Hostile
The Duke
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The magician fans the cards out for the mark to pick one. Remember the card. Put it back in the deck, anywhere you want. Shuffle and cut the cards until everyone is satisfied that the card is thoroughly mixed in. Then to everyone's amazement the magician pulls that exact card from the deck. The card, an ace.
Sometimes that is what you feel like as you watch football, and Tony Romo in particular. How can a guy have a ball snapped over his head like against the Rams a few years ago and make a first down out of it? How can he have a ball snapped low yesterday, pick it up on the first bounce (when we all know no one else in the NFL can do that, they have to fall on the ball) and complete a pass? How can he come back into a game after suffering a broken rib and lead a team all the way back from 10 points down to an overtime win without either starting WR on the field?
Is it sleight of hand? Is he the magician, or is he the ace?
The great thing about football is that it is supposed to grab your guts and grind them up for 60 minutes (and sometimes beyond as the game goes to overtime). Sometimes you almost feel like you've done a couple hundred pushups. Sometimes you need a drink. Sometimes you need a throat lozenge because you are so hoarse no one can hear you. Almost always, you need to just shake your head.
Last week, chaos reigned. This week, chaos reigns. Everywhere you look on this forum there are going to be battles and in some cases outright wars. You see, one thing for sure that football does to people is it makes them not like each other, and it is now pretty obvious to everybody that some of you simply do not like each other. Partially it is understandable, your guts have been churned.
Yesterday was no different. We all got taken for a ride that we won't soon forget. Last week Tony Romo was the subject of debate on every major media website, by just about every writer they employ, and this week it may happen again. Then again, it might not. Feel good stories only get so much traction. Train wreck stories get a lot. We love dirty laundry.
Today, I like the feel good stories. I ate some crow yesterday. It was an appetizer. Today it is a main course. I am glad Jesse Holley is on this football team. Okay sure, it is easy to be glad when the guy hand delivers a play that gave you a win, and made the first catches in his entire short lived NFL career. It isn't about one play at all. His attitude is great. His work ethic is great. His story, even if it grinds my guts, is great. I'll eat some crow.
Thursday and Friday in Jason Garrett's Press Conferences the media kept wanting to talk about the loss to the Jets. They wanted to talk about the impact of injuries and whether the guys as substitutes were capable. I can't speak for anyone else but Jason Garrett's candor was refreshing.
Steve Dennis in particular drives me crazy because he cannot let go of the past. He's still talking about the bobble in Seattle. He's still talking about the loss to Pittsburgh. He's never going to let go of the Jets loss. Some of our fans won't either. Those are three losses that people are simply not going to forgive.
Yesterday was Tony Romo's 10th come from behind in the 4th quarter to win game. I think it may have been his finest hour. His return to the game was reminiscent of Willis Reed of NBA Legend. To the 49ers everlasting credit they kept coming after Tony and knocking him down. Tony kept getting up. Sometimes he was helped up by the very linemen who got him clobbered. But he kept getting up.
Here's the mind blowing stat of the entire game to me. Alex Smith was healthy as he could be at the end of the game. We sacked him 6 times. Tony only got sacked one time. He got knocked around like a pinata, but he surrendered only one sack. Time and time again he waited until the last second to deliver the pass. That's Cowboying Up people.
You could tell he was hurting too. Walking off the field at the end of the game there was no smile, and his right arm clutched to his chest probably in reflex expecting that next painful hit. You could tell he didn't even want anyone to bump into him. If you've ever had broken ribs you understand. Every breath hurts. Laughing hurts. Coughing will nearly kill you.
Our guts got ground up, his got checked. This just in, Tony Romo has guts. That is why he is the leader of this football team. That is why these guys love him. That is why they stand up for him when the results are more like the Jets. They know the answer to the questions that follow Tony about his leadership. They aren't being PC when they defend their QB. He is the ace.
We pulled him from a deck of cards. It could have been any number of undrafted free agent QBs over the years that teams have signed to take a look at. It just happened to be him, and he's an ace. You can credit Sean Payton, Bill Parcells, Jerry Jones, or the scouting department. Whomever it best soothes your conscience to give credit to. I think it belongs on the one place few seem to want to credit. His shoulders.
