Beware of the wounded animal

On paper... you have two teams headed in opposite directions. Dallas has won their last three, the Giants have lost their last three. You have Tony Romo, on fire and improving every week... racking up MVP-type numbers along the way. Then you Eli Manning, struggling and seeming to lose confidence with every pass in a downward spiral. Dallas fans with Superbowl aspirations while Giant fans are demanding their coaches head on a platter. So it should be a "gimme"... right?

Well, as a sports fan, I can't count the number of times that I have been soooo confident going into a game, only to have a huge let-down come gameday. I find myself screaming at the TV... "How could this happen? How did we get beat by THEM?"

It's just the reality of today's NFL. As Cowboy fans, we can look ahead at our remaining schedule and drool at the possibility of "winning-out." But the fact of the matter is, there are upsets every week where a team that shouldn't win... does.

I really hope that Bill Parcells has his team ready Sunday. This is a huge game that could propel us to the playoffs, or let a desperate team back into the hunt.

- S

Just Say Mo!

• Hear that? Momentum just may be knocking at the door. Throughout the Parcells' years, the Cowboys never seemed to win big games with the national spotlight on, or for that matter, win a HUGE game in the latter half of the season without blowing it later. Win against Tampa on Thursday, and the tide has turned, but lose, and this game goes down the toilet.

Something tells me that the wins are gonna start piling up. Finally.

• Romo. What can you say? Like the last few weeks, I kept thinking he's going to fold, and I thought he might after the fumble and INT, but he just seems to shake it all off and makes plays. That pass to Fasano (nice catch, BTW) on the run was amazing. As a fan, I LOVE it!

He may be on his way to becoming the man to lead them on their next big run.

• As much of fan as I am of Julius Jones, I think his inability to fight through first contact is what drives Cowboys fans crazy. He just seems unable to avoid the first hit, arm tackle or trip.

If he could shake off first contact, I think the long runs will start to happen.

Barber is an excellent change of pace back, and he, unlike Julius, runs right through the first contact, and second, and third...

• With Terry Glenn coming back and making plays, this offense, with its many weapons and a QB who knows how to use them, has to be causing headaches for the upcoming defensive coordinators.

• The O-line is starting to play well.

• I'll give it to Anthony Henry, he played well this week. I thought Wayne would light him up.

• Think Parcells might reconsider having Newman return punts? Had he not been able to come back, this game could've swung the other way.

• Burnett seems to make plays and he flashes on the TV screen a lot — they've got to find more playing time for this guy.

• As good as this win is, there are still too many penalties by the same players (Witten, Adams).

• Weekly Roy Report:

Couple of great hits, again. Good plays (INT at the goal line) running towards the line of scrimmage, again. Burned in coverage, again. Takes a poor angle on a long pass, again.

He's just so frustrating. If he'd just limit the same mistakes (mainly, his poor angles that result in potentially game changing plays), I'd let up on him, but it seems to happen every week.

• For Texas Rangers fans, watching Vanderjagt kick has to remind you of CoCo Cordero's mental meltdown. Kickers, like closers, have to be mentally sure to do their jobs, and like Cordero, I think Vanderjagt is starting to question himself...not good. I'm no Psychiatrist, but isn't it obvious that with his ego and cockiness that he's compensating?

I have a feeling he's gone after Thanksgiving. If not then, he better make every kick from here on out, because I think he's down to his last miss.

• Jason Hatcher looked real good. On the Colts last play, Hatcher was getting a push in Manning's face, and looked to me that he should've gotten a hands-to-the-face penalty called on the Colts OT. He was big-time today.

• Not a big fan of Mike Zimmer, but against the #1 rated QB, the defense came up big.

• Fantastic win which could be the swing game for their run to the playoffs.

-M

Solid Win

• 20-29, 308 yards, 2 TDs...wow, what else can you say? I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall, but it just doesn't happen. Maybe this means the Cowboys, after 8 other guys, finally have their man in Tony Romo, and how great would that be for the team?

It would mean they have their field leader for, hopefully, the next 10 years, and it means not having to take a QB high in the draft which allows them to focus on other positions.

