A Touch of Hostility...Week 9

[HoosierCowboy]

Good stuff--I think people liked Scandrick more because he was the underdog and drafted late--

 

[FCBarca]

Good stuff--I think people liked Scandrick more because he was the underdog and drafted late--

Anyone beginning to see a pattern with Scandrick failing to look back to make plays on the ball in tight coverage?...He's let a few receptions occur in positions he could've made a play on the ball...Wonder if Campo et al have been talking to him about being more aware of the ball

 

[gimmesix]

The one I want to concentrate on was McNabb's slide down the pile to the Eagles beak on the field that Al Michaels was trying to sell. The only explanation I have is that McNabb was on the top of the pile and was touched, the whistle for forward progress blew, then he slid down to the tip of the Eagles beak. Without knowing when the whistle blew Michaels would be right. Technically if McNabb had bounced off that pile and taken off down the field he would not have been down since his body never touched the ground. But that is not the case if the refs deem forward progress is stopped and blow the whistle. Did they? I don't know.

I rewound to look at where the first down marker was when they measured (just past the beak) and where McNabb's slide ended (the tip of the ball was just short of the end of the beak), so he was short of the first down no matter where they marked it.

I don't know if the refs took that into account when saying the ruling stands, just like they didn't move the ball back to where it should have been when ruling that the call stands on Philly's other challenge.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

This is a tough win, sometimes you have to see these wins to see if your team can dig down and come out victorious. Its not just winning a game, its whats at stake and San Diego delivered either Dallas or Eagles a nice gift.

"Who wants it more" was the motto of this game and I was even impressed Wade or the team figured it out.

A game like this, you dont want the refs involved, you want injuries to a minimum and you want both teams throttling at high efficiency, the loser sits in a locker room and questions ever play, the winner limps home to victory and prepares for next week.

This wasnt a football game where you go home afterwards, slump in your lazy boy chair, collect your paycheck and wonder what practice is going to be like this week. This was football where you forgot who's making what, what a "Victory Monday" feels like and how good would an ice pack would feel on that sore limb. Oh no, this was a "get out the bail money" victory because afterwards we're going to the hospital and left the corpse on the field.

This victory starts to shape the division, makes your team understand they are not just winners and losers each week, but a path to the greatest victory of the season and the reason you and your coach is paid so well, the victory where the owner drools.

After this point, your head does not swivel to see whos behind you, you look forward to each game and prepare each game based on what color you'll see on the field.

The Cowboys are no longer playing for a record at the end of the year, Wade is no longer wondering about a loss, the record is indecisive as of this minute, now you look to better and greater things, the prize all teams prepare for but only 1 can hoist as the confetti drops. The season has only begun and now its time to get the mentality and drop the foot on the pedal and crash through every wall that stands in your way.

You are either driving an environmentally sound car, or a Mack truck. The record doesnt matter anymore, cross that line and eternal glory is yours forever.

Damn, Star. Mamacita is ready to put on some shoulder pads and kick some tail after reading that.

 

[EPL0c0]

Yes, he did. He missed one series.

Thanks Hos. I hadn't noticed. Good news!!

 

[Brooksey]

This was a big win..I did not see anything ugly about it. I was comfortable every time we punted the football because I know we were in an NFC east fight with 1st place on the line. The game was a battle of field position and each team played good defense. As for Jenkins, he was better then Scandrick from day 1 including last year. Some people jumped on the Scandrick wagon last year, I never saw why.

Other then these two things I think your observations are right on.

 

[Hostile]

Damn, Star. Mamacita is ready to put on some shoulder pads and kick some tail after reading that.

With the pervs around here you had to write this? Clean up on aisle 9.

:wink2:

 

[fanfromvirginia]

I didn't think it was an ugly win at all. To me the penalties were the function of the refs getting picky in combination with two tough teams playing each other. In other words, to put it in tennis terms, some of those were forced errors, rather than unforced.

There weren't a lot of fumbles or bonehead plays. Just really good, hard-fought football.

 

[casmith07]

Let me tell y'all this:

Don't overlook the Deadskins. Not by a long shot. Yes, they're not going to win anything. Yes, the front office is a joke, the headcoach is a figurehead, and the offense is next to horrible.

However, if you look at both teams' history against each other, you'll notice that when either team is down and the other is up, it's usually the team that's down who wins the match up. During our SB years in the '90's, they were terrible, but they managed to win as many games against us as we did against them ( '92-'95 ), sweeping us in '95. During the early part of this century, we couldn't beat anybody unless they were wearing a Deadskins uniform.

When it comes to Washington, they should throw away all markers and measuring sticks and just come ready to play like if they're their equal.

If there ever were a such thing as a trap game, the games against Washington would be those.

 

[Chuck 54]

The Skins are officially finished...they have no chance. They can still play tough, sound defense, and make it hard to score, but their offense has no chance.

We won't blow them out 40-3, but they are absolutely no threat this year...you can put those two W's in the win column. And I'm a 52 year old life-time fan who has seen the Skins win their only game of consequence against us and vice-versa.

Bottom line....they have no O-Line. Imagine how we'd be hurting if one of our starting tackles was lost for the season.

They have lost 3 starting linemen...their best OG, Randy Thomas, gone for the season. Their LT, Chris Samuels, gone for the season. RT injured...they are moving guys around just to get a line out there.

In this league, you can have Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, and Randy Moss, but if you lose 3 starting O-linemen and your backups are truly scrubbs who were happy to find a job, you have no chance.

