Silver and BlueBlood

If you have ever watched MartyB TV on YouTube, or if you are a follower of Jupiter’s Crunch on Twitter, then you know what a Devil-may-care, fun guy Martellus Bennett is.

From his rap about having “Jerry Jone (sic) money, iPhone money” his rookie year to hosting the controversial “Black Olympics” thing with his cousin, Marty B is a prime product of the irreverent-but-always-connected Generation Y. (Or is it  Generation Z? I don’t know. I can never keep up.) Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 37% [?]

High Noon. Be there!

Everyone knows that long before he packed his bags and took that boyish grin to Dallas, Tony Romo was a Wisconsin boy, a cheese head. Everyone knows he idolized the Green Bay Packers great, Brett Favre. Everyone knows that, in today’s NFL, there is no other quarterback whose game more closely resembles Favre’s than Tony Romo’s.

Everyone knows that Favre is the master and Romo is the pupil.

Now, in the divisional round of the 2010 NFL playoffs, generations clash. The old gunslinger comes face to face with the young gun. One has more than a few notches in his gun belt; the other is gunnin’ for him. The two meet at high noon (Central time) to settle once and for all (or at least for now) who gets to wear the stetson to the NFC championship. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21% [?]

A Father-Son Moment

Raise your hand if you have ever dog-cussed Jason Garrett or said Wade Phillips should be fired (or worse).

God bless you. I see that hand. Yes, and yours too. Oh, and yours, way back in the corner. And yes…my hand is raised, as well. Guilty. All over the vast expanse of Jerry’s magnificent, shiny football Mecca, hands are raised.

Four weeks ago, when the Cowboys were fresh off stumbling into December with back-to-back losses to the San Diego Chargers and the New York Giants, most who bleed silver and blue were sighing, cussing, cramping, complaining, puking, bleeding out the ears…and convinced this team was going nowhere as long as Jerry Jones was the General Manager, Wade Phillips was the head coach, and Jason Garrett was the offensive coordinator.

My, how our tune has changed. Now, we have this 11-5 team that has, for the first time in the illustrious history of the franchise, shut out opponents in back-to-back games. Division opponents, no less. We have this team that is roaring into the playoffs by winning the final three games of the season, clinching a division title, and serving notice to the rest of the NFC that the Dallas Cowboys are a team you just don’t want any part of, thank you very much.

We know the what. But do we know why? Why did this team do what last year’s team could not? Why is the feeling around this team even better than in 2007, when they were 13-3? We always know who to blame for the failures around here. But whom do we credit for the success?

Glad you asked. I have some candidates. In fact, I have the top twelve people most responsible for this team’s turn-around. We could call them the Twelve Apostles of the About Face, or the Not-So-Dirty Dozen.

Here they are…

Number Twelve: Jason Witten

It isn’t that Witten wasn’t great last year. He was. He always is. But never has he been more clutch than this year. Whenever you absolutely, positively must have a first down, throw it to Witten. It usually works out. Just ask Tony Romo. When has a receiver only scored two touchdowns in a season and had a more positive impact on his team?

Number Eleven: Mike Jenkins

By the first week in the regular season, Wade Phillips had not been able to decide between Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick as to which one would start opposite Terrence Newman. Newman, it was assumed, was the best corner on the team, and one of these young guys would have to step up and claim that second spot. By season’s end, Jenkins had asserted himself as a Pro Bowl-caliber corner, the best on the team, and one of the better corners in the league.

Number Ten: DeMarcus Ware

Sure, Ware was phenomenal a year ago and probably should have been named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. But what about this year? What about being carted off the field one week on a stretcher and coming back the next to get two sacks, force two turnovers, and seal the victory over the previously undefeated Saints? DeMarcus on the field makes every other Cowboys defender’s job easier.

Number Nine: Jay Ratliff

He is too small to be a nose tackle. He is also too quick, too tenacious, and too talented to be handled by most centers or guards or centers plus guards. The Ratliff motor is always humming. He creates havoc and helps set a tone for Phillips’ aggressive 3-4 defense.

Number Eight: The Offensive Line

They play so well as a unit, may as well treat them as one. From tackle to tackle, the Cowboys’ line has done a superb job of protecting the quarterback and gashing defenses for one of the league’s most potent ground attacks. Even when Marc Colombo, who was playing lights out, went down, the line never missed a beat. They plugged in Doug Free, and he has been more than serviceable as a replacement. (Witness the block Free threw forty yards downfield on Felix Jones’ 49-yard scamper last Sunday.)