More correctly, his arm. Yesterday Romo passed Dandy Don Meredith for 4th on the all time Cowboys passing yardage record book. Barring injury shelving him, sometime next year he will pass Danny White and Roger Staubach and move into 2nd place behind Troy Aikman. It is the era of loose passing rules and thank heavens we have someone leading this team who can take advantage of it. That again, is the ace.
It wasn't all feel good stories. In addition to Tony's injury we may have lost Miles Austin for a significant period of time. His third TD yesterday was the epitome of giving every ounce of effort for the team. You don't replace that. Ogletree, Harris, and Holley need to do what they did yesterday. They need to step up. The very thing Garrett has been preaching in those Press Conferences. How does he put it? "Everywhere in this league are guys playing because someone else got injured."
We can see that. Our laundry list of injuries is starting to look a little long. Thankfully some pieces should be coming back soon. In the meantime there is nothing wrong with the refiner's fire this team is going through. In silversmithing the refiner's fire is the heat that separates the precious metal from the dross. The fire has to be the exact right temperature for the refiner to see himself in the silver as it trickles away from the worthless dross. That's what we want here. For these guys to see themselves in the precious metal, and to get rid of the dross. The Cowboy way.
There are plenty of reasons to feel good today after a win like that. There are plenty of reasons to feel dread too. Just don't try and sell that to this team. They are going to play through pain. They are going to step up when opportunity knocks. They are going to take their lumps. They are not going to blink. That win put the Cowboys all time record in Overtime games at 16-11. Jason Garrett is now 2-0. That is stepping up. There is room for improvement.
Once again we lost the turnover battle. Once again we lost the penalty battle. Side note on that, anyone besides me yell at Colombo when they announced number 75 moved too early? Pavlov's dog condition for me. Had it been Parnell I'd have yelled at Flo. Once again we won the time of possession battle. Once again we dominated the yardage battle. This time we won the war.
Things have to get fixed. That is the beauty of football in its most maddening sense. We cannot allow 50% success on 3rd downs. We cannot afford to stall successive drives with 3 and outs. We had a period in the first half where we ran 9 offensive plays for a total of 7 yards and 3 punts. The truly mind boggling part of that is that our first drive that ended with yet another chip shot FG miss (I hate Kickers) was 14 plays of masterful clock and ball management.
In other words, we have to punch it in the end zone when we are in the red zone. We still cannot really rely on a Kicker unless it is the sawed off runt on the other side making every FG, even if they are over 50 yards. It tortures me that the Kickers we face never miss no matter how far back we make them try it. Already this year two from 50 or beyond. Maybe we need all 11 guys to blow air instead of trying to block? I'm out of answers for how to alter that History against us. We need Bruce Carter to come back healthy and do what he did at UNC.
Speaking of Linebackers who we draft after an injury, how about a little applause for Sean Lee? The guy has been ripped by many and praised by few. He leads the NFL in tackles after two weeks and has been a catalyst on a Defense that is still working out kinks. They are going to thrill us or kill us. If the pass rush gets stopped, QBs can make us pay. Maybe that changes when we get Newman and Scandrick back. We all certainly better hope so. I can't speak for all of you, but when I see a team putting 7 Offensive Linemen in the game I think we're doing something that is upsetting the applecart. 6 sacks tells me I am right.
DeMarcus Ware will not get 32 sacks this year, but if he keeps up what he is doing right now he's going to push the record or break it. It's nice to see Hatcher and Spencer getting in on that action too, and I still haven't seen Ratliff being pushed two yards back on every play like was claimed here during every pre-season game. You want the best evidence I can give you that Lee, Ratliff and our DEs are doing a great job? Frank Gore is a hard nosed, up the middle runner. That is his calling card. Yesterday he left it to the tune of 47 yards on 20 carries.
