Someone pinch me. Is Patrick "Fair Catch" Crayton really leading the NFL in Punt Return yardage after 2 straight games with a TD? I'll take my helping of crow deep fried please. I never would have believed that was possible. He has made me eat the crow.
Actually the credit goes to a man who is a walking, talking, butt kicking miracle on our sidelines. Joe DeCamillis has been one of the most refreshing additions to this team in years. I find him to be utterly inspiring. I would love to have played for the man. Instead of dreading Special Teams I find myself believing it is a battle we will automatically win. What an unreal change for this team. Maybe there's some magic in Tom Landry's bullhorn. I don't know what it is, but I couldn't complain about the Special Teams if I wanted to. They are executing.
Speaking of executing, Tony Romo is in a groove right now. For the first time in his career he has 3 straight games without an INT. He did lose a fumble today, but he has protected the ball amazingly well for a guy that more people doubted than believed in just 4 weeks ago when we were 2-2. Three of his four INTs on the season happened in one game that we almost won. I'll take Romo friendly.
I saw some people who still can't stand Jason Garrett and I have to be honest with you that has me perplexed. The Offense is scoring, mistakes are down, and he is still as hated by some as he was last year when we actually did suck. I suppose it will take a TD on every single drive for him to be good enough. That's ridiculous, but then expectations of the fans sometimes are.
I know mine are. Hard for me to confess to that. It is unreal of me to expect some of the things I do. Like the dozen sacks I was expecting to see today. I really did even though I didn't post it. 3 sacks almost left a bad taste in my mouth. I expected more than that from Ware alone. I know better than to do that, but I couldn't help it. The Seattle OL was so patchwork I expected our Defense to go through them like gas through a funnel. Hasselback was pressured today, but not sacked enough or forced into INTs so I was a little bit disappointed. I believed the Defense had turned a corner and was going to start getting those stats in bunches. It doesn't work that way in the NFL and I know it.
Still I am not disappointed in the Defense. I feel like they made some critical stops and when you look at the time of possession and see a nearly nine minute advantage for the Cowboys Offense it is pretty obvious that they performed exactly as they should. I'd like to see the total yardage lower but when I see the yards per rush at 3.6 I know they did their jobs.
The problem is I also see our yards per rush at 3.9 yards. I could be wrong but I think that is our lowest of the season. The Offense has shifted from a run powerhouse early this season to a pass oriented Offense. I understand that because it is working. I would just like to see the run work better than this. 113 yards rushing is pretty meager. I realize a couple of the RBs have been dinged up, but even so they have rushed better than today. I'm not worried about it, but I hope this is the lowest of the season.
Penalties were down again. 5 for 43 yards. That is encouraging. I read that none of the penalties were pre-snap. If that is true (and I honestly wasn't paying attention to that) then that is more than encouraging. It is flat out room for celebration.
Which is where I am when I see this team at 5-2 and tied for the lead in the NFC East. You see, even when we were 2-2 I was sticking to my belief that this is a 12-4 team that will win the NFC East. I took some heat for that from a few friends. I simply refused to budge. A big step in that direction can happen next week if we can beat the Eagles. That hasn't been easy this decade. Andy Reid has been our worst nemesis. Last year to end the season was the worst, but it was hardly the only time he has led his team to prevail.
Last week I posted a thread about November being Tony Romo's best month. Today was a good way for that trend to continue. A division game on the road against a team who has owned us this decade could erase a lot of doubts.
Erasing the doubts has kind of been a theme of this team. A couple of players still need to finish the job. Nothing is better than a clean slate. It's an all new NFC East folks. The battle for bragging rights there begin next week and it is a tough opponent. I couldn't be happier with the momentum right now. 5-2 feels pretty right to me. A solid November could erase a lot of doubts.
I wonder if crow and eagle both taste like chicken? I'm eating my crow, here's hoping the Cowboys serve up some Eagle.