Number Seven: Anthony Spencer

Did anyone else notice that Peter King selected both Spencer and DeMarcus Ware for his All-Pro team? And why not? Spencer has been a force, a monster, a whirling dervish, disrupting plays, harassing passers, corralling runners, and complementing Ware so well that no one misses Greg Ellis for a minute. Spencer had 50 tackles, 17 assists, six sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception during the 2009 regular season.

But numbers only tell part of the story. Anyone watching the Cowboys this year saw how Spencer influenced plays on almost every series.

Number Six: Keith Brooking

Brooking did not crack the Pro Bowl lineup in 2009, but he became the heart and soul of the Dallas Cowboys defense. He was the spiritual leader. His on-field play was as effective and impressive as the leadership he provided. Without Brooking, the Cowboys defense is a very different unit altogether.

Number Five: Miles Austin

Roy Williams was supposed to be the guy here. He got the fat contract. He cost the team all those draft picks. He was going to pick up the slack for the departed Terrell Owens. Right?

Wrong.

Miles Austin began the season as the number three receiver. But in Kansas City, with Williams hurt, he asserted himself, had one of the best days ever for a Cowboys receiver and began his dash to the Pro Bowl. He has been the big-time receiver, making the big plays at crunch time, torching defenses, snatching balls from the grasp of defensive backs, shaking off would-be tacklers, running past people, running over people.

Austin has done everything Owens did and managed to remain a team player. Imagine that.

Number Four: Jason Garrett

Granted, third down or fourth down and a yard to go has been a bit of a sticky wicket. Sure, the point production (ranked 14th in the league)  isn’t on par with the yardage this team racks up (second most in the NFL). But have you not seen steady—and marked—improvement in this offense over the course of the year?

No longer saddled with the burden of getting the ball to T.O., whether it makes sense to do so or not, Garrett has devised a sophisticated offense that features a dynamite running game and a lethal passing attack. If he could just make those catches for Roy Williams and Martellus Bennett, he would be the genius he was touted to be a couple years ago.

Number Three: Wade Phillips

Yes. You read that right. I said Wade Phillips. I know I have been a rather vocal critic of the man. I dislike plenty of things about his leadership style. But you cannot argue with the results. The man has won 68% of the games he has coached in Dallas (record: 33-15). He has now won two division titles in three years. He has put together a defense that is on the best roll of any team going into the postseason.

And his players believe in him. They genuinely like him. They want to win for him. (Of course, if they really like him and want to keep him around, they might try winning at least one more game, just to be safe.)

Number Two: Tony Romo

From the first time he stepped on the field as the team’s starter, Romo has shown flashes of utter brilliance. He has made plays few others could have made. Unfortunately, he was also prone to making the worst possible mistakes at the worst possible times, costing his team scoring chances, giving up points to opposing defenses, and contributing to the team’s failure to achieve postseason success.

But Tony has turned a corner. He has gotten his gun-slinger propensity under control, and he has done so without diminishing his play-making prowess. Consider that in 2009, he threw for more yards—4,483—than ever before. He threw just nine interceptions, after having thrown 13, 19, and 14 the previous three seasons.  He threw 26 touchdown passes this year and finished with a quarterback rating of 97.6, his highest ever.

More importantly, he has asserted himself as the undisputed leader of the offense.

Number one: Jerry and Stephen Jones

I picked Jerry Jones number one because this season’s success was predicated on his off-season moves. It was, far and away, Jerry’s best off-season for signing the right players and cutting the right ones loose.

I include Stephen because word has it that it was Stephen Jones who convinced daddy to cut ties with T.O. It was not an easy decision for Jerry Jones to make, not an easy thing to do. Not just because of his own ego, but because, I believe, he genuinely had a warm feeling for the receiver.

Jones did it. he pulled the trigger and Terrell Owens, PacMan Jones, and Tank Johnson were— *poof* —gone. Equally important, he let Greg  Ellis, the so-called team leader who had become a broken record for whining about his contract and generally sowing discord on the team, go.

Then, Jones set about signing key people. He got Igor Olshansky to replace Christ Canty, the departed defensive end overpaid by the Giants. He signed Gerald Sensabaugh to shore up the defensive backfield, which had long been vulnerable due to the diminishing skills of safety Roy Williams. Best of all, he signed Keith Brooking, the five-time Pro Bowler who still had plenty in his tank…and the kind of salt and savvy this team so desperately needed in a locker room leader.

