The first win at JerryWorld

Colin Cowherd on his radio show this morning calls the Cowboys "good, not great." He also has some negative things to say about the Dallas running game. Maybe he's right, but I'm a fan. Emotion plays a part in my Cowboys analysis. And that's the way it is.

The Cowboys got a much-needed win last night against the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football. The game headed to halftime with the Panthers up 7-0, but the Cowboys were the only ones to score in the second half and put the game away with about 5 minutes left when Terrence Newman returned an interception for a touchdown to give Dallas the two-touchdown lead.

WHAT I LIKED:
For the second consecutive game the Cowboys rushed for over 200 yards. Through Week 3 Dallas leads all teams in rushing and are averaging almost 7 yards per attempt. It should be noted that last night's 200+ yard performance was without their headliner, Marion Barber.

Tony Romo played smarter. Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett seemed to call this game better than last week's too, because he stuck with and relied on the run for the most part, and stopped putting Romo in situations that could lead to bad decisions and bad throws. Without a huge playmaking threat like T.O. at the receiver position the Cowboys have to understand their strengths, and going for home run deep passes six or eight times per game isn't it. It's running the ball, and using Jason Witten, Patrick Crayton, and Roy Williams to pick up first downs and getting into position to score.

The defense finally showed up. They got a couple of sacks on Jake Delhomme, they caused a fumble, and grabbed a couple of interceptions. After the first two weeks Dallas was the only team without a sack and a takeaway, and they finally changed that last night.

I also liked that they put away an inferior team. I feel like Dallas has a tendency to get into close games that come down to a final drive with teams that just shouldn't be hanging around. Last night, though it took them a little too long to do it, they put the nail in the coffin against Carolina.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Felix Jones came out of the game in the third quarter with a knee injury. It sounded pretty minor, but today he's getting an MRI to check it out. With Marion Barber already banged up, and Felix proving to be almost unstoppable, a significant injury would not be good for this quite promising rushing attack.

The Cowboys two-minute defense at the end of the first half was laughable. Jake Delhomme, of all people, marched his below-average team down the field and got a touchdown for the first points of the game right before halftime. It looked like the Cowboys put 11 guys on the field and told them, don't do anything, we don't want to get a penalty called on us.

Dallas's opening drive looked stellar, and then they got in the redzone and couldn't do anything... and then the always-reliable Nick Folk missed a 40-yard fieldgoal. That could cost you a win against good teams.

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
On 2nd and goal from the Panthers 1, Garrett calls a low-percentage fade pass in the corner of the endzone to Roy Williams. Incomplete.
On 3rd and goal from the Panthers 1, Garrett calls the same play to tight-end Martellus Bennett. I think those were two of the dumbest play calls I've seen this season.

Why are the MNF announcers so bad at their jobs? As I watched the game last night I remembered why NBC's Sunday Night Football is my favorite football broadcast of the week. 1) You don't have to have cable to watch it. 2) The announcers are Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth -- two of the best. 3) Their in-studio counterparts at Football Night in America include some really great analysts and reporters like Tony Dungy, Bob Costas, Peter King, and Dan Patrick. 4) It's usually a better game!

INTERESTING FACTOID THAT MAY INTEREST ONLY ME:
(Yes, this little segment idea is stolen from Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column.) I think it was in the 3rd quarter when Flozell Adams was called for a false start. Adams is the NFL's most penalized player over the last few years (and I don't know the exact stats, but I would guess it's not close), and I was frustrated. I said, "Well, it's not really a Cowboys game until Flozell Adams has had a false start penalty called on him." About two seconds after I finished, one of the MNF crew (I think it was Ron Jaworski) said, "It's not really a Cowboys game until Flozell Adams gets penalized, is it?" I laughed.

I might have more to say later, but that's it for now! Your thoughts on the Cowboys win, or any other Week 3 game (including the phenomenal Vikings victory ending)?

Woops.

I officially renounce my post from a couple of weeks ago in which I speculated that the Redskins could win the division. Today they lost to the Lions, who hadn't won a game since before Christmas 2007.

I now think the division will be a fight between New York and Dallas, with Philadelphia coming in third.

Cowboys/Panthers tomorrow night. My prediction: Dallas by 24.

A Week 2 recap

Regarding Sunday night's home loss at the debut of Cowboys Stadium:

WHAT I LIKED:
The offense. Tony Romo didn't get touched all game long. And frankly, I would like someone to tell me how they think teams will be able to stop the Barber-Jones-Choice running attack. It just doesn't look like a realistic goal. In Week 1 the Giants gave up 85 yards rushing. In all of 2008 the Giants rush defense ranked 9th in the league, allowing just under 96 yards a game. Sunday night against the Cowboys the Giants gave up 251 yards on the ground. 251!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The offense. Tony Romo threw three interceptions, and yes, they were all his fault (I'm clarifying this because of the, "But that one was a fluke that bounced off the tight end's foot" crowd. It was still a terrible throw.).
The defense. Although the redzone defense looked good early in the game, they came up short when they were needed the most. A usually-solid pass-rush looked totally weak. The 'Boys didn't sack Eli Manning once. DeMarcus Ware seems like he's kind of dropped off the planet in these first two games, and that's not a good sign. The young secondary got picked on all night long. It just felt like they couldn't stop anybody the whole second half.

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
The negativity coming from everyone about the Cowboys. Let's think about this. The Giants are ranked 3rd in the league according to last week's ESPN power rankings, which is right about where the vast majority of "experts" would place them. Going into the game on Sunday night, the two teams ahead of them, the Steelers and Patriots, had both lost. If new power rankings were to be released at that moment, one would expect to find the Giants listed at #1. The vast majority of analysts that I've seen picked the Giants to win the game. Those who picked Dallas did so knowing that it would be a very close and hard-fought game.