Oh FYI...they don't have Peterson, Brady, or Moss...just the worst OL in the NFL right now due to injuries.

Desire, heart, and a huge rivarly don't get it done if you have no one who can block. It's really going to be sad the rest of the way.

As a true Commanders hater, my secret fantasy is that they lose so many games that they get to pick in the top 10 and Danny Boy decides his team needs a tough leader at QB and wastes a #1 draft pick on Tebow....man, on man, I would laugh my tail off for years.

No disrespect intended for one of the great college QB's in history, but that guy won't make it in the NFL.

 

[Doomsday101]

The Skins are officially finished...they have no chance. They can still play tough, sound defense, and make it hard to score, but their offense has no chance.

We won't blow them out 40-3, but they are absolutely no threat this year...you can put those two W's in the win column. And I'm a 52 year old life-time fan who has seen the Skins win their only game of consequence against us and vice-versa.

Bottom line....they have no O-Line. Imagine how we'd be hurting if one of our starting tackles was lost for the season.

They have lost 3 starting linemen...their best OG, Randy Thomas, gone for the season. Their LT, Chris Samuels, gone for the season. RT injured...they are moving guys around just to get a line out there.

In this league, you can have Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady, and Randy Moss, but if you lose 3 starting O-linemen and your backups are truly scrubbs who were happy to find a job, you have no chance.

Oh FYI...they don't have Peterson, Brady, or Moss...just the worst OL in the NFL right now due to injuries.

Now you have me worried because I saw no way in hell the Packers would lose to the Bucs. :laugh2:

 

[AdamJT13]

I believe Tony's INT was receiver / QB miss communication.

Is it possible that the ball was tipped at the line? As soon as I saw the ball in flight, it looked wobbly and I thought it might have been tipped. From the replay (they never showed a close-up replay of Romo throwing), it looks like Brodrick Bunkley might have gotten a finger on it, just enough to deflect it slightly.

 

[TD-33]

Nice write up Hostile. :starspin One of your best.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Good post Hos.

I hope people don't write off the Giants just yet.

I still believe the games against the Commanders (at least the first one), the Giants and Eagles are still going to be tough.

Tony Romo is playing at an extremely high level and I don't care what anyone says, this is exactly what is meant by "A Romo-friendly" Offense.

Once Miles Austin started to make plays, it really reignited the Cowboys Offense and now everyone is getting into the act.

 

[TD-33]

Is it possible that the ball was tipped at the line? As soon as I saw the ball in flight, it looked wobbly and I thought it might have been tipped. From the replay (they never showed a close-up replay of Romo throwing), it looks like Brodrick Bunkley might have gotten a finger on it, just enough to deflect it slightly.

I don't know but that would have been a crazy throw to fit it just over the defender trailing Witten and not be right in the safeties face coming from the other direction. We've seen him do that, but I wonder if Tony lost the safety again.

 

[TD-33]

Good post Hos.

I hope people don't write off the Giants just yet.

I still believe the games against the Commanders (at least the first one), the Giants and Eagles are still going to be tough.

Tony Romo is playing at an extremely high level and I don't care what anyone says, this is exactly what is meant by "A Romo-friendly" Offense.

Once Miles Austin started to make plays, it really reignited the Cowboys Offense and now everyone is getting into the act.

^^^^ This.

Some are writing off that game but we know you can throw a team's record out of the window on these division games.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

^^^^ This.

Some are writing off that game but we know you can throw a team's record out of the window on these division games.

No doubt.

That is why I don't put any stock into teams losing to the arm pits of the league.

Yeah, I know I was mad when we barely beat the Chiefs, but this team wasn't looking that good at that point.

The Giants are still 5-4 and could be very dangerous in December as a spoiler or a legitimate Playoff team. If you look at their schedule, they lost to some pretty good teams.

I don't care who lost to the Raiders, Chiefs or Bucs because there are so many factors involved during the game that has an effect on the outcome.

I think we beat Green Bay and probably end their season but not because they lost to Tampa Bay.

 

[Vintage]

The only thing I'll disagree with you on Hos, is that it was an ugly win.

Defense was stifling. Special teams was solid. Our passing game was on point. And when we needed to run the ball (at the end of the game), we were able to.

Not an ugly win IMO.

 

[Sitting Bull]

Dang, Hos. What a write-up! What a game and I thought the win was anything but ugly. Philly girls are ugly. to my eyes, this win was a thing of beauty. A well-executed defensive scheme that neutralized the explosive offense of a division rival, in their house, on a national stage. On defense, I saw a collection of skilled players that really played as a team. There are many areas that need work- the running game, chief among them. But I'm savoring this win for a while. This is the first big win where I thought we played like a playoff-caliber defense for 60 minutes. This collection of players is becoming a team and I couldn't be happier.

 

[TheSkaven]

The Jenkins pick was really incredible. He played that perfectly, then made a great play on the ball. That pick and the hold on 4th and inches were the two turning points in the game. You could just feel the air come out of the sails for the Eagles and their home crowd.

You could call this an ugly win because of the penalties, and the sacks. However Romo impressed me - even more after I watched the game on television today. He went into a hostile environment against a divisional opponent and threw for more than 300 yards.

One thing Hos, you called the Cowboys game plan. I thought they'd try to go deep and exploit the blitz. Well, they exploited the blitz but they did so with the short passing game and the lead draw.