Sure, there is the whole Roy Williams (the receiver) debacle. But wasn’t it Jones who first told us that Miles Austin would be the deep threat the team needed in Terrell Owens’ absence? Didn’t we giggle…or snicker…or roll our collective eyes?

Wasn’t he right?

He’s been right about a good many things lately. And that is a good thing for a team that has been all wrong for way too long.

Popularity: 6% [?]

It was supposed to be the perfect night. It was to be the perfect cherry atop the perfect season in the perfect place. New

Perfect!

Orleans, the city hammered by Katrina and then pummeled by FEMA, would show the world their indomitable spirit and their unique ability to party their way through any sort of disaster and come out the other end, drink in hand, shouting “I dare ya” in the Devil’s face.

It was the perfect stage: They had the national spotlight all to themselves. It was the perfect opponent: that hated team with the silver pants, the shiny new silver – and – glass stadium, all those silver Lombardi trophies…and that infuriating silver spoon stuck in their smug gobs.

The have-nots would finally deal the haves their come-uppance. It would be glorious. It would be…perfect!

The crowd was sauced. The signs were all made and ready to wave in America’s face. The pundits—to a man (this one included)—were all certain this contest would belong to “dem Saints.” The “Who Dats” were finally set to become the “We Dats.” This would be the last major challenge, the last big hurdle to get over. Then, the boys in the Gold and Black would sprint down the homestretch and into the playoffs, sporting a perfect 16 – 0 record, and ready to zip past all NFC comers to the Super Bowl, where the other perfect team—the 16 – 0 Colts—would be waiting to play them in the perfect ending to the perfect season.

Perfection would show his elusive face in the Cowboys—Saints contest Saturday night, December 19, 2009. Only he would have a mind of his own. He would choose the wrong team. He would shun the Fleur de Lis and, instead, don the Star.

Perfection would be the Redheaded Boy Genius calling all the right plays, pushing all the right buttons. Here a run; there a run. Now a deep pass. Cowboys 7, Saints 0. Perfection would return a punt, pound the rock, dash up the sideline, blast defenders off the line, and finally, dive, braided locks flying, into the end zone. Cowboys 14, Saints 0.

Perfection would be bookend linebackers named DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer harassing the league’s newest darling, Drew Brees. They would hurry his throws, hit him in the chops, flush him from the pocket, sling him to the ground…and then do it some more. Perfection would be Ware, a wounded linebacker who wasn’t expected to play in the contest, making two key sacks, forcing two key turnovers, and sealing victory for the underdogs.

Perfection would be the other quarterback: The one who couldn’t win the big games. The one who folds like a K-Mart umbrella when the calendar reads December. While Drew Brees turned the ball over three times, Tony Romo—for the fourth consecutive week—avoided throwing an interception. What he did throw was a perfect deep ball to Miles Austin to put his team up 7 – 0.

Romo protected the ball. He managed the game. He rallied the troops. And when he needed to, he threaded the needle.

Perfection was a team motivated by necessity. Perfection wore the grim look of determination on its face and played with a distinct sense of desperation. He didn’t need a field goal from Nick Folk to seal the game, nor did he require a key third down catch from the still way – too – erratic receiver Roy Williams. Who needs those guys when even Bobby Carpenter is making plays?

As it turns out, the underachieving Cowboys were the perfect spoiler for the horseshoe-carrying Saints. New Orleans should have lost to Washington. They could have lost to Carolina. They didn’t. Luck was partnering with Perfection, conspiring to keep their perfect season intact. The Saints just kept winning and winning and winning…until most everyone was convinced they would never do anything but win.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys had held the high-scoring Chargers to their lowest season scoring output. They had strung together five straight weeks of stellar defensive performances. On offense, they had moved the ball at times with precision, only to break down in the red zone. They just had not put it all together for an entire game since their big win in Philadephia.

The Cowboys were better than they appeared. The Saints were not quite as good as they seemed. So, the Cowboys did what no one gave them a chance to do: They won the game, 24 – 17.

The Saints still control their own destiny. They still have the conference lead in wins. Now, the Cowboys control theirs, as well. If they can post wins in their last two games—against the 4 – 9 Redskins and the 9 – 4 Eagles, they will win their division.

