Jerry Jones: Dictator to Genius

Jerry Jones is usually heavily scrutinized by fans, media, and even other coaches and owners. In my short fanhood of only 10 years, I have been that scrutinizing individual that blames all the failures and woes on Jerry Jones and his inability to share the authority of the team.

As we moved into 2009 I expected the Jerry Complex to become ever present and probably to see him coaching the team himself in 2010. However, Gasp, to my amazement, while I was writing my daily dose today, stumbling over articles from Philadelphia to San Diego, I noticed quite a bit about Mr. Jones.

I’ve been preaching sometime now about loyalty and continuity. All these things I believe to be essential in building a dynasty style of frachise. This past week Jerry Jones has been quoted as saying that firing Wade Phillips would hurt the team. Ding, Ding, Ding!!!! We have a winner, Jones has never been more accurate in his life. You see, a coach’s longevity increases win percentages because it allows teams to build to the philosophy of the coach. Wade Phillips is a defensive coach, so for him to flourish he should have a good defense and a well balanced offense. Second Gasp! Do we have that? Since Wade came in we’ve seen faces like Igor Olshansky, Keith Brooking, and Gerald Sensabaugh come bursting onto the scene. We have seen players like Anthony Spencer and Marcus Spears develop into great players, and we have seen our defense become GREAT, which only compliments our balanced offense.

You see winning isn’t about great coaching, it’s about trust, it’s about knowing your guy will eventually win you the big one, and sticking with him while he can’t. That philosophy holds true with Jerry today, as he supports Roy Williams, in September as he supported Tony Romo (who has become on of the leagues best) and last year when he cut All Pro Terrell Owens for little known Miles Austin.

You know what Jerry, my respect finally goes to you. You have learned what it means to be an Owner and a good Gm. May the players and coaches (including Wade Phillips) bring you back a Lombardi Trophy… In time of course.

Daily Dose 12-31-2009

Typically the “Daily Dose” is an article pertaining to the news around the league, but what happens when the Dallas Cowboys are the news around the league. That’s right, for once the Cowboys are the talk of the media world for something besides drama and December woes. This week the Cowboys have set the mark of team who is playing on all cylinders and poised to make a play off victory.

Most will attribute it to Tony Romo, others to DeMarcus Ware, and some to Miles Austin. While these 3 players are well known as some of the best in the league and the true future of this franchise, there is one player who isn’t getting his due. Mike Jenkins has done a tremendous job of shutting down his side of the field in pass coverage. He is quietly becoming an all pro cornerback who is capable of shutting down any receiver.

In his most recent blog at MikeJenkins21.com, he writes about how he went from a cornerback who wasn’t sure of his starting job to a break out star. He attributes it directly to the battle with Scandrick that helped mold him. Check out the article from the link below.

Check out Jenkins Blog here.

Ochocinco Playing With Fire

Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinatti Bengals has called out Pro Bowl Cornerback Darrell Revis.

“Darrell Revis couldn’t cover me in a brown bag on a corner of a Manhattan street inside a phone booth, it’s impossible.” Ochocinco told reporters.

Now Ochocinco and Revis are friends and nobody can be sure just how long the Bengals will play their starters, but if it’s up to Ochocinco he’ll be in the whole game. You don’t want to miss that matchup.

Slaying the Giant

Brandon Jacobs, often referred to as one of the most feared and powerful running backs in the game today, will miss his game against Minnesota this week. Tom Coughlin announced yesterday that Jacobs would require arthroscopic surgery next week.

It is unknown how this will affect Jacobs bruising running style, but this could be bigger news then it’s being broadcasted as.

Will History Repeat Itself, Or Will ‘Boys Top Eagles?

In just three short days our beloved Cowboys will face off against the Eagles in a chillingly similar fashion to last years regular season finale.

Last year the Cowboys and Eagles met up to end the season in a game full of playoff implications. One team was more dominant leading up to the game, and again this year the record says it’s the Eagles having won their last six contests.

Eagles vs. Cowboys But this year the Cowboys are riddled with injuries, and they have been playing their best football in December. Tony Romo has only thrown one interception this December, and that was a deflection off of Roy Williams’ hands at that.

This time around it’s not about who makes the postseason, there is no win-and-you’re-in scenarios this year. Both teams are locked in. They are playing merely for pride, and by pride I mean NFC seed and for the NFC East title.