That is better than we did. I see a lot of people calling for us to run more. I need to see runs matter before I want that. Right now, at an NFL worst 2.3 yards per carry on the season, I am not on that bandwagon. After all, we've got an ace.
Bring on the Commanders.
Sometimes that is what you feel like as you watch football, and Tony Romo in particular. How can a guy have a ball snapped over his head like against the Rams a few years ago and make a first down out of it? How can he have a ball snapped low yesterday, pick it up on the first bounce (when we all know no one else in the NFL can do that, they have to fall on the ball) and complete a pass? How can he come back into a game after suffering a broken rib and lead a team all the way back from 10 points down to an overtime win without either starting WR on the field?
Is it sleight of hand? Is he the magician, or is he the ace?
The great thing about football is that it is supposed to grab your guts and grind them up for 60 minutes (and sometimes beyond as the game goes to overtime). Sometimes you almost feel like you've done a couple hundred pushups. Sometimes you need a drink. Sometimes you need a throat lozenge because you are so hoarse no one can hear you. Almost always, you need to just shake your head.
Last week, chaos reigned. This week, chaos reigns. Everywhere you look on this forum there are going to be battles and in some cases outright wars. You see, one thing for sure that football does to people is it makes them not like each other, and it is now pretty obvious to everybody that some of you simply do not like each other. Partially it is understandable, your guts have been churned.
Yesterday was no different. We all got taken for a ride that we won't soon forget. Last week Tony Romo was the subject of debate on every major media website, by just about every writer they employ, and this week it may happen again. Then again, it might not. Feel good stories only get so much traction. Train wreck stories get a lot. We love dirty laundry.
Today, I like the feel good stories. I ate some crow yesterday. It was an appetizer. Today it is a main course. I am glad Jesse Holley is on this football team. Okay sure, it is easy to be glad when the guy hand delivers a play that gave you a win, and made the first catches in his entire short lived NFL career. It isn't about one play at all. His attitude is great. His work ethic is great. His story, even if it grinds my guts, is great. I'll eat some crow.
Thursday and Friday in Jason Garrett's Press Conferences the media kept wanting to talk about the loss to the Jets. They wanted to talk about the impact of injuries and whether the guys as substitutes were capable. I can't speak for anyone else but Jason Garrett's candor was refreshing.
Steve Dennis in particular drives me crazy because he cannot let go of the past. He's still talking about the bobble in Seattle. He's still talking about the loss to Pittsburgh. He's never going to let go of the Jets loss. Some of our fans won't either. Those are three losses that people are simply not going to forgive.
Yesterday was Tony Romo's 10th come from behind in the 4th quarter to win game. I think it may have been his finest hour. His return to the game was reminiscent of Willis Reed of NBA Legend. To the 49ers everlasting credit they kept coming after Tony and knocking him down. Tony kept getting up. Sometimes he was helped up by the very linemen who got him clobbered. But he kept getting up.
Here's the mind blowing stat of the entire game to me. Alex Smith was healthy as he could be at the end of the game. We sacked him 6 times. Tony only got sacked one time. He got knocked around like a pinata, but he surrendered only one sack. Time and time again he waited until the last second to deliver the pass. That's Cowboying Up people.
You could tell he was hurting too. Walking off the field at the end of the game there was no smile, and his right arm clutched to his chest probably in reflex expecting that next painful hit. You could tell he didn't even want anyone to bump into him. If you've ever had broken ribs you understand. Every breath hurts. Laughing hurts. Coughing will nearly kill you.
Our guts got ground up, his got checked. This just in, Tony Romo has guts. That is why he is the leader of this football team. That is why these guys love him. That is why they stand up for him when the results are more like the Jets. They know the answer to the questions that follow Tony about his leadership. They aren't being PC when they defend their QB. He is the ace.
We pulled him from a deck of cards. It could have been any number of undrafted free agent QBs over the years that teams have signed to take a look at. It just happened to be him, and he's an ace. You can credit Sean Payton, Bill Parcells, Jerry Jones, or the scouting department. Whomever it best soothes your conscience to give credit to. I think it belongs on the one place few seem to want to credit. His shoulders.
