A Touch Of Hostility... Week 8

[Hostile]

Let's start with the good.

DeMarcus Ware had 4 sacks and we avoided being shut out. Beyond that, I cannot say one player, side of the ball, or circumstance was praiseworthy. By avoiding a shutout we kept alive a streak of 110 games since we were last shut out, in 2003 by the Patriots. We got shut out twice that year, earlier by the Buccaneers. In that time span we have pitched 3 shutouts, two are against the Commanders, and the third was against the Eagles. The last two were the final two games of the 2009 season.

The shutout vs. the Commanders in 2009 is significant because it was on Sunday Night Football as was this matchup against the Eagles. Since that shutout over the Commanders we have lost five straight times we have played on Sunday Night Football, twice to the Eagles and in three of the five straight losses we have scored 7 points.

Jason Garrett is now 0-3 on Sunday Night Football.

It begs the question, is this team afraid of the National Spotlight? I think it is a valid question too. Other than the Monday Night Football Field Goal exhibition against the Commanders earlier this year we have lost every Prime Time, Nationally televised game we have played in since Thanksgiving in 2009. Unless you count the Wildcard Playoff win against the Eagles in 2009, which I don't think it should be given the rest of these games are all regular season.

No matter which way you look at it, when we are on national TV this team is not getting the job done.

Not getting the job done is the theme of Sunday Night's debacle. The Offense did not even have the ball for 18 minutes. The Eagles had over 42 minutes Time Of Possession. That is insane. In a regulation game that is the largest disparity I think I have ever seen.

It means that the Eagles simply had momentum and we never did anything to take it away. Not on Offense, not on Defense, and as a result we got clubbed like a baby seal. My apologies to any fellow animal lovers for that analogy, but that is how bad it was. The Eagles were 5 yards short of 500 yards gained by their Offense. When you allow nearly 500 yards of Offense you are generally doing a poor job in multiple areas.

Earlier in the week someone asked if this game was our most dangerous one left on the schedule. I do believe it was. Folks, no matter how bad the "dream team" started they are still coached by a damn good football coach in Andy Reid. People said they were tired of hearing about his record after byes. Well, that information was relevant as all can now see. With 2 weeks to prepare he is one of the best game plan Head Coaches in the NFL. There is a reason why he is the longest tenured Head Coach currently in the NFL. His teams know how to fight.

Sunday, they delivered a knockout. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other team. On that day they were better. The obituaries people had been writing on them were premature.

I believe that is true of the Cowboys too. If anyone thinks they are dead already it is merely frustration after a poor showing. Yeah, it's not as rosy as Dez Bryant's proclamation that we were unbeatable, but it also isn't a journey down a certain creek with a smelly name.

Folks I have been saying it all year, this team is not yet a Super Bowl contender. They are simply too young at several key places and in particular along the Offensive Line. These young players can improve and butt whippings like that are good motivation to do it. The talent is there. The cohesiveness is not. Tony Romo was a deer in the headlights and a rabbit dodging cars on Sunday. When you add in the bad throws and the drops it made for absolutely no chance for this team to mount any sort of comeback.

The team had three critical injuries. Sean Lee, Mike Jenkins, and Matt McBriar. I think the injury we can most endure is Jenkins given the way Scandrick has stepped up at times. It is a coin flip which injury is worse between Lee and McBriar if neither can go. They are quite possibly two of the top five most consistent players on this team.

The most consistent without a doubt has been Ware. With 12 sacks in 7 games he is on pace for nearly 27.5 sacks. That is an unreal pace. Will he keep that up? It is not likely but if he does he doesn't need to worry about Defensive Player of the Year that he keeps getting overlooked for, that is an MVP type of discussion.

If there is any other positive from this game it is that DeMarco Murray still looks like he can be the featured RB. From there we all better hope that the team can learn from the mistakes made here and move on.

I love the 24 hour philosophy of this team. I believe that is exactly the way they need to approach the game and especially going forward from here. This was a division game that could have basically put the Eagles away and set the Cowboys up as the team to beat in the NFC East. Now we are in chase mode looking up at the team who just took us to the woodshed.

Are they a lock to win it? Of course not. It's still too early to hand out any crowns. 24 hours and get over it. That reminds me of a line from the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same

That is perfectly true of football and in particular for this team. Wins and losses are both imposters and need to be treated exactly the same. In other words, move on past them in 24 hours. Both of them. The poem goes on to explain the end result of doing all these things.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With 60 seconds worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and Everything that's in it
And which is more, you'll be a man my son

It's 60 minutes instead of 60 seconds for football, but it is a distance run. There is a lot of race left and a rematch with the Eagles awaits. We proved against the Patriots that we can hang with any team in the NFL. We proved against the Rams and Lions that we can have momentum on our side and rack up points. We proved against the 49ers and Commanders that we can come back. We proved against the Jets, Lions and Eagles that if we let the other team gain any momentum we are in trouble. The trappings of youth.