Who knows? These same two teams may meet in the same place in a few weeks with much more on the line.

Wouldn’t that be…perfect?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Collision Course

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost

The Dallas Cowboys  are 8 – 4, and as coach Wade Phillips reminded the media, that makes them winners. Unfortunately, their foe Sunday, the San Diego Chargers, are 9 – 3, riding a hot streak, and, well, they, too, are winners.

The two teams, though they seldom meet – this is only their ninth meeting – have plenty of history. Norv Turner, the Chargers’ coach, is a former offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Wade Phillips is the former defensive coordinator for the Chargers. Both men were strongly considered for the coaching position in Dallas, after Bill Parcells left. Most thought Turner would be Jerry Jones’s choice.

He wasn’t. Phillips was. Jones figured he had the offense covered with Jason Garrett (who was a hot commodity at the time, you may recall). What he needed, in his mind, was someone to whip the defense into shape. Wade has done that.

Phillips has also posted a nice winning percentage with the Cowboys…especially if you do not count December or the playoffs. Dallas’s December woes are well chronicled and much debated. Meanwhile, Turner’s Chargers are 15 – 0 in December. Turner’s team made the conference championship in 2007, losing to the New England Patriots. They made the Divisional round last year and lost.

While the Chargers try to figure out how to take that next step and make the Super Bowl, The Cowboys are just trying to solve December and finally post a playoff win for the first time in thirteen years. The Chargers want to win this game; the Cowboys have to win it.

Phillip Rivers and company are as dangerous an offense as any this side of New Orleans. They create matchup problems all over the field, especially with Tight End Antonio Gates. The Dallas Defense is playing well, though, currently ranked fifth in points allowed and 14^th in yards allowed per game.

The Cowboys’ high-octane offense, however, has not played as well in recent weeks. They run well one week, pass well the next, but haven’t put the two together in awhile.

Sunday’s game will come down to quarterback play, defense, and coaching. One might give an ever-so-slight edge to Phillip Rivers over Tony Romo, but it is razor-thin. Romo has played well this year, while Rivers is playing out of his mind. Defensively, you have to like Dallas. Phillips knows how to prepare a defense and call a game on that side of the ball. And he knows the Chargers.  The Coaching edge, it says here, belongs to Norv Turner, simply because he has proven he can get his team ready to play the games that matter most and get into the post-season, where he has had good success with the Chargers.

The wildcard may be Jason Garrett. If he can mix his game plan up enough to keep the Chargers off-balance and resist the urge to be cute when he needs to just be right, his offense could have a nice day against the Chargers, which ranks 15^th in points allowed and 12^th in yards given up.

The outcome of the game may very well determine Wade Phillips’s future with the Cowboys…and he knows it. His margin for error is nonexistent after the loss last week to the Giants. Should his team lose its grip on the NFC East and fall into a wild card fight, or out of playoff contention entirely, he will need to dust off that resume.

The Chargers will come to play. Of that, there is little doubt. If the Cowboys do, as well, this could be the NFL game of the week. The series edge is decidedly in the Cowboys favor. They hold a 6 – 2 series edge over the Chargers. But this is not your daddy’s Chargers…or your momma’s Cowboys.

For Wade Phillips and his Dallas Cowboys, in light of recent late-season collapses, this is definitely the time for them to take that road less traveled.

Prediction: Cowboys win 27-24.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Some things are personal opinions. These are just plain facts.

FACT ONE: Tony Romo does NOT suck.

It is a favorite pastime of Cowboys’ haters everywhere to play fast and loose with Romo’s name. The usual choice is “Tony Homo,” and the old, tired, standard assertion is simply, “Tony Homo sucks.”

That is just not true, people.

Consider his record. He has now started a total of 44 regular season games in the NFL. His record? 30-14. That is a 69% winning percentage. It is also better than all but four quarterbacks in the history of the league. Does that suck?

Consider that he already has nineteen 300-yard passing games and has become, in less than four full seasons as the starter, the all-time team leader in that category. (Remember, this is a team with eight Super Bowl appearances, five Lombardi trophies, and former QBs named Meredith, Staubach, White, and Aikman.)

We could go on spouting facts, but all it really takes is the eye ball test. Watch the man play the position. Sure, he makes mistakes. The position he is playing is the most challenging, difficult position in all of team sports. Every man who has ever played it made mistakes. That five yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton last Sunday, however, was a play not two or three other quarterbacks in the league could have made.

