed to Buehler this season without a fight. While I don't like that, I get it (Jerry is as Jerry does). Buehler is kicking well enough now to earn the right to compete for the field goal kicker job next season. That means it's imperrative Dallas brings in a legitmate kicker who is able to take the job, and even kickoffs so that an extra roster spot is not handicapped. Let Buehler earn it - that's what will help him evolve into an elite kicker. He needs consequnces for missing - something he doesan't have now.

The last thing I want to talk about is Jason Garrett. I continue to be impressed with the job he has done. On many levels he has exceeded my already lofty and perhaps unrealistic expectations. I see a lot more good things on the horizon because I honestly believe this team now buys into his systems, expectations, philosophies, or whatever term you wish to use. Yes, there will be a coaching search by Jerry Jones this off season. Yes, he is going to look at every possible and plausible candidate that he can. Yes, he will abide by the Rooney Rule, which I support wholly. No, he will not blow it and let Jason Garrett get away. You can take that to the bank.

Only Jerry Jones can screw this whole thing up because, by all accounts, the right decision is to make Jason Garrett the long term head coach moving forward. But I still want to see growth from Garrett and he would benefit from having an offensive coordiantor helping him along so he can focus more on being a complete head coach.

In on aspect of that growth, I want to see Garrett grow as the overseeer/director of the defense. Besides hiring his own hand picked defensivie coordinator (something, again, only Jerry Jones can screw up single-handedly), I'd like to see Garrett be the overseeer of that coordinator and the defense.

In his post game press conference yesterday, I noticed that Garrett used the pronoun "WE" when speaking about the offense, but when speacking about the defense, Garrett used the pronoun "THEY" several times. Garrett needs to grow as a head coach so that both offense and defense are "WE" to him, as they should be to any head coach. But I think he can get there and grow in that respect; that's where he's trending based on what he shown so far in his interin director's role.

Nice post Hostile!!!!

 

[LucaBrasi]

good post. I agree that the defense needs to be a priority. While I dread going into another season with 4/5 of the oline back, you simply can't earn a playoff spot or win a division allowing 30 points per game.

Hos, you probably have many other Christmas wishes, but here's hoping you get one granted Saturday Night with a w.

 

[hutch1254]

I would be very interested in getting someone off the Dick Lebeau tree for DC. As much as I hate the Steelers they consistently have LB's that make an impact. I would definitely be looking in that direction for DC.

The secondary got away with bloody murder a few times late in the game with some drops/overthrows.

I still hold my breath every time with Buehler.

I appreciate the job Kitna has done and the passion he still exudes.

I forget which person wrote the article (Taylor I think) but I agree with part of what he said. The team is playing harder but the football IQ is not high enough. I think JG is riding it out. If and when he becomes HC he'll know exactly where to remove the "dumb" from this team. I think he is just tolerating it, giving players an 8 game preseason for next year.

 

[Venger]

Have David Buehler and the coaching staff finally tempered early season criticism enough to think we did a decent job sticking with him?

Best thing for Buehler this year was the absolute cratering of the overall team - that made this year a good year for him to grow into the position, or grow out of it. He has been adequate, but seems to be on a gentle upward trajectory. If we were 9-5 and scraping for a playoff spot then his shortcomings get magnified. Being 5-9 means we have the luxury of seeing how he works out. Right now, he is improving slowly but making his case to be kept. At this point, I keep him.

I want to overhaul the Offensive Line, but we simply have to fix this Defense.

The key will be - can we upgrade just one player on the right side of the line and get a big improvement, or do we have to do both? If we can just replace Davis or Colombo, and get alot better, that really helps our ability to address the huge number of needs on the defense. I think it's possible new blood on that side of the line can get another year out of the spare tire we don't replace.

You cannot win in the NFL giving up so many points.