More correctly, his arm. Yesterday Romo passed Dandy Don Meredith for 4th on the all time Cowboys passing yardage record book. Barring injury shelving him, sometime next year he will pass Danny White and Roger Staubach and move into 2nd place behind Troy Aikman. It is the era of loose passing rules and thank heavens we have someone leading this team who can take advantage of it. That again, is the ace.
It wasn't all feel good stories. In addition to Tony's injury we may have lost Miles Austin for a significant period of time. His third TD yesterday was the epitome of giving every ounce of effort for the team. You don't replace that. Ogletree, Harris, and Holley need to do what they did yesterday. They need to step up. The very thing Garrett has been preaching in those Press Conferences. How does he put it? "Everywhere in this league are guys playing because someone else got injured."
We can see that. Our laundry list of injuries is starting to look a little long. Thankfully some pieces should be coming back soon. In the meantime there is nothing wrong with the refiner's fire this team is going through. In silversmithing the refiner's fire is the heat that separates the precious metal from the dross. The fire has to be the exact right temperature for the refiner to see himself in the silver as it trickles away from the worthless dross. That's what we want here. For these guys to see themselves in the precious metal, and to get rid of the dross. The Cowboy way.
There are plenty of reasons to feel good today after a win like that. There are plenty of reasons to feel dread too. Just don't try and sell that to this team. They are going to play through pain. They are going to step up when opportunity knocks. They are going to take their lumps. They are not going to blink. That win put the Cowboys all time record in Overtime games at 16-11. Jason Garrett is now 2-0. That is stepping up. There is room for improvement.
Once again we lost the turnover battle. Once again we lost the penalty battle. Side note on that, anyone besides me yell at Colombo when they announced number 75 moved too early? Pavlov's dog condition for me. Had it been Parnell I'd have yelled at Flo. Once again we won the time of possession battle. Once again we dominated the yardage battle. This time we won the war.
Things have to get fixed. That is the beauty of football in its most maddening sense. We cannot allow 50% success on 3rd downs. We cannot afford to stall successive drives with 3 and outs. We had a period in the first half where we ran 9 offensive plays for a total of 7 yards and 3 punts. The truly mind boggling part of that is that our first drive that ended with yet another chip shot FG miss (I hate Kickers) was 14 plays of masterful clock and ball management.
In other words, we have to punch it in the end zone when we are in the red zone. We still cannot really rely on a Kicker unless it is the sawed off runt on the other side making every FG, even if they are over 50 yards. It tortures me that the Kickers we face never miss no matter how far back we make them try it. Already this year two from 50 or beyond. Maybe we need all 11 guys to blow air instead of trying to block? I'm out of answers for how to alter that History against us. We need Bruce Carter to come back healthy and do what he did at UNC.
Speaking of Linebackers who we draft after an injury, how about a little applause for Sean Lee? The guy has been ripped by many and praised by few. He leads the NFL in tackles after two weeks and has been a catalyst on a Defense that is still working out kinks. They are going to thrill us or kill us. If the pass rush gets stopped, QBs can make us pay. Maybe that changes when we get Newman and Scandrick back. We all certainly better hope so. I can't speak for all of you, but when I see a team putting 7 Offensive Linemen in the game I think we're doing something that is upsetting the applecart. 6 sacks tells me I am right.
DeMarcus Ware will not get 32 sacks this year, but if he keeps up what he is doing right now he's going to push the record or break it. It's nice to see Hatcher and Spencer getting in on that action too, and I still haven't seen Ratliff being pushed two yards back on every play like was claimed here during every pre-season game. You want the best evidence I can give you that Lee, Ratliff and our DEs are doing a great job? Frank Gore is a hard nosed, up the middle runner. That is his calling card. Yesterday he left it to the tune of 47 yards on 20 carries.
That is better than we did. I see a lot of people calling for us to run more. I need to see runs matter before I want that. Right now, at an NFL worst 2.3 yards per carry on the season, I am not on that bandwagon. After all, we've got an ace.
Bring on the Commanders.