We can't even pin this loss on turnovers. We only had one. Can't pin it on penalties. Only had three. We just flat out got outplayed.

 

[Wimbo]

nice write-up, Hos. I agree with you regarding the OL's youth & inexperience working together. However, I think our young Center was exposed in this game. His shotgun snaps were as slow as any I have seen at any level & his accuracy was terrible.

 

[CowboyStar88]

Thanks Hos. JG needs to figure out what's going on when we get to prime time. He needs to let it all hang out and not worry about what everyone thinks. I believe he is playing to close to the vest when we are in prime time and he needs to change that and fast.

 

[Givincer]

DeMarcus Ware had 4 sacks and we avoided being shut out. Beyond that, I cannot say one player, side of the ball, or circumstance was praiseworthy.

I think Murray's performance was praiseworthy.

I would say the point at which the game was lost was the interception. By that point it had just snowballed to a point that it was insurmountable. Very hard to do anything when you become one dimensional.

 

[Eskimo]

The OL isn't even super young anymore with the injury to Nagy and Kowalski/Arkin riding the pines. I will be even less young if they move Kosier to Center and Dockery over to OG. Fundamentally this is a bad OL and I strongly suspects its OL coach is also bad. I don't think Houck's heart is in it anymore or maybe he just doesn't care but that was as bad a performance as I've seen.

This team seems to lack direction and this will always be the case so long as Jerry Jones is the GM. I don't think Garrett holds as much sway with him as you think or Garrett is just as big a fool as Wade was. You just can't put your franchise QB behind an OL like this - it is a recipe for disaster. For 3 years now Romo has had to make due with a pathetic OL and I don't think he can handle it mentally anymore. If we lose Romo mentally, it won't make any difference if Garrett is trying to rebuild this team into a consistent winner. We will go back to being a bad football team overnight because our QB cupboard is bare behind Romo.

I also think it is an embarassment that we are carrying 4 kickers on the active roster. Unless McBriar is going to be better next week we should just put him on the IR or release Buehler and bring up another punter. We are going to lose valuable developmental prospects that are more important than keeping your punter on the active roster in a non-playoff year. This just speaks to another example of bad roster management.

 

[The Emperor]

That incorporation of Rudyard Kipling's "If," although an overused poem still very apropos to any endeavor, was brilliant.

There's another portion in there where he talks about "not losing your head while others are and blaming it on you." That kind of reminds me of the Zone.

This was another good document in a volume of good ones. You don't need to be reminded to keep it up because you will.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Great write up! I am one of those people who thinks Ryan basically set the wrong tone for the defense early on. His blitzes were the exact same ones they were showing us on the pregame - the ones in which the Eagles got schooled in previous games. I guess they were ready for those, huh?

I think if we would have pulled back from some of those blitzes early on and given our defense a chance to get their breath, we might have had a fighting chance. Unfortunately, we kept sending people off the corner and the screen passes and runs up the seam were killing us. Was anyone else yelling at the screen for Rob to dial it back a bit?

I love what Ryan has done and what he brings to the table, but Andy Reid clearly won the duel on Sunday night. Gotta give props to him for being a step ahead in every phase of the game.

 

[Fletch]

Nicely done Hos. I have no fancy lines or words like my buddy The Emp (damn public schooling ). But well put nonetheless. Even realists can get on board with this week's Touch of Hostility.

 

[shockandroll]

Very nicely done! Pointed out the bad, the good and the hopeful.

Anything can indeed happen. I believe our injuries are responsible for at least one loss and at minimum have a lot to do with our offensive struggles. Let's see how the iggles and Packers do if their QB ends up with busted ribs. They both rely on their legs and that part is gone with such an injury. People undermine the importance of this because Romo has done an amazing job of playing through it.

I have no delusions of grandeur and we'll be lucky to make the playoffs as things look today. They are one hit away from looking much different next week. And this is why we play the game.

 

[shockandroll]

I think Murray's performance was praiseworthy.

I would say the point at which the game was lost was the interception. By that point it had just snowballed to a point that it was insurmountable. Very hard to do anything when you become one dimensional.

I agree. Bennett was open and it was a great throw for a big play and if he catches it, they probably back off the pressure a bit. It would have allowed us to run too since it would have been a 1st. We stunk and probably lose anyway, but that play was the nail.

 

[shockandroll]

The OL isn't even super young anymore with the injury to Nagy and Kowalski/Arkin riding the pines. I will be even less young if they move Kosier to Center and Dockery over to OG. Fundamentally this is a bad OL and I strongly suspects its OL coach is also bad. I don't think Houck's heart is in it anymore or maybe he just doesn't care but that was as bad a performance as I've seen.

This team seems to lack direction and this will always be the case so long as Jerry Jones is the GM. I don't think Garrett holds as much sway with him as you think or Garrett is just as big a fool as Wade was. You just can't put your franchise QB behind an OL like this - it is a recipe for disaster. For 3 years now Romo has had to make due with a pathetic OL and I don't think he can handle it mentally anymore. If we lose Romo mentally, it won't make any difference if Garrett is trying to rebuild this team into a consistent winner. We will go back to being a bad football team overnight because our QB cupboard is bare behind Romo.