And just like above - can getting a high quality pass rushing bookend opposite Ware make the glaring problems of coverage both deep and underneath less of a problem? Face it, if Ware doesn't get there, nobody ever seems to. If we can step up the tempo, it is going to help our coverage greatly. That allows us to spread our needs out over two seasons of drafts and FAs, rather than trying to fix every leak in one season. Get the big one and work the bailing pail until the next season.

Of course, there may not be a next season now...

When you combine this with seeing him make plays all over the field and pursue the football you hopefully realize just how special what you are seeing really is.

He is the second coming of Harvey Martin. Believe it.

No, he will not blow it and let Jason Garrett get away. You can take that to the bank.

Jason has earned his shot - Jerry needs to give it to him by letting Jason be the primary mover and shaker in staff decisions.

But I do admit the clapping the kids back in from recess thing when we come of the field is just a little... tired. Nitpicky I know...

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I am still not sold on Buehler. While he did hit on most of the attempts, a few of the ones he hit just barley made it. And when I say barely, I mean if the wind was even moving at all in the wrong direction he would have missed two more.

I love that he can knock the ball deep into the end zone on KOs but the main job of the kicker is to be reliable on FGs and Extra points.

I wouldn't be opposed to spending a later round pick on another kicker if there is one worth the gamble. If nothing else, to give Buehler some competition.

 

[WoodysGirl]

They sounded into it, I just mean on that particular play. They were making noise but when Garrett started waving his hands it went up a couple of notches.

That's cuz they put him on the big screen. They have the videotaped "get loud" messages, but whenever they put actual Cowboys on the screen, that ALWAYS got a big reception. Miles, JG, whoever.

 

[Marktui]

As far as the Redzone worries.

I think the redzone will be fine after Romo and Dez have a full offseason together.

The presence of Dez gives our redzone offense a boost, they have to account for him when on the field. But if we get better run blocking in the red zone, this opens up our whole playbook and we become even more dangerous.

We cannot keep getting stuffed on the goal line or on 3rd and 1's. We start getting those easy yards then our play action passes become more believable. Also, we can keep leads and not stress the defense as much by playing ball control. Yesterdays game was a classic example, when the Commanders cut the lead to eight, if the offense goes out there and gets a few first downs that game may not be as close as it was.

 

[Longboysfan]

If the Punter for Washington was the greatest tripper in town it might have been a moot point.

Reply showed umpire viwe looking over the sholder of the referee watching the punter - not trip - but wind up and kick his leg as he went by.

 

[Concord]

I thought that Felix ran pretty well. Seems like every game though, he's in the middle of a big hole and looks like it'll be a huge gain... and he gets tripped.

One moment that stood out for me was Garrett imploring the crowd to make noise on the Commanders 4th down, it was a cool image. Would have been better if the D had any guts and actually made the stop, the crowd would have gone nuts. Nevermind the fact that you need the HC to convince your home crowd to make noise on a 4th down play.

I think we miss Spears on the D-Line, and we need a big, lane clogging NT to go along with a playmaking safety.

I don't think Jerry will be doing anything other than going through the motions when it comes to looking for a new coach, the job has been Garretts for years, Wade was just keeping the seat warm.

I think he needs to take the next DC search very, very seriously.

Oh also, best shot of the game. Commanders have a big play, cut to McNabb with the biggest yawn I've ever seen.

I said to my wife...it's ridiculous that the HC has to tell the crowd to get loud on a 4th down play.

It's sad that the Cowboys have no real home field advantage...compared to other teams.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

I said to my wife...it's ridiculous that the HC has to tell the crowd to get loud on a 4th down play.

It's sad that the Cowboys have no real home field advantage...compared to other teams.

I have never understood that. Maybe I just assume every Cowboy fan is as loud and into the game as I am. I went to my first Cowboys game at Texas stadium a few years ago and I couldn't talk for two days after because I was so hoarse from yelling.

Is there any explanation for this? Acoustics? Noise pollution law? I mean something must be the reason. It can't be that we have lazy fans at the games.