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Posted by mickshot at 10/26/2008 7:48 PM CDT on truebluefanclub.com
* The NFC beasts might be in the NFC East, with all four teams owning winning records, but this conference sure is skin tight with the Cowboys hitting the halfway mark. Yep, the Giants still lead at 6-1, but Washington and Carolina are only a half-game behind at 6-2. Next are the Cowboys and Tampa Bay at 5-3, followed by five teams at 4-3 – Philadelphia, Chicago, Green Bay, Atlanta and Arizona. Man, and don’t forget the Saints sitting there now at 4-4 after going all the way to London to find a victory. As Bill would say, better wait until the smoke clears following Thanksgiving to know what’s what since 11 teams are within 2½ of each other.
* That Cowboys’ punt coverage, my gosh. This Bucs rookie Clifton Smith, playing in his first NFL game, averaged 16.4 yards on five punt returns, and might have taken one the distance had first-year punter Paul Paulescu not made the head-on tackle in the hole at the 50. The Cowboys ought to thank their lucky stars Smith decided to fair catch Paulescu’s last punt at the Bucs 26. Add another 17 to that, and the Bucs would have set up on that final possession at the Cowboys 43 with 4:15 and three timeouts left. And as it ended, they sp[uttered out at the Cowboys 18.
* Had Brad Johnson thrown two passes a tad higher, this might have been a runaway for the Cowboys. He didn’t get enough loft on that hash throw to Tony Curtis from the Tampa Bay 24, the Cowboys eventually settling for a field goal after Derrick Brooks breakup. And on that deep throw to Terrell Owens, had he gotten a little more air under the throw Aqib Talib never would have broken up the pass without looking, and who knows how far Owens would have sped.
* Well, well, for a change it was the opponent winning the penalty derby, Tampa Bay called for seven and the Cowboys five. The Bucs sure hurt themselves on the only touchdown drive of the game, getting called for four infractions on the Cowboys’ 59-yard drive, including a 15-yarder for a horse collar tackle of Marion Barber on third down when the Cowboys would have been forced to punt. In fact, that 15-yard penalty, plus Barber’s one yard gain on the screen pass, ended up being the Cowboys’ biggest gain of the game, if you can believe that.
Mickey Spagnola
Comments (71) | Permanent Link
* The NFC beasts might be in the NFC East, with all four teams owning winning records, but this conference sure is skin tight with the Cowboys hitting the halfway mark. Yep, the Giants still lead at 6-1, but Washington and Carolina are only a half-game behind at 6-2. Next are the Cowboys and Tampa Bay at 5-3, followed by five teams at 4-3 – Philadelphia, Chicago, Green Bay, Atlanta and Arizona. Man, and don’t forget the Saints sitting there now at 4-4 after going all the way to London to find a victory. As Bill would say, better wait until the smoke clears following Thanksgiving to know what’s what since 11 teams are within 2½ of each other.
* That Cowboys’ punt coverage, my gosh. This Bucs rookie Clifton Smith, playing in his first NFL game, averaged 16.4 yards on five punt returns, and might have taken one the distance had first-year punter Paul Paulescu not made the head-on tackle in the hole at the 50. The Cowboys ought to thank their lucky stars Smith decided to fair catch Paulescu’s last punt at the Bucs 26. Add another 17 to that, and the Bucs would have set up on that final possession at the Cowboys 43 with 4:15 and three timeouts left. And as it ended, they sp[uttered out at the Cowboys 18.
* Had Brad Johnson thrown two passes a tad higher, this might have been a runaway for the Cowboys. He didn’t get enough loft on that hash throw to Tony Curtis from the Tampa Bay 24, the Cowboys eventually settling for a field goal after Derrick Brooks breakup. And on that deep throw to Terrell Owens, had he gotten a little more air under the throw Aqib Talib never would have broken up the pass without looking, and who knows how far Owens would have sped.
* Well, well, for a change it was the opponent winning the penalty derby, Tampa Bay called for seven and the Cowboys five. The Bucs sure hurt themselves on the only touchdown drive of the game, getting called for four infractions on the Cowboys’ 59-yard drive, including a 15-yarder for a horse collar tackle of Marion Barber on third down when the Cowboys would have been forced to punt. In fact, that 15-yard penalty, plus Barber’s one yard gain on the screen pass, ended up being the Cowboys’ biggest gain of the game, if you can believe that.
Mickey Spagnola
Comments (71) | Permanent Link