The biggest argument against Romo is that he has not won a playoff game. But when people say that, they tend to leave off the most important word in the sentence, the qualifier:

“Yet.”

FACT TWO: DeMarcus Ware is still a steal, even with his new deal.

Jerry Jones opened the coffers and lavished his riches on his best defensive player – and it was absolutely the right thing to do.

Paying Ware is not the same thing as Danny Snyder handing Albert Haynesworth the reins to a Wells Fargo stagecoach full of cash. Overpaying high priced free agents often comes back to bite teams. The player was great, sure…for someone else. Now, he is on a new team with new coaches and new teammates. He has to learn a new scheme. He is sleeping in a different bed and waking up in a different town. And, he has just hit the lottery, so motivation may become an issue.

Some can handle such challenges. Many cannot.

DeMarcus Ware is a proven commodity for the Dallas Cowboys. He has made his mark with that star on his helmet. He has done the right things the right way…and done the things he does on the field better than just about anyone else in the league.

The return on Jerry’s money will be more immediate and appreciable where Ware is concerned than the money spent on that shiny new stadium.

FACT THREE: Miles Austin is more than a speedster.

When Terrell “The Mouth” Owens was kicked to the curb and then banished to the football wasteland known as Buffalo, there was wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth in Big D.

Who will replace all those yards and touchdowns? Who will stretch the field?

Most, including Jerry and Co., pointed to Miles Austin. The rationale was simply that he was the only receiver left on the team with the speed to present a deep threat.

But Miles Austin is more than a speed receiver. He is big – 6’3”. He is strong. He is intelligent. He is a precise route runner. He has excellent hands. And, perhaps most importantly, he is a team player, not a prima donna.

Get used to seeing those bright eyes and big smile on camera. Tony has a new toy, and there will likely be miles and miles of passes to Miles in the Cowboys’ future.

FACT FOUR: Felix Jones is more than a speed back.

Here is a dude that averaged nearly nine yards per carry in a Division One, Southeast Conference football program. That was a bit of a disappointment, really. In high school, his yards per carry was eleven plus.

So, what has he done so far in the NFL? A measly 8.5 yards per rush.

I know. He has been hurt and hasn’t carried the ball an inordinate amount. BUT…he has run far enough, fast enough, and well enough to put the NFL on notice.

This guy can get it.

It isn’t just his speed either. It is his burst. It is his vision. It is his surprising power. He is a threat to go all the way from anywhere, anytime.

He isn’t Adrian Peterson, but he will do until one comes along.

FACT FIVE: Bobby Carpenter still sucks.

I noticed Carpenter three times in the game against the Falcons. Each time, he either made the tackle, or assisted…after the runner or ball catcher had made a first down.

Jerry Jones once called Carpenter a finesse player. That is as close as he could come to calling the linebacker a sissy without just out and out doing so.

A finesse linebacker?

Carpenter appears to detest contact. This is tantamount to a pilot that fears heights, or a surgeon that faints at the sight of blood, or a hydrophobic Navy Seal.

The New Jersey Football Genius Bill Parcells picked Carpenter in the first round in 2006. Why??? Because his daddy was a former Parcells lackey? Because he played at Ohio State? Or was it something more sinister. Was the Carpenter pick part of an elaborate scheme to sabotage his former nemesis and saddle them with the kind of salary cap hell a first round bust puts on a team?

Or was he thinking that the blonde bombshell could make the cheerleading squad if he didn’t work out on the field?

Never trust a Tuna with bigger breasts than your wife.

These are the facts, and they are indisputable. But…dispute if you must.

Popularity: 36% [?]

A leaderless locker room is a rudderless ship.

The Dallas Cowboys are a team needing compensation. The absence of sideline leadership under Wade Phillips has led to frequent chaos. The Patrick Clayton flap is just the most recent evidence that there is poor communication between the coaching staff and the men in the trenches. Crayton said he did not even know he had been demoted. No one told him.

I believe him.

A weak head coach heightens the need for players to step forward and become the vocal and spiritual leaders of the team. What exists in the Cowboys organization today is not unlike the Barry Switzer era. That team managed to overcome the absence of a strong head coach, primarily because there were established leaders on both sides of the ball. Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Darren Woodson did what Switzer could not – would not – do: they inspired their teammates to rise to every challenge, to meet adversity with single-minded determination, to excel, to exceed expectations.

