ATouch of Hostility...Week 12

[Randy White]

to the Dallas Cowboys ? Blow up a 4 foot x 6 foot sign and plant it in the middle of the lockeroom before the players get there on Monday morning ( they deserve to have the weekend off ). The sign would convey the following message:

Forget the past. Forget the December record. Forget everything else but ONE thing:

The NY football Giants.

That's it.

Starting today nothing else matters BUT the NY football Giants. Every single interview or press question will be answered if and ONLY if it's about the NY football Giants. When you get home tonight, you need to think about the NY football Giants. When you wake up tomorrow, you need to wake up thinking about the NY football Giants.

There is no higher priority in this upcoming week ( professionally speaking ) than the New York football Giants. Everything else WILL BE taken as a distraction and dismissed accordingly.

 

[Phoenix]

Just your usual post of "A Touch of Hostility" every week. Man.

What are you always smoking, anyways? Whatever it is, pass it on to me!! Because as always, you are insightful, spot on, honest, and applause to you Hos!

:clap2::clap2:

 

[Phoenix]

My own thoughts now.

Jason Garrett. He called a pretty good offensive game today. 494 yards, chunks on the ground and in the air.

Wade Phillips. He called a pretty good defensive game today. The D was REVVED baby.

I loved all phases of this game, offense, defense, special teams. On ST, McBriar almost matched Lechler, and they are the two best punters in the league IMHO. Lechler almost hit the video boards on a punt, and McBriar actually came a little close later in the game. KO and Punt return coverage units were very, very good today.

At first, the Raiders were ripping off huge yardage on the ground with Fargas & McFadden. The Cowboys made adjustments and pretty much shut them down after that.

Defensive secondary was outstanding. Many good plays. Their QB certainly helped of course. But they did very well. And they played a lot of man coverage today! (except in the late phases of each half)

Penalties. We started out with at least 4 if not 5 penalties in the 1st quarter alone, and then, we had, what 2 more the rest of the game....? Amazing. Way to get your heads in the game Cowboys! We finished well under our average number of penalties per game I think. And I thought we might be on course to set a franchise record for them after the 1st quarter.

Folk. The DOINK was just bad luck. It WAS a 49 yd attempt....not a chip shot by any stretch. I'll give him a pass on that. That was just bad luck. Maybe it was the wind from the open roof lol. Hopefully his psyche will be okay.

Barber had a rough start, but salvaged his stats with one good run late. Choice NEEDS to be the starter, with Felix spelling him every few series. Bring in the Barbarian in the fourth quarter to wipe out the D on spent legs!!

Miles Austin!! Man. What can you say. All week long I had to listen to sports talk radio clowns like CowTurd and John Kincaid slamming him for being a flash in the pan, and knowing it was not so. Good on Miles.

Roy.....I think he is about to emerge. I think he might even be making us forget Miles Austin in the coming weeks. I honestly do.

Lastly, it was wonderful to see the roof open for the very first time for a daytime broadcast. The light streaming in from above and from the tunnels, on TV anyways, was beautiful. Nice job Jerry! I can only imagine how much nicer it was to have been there in person.

Edit: Addendum: Thank you Dallas Cowboys for giving me a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving. As you usually do. I know that you usually win *after* Turkey Day also, so I know the Gmen are going DOWN!!!

Also, thank you TEXAS! No way we were going to be upset by the Aggies! Colt McCoy ROCKS!!!!

 

[Coast2Coast27]

That was a great read. In fact that might of been one of the best Cowboy article's ive read all year. Really enjoyed the optimism and perspective.


However I have a question for you, Do you think this very talented team struggle's in december due to the 2nd bye they sort of have here after the thanksgiving game. Maybe the extra time off... makes them lose there focus just a bit? with that said...when does the entire team have to report back to work? not until monday ?

 

[Phoenix]

That was a great read. In fact that might of been one of the best Cowboy article's ive read all year. Really enjoyed the optimism and perspective.


However I have a question for you, Do you think this very talented team struggle's in december due to the 2nd bye they sort of have here after the thanksgiving game. Maybe the extra time off... makes them lose there focus just a bit? with that said...when does the entire team have to report back to work? not until monday ?

Why thank you! ha ha. Okay I know you meant Hos's original post.

The team normally does okay after Thanksgiving, if I remember right. I think that THIS team not only remembers past Decembers, but are well aware of the late season meltdowns. I personally think they will be focused, Roy will be the Hero of December, we will sweep 5-0 or at worst 4-1 in December, and all will be well.

The team, I think, reports back officially on Tuesday, but I am absolutely certain that most if not all of them will be in the training facility in Big D on Monday.