I don't play golf, so this is only theory, but is it possible that Romo's ability to play golf at such a high level (he barely missed qualifying for the U.S. Open) allows him to stay cool under seemingly rookie-like conditions? He never seems to get razzled out there.

I just hope the Cowboys have their man. *Fingers crossed*

• The defense did what it needed to do against a rookie QB — they confused him all game. If only they could do it every week.

Peyton's coming to town, and I'm sure he's licking his chops at the thought of our secondary.

• Still not sure why most Cowboys fans want either Jones or Barber. Isn't it great enough that we have both of them?

Jones is the sports car and Barber is the SUV. Do you think people with multiple cars only drive one of them? Heck no...they drive the one which suits their needs at the moment.

Personally, I like both of them...a lot, and I think Parcells will drive them all the way to the playoffs.

• Love how Crayton catches the ball with his hands, and it looks like Hurd does the same thing. Again, if the Boys were to hit on both Hurd and Austin, the draft can be used for other positions - OL, CB, S and depth at all other positions.

• The Vikes and Falcons losing only helps the cause.

• Losing Ellis is huge. Although quiet, he was a leader on the field, so perhaps now, Burnett (2nd) and Carpenter (1st) can live up to their lofty draft status. Hopefully, now that he's not going to be expecting Ellis to make a play, Ware will take his game to the next level as well.

• Some things you can expect every week:
a. Henry will get beat consistently.
b. Roy will get beat in space.
c. The receivers will get called for a pick penalty. (How many times will we get called for that?)
d. We will average 8 penalties a game...yikes.
e. T.O. will drop a pass.

• Can the Watkins interception give him some confidence? Sure hope so.

• Not sure what Reeves was doing on the long pass to Fitzgerald. He had good position and was looking at the ball, but for some inexplicable reason, he turned back to the receiver and lost the ball in flight. I still like the kid though...at least he was in the frame (Henry are you listening?).

• Maybe the sour taste of the Redskins loss will keep this team focused.

• Top-10 in defense and offense. If this team could quit shooting itself in the foot (Jags, Eagles Redskins), the sky's the limit.

- M

Change on D is needed

I really hope that Bill Parcells changes his ways this week and doesn't make things easier for the Cards by letting Leinart have time to process things. He is a rookie, but he is a talented rookie that can make you pay if he has time. Especially with the weapons that he has.

The opportunity is there with a pretty weak O-line. It sets up well for us to get pressure if we can go a little more exotic with our blitzing (at least some of the time)... Mix things up, try to confuse the rookie QB and shorten the amount of time for him to make decisions.

So far, Parcells doesn't seem to want to change things up to attack the oppositions weaknesses. He seems to want to run his base defense and depend on his players to execute with no mistakes. And we have seen how that has worked thus far.

- S

Indefensible

• Over the season, I have waffled on Roy Williams. For the last few seasons, I have not been a fan, but this year started thinking maybe it was Zimmer's fault. While Zimmer is still in my doghouse, I will no longer waffle on Roy.

After today (and most of the season), I feel he may be the most overrated player in Cowboys history. Herschel had a lot of hype. He was good but not great, so he could challenge Roy, but given the contracts, the sponsorships (how many times do I have to see what a great house he has in the AT&T commercials?), the Pro-Bowls and the constant praise by fans, I'm convinced NO COWBOYS PLAYER has done so little to deserve so much.

Does he make plays? Sure, but only when he's near the line of scrimmage or moving towards the line of scrimmage.

Problem is, he's a safety—the last line of defense—and has to play, many times, with his back to the line (he shouldn't really, but Roy can't back-peddle) or running away from the line of scrimmage. Has he ever taken a geometry class? I've never seen someone (again, he's supposed to be GREAT) take so many poor angles when the ball is in the air.

I'll admit he's made some plays (McNabb threw it right to him) and a few big hits, but just like that, he gives them all back with awful penalties and poor help in coverage, which often times leads to long TDs.

Said it before, and I'll say it again, he's the defensive equivalent of Drew Bledsoe.