So with an official game preview upcoming, I just want to know, who thinks the Eagles will be victorious for the second year in a row?

Roy Williams Blames Himself, Vows To Get Better

Did anyone notice that after his critical drop at the end of the first half against Washington last week, that Roy Williams wasn’t thrown to again in that game? Well Roy apparently did and decided to say a few things about it.

I suppose the simplest thing I can pass on to you would be this, “I blame myself.” Those are his words.

He also says that he knows he must get back to the fundamentals of being a wide receiver in this league. He says that he needs to look the ball in every time, and that he needs to catch the ball. According to him, he ranks in the top three in the league as far as hands – he admits that not being obvious at all. Even his own mother had to tell him that he is leading the league with 10 drops this year.

But something more than what he said caught my attention and hopefully will produce actual results. He says that he is going to catch 100 balls from the pitching machine after practice each day until he gets this fixed.

Maybe he’ll start acting like even a decent wide out after the work. But he has got to stop smiling after he screws up so royally, it doesn’t help any. Get mad and fix the problem. We’ll see.

I don’t particularly find it helpful that he said “I have to take my game to another level. It starts this Sunday,” to me that task started the day he got in Dallas, and definitely this past Monday after the game he had in Washington the night before. Something like that never waits until next week, and I hope his going back to the Juggs (pitching machine) is his way of doing that.

Daily Dose 12-30-09

As many of you know the Pro Bowl Selection was last night and for the most part it was just as you’d anticipate it’d turn out. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, all made the cut, along with many other perennial pro-bowlers. There were also some surprises and questions. Wide Receivers Sydney Rice and Miles Austin capped of their impressive break out seasons by grabbing spots on the NFC pro bowl roster.

My biggest surprise though lies in one New Orleans Saint Marques Colston. This guy has been flat out incredible, especially when you understand just how much Drew Brees spreds the ball around. He is as consistent as they come. His 2009-2010 season is currently at 69 receptions 1071 yards and 9 Touchdowns, which I think is better then Rice’s 77 receptions for 1200 yards and 6 touchdowns.

A cold year in Buffalo

As if things couldn’t get worse in Buffalo, it seems as though their “A” list coaches Gruden, Homgren, Shanahan, and Cowher have all declined offers to coach in upper New York. Since the departure of Dick Jauron the Bills have been trying to find an answer. It seems as though their answer isn’t going to come in the form they want it to, and will have to search for their next coach in the “B” or “C” list.

The Return of the Champ

The Pittsburgh Steelers are fighting for their playoff lives, but things wont get easier. It seems as though All-Pro Safety Troy Polamalu may not be ready to go yet, when they need him most. Polamalu has missed 6 games this season with a left knee injury, and the Steelers had hoped for his return. According to Mike Tomlin on Sirius NFL Radio’s Opening Drive, Troy had been doing light pool work outs and running drills but is unsure he will be able to go this week.

Un-Saintly

New Orleans defensive end Bobby McCray was caught driving while intoxicated earlier in the week. This adds to list of the Saints problems. McCray had started after the injury to Charles grant and has 37 tackles and 6 sacks on the season.

So No Colombo, We’re Still Free To Play

So what about Marc Colombo? Coach Wade Phillips says he’ll not be ready for the season finale. Actually, listening to Wade talk about it makes me wonder if Colombo will be ready to go for the wildcard round. People actually seem to be worried about Doug Free getting another start while Colombo heals. I’m not, and I’ll tell you why.

I compared our last four games, all of which Free has started in place of Colombo, to four games earlier in the season when Colombo was starting and playing fully.

The first thing I noticed is that while Free shouldn’t be a part of matching numbers that Colombo was a part of, the comparison showed that in each set of four games we converted a total of 25/53 on third downs. But a little more telling about it that we had a lot more third downs with Colombo in the game.

Next I wanted to see how Romo faired in the pocket and if there was a notable difference between Free and Colombo playing, and there was a small difference. With Colombo, Romo was sacked nine times for a loss of 47 yards. With Free, Romo was sacked just seven times for a loss of 42 yards. Now we could argue that 2 sacks over four games doesn’t make that much of a difference, but I’m pretty sure that Romo and every other QB in the game would tell you that every sack matters. Continue reading →

Six Cowboys Voted Into Pro Bowl

That’s right, we’ve got six again this year, and while there are a couple of names you would expect, some I certainly didn’t expect to see.