 

[Hostile]

That was a great read. In fact that might of been one of the best Cowboy article's ive read all year. Really enjoyed the optimism and perspective.


However I have a question for you, Do you think this very talented team struggle's in december due to the 2nd bye they sort of have here after the thanksgiving game. Maybe the extra time off... makes them lose there focus just a bit? with that said...when does the entire team have to report back to work? not until monday ?

I don't think the 2nd bye has a negative effect. Let me explain why. First of all it allows us extra days to get healthy, game plan, and prepare for the final push.

Consider this, after yesterday Dallas is 27-14-1 all time on Thanksgiving. Tom Landry, the Master, was 14-5-1. We started playing on Thanksgiving in 1966. The NFL skipped us in 1975 and 1977, both were Super Bowl seasons, and then we have played every year since 1978. Tom and the Cowboys lost that first post Turkey day game and then won 16 straight years. You couldn't give Tom Landry time to game plan to the minute detail. He was too good. This is why his record on opening day was also unreal, 22-6-1. Tom lost the last 4 post Thanksgiving games we played and the last 3 Thanksgiving day games we played. I honestly think that is why Cowboys fans began to whisper that Coach had lost it. They were so used to seeing wins on those days.

After 1989 Jimmy Johnson restored that aura of invincibility for those 2 games. Jimmy was 3-2 on Thanksgiving, but should have been 4-1. In 1993 Leon Lett had his infamous snow flub. That was the last game Jimmy lost as our Head Coach. Jimmy was 4-1 the game after.

Barry was 3-1 and then 2-2 in games after, and lost both in 1997, his last year and the year we started our Post Season drought.

Chan Gailey was 1-1 on Turkey Day, then 0-2 after.

The complete mess that was Dave Campo was 1-2 and 1-2.

For all Parcells aura he was 2-2 on the big day and 2-2 in the game exactly after it.

Wade Phillips is 3-0 on Thanksgiving. So far he is 1-1 for the game after. If you add up all the won - loss records for the game after Thanksgiving it is an almost identical 26 - 15 record.

Hence why other teams think we have an unfair advantage in these games. If it is an unfair advantage, how come Detroit can't capitalize on it? There is no answer to that.

Just like there really isn't an answer of why since 1997 has this team faded so badly in December. We've had killer schedules, injuries, and bad breaks, but all of those things don't explain it near enough. If I had to put the reason for it upon any one factor, I would say the team simply loses focus.

I don't see that happening this year. If anything, this team is ultra focused. 3-2 is acceptable in December if the 3 wins are Division. At 11-5 we would win the NFC East. That is more important to me that I care to admit. We're capable of 4-1 in December if this team plays to it's potential. 5-0 is a dream of mine, but it is unrealistic.

Back when we were 2-2 I predicted we would finish 12-4 and win the NFC East. I am going to stick with that. I will take 11-5. 10-6 would really disappoint me.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Very well said Hos.

Let's see what Santa brings this team shall we?

 

[Sarge]

Well done bud.

5 stars...

 

[Coast2Coast27]

Hostile ,

thank you for your Article and response it was excellent.

 

[Grevus]

All I want for Christmas is a playoff win.

 

[FLcowboy]

I literally had 2 words for him:

Miles Austin

I would have chosen my words differently.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I would have chosen my words differently.

Miles Austin is the MVP of this Season.

I believe he will have a profound effect on the outcome of this season.

Miles Austin represents all that is good in the NFL.

The guy is talented, hungry, humble and when he doesn't have big games statistically, you don't hear him complain.

People may laugh but I believe he is almost as important as Tony Romo at this point.

 

[burmafrd]

what I would like to see is someone with the time to spare look at the opponents in those last 5 games and their records- then compare them to our records. I think a lot of the time we were playing some of the best teams in the NFL as well as our division rivals. If that is the case then going 2-3 or 3-2 is probably about right.

 

[TwentyOne]

Good post Hostile.

What worries me is not december. December is just a word. It's relativly easy to say he or the team plays bad in december. With all the stats that argument is right. But it doesn't give answers for the problem itself.

What i am worried about is that Romo seems to have problems in reading coverages and to deliver the ball. It normaly doesn't show when hes playing medicore defenses but it sure shows when he plays better players and especially when he plays against better defensive schemes.

To me Romo is getting better in protecting the ball and that might be a big plus. But he still struggels against the better defenses. And that's not a problem that occures only in december. That's a problem you can observe the whole season (Green Bay, Washington, Denver, Phily and last year against Pittsburgh, Baltimore, etc... Even against the Raiders to me he didn't look like he had control of the game. Alot of big plays helped to overshadow his problems).