• I cannot wait for Zimmer to go. I always thought his blitz packages and defensive schemes were poor, but now I have proof.

On Marcus Spears' radio show, he admitted that the defense is set up for either Ware or Ellis to provide pressure. That's ONE or TWO players!?!?! No wonder we make an over-the-hill Brunell look like his old self. Think the Eagles Jim Johnson would set his 3-4 defense up to rush only one or two guys?

So, what's supposed to be the point of playing passive in the pass rush? To PREVENT the long pass! As noted above, with a superstar safety who can't cover and a group of below-average FS who can't cover and another overrated CB (see below) who can't cover, why INVITE the other team to pass?

Idiocy.

Peyton will thrash this defense in two weeks, unless there are major changes.

• Anthony Henry has become another liability in the secondary. He looked to be a player prior to his injury, but he's nowhere near that guy anymore.

• Drew Bledsoe, Anthony Henry, Marco Rivera, Kyle Kosier, Akin Adoyle, Mike Vanderjagt and now T.O. Free Agency is killing this team. Whoever is in charge of Pro Scouting should be let go - YESTERDAY. I tried to come up with a few names of free agents (not Glenn as he was traded for) who have actually worked out for the Cowboys and the list is not good.

La'Roi Glover. Marginal credit goes to Jason Ferguson (even then, is he worth all that money?) and I still think T.O. will prove to be a decent signing.

Free Agency is a double-killer when you miss. Your players stink and your cap takes a hit from overpaying.

• I said last week that Jason Witten is a GREAT pass-catcher, but a lousy blocker. I sure didn't think it would come back to haunt us.

He completely whiffed on a 3rd and 1, which would have extended a drive and he also blocked out, instead of in (basic kick blocking) which led to the last kick being blocked.

His catch leading to the kick was great, but he threw it all away with his poor block.

• Barber/Jones are a great combo.

• Penalties are horrible. Could this be coaching?

• Can't blame the QB. Tony Romo played great, and would've been even better had T.O. not dropped that beautiful bomb.

His poise is awesome and this week, he displayed a nice touch on long passes.

If only his teammates would've show the same heart.

• Speaking of coaching, why aren't we ever prepared for the blitz on the goal line? Looked eerily similar to the blitz on the safety in the Giants game.

And, as Troy Aikman said, a coaching decision led to us chasing that extra point all game.

How might things have been in the last few minutes had we been able to milk the lead?

• I haven't been this frustrated about a Cowboys loss in a very long time. No way the Boys should've lost.

-M

Bill Parcells must go!!!

For every two steps we take forward with him as our head coach, we take 2 steps back. For every great draft, we have an equally crappy one to match it. What does that equal? A mediocre, .500 team.

I am convinced that if BP was going up against a Drew Bledsoe QB'd team, that he wouldn't blitz him. He would sit back with his reactionary, robotic, micro-managed defense and watch Drew Bledsoe march his team down the field with no adjustments whatsoever. He is stubborn and arrogant when it comes to his "great coaching philosophy" and refuses to change with the modern-day NFL... and he is killing this team.

The conservative approach that he runs leaves the door open for average teams to have a chance... where 1 bad play can cost you the game. And it did. Again.

I am sick and tired of watching this crap every year. We don't suck, but we have absolutely no chance at being a contender. We need a younger coach with an aggressive mind-set to unleash the talent that we have on this team (especially defensively.) BP doesn't take advantage of the skill-set of our defensive players.

Either Ware or Ellis gets pressure one-on-one or the QB has an eternity to do what he wants to do. On our vanilla blitz packages, we don't don't stunt or mix things up at all... just straight up the gap. How easy is that to defend if you are the opposing offensive coordinator?

If you are conservative, then what is that supposed to protect against? Big plays? Then why in the hell do we give up so many? Because BP defense relies on perfection on every single play... and we know that that this team is anything but perfect. There isn't a team in the league that is. That's why this coaching philosophy will never work in the modern NFL.

He must go... we will never do ANYTHING as long as he is here.

And like I said before the Eagles game... If we go into the game with Indy with this same defensive scheme, Peyton might break NFL passing records in that game.

-S