Miles Austin	Leonard Davis	Jay Ratliff


Jason Witten	Andre Gurode	DeMarcus Ware

Not that any of us want it to matter though. Since the Pro Bowl will be played the week before the Super Bowl, if the Cowboys do make it that far, none of those six will show at the all-star game. One can only hope … I guess.

Daily Dose 12-28-09

Last night, the Football gods continued to bless the Dallas Cowboys as the Chicago Bears held off a Minnesota rally in overtime. Favre, despite this past weeks drama, played brilliantly and it was Adrian Peterson who lost this one with a costly fumble to give the bears the ball.

The MVP of the game was a relative unknown. Devin Aromashodu led the bears with 7 receptions for 150 yards and 1 touchdown. The Vanderbilt alum was impressive and caught the game winning touchdown in overtime. Aromashodu could be an up and coming receiver to keep your eye on, especially with Cutler, his college quarterback.

Osi Unhappy

Osi Umenyiora has been a feared defensive lineman throughout the league for some time now. So to some, his lack of playing time lately has been surprising. Especially since we’ve seen worse things ridden out. Well in the Panthers beat down of the Giants at Giants Stadium last Sunday, Osi believed he played about 6 snaps. While the Panthers were smashing through the Giants normally stingy defense, Osi watched from the sidelines, flooded with emotion.

Osi after the game on sunday: “I couldn’t really explain what I’m feeling right now, Disappointment is an understatement, in everything. The way everything has played out this year has been absolute nonsense; very disappointed, disheartened, discouraged, whatever you want to call it. I feel all those emotions.”

Some speculate Osi will try and find a way out of New York, but Tom Coughlin see’s differently. I guess only time will tell.

Giant Killers

According to ESPN reports John Fox and his staff have been offered to stay another season, after a disappointing season this year. You have to believe that Fox can thank Matt Moore for emerging as a potential franchise quarterback.

In the last 4 games, Matt Moore has played pretty impressively leading Carolina to 3-1 record (4-2 over the season) while completing 65 passes over 103 attempts for 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. According to reports Fox has not been offered an extension for the 2011 season.

Coach Searching

According to Espn’s Adam Shefter, Mike Shanahan is reportedly not interested in any coaching vacancy with the Dallas Cowboys. It seems as though Shanahan is turned off by the fact that Jerry Jones is unlikely to relinquish full control of the team to a coach.

However, there is a new prospect on the market, though it’s hard to imagine he’ll ever show up in Dallas, Bill Cowher who has shown interested in coaching the 2010-2011 season. I’m willing to bet if Jerry can get him you can say good-bye to Wade (despite his decent success) or at least a Wade demotion to defensive coordinator. Don’t’ get your hopes up, and even so Wade’s not that bad.

NFC Play off Scenario’s

Philadelphia Eagles (Clinched Playoffs)

Eagles can clinch NFC East division title with:

1. PHI win/tie

Eagles can clinch first-round bye with:

1. PHI win, OR …
2. PHI tie + MIN loss/tie

Dallas Cowboys (Clinched Playoffs)

Cowboys can clinch NFC East division title with:

1. DAL win

Cowboys can clinch first-round bye with:

1. DAL win + MIN loss + ARI loss/tie

NFC NORTH

Minnesota Vikings (Clinched Playoffs)

Vikings can clinch first-round bye with:

1. MIN win + PHI loss/tie, OR …
2. MIN tie + PHI loss

Green Bay Packers (Clinched Playoffs)

NFC SOUTH

New Orleans Saints (Clinched NFC South, First Round Bye)

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals (Clinched NFC West)

Cardinals can clinch first-round bye with:

1. ARI win + MIN loss + PHI loss

A Little Brooking For Inspiration

I remember early this year when Zach Thomas left and Keith Brooking was brought in, everyone was wondering if Brooking would assume a leadership role on this fairly young defense. The thinking was that being such a veteran and still having the skills that he does, and because he was really in that role in Atlanta, that he must surely come in and give this leader-less team some motivation.

I remember how quaint Brooking was when asked about such things by the media. But more than that, he was respectful. He knew that Bradie James had been that guy for a while and he didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Well eight months can change a lot. Keith doesn’t seem so quaint anymore, does he?

Dallas Cowboys Nation

Monthly Archives: December 2009