In a game where the Cowboys were -4 in turnover differential (the Giants didn't turn it over once), it took a long, last minute drive and a time-expiring field goal for the Giants to win... by two points. Now all I'm reading is about how terrible the Cowboys are, how amazing the Giants are, and how they played one of the best games they've ever played to get a win in the Cowboys "housewarming party." If that was one of the best games they've ever played, then they'd better hope every decent team they face this season will have a QB who throws 3 picks right into their hands. They'll no doubt jump to #1 in the power rankings that will be out in just a few hours, while the Cowboys will likely fall from their previous #13. That's all fine with me, because as I've said before, "expert" opinions don't determine who makes the playoffs. All I know is, I'm still feeling okay about the year.

a video and someone else's prediction

Last week NFL films had Tony Romo mic'd up for the season opener against Tampa Bay. Here's the 5-minute clip they put together. It's amusing. I encourage you to watch it!

ESPN.com's NFC East blogger, Matt Mosely, has picked the Cowboys to beat the Giants in the Sunday night debut of the new Cowboys Stadium by a score of 28-24. What do you think of that?

(Sorry, when I first posted this I left out the video link. It's there now)

Giants-Cowboys hatred? Who'da thunk it?

Apparently, Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants "hates the Cowboys with a bloody passion." He said that in response to a question about Cowboys defensive star Demarcus Ware who shared on a Dallas-area radio show that he hates the Giants. I don't think anyone's surprised by those comments.

The Giants head to Arlington this weekend where they play the 'Boys in the regular season debut of the new stadium affectionately known as "Jerry's World."

Jacobs also made some comments about being excited to play against Dallas in the stadium's opener. He said that the Cowboys should have chosen to play the Lions instead of the Giants in the big premier. I guess he thinks that Jerry Jones selected the Giants as their first home opponents because he wants to get a big win.

Say what you want about Jerry Jones, but the man's not stupid. He doesn't think this will be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination. Even if he had some say in who they played their home opener against, he didn't pick the Giants because he thought it would be a definite win for his Cowboys. If that were the case he wouldn't have picked a division foe at all, let alone the highly favored Giants. He'd have chosen the Raiders. Even if the Cowboys were fantastic and the Giants were terrible, a division game is never EVER a gimme in the NFC East.

Anywho, that's all I have to say. Just killing some time...

A somewhat brief review of Week 1

Here are a few of the things that struck me in my evaluation of the Cowboys after their first regular season game of the year:

WHAT BUGGED ME?

The defense scared me a little bit. The secondary looked porous (it is very young), and it seemed like for much of the game the Buccaneers receivers were able to get open just about whenever they wanted. The Buccs' Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward also ran all over the Cowboys front line for too much of the game. I kept having to yell at my TV, "Can't we STOP THE RUN ONCE IN AWHILE?!?!" Finally, not having closely analyzed each play of the game, I feel like Byron Leftwich was way too protected. There weren't many sacks or even hurries on him, and considering his glacially slow release, he should have been on his back much more than he was. Good teams with good quarterbacks (which is what you face almost every week when you play in the NFC East) will make you pay for allowing the QB to take his time picking apart an inexperienced secondary.

WHAT DID I LIKE?

The answer to the most common question in the last few months, "Who will replace T.O.'s playmaking ability?" is "About eight different guys." Romo threw touchdown passes to Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, and Miles Austin today. He threw a big first down to Martellus Bennett. He hit his favorite target, Jason Witten, for a couple of significant gains. All three Dallas running backs looked good. Tashard Choice didn't get much action, but looked like a pro when he did. Felix Jones, in my opinion, has the skills to become the second-best playmaker at the running back position in the league (behind Adrian Peterson, if you were wondering), and Marion Barber had another solid "bash-the-defense" kind of day. I don't think it'll be a struggle for the 'Boys not to have a single big-time playmaker at wide receiver, because their depth at the positions of receiver, tight end, and running back will more than compensate.

Next week against the G-Men will likely be a much tougher test than today's win over Tampa, but I'll still say that Cowboys fans have every reason to be optimistic about this season. I think Tampa was a little bit better than many thought they'd be.

In conclusion, GO COWBOYS!!

A Wacky Divisional Prediction

I'm going to make a prediction about where NFC East teams will finish this season within the division. It's bold for me, I know.

You might expect me to pick the Cowboys to be the division champs, since I'm an overly-optimistic and sincerely misguided fan, but I'm not going to do it. I'm going to be even crazier than that. I'm picking the Washington Redskins. I know, I know, that's a pretty stupid pick. I'm not picking it with any sort of real confidence. It's not based on me thinking they're going to blow people away and be the best team in the league. It's actually based on my belief that the East will beat itself up. I won't be surprised if Washington beats the Giants tomorrow. I won't be surprised if both New York and Philadelphia end up being just slightly worse than everyone expects, and if the Redskins and Cowboys end up being just slightly better than everyone expects. So, my NFC East predictions are almost the exact opposite of what most experts are picking, but I will say this as my disclaimer: I honestly think that the East could finish in any possible order. Usually you can be pretty confident in who might win the division, and it's often even easier to pick who will finish last, but this year I think any team could come in at any position. Here we go:

1 Redskins

2 Cowboys

3 Giants

4 Eagles

I'd love to say that I think Dallas will win the division, but with a really tough late-season schedule, and their propensity for playing like the Detroit Lions in December, I just don't see it happening. Second in the division might be a stretch too, but the optimistic side of me is poking through, and I really want the 'Boys to pull off a wildcard spot and make the playoffs. We'll see...