A Touch Of Hostility... Wildcard Style

[Clove]

The only gripe I have right now about the Owens situation is that we should never have picked him up in the first place. But I think Austin actually learned a lot from Owens, on the work ethic part, blocking.

Romo minus bone head turnovers is a Super Star player. I don't care what anyone says about team sports, yada yada, teams live and die by how their QB plays.

Great read as usual, I thought Jenkins had 2 picks tonight. Anyways, have a good night.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Great job Hos. I know that smile is still ear to ear for you right now, even as you sleep.

 

[irvin88]

great post hos.

 

[casmith07]

When a friend asked me to predict the outcome, I told him that I knew the Cowboys were going to win, and that it would be a blowout again. He laughed at me and flapped his gums about 13 years, the Michael Vick vactor, DeSean Jackson, etc.

I've tried to call him 6 times since the final gun, and his phone goes straight to voicemail every time :laugh2:

Great post, Hos...you should start a blog for all of this, get some notoriety!

 

[HardHittin'Witten]

Awesome post, Hos.

 

[Kaika]

I feel bad for Mike Jenkins. One bad attempted lateral and people are not going to remember how great he played today.


No way Hos,. I'll give this guy all the credit in the world.
CB was one of our worse positions and this kid has filled the position and has done a fabulous job .

Nope, I'll forgive him for trying.

 

[Sitting Bull]

Ah, what a wonderful read to start my morning. Its going to be great to enjoy the games today after we were so dominant in taking care of our business.

I expect that feeling to last for a long time. I'm certainly not satisfied with one win but just think about it- the fishwrap hacks like JJT and Galloway are going to have to find something else to write about other than cupcakes, internal turmoil, Romo's big-game failures, playoff futility and the month of December. The team are now officially "winners" by any idiot's definition, the Giants completely marginalized their wins over us by choking down the stretch and we kicked Philly's can so badly, so many times, that there isn't a spin that can ever erase it.

There are many, many things to love about the way this team has come together. Perhaps the best is that they have matured and caught fire at exactly the right time- something a lot of us on this board thought might never happen.

I truly believe we have the best defense in football and can actually win the Super Bowl. It's gonna be a fun ride.

 

[lspain1]

This morning is simply "true satisfaction." The long drought is over. There will be plenty of time to discuss next week but today is a day to reflect on how far this organization has come since the Campo years. Last night we answered some very bad memories against a team (and a coach) that delighted in giving them. The Eagles will spend the entire off-season asking painful questions around "how do we compete with the Cowboys?" The Giants are asking some painful questions as well and the Commanders are starting over...again. How awesome is that?

 

[brickman]

I feel bad for Mike Jenkins. One bad attempted lateral and people are not going to remember how great he played today. Truly he has become our best DB and is someone going forward that we are all going to trust to do his job. He has to protect that ball. He has to stay on Maclin on that one long TD he had. Other than those 1 and a half plays (don't forget he did pick off the ball) he was outstanding. His diving pass deflect is becoming a weekly highlight. We got similar ones tonight from Sensabaugh and Newman. Jenkins will unfairly take some heat for those one and a half plays. Let me remind people of one thing about this kid. We dat. ..... hos



I still love the way Mike Jenkins plays and the swagger he brings. He definitely is growing & maturing and he is a stud!

 

[Sarge]

Nice read....

 

[EPL0c0]

Well said Hos.

I'm w/ you, I think the one gripe is those penalties; mostly b/c at least 2 took Dallas out of scoring position. Dallas can't afford to leave points on the field like that

 

[VACowboy]

I feel bad for Mike Jenkins. One bad attempted lateral and people are not going to remember how great he played today. Truly he has become our best DB and is someone going forward that we are all going to trust to do his job. He has to protect that ball. He has to stay on Maclin on that one long TD he had. Other than those 1 and a half plays (don't forget he did pick off the ball) he was outstanding. His diving pass deflect is becoming a weekly highlight. We got similar ones tonight from Sensabaugh and Newman. Jenkins will unfairly take some heat for those one and a half plays. Let me remind people of one thing about this kid. We dat.

I think most people will remember how great he played. The lateral was a bonehead move, but at that point it was a small thing, especially compared to the job he's been doing in coverage.

The Maclin play was pretty well-designed. Jenkins briefly went into run support mode on a play I'm sure he recognized from film study. Vick has run that play multiple times, but this is the first time they've thrown off the play action. Jenkins went to force the run, saw Vick drop back and slipped as he went to catch Maclin. There's not a doubt in my mind that the Iggles set this play up specifically for last night's game. They were desperate for big plays.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...if the Cowboys can maintain this level of execution and find even the smallest improvement on the penalties, then the Vikings should be worried about this team.

On paper it would look like the Cowboys match up well against Minnesota's weaknesses.

