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Just CHILL: Williams, Spencer, Jenkins offer hope; Brooking, Scandrick, Folk foster concern
Clarence Hill
Tony Romo stood in the post game locker room following the Giants game looking for positives to build on. It didn't take him long to point to the Cowboys passing game.
Why not? Romo passed for a career high 392 yards and three touchdowns. But it wasn't so much the numbers that Romo liked but the production.
He completed passes to eight different receivers, led by Jason Witten's 14 catches for 156 yards. Miles Austin chipped in a ho hum 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. It was his fourth 100 yard receiving game in the last eight and he is now closing in his first 1,000-yard season. He has 52 catches for 928 yards and 9 touchdowns.
But the Cowboys are likely most excited about the contributions of the maligned Roy Williams and the forgotten Martellus Bennett.
Any discussion about Williams being the No. 1 receiver are over. He is the No. 2 behind Austin. And he did provide a nice compliment to Austin with six catches for 60 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants. He had a nice touchdown on a fade in second quarter. But most impressive was the 25-yard reception in traffic in the fourth quarter.
If can he be consistently counted on to be a red zone threat and make the touch catch in traffic that bodes for the Cowboys going forward. Can you believe he has six touchdowns this season, just two shy of his career high?
Bennett, who went from training camp star to the back of a milk cartoon once the Cowboys started playing for real, is looking like a contributor down the stretch. Sure he still has concentration issues with the occasional dropped pass. He had an ugly one against the Giants.
But the numbers have improved. Of Bennett's 15 catches for the season, five have come the past two games.
Two other things to feel good about down the stretch are the play of linebacker Anthony Spencer and cornerback Mike Jenkins.
The light has certainly come on for Spencer the past two games. He had two sacks against the Raiders and season high 10 tackles. He was in Eli Manning's face all night against the Giants with a team-high and career-high five quarterback pressures.
Troy Aikman told the nation on Sunday what everybody who has been watching the Cowboys already knows, Jenkins is the team's best cornerback. Terence Newman gets paid like a shutdown cornerback. But Jenkins is the one is playing like one. He was great again against the Giants, who made all their big plays against Newman and nickel back Orlando Scandrick.
Speaking of Scandrick, his play is starting to raise some concerns. Just as team's are shying away from Jenkins, they are starting to pick on Scandrick, especially on third down. Scandrick, who is no longer playing with the confidence that set him apart as a rookie, is surely to have nightmares about Giants receiver Steve Smith.
Smith made a living against Scandrick in both meetings against the Cowboys with 16 catches for 244 yards and a touchdown. Two of his three 100-yard receiving games this season have come against the Cowboys.
Another worry down the stretch might be 12-year veteran linebacker Keith Brooking, who had his worst game of the season against the Giants with just four tackles. The free agent signee has been the team's best offseason addition and has a career-high four sacks. But he is 34 years old and the Cowboys fans need to hope he is not hitting a wall.
And then there is kicker Nick Folk. He has missed eight field goals this season. He missed just seven his first two seasons combined. Blame has been put on holder Mat McBriar. But Folk needs to take some of the responsibility as well.
Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis told the media the other day about a kicker he had in Denver named David Treadwell who made field goals despite bad snaps and holds. DeCamillis said he would like the operation to be perfect every time and he understood how it could bother a kicker. But in bringing up the Treadwell story, he also pointed out that the kicker needs to find a way make the kick. That's what professional kickers do.
Clarence E. Hill Jr.
Posted at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
http://startelegramsports.typepad.c...e-brooking-scandrick-folk-foster-concern.html
Clarence Hill
Tony Romo stood in the post game locker room following the Giants game looking for positives to build on. It didn't take him long to point to the Cowboys passing game.
Why not? Romo passed for a career high 392 yards and three touchdowns. But it wasn't so much the numbers that Romo liked but the production.
He completed passes to eight different receivers, led by Jason Witten's 14 catches for 156 yards. Miles Austin chipped in a ho hum 10 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. It was his fourth 100 yard receiving game in the last eight and he is now closing in his first 1,000-yard season. He has 52 catches for 928 yards and 9 touchdowns.
But the Cowboys are likely most excited about the contributions of the maligned Roy Williams and the forgotten Martellus Bennett.
Any discussion about Williams being the No. 1 receiver are over. He is the No. 2 behind Austin. And he did provide a nice compliment to Austin with six catches for 60 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants. He had a nice touchdown on a fade in second quarter. But most impressive was the 25-yard reception in traffic in the fourth quarter.
If can he be consistently counted on to be a red zone threat and make the touch catch in traffic that bodes for the Cowboys going forward. Can you believe he has six touchdowns this season, just two shy of his career high?
Bennett, who went from training camp star to the back of a milk cartoon once the Cowboys started playing for real, is looking like a contributor down the stretch. Sure he still has concentration issues with the occasional dropped pass. He had an ugly one against the Giants.
But the numbers have improved. Of Bennett's 15 catches for the season, five have come the past two games.
Two other things to feel good about down the stretch are the play of linebacker Anthony Spencer and cornerback Mike Jenkins.
The light has certainly come on for Spencer the past two games. He had two sacks against the Raiders and season high 10 tackles. He was in Eli Manning's face all night against the Giants with a team-high and career-high five quarterback pressures.
Troy Aikman told the nation on Sunday what everybody who has been watching the Cowboys already knows, Jenkins is the team's best cornerback. Terence Newman gets paid like a shutdown cornerback. But Jenkins is the one is playing like one. He was great again against the Giants, who made all their big plays against Newman and nickel back Orlando Scandrick.
Speaking of Scandrick, his play is starting to raise some concerns. Just as team's are shying away from Jenkins, they are starting to pick on Scandrick, especially on third down. Scandrick, who is no longer playing with the confidence that set him apart as a rookie, is surely to have nightmares about Giants receiver Steve Smith.
Smith made a living against Scandrick in both meetings against the Cowboys with 16 catches for 244 yards and a touchdown. Two of his three 100-yard receiving games this season have come against the Cowboys.
Another worry down the stretch might be 12-year veteran linebacker Keith Brooking, who had his worst game of the season against the Giants with just four tackles. The free agent signee has been the team's best offseason addition and has a career-high four sacks. But he is 34 years old and the Cowboys fans need to hope he is not hitting a wall.
And then there is kicker Nick Folk. He has missed eight field goals this season. He missed just seven his first two seasons combined. Blame has been put on holder Mat McBriar. But Folk needs to take some of the responsibility as well.
Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis told the media the other day about a kicker he had in Denver named David Treadwell who made field goals despite bad snaps and holds. DeCamillis said he would like the operation to be perfect every time and he understood how it could bother a kicker. But in bringing up the Treadwell story, he also pointed out that the kicker needs to find a way make the kick. That's what professional kickers do.
Clarence E. Hill Jr.
Posted at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
http://startelegramsports.typepad.c...e-brooking-scandrick-folk-foster-concern.html
