NewyScruggs: Don't Listen To The Haters... Cowboys Impressed In Tampa

[WoodysGirl]

Darn good win by the the Cowboys to open the season in Tampa Bay.

Sloppy in some areas? Yes, but a darn good 34-21 win in the heat and and humidity of Florida.

Winning by 13 points on the road in the National Football League is not easy.

Sure ,Philly went to Carolina and did it on Sunday as well, but it's not easy. Minnesota and the New York Jets also pulled off the double digit road win to open the season but it's still not easy.

I can point to some shoddy coverage play in the secondary by Dallas, Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins in particular. The defense got zero sacks on Byron Leftwich and the Bucs ran wild for 174 yards. These things must be worked on before the Giants come to town for NBC's Sunday Night Football next week.

BUT...the Cowboys won the game.

Last year the Cowboys couldn't beat a bad Rams team in St. Louis, so I do look at the Bucs game and say, "darn good win".

Should I remind all the Terrell Owens lovers how Tony Romo was "supposed" to be exposed without #81 on the team? Romo had a career high in passing yards (353) and threw three touchdown passes to three different wide receivers.

For one week, fans should give Romo a break and say "well done", but his detractors will say he didn't play a winning team and still hasn't won a big game.

Romo racked up his Cowboys record 17th 300-yard game. His 80-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton was the longest completion of his career. Oh yeah, Romo suffered a right ankle injury in the third quarter and played on.

Last year, the Cowboys special teams unit was pure trash. Today, they blocked a field goal and never let the Bucs gain any major yards on punt or kickoff returns.

The Cowboys got picked on for drafting a kicker in the spring despite having a Pro Bowl kicker in Nick Folk on the roster. Nobody was laughing as David Buehler nailed three touchbacks. Last year the Cowboys didn't have one touchback.

Yep, that's a darn good win.

The head coach is on the hot seat. He's now 3-0 in season openers with the Cowboys. We can deal with his lack of wins in December...in December. For now, Wade Phillips took care of his business and got a win in Tampa.


Newy Scruggs
www.newdawg.com



BY Newy Scruggs // Sunday Sep 13, 2009 at 10:35 CDT

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-st...atersCowboys-Impressed-In-Tampa-59189672.html

 

[zrinkill]

Good post

The backlash will be epic.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

How refreshing to read a positive article about the Dallas Cowboys. And the special teams improvement could be a major boost this season. I hope Coach D keeps these guys playing at a high level.

 

[adbutcher]

Only one exception Tampa was a winning team. It is funny how perception trumps reality.

 

[robb01]

I love reading positive articles

 

[Tovya]

Only one exception Tampa was a winning team. It is funny how perception trumps reality.

Right, and of course on opening day, if you win the game, the team you played always comes out with a losing record... so technically they never can be called a "winning team".

I'm satisfied with the performance, and I have no doubt the shortcomings will be addressed this week in practice. We got a tough one coming up on Sunday (but at least we'll be at home!)

 

[Doomsday101]

Only one exception Tampa was a winning team. It is funny how perception trumps reality.

Yes but they fired their OC right before the season much like Buffalo did and we all know what an easy game the Pats had. :laugh2:

 

[jimmy40]

Darn good win by the the Cowboys to open the season in Tampa Bay.

Sloppy in some areas? Yes, but a darn good 34-21 win in the heat and and humidity of Florida.

Winning by 13 points on the road in the National Football League is not easy.

Sure ,Philly went to Carolina and did it on Sunday as well, but it's not easy. Minnesota and the New York Jets also pulled off the double digit road win to open the season but it's still not easy.

I can point to some shoddy coverage play in the secondary by Dallas, Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins in particular. The defense got zero sacks on Byron Leftwich and the Bucs ran wild for 174 yards. These things must be worked on before the Giants come to town for NBC's Sunday Night Football next week.

BUT...the Cowboys won the game.

Last year the Cowboys couldn't beat a bad Rams team in St. Louis, so I do look at the Bucs game and say, "darn good win".

Should I remind all the Terrell Owens lovers how Tony Romo was "supposed" to be exposed without #81 on the team? Romo had a career high in passing yards (353) and threw three touchdown passes to three different wide receivers.

For one week, fans should give Romo a break and say "well done", but his detractors will say he didn't play a winning team and still hasn't won a big game.

Romo racked up his Cowboys record 17th 300-yard game. His 80-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton was the longest completion of his career. Oh yeah, Romo suffered a right ankle injury in the third quarter and played on.

Last year, the Cowboys special teams unit was pure trash. Today, they blocked a field goal and never let the Bucs gain any major yards on punt or kickoff returns.

The Cowboys got picked on for drafting a kicker in the spring despite having a Pro Bowl kicker in Nick Folk on the roster. Nobody was laughing as David Buehler nailed three touchbacks. Last year the Cowboys didn't have one touchback.

Yep, that's a darn good win.

The head coach is on the hot seat. He's now 3-0 in season openers with the Cowboys. We can deal with his lack of wins in December...in December. For now, Wade Phillips took care of his business and got a win in Tampa.


Newy Scruggs
www.newdawg.com



BY Newy Scruggs // Sunday Sep 13, 2009 at 10:35 CDT

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-st...atersCowboys-Impressed-In-Tampa-59189672.html

[youtube]Dw9yEuwohkk[/youtube]

 

[CoCo]

Yes, I enjoyed the win. Absolutely. Its rare when I don't enjoy a win.

But there is no need to use the Rams game of 2008 as the benchmark to measure this team's progress. That's absurd.

The 2008 team also went to Washington with the season on the line and pulled out a very gutty win. So its not like the 2008 team had no accomplishments.

And its not like the 2009 team has now arrived since the won by double-digits on the road.

What this team accomplished was step 1. I applaud them. I enjoyed it. Much work left to do.

Certainly this team doesn't deserve to be hated on for the win. But let's not go too far the other direction. Just keep it real.

 

[zrinkill]

I think most realize that the biggest "fear" going into this season was the ability to produce enough big plays to keep opposing defenses honest.

We did that.

The rest we need to get fixed at home against the G-men.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I think most realize that the biggest "fear" going into this season was the ability to produce enough big plays to keep opposing defenses honest.

We did that.

The rest we need to get fixed at home against the G-men.

My sweetheart, Ms. Busty, looked in and saw yer avatar. She wants to know where you bought that scarf!!!

 

[zrinkill]

My sweetheart, Ms. Busty, looked in and saw yer avatar. She wants to know where you bought that scarf!!!

Interesting ...... who is Ms. Busty?

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Only one exception Tampa was a winning team. It is funny how perception trumps reality.

Exactly, people tend to forget they won 9 games last year and was in the hunt for a playoff birth...

 

[Bach]

Hey, how about those Cowboys! 1-0 and Romo spreading it around w/o T.O.

That defense needs to be shored up. They won't do much this year if they let everyone run on them like that.

But I'll take a road win anytime.