What has been a promise to Cowboys fans for the past three years, the level of talent, has now been delivered somewhat with this game.

 

[tomson75]

Not much else needs to be said.... Your words have an uncanny knack of summarizing and stirring my emotions at the same time. It's as if I can't let myself think it's true until I see it here first...

My god....what a glorious feeling.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

Great post, Hos. Here are a few things you noticed that really stuck out to me as well:

• Wade's challenge. I had the exact same reaction. He really is good at challenges and that one was probably his biggest and best since he's been here.
• Time of possession. This really is astounding to me.
• Ware's sack. An absolute thing of beauty. That video clip would make a great signature.
• McNabb's helmet being patted. Didn't notice that it was Ratliff but I loved it.
• Jenkins' game. It wasn't just the fumble -- he also slipped and fell on two occasions. But overall he played very well. At some point teams are going to figure out they can't throw at this guy kind of like how teams eventually figured out they had to double Miles.

 

[hutch1254]

I was exhausted when I went to bed last night. Physically and also with some help of the booze. I've been a Cowboys fan since the mid 70's. I've had this weight or burden for the last bakers dozen years on my back. When people talked about what my team couldn't do the back of my neck would become red and heated. I had become tired of being a punching bag because I work with Steelers and Philly and Bills fans (at least I could always dump on Bills fan). I work with fellow Cowboy fans who jump the ship at the first sign of trouble and had come to doubt Romo.

Hos your "albatross" paragraph summed up my feelings. The weight has been lifted. I haven't felt this proud about my team in a long time. I am beaming.

Game thoughts:

• Miles hammering Mikell on that block was awesome.
• I was concerned about Colombo starting but he played real well.
• Thank you Doug Free. Don't be discouraged, you play a bigger part than you know.
• Loved Tashard getting more touches. I watched his Georgia Tech lockerroom speech yesterday. Dude can lead.
• I'm completely proud of the progression in Romo protecting the ball and Spencer's development.
• I'm not overly concerned with the penalties because it's a division rival and penalties usually go high in a rivalry game, IMO.
• Jenkins laying himself out to block the pass and then face planting himself...holy cow dude, take it easy, we need you healthy!! And get down on the INT's.
• RW #11...a nice little confidence booster of a game if anything. Hopefully that grows into something more as we move forward.
• Vic "Shoestring" Butler.
• Kick returns killing me. Pick a lane, hit the gas, if you pick the wrong lane so be it, if you pick the right lane so be it. But please, stop the hesitation/searching.

Congrats Cowboys and all Cowboys fans. My mom is a big Cowboys fan as well and we texted for about an hour last night. Haven't seen her this excited about the Boys in a real long time.

Going to Minny to knock Favre out and beat Tavaris Jackson.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

...if the Cowboys can maintain this level of execution and find even the smallest improvement on the penalties, then the Vikings should be worried about this team.

On paper it would look like the Cowboys match up well against Minnesota's weaknesses.

What has been a promise to Cowboys fans for the past three years, the level of talent, has now been delivered somewhat with this game.

We had a streak of several games -- up to the season finale against Philly -- in which our penalties were way down. So the Cowboys have done it this season against good competition; let's hope that these last two games were a temporary setback rather than a return to form.

 

[noletime95]

Good stuff Hos, thx.

 

[The Great Number 8]

For anyone who complains about Jnekins, offer two words - Anthony Henry who could not have run with those young guys last night.

Adding Sensabaugh, and the development of Spencer and Jenkins has made all of the difference to this team. The defense has played pretty well all year, but after the Saints game, it's been a whole new level. The coverage is great, we're getting off the field and the tackling has been superb. When Sensabaugh stayed with Maclin across the field and tackled him short of that first down. It got us off the field in a 14-7 game, and we went down to kick a FG to make it a 10 point game. We've had a lot of safety's roll through here in the last 5 years who would not have either stayed with the receiver or made the tackle. Huge difference to this team.

Spencer's development over the season has made it impossible to defend him. There's nothing on film in the last month where anyone can find any way to slow him down. He's been a beast. It seemed to take him a couple of years to figure out this defense, but he's not thinking now - just playing.

Have to love it!

 

[Hostile]

Great post, Hos. Here are a few things you noticed that really stuck out to me as well:

• Wade's challenge. I had the exact same reaction. He really is good at challenges and that one was probably his biggest and best since he's been here.
• Time of possession. This really is astounding to me.
• Ware's sack. An absolute thing of beauty. That video clip would make a great signature.
• McNabb's helmet being patted. Didn't notice that it was Ratliff but I loved it.
• Jenkins' game. It wasn't just the fumble -- he also slipped and fell on two occasions. But overall he played very well. At some point teams are going to figure out they can't throw at this guy kind of like how teams eventually figured out they had to double Miles.

I'm pretty sure it was Spencer who did that.

Thank you all for the kind words.