I also think it is an embarassment that we are carrying 4 kickers on the active roster. Unless McBriar is going to be better next week we should just put him on the IR or release Buehler and bring up another punter. We are going to lose valuable developmental prospects that are more important than keeping your punter on the active roster in a non-playoff year. This just speaks to another example of bad roster management.

I usually like your posts but this one is a dud.

 

[Risen Star]

The talent is not there along the offensive line. Sorry. It's just not. Phil Costa will never be good enough. Derrick Dockery and Montrae Holland are JAGs. Kyle Kosier has seen better years. Who the heck knows about Nagy or Arkin?

We need more players there and I'm confident we'll get some in the offseason.

 

[The Emperor]

The talent is not there along the offensive line. Sorry. It's just not. Phil Costa will never be good enough. Derrick Dockery and Montrae Holland are JAGs. Kyle Kosier has seen better years. Who the heck knows about Nagy or Arkin?

We need more players there and I'm confident we'll get some in the offseason.

"The talent's not there on the offensive line."

Yeah, it is. You failed to mention Tyron Smith. He's the talent we have on the offensive line. Sadly, he's all we've got. But come on, man. Don't act like we don't have any talent on the offensive line.

 

[DandyDon1722]

It's the first time we've really gotten blown out of a game since the Packers last year. I don't know why but the Saints were never going to beat the Rams Sunday and we were never going to beat Philly Sunday night. You just knew after the first few series it was over.

I'm glad Hos didn't go into details on individual performances because it just didn't matter. As Couch Scout always points out, the NFL today is not about player on player but scheme against scheme.

They won this battle. We'll be ready for them next time.

 

[The Emperor]

Nicely done Hos. I have no fancy lines or words like my buddy The Emp (damn public schooling ). But well put nonetheless. Even realists can get on board with this week's Touch of Hostility.

It's because I was homeschooled. Sadly, you have more social skills than I do.

 

[Risen Star]

"The talent's not there on the offensive line."

Yeah, it is. You failed to mention Tyron Smith. He's the talent we have on the offensive line. Sadly, he's all we've got. But come on, man. Don't act like we don't have any talent on the offensive line.

I'm saying the talent isn't there to form a good line in the future. One guy doesn't get in done. Even if you're in love with both tackles, we need Gs and a C.

 

[Hoofbite]

Good writeup.

My only concern is the idea that this team isn't Superbowl ready.

Not because I disagree. I really don't think they are, they fail to close far too often to be considered a real playoff threat. You can get away with one struggling game, MAYBE two if you are really lucky in the playoffs. From what I have seen, this team can't go that long without blowing it's own feet off. So you'll get no contention from me about being Superbowl ready right now. Maybe if the stars align this team can develop a little consistency and by the end of the season be considered a decent challenge in the playoffs but standing here at point "A", I'm not even sure the team can see point "B" right now.

My concern is in general is just........when?

I mean, we saw a good 4 seasons wasted with Wade. Players aren't getting any younger. I'm not really sure this team can afford to wait a couple more seasons. I think they're going to have to find a way to make something work in the next couple of years.

 

[Hoofbite]

"The talent's not there on the offensive line."

Yeah, it is. You failed to mention Tyron Smith. He's the talent we have on the offensive line. Sadly, he's all we've got. But come on, man. Don't act like we don't have any talent on the offensive line.

When you're talking about a group of 5 guys, 1 guy isn't enough no matter how good he is.

Sure, Tyron looks really good but the guys next to him don't so it really doesn't matter how good Tyron is. It's a nice consolation prize, I suppose.

 

[Risen Star]

Good writeup.

My only concern is the idea that this team isn't Superbowl ready.

Not because I disagree. I really don't think they are, they fail to close far too often to be considered a real playoff threat. You can get away with one struggling game, MAYBE two if you are really lucky in the playoffs. From what I have seen, this team can't go that long without blowing it's own feet off. So you'll get no contention from me about being Superbowl ready right now. Maybe if the stars align this team can develop a little consistency and by the end of the season be considered a decent challenge in the playoffs but standing here at point "A", I'm not even sure the team can see point "B" right now.

My concern is in general is just........when?

I mean, we saw a good 4 seasons wasted with Wade. Players aren't getting any younger. I'm not really sure this team can afford to wait a couple more seasons. I think they're going to have to find a way to make something work in the next couple of years.

Here we go with that window stuff again.

Teams don't have windows. Players do. If the Cowboys want to be a consistent contender, they simply need to draft well and make prudent free agent decisions.

 

[windward]

"The talent's not there on the offensive line."

Yeah, it is. You failed to mention Tyron Smith. He's the talent we have on the offensive line. Sadly, he's all we've got. But come on, man. Don't act like we don't have any talent on the offensive line.

Free is talented, and I suspect he will excel at RT next year.