It didn’t hurt that they happened to be stacked with talented players at practically every position. But history has proven that the most talented team is not always the last team standing. Winning a Super Bowl takes more than talent.

It takes a team.

And a team needs leadership. It needs people confident and strong enough to stand up and say, “Follow me. I know the way.”

It is a mistake to assume that a great soldier will automatically make a great General. The current crop of Cowboys have some great performers. DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten, Jay Ratliff, and others have proven they have the talent to do their jobs at the highest level. They have yet to prove they can inspire their teammates to do the same.

Enter Keith Brooking.

Brooking is proving himself to be the best off-season move the Cowboys have made in some time…and it isn’t just the quality of his play on the field. Watch him in the defensive huddle. Keep an eye on him when he is on the sideline. Listen to him in interviews. The man has assumed a leadership role on a team in desperate need of a natural born leader.

Brooking hasn’t bullied his way into his new-found role. Nor has he been officially appointed to be the leader of the Dallas defense. He has just been himself. Leaders lead. It is inherent in their nature. Born leaders are the most effective kind.

The idea that a professional football team doesn’t require on-field leaders is just wrong. It is more important at that level than any other. In college, high school, or Pop Warner, the leadership is almost always provided by the coaching staff. But these are grown men, playing their game at the highest level in the world. The rah-rah coach may inspire them, sure. The intellectual football genius coach may instruct them. But it takes a peer with skins on the wall, with a proven track record of his own, and with the innate ability to lead men to truly galvanize them on the field.

Otherwise, you have fifty-four individuals performing. One team will always trump fifty-four individuals.

The Cowboys are just another Brooking or two away from finding themselves in spite of their milk toast head coach.

Popularity: 13% [?]

OK, Blue Bloods. Nobody likes to lose…not even in the preseason. But if you are going to lose, that is a better time than any to do it. Games that don’t count don’t count.

Losing 31-10, you might think would indicate that there were few positives to be taken from the game. That just isn’t so. I saw plenty to smile about last night. Here are some things that come immediately to mind:

Martellus Bennett and Felix Jones

The Cat!

Marty B and Felix are not your typical back ups. They are frontline talents whose skills will – or should – be prominently displayed all season long. If The sight of Martellus catching a short pass in the flat, scooting past one defender, and bowling over another for a first down doesn’t get you stoked, then your stoker is broken.

And Felix…wow!

In the 1970s the Cowboys were the best team in the NFL at running the screen pass. Why? Because of Tony Dorsett. His vision, burst, patience, and speed made him a threat to score at any time. The screen pass got him outside the tackles, on the corner, where it often became mano y mano, catch me if you can.

They frequently could not.

Say hello to Felix Jones. The Cowboys haven’t had the combination of burst, vision and break away speed that he brings to the team since the great Dorsett. He showed again last night that if he can stay healthy, he is a weapon every opposing defensive coordinator will have to account for…and the screen pass will live again in Big D.

David Beuhler

After getting the jitters out, the linebacker-size kickoff specialist sent a kick eight yards deep into the end zone. Touchback! Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Especially since the Cowboys were the NFL’s only team not to record a single touchback in 2008.

He also pegged a 35-yard field goal, which is just icing really.

Tony Romo

For all the haters out there (and there are plenty of them), Romo remains one of the league’s top playmakers at the most important position (by far) on the field. Witness the touchdown pass to Jason Witten. Pump, move those feet, dip that shoulder, he’s open..fire!

Quickest release in the league? If not, it’s within milliseconds of whomever is faster.

Jason Garrett

That TD drive was a nice display of mixing things up, spreading the ball around, and using all of his weapons. And did anyone besides me notice how much more “presidential” on the sideline Garrett looks than the Pillsbury Doughboy, aw shucks, so-called head coach?

Keith Brooking

Yes, it was only one sack, but…nice!

Jon Kitna

He’ll do, won’t he? Nice to have a backup QB who could probably start for about half of the league.

Concerns? Sure! Plenty of them, but most of them have to do with reserves rather than starters. I would say the biggest concern at the moment is the injury bug. If the wrong people go down, it could be a long season. If the Cowboys stay relatively healthy, they won’t be losing to the Raiders 31-10 come Thanksgiving.

Popularity: 6% [?]