So now comes december and Januar. And teams are taking it up a notch. We have a rough schedule in december. And i don't think about NO i talk about the Giants, Washington, Phily. Those three (maybe NYFG not so much) give Romo trouble with their defenses. To me it looks like over the last 1 1/2 years Romo hit the point where he is at the end of his natural talent. And if i am right we will look at bitter days come Januar.

Because whats left in Januar are teams with better defenses.

So i don't think this december drop off is a mental thing. And that's what worries me the most. Hope i am wrong. Or maybe the rest of the team is much better then the last years and can help Romo out so he doesn't have to be the busdriver everytime (like it did already a lot of times this season). But then again to win a Superbowl without a busdriver at QB seems somekind of very hard to do to me.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Miles Austin is the MVP of this Season.

I believe he will have a profound effect on the outcome of this season.

Miles Austin represents all that is good in the NFL.

The guy is talented, hungry, humble and when he doesn't have big games statistically, you don't hear him complain.

People may laugh but I believe he is almost as important as Tony Romo at this point.

Didn't you love how he played to the crowd when he saw himself on the videoboard while the officials were reviewing that ankle on the turf play? Then when he scored (again IMO), he did the same thing. Gottal love the guy. He's just what the doctor ordered for this offense. I believe Roy is going to get going too and we will be dangerous.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Good post as usual Hostile, Here are my views and thoughts, while asking a few simple questions that you might be able to answer or get those thoughts to the Cowboys.

First, at the start of the year, I thought was going to be a losing year, like 7-9 season. So, I am already wrong, later in the year, I thought possibly 10-6 or 11-5. Then, after a few games mid season, I moved that to 12-4, which I think that is good a record this year they can get with the big bad December games coming up.

Second, I think Keith Brooking has been a very positive influence in the locker room. He is more of a vocal leader too than Zach Thomas was, while Brooking is bigger and faster linebacker. You have seen the results. We have needed leaders on this team to step up and they have, with Witten, Romo, Ratliff, Bradie and now Brooking. I have said that for 3 years, this team needed leadership in the locker room. Finally, they are stepping up and being counted.

Third, this team has always fell apart in December as you know,but like Ratliff's T-Shirt said, Shut Up and Play. No More Excuses too. Like you mentioned the players are pissed off at the remarks from fans, media on cupcake, cant win the big one, etc. Maybe that is what is needed. What happened in the late 60's and 1970 Hostile? The Dallas Cowboys players couldnt win the big one. Then, they got players like Herb Adderly, and Lance Alworth that helped put them over the top. Sometimes, you have to tick someone off to push him to be the person he needs to be, because most likely he hasnt been pushed enough to perform like he should. It's not going to be any cake walk, but I am starting to believe that the Cowboys might finally get that monkey off their back, but at same time. I won't fall into the old trap and get set up by the Cowboy players, prove to me that you want it Dallas Cowboys.

4th. I have said it and even posted a few articles about Romo needing some more experience in relation to other QB's coming into their own. Most of the top QB's like Drew Brees, Eli Manning, and Phil Simms for examples as top QB's that won championships, or playoff big games or elite ranked QB's started winning after their 50th to 61st game. I said on this board several times and got blasted for it, that wait till Romo gets his 50th game this season, then look out. Now, some sayers that told me it isnt the same or you cant pedge hole a player like that, they are starting to look wrong too.

5th. Romo still has some growing to do, but I do believe he is turning the corner. If you remember in the Giant Cowboy game at cowboys stadium, big mouth Jacobs said that they wanted to keep Romo in the pocket and force him to throw, and not allow him outside the pocket throwing because that is when he is dangerous. That is exactly what the Giants did if you remember, which forced Romo to throw some key interceptions, not counting the safety where he was for example. To me we needed some plays for Romo rolling out with some protection that way. Kinda like the Giants had Eli rolling out against us a few times.
So, this is my question, Babe Laufenberg was on, Cowboys former QB and he said from what he has seen, the last 2 games leading up to the Raider game, Romo's footwork was bad and thats why some of the footballs thrown to Austin and Roy have been high. Shouldn't the QB coach Wade Wilson and Jason Garrett have seen that and corrected it?

Next question is this, between the past 2 games of the Packer game and the Commander game where we hardly scored points and Jason Garrett was looking bad as an offensive coordinator reports were that Jimmy Johnson and Dan Reeves were at practice this week, did they give the Cowboys some pointers and if so, should it be pointed out to Jerry Jones to swallow his pride and keep that dialogue up or hire an offensive consultant to be disecting the Cowboys offense and pointing things out to Jason Garrett? For example an outside view of another coach breaking down the cowboys and helping out in the press box calling plays and what he sees to Jason Garrett game time? Whatever happened something changed, and someone had different offensive schemes. I do remember on thefan 105.3 the announcers were saying that Jason Garrett said before Jimmy Johnson could finish one of his big things for football, that Garrett said I know Coach, the team that has the fewest bad plays wins the game.

Next question Hostile, theebs who you know said that in pregame warmups etc that Folk was hitting field goal attempts dead center 55 yards etc, that just maybe he is getting cold feet while being sub consicious of missing because last year Folk was kicking off and getting intothe game before FG's. But now Folk is coming into the game possibly cold and pressing. So, do the Cowboys need to keep Folk warmed up on the sidelines with the net thing or possibly get folk into some special teams units to keep him warmed up for field goals?

Was a super thanksigiving to me, and I have a feeling that even more of a great season is coming up with more blessings for me. I also get the Cowboys super bowl jacket and Jason Witten's jersey from the Cowboys from the $500 gift certificate that I won from the Cowboys Texas lottery scratch off.

Go Cowboys!

 

[DFWJC]

Great post Hos....your best entry of the season from where I'm sitting.

Bring it on!



On thing i would be curious to see is how other NFC East teams have done in general during those last 5 weeks. Afterall, that is generally the toughest stretch of the schedule for anyone in a tough division so I would expect the record to almost always be worse in those months. That does not excsue the obvious poorer play (in spite of the competition) in the past few seasons, but it does add perspective.

 

[casmith07]

Great post, Hostile! Looks like with a big win over a bad team, we're in danger of one of your post-game threads not going over 100 posts for a week

 

[BehindEnemyLinez]

:clap2:Good Post, Hos. We have a brutal December schedule but we should be battle-tested b/c of it...
:dissgint: looking like pretenders right now...so we'll get no credit for beating everyone's "favorite in the NFCE", but it'll be great for the team's confidence going forward...
:bolts:looking tougher, but are one-dimensional w/ LT aging/regressing. I think our "d" can keep Rivers & co. at bay. Hopefully they'll still have that winning streak intact so we can end it...
:saints:the darlings of the NFC right now. Even if they lose b4 we see them, everyone outside of (and some in) Dallas' fanbase expect this to be a blowout loss...but my silver & blue glasses see it differently! An "L" to them isn't too bad of a loss, though, especially in the VooDoo Dome!
:dissskin: they'll be in spoiler mode so if we jump on them early in this game it should crush their spirits. They will have confidence b/c of their 1st game against us but w/ their fans' impending walkout they may be somewhat distracted...
:disseags: Even w/ Romo saying the team's not focused on last season, playing another season-ender against the Eaglets will bring back all the nasty memories from 2008...especially if we're playing for the NFCE crown. I think the "revenge" angle will motivate and spark the Boys this year...and close out our 1st reg. season in Cowboys Stadium much better than we opened it up!!!

5-0 Dec....I'd be ecstatic!
4-1...this is what I expect!
3-2...acceptable...especially if they're all NFCE wins
2-3...should get us in the postseason, but may lose us the 3rd seed.
1-4 or 0-5....ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE!!!

 

[cowboyjoe]

:suxjints:

:clap2:Good Post, Hos. We have a brutal December schedule but we should be battle-tested b/c of it...
:dissgint: looking like pretenders right now...so we'll get no credit for beating everyone's "favorite in the NFCE", but it'll be great for the team's confidence going forward...
:bolts:looking tougher, but are one-dimensional w/ LT aging/regressing. I think our "d" can keep Rivers & co. at bay. Hopefully they'll still have that winning streak intact so we can end it...
:saints:the darlings of the NFC right now. Even if they lose b4 we see them, everyone outside of (and some in) Dallas' fanbase expect this to be a blowout loss...but my silver & blue glasses see it differently! An "L" to them isn't too bad of a loss, though, especially in the VooDoo Dome!
:dissskin: they'll be in spoiler mode so if we jump on them early in this game it should crush their spirits. They will have confidence b/c of their 1st game against us but w/ their fans' impending walkout they may be somewhat distracted...
:disseags: Even w/ Romo saying the team's not focused on last season, playing another season-ender against the Eaglets will bring back all the nasty memories from 2008...especially if we're playing for the NFCE crown. I think the "revenge" angle will motivate and spark the Boys this year...and close out our 1st reg. season in Cowboys Stadium much better than we opened it up!!!

5-0 Dec....I'd be ecstatic!
4-1...this is what I expect!
3-2...acceptable...especially if they're all NFCE wins
2-3...should get us in the postseason, but may lose us the 3rd seed.
1-4 or 0-5....ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE!!!

yeah if we can just whup up on the giants game coming up, woohoo
:suxjints: :giants: