Cowboys vs. Packers: More stuff
The Cowboys gameplan on defense consisted of pressuring Brett Favre and making sure tackles on the receivers.
"You've got to make him throw the ball quick or he's going to throw the ball downfield," Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said. "You've got to pick your poison. What we wanted to do was make him throw quick and try to tackle the throw, and that's what we did."
"We knew we had to come and pressure the quarterback defensively," defensive end Chris Canty said. "We were able to put enough pressure on the quarterbacks and disrupt the passing game."
And it wasn't just the sacks, either. Starting quarterback Brett Favre – who wasn't sacked – threw two interceptions as a result of the Cowboys' pressure.
Later, they had problems with Aaron Rodgers. I’ll have more about that in the film review this weekend. But they did get three sacks in the game, including a big one from Ware, who moved to double-digit sacks on the year with 10. But his partner in crime – Greg Ellis – got two and is now sitting at 10.5 sacks. I’m telling you, Ellis is playing some of the best ball of his career.
Here’s the odd stat of the year.
Like clockwork, the problem arises every three games. After playing two fairly clean contests, the Cowboys were assessed 10 penalties against the Packers. They also reached double digits three games ago against the Giants, six games ago against the Patriots and nine games ago against the Bears.
I guess every third week Wade should pass out one of those penalty pledges for all to sign.
Speaking of the Coach, the Cowboys are hoping that Wade’s approach this year keeps the team from any late-season collapses.
Wade Phillips' approach has been different. The Cowboys have practiced in pads less this year, especially lately while playing three games in 12 days. Phillips has rested players going all the way back to training camp, but that didn't mean the workload lessened. In some ways, in fact, Phillips' camps were just as demanding because he had more meetings than Parcells.
"We've got to see what we can do," James said. "Our preparation has to be more mental than physical."
Wade sure has this team playing well, it’s hard to imagine that they would collapse. But we have been cursed in December recently. Witten says they need to be aware of the possibility.
"We've got to address the issue," Witten said. "We're probably a little more fresh and all of things that go with that this year, but you've got to put an emphasis on it just because it's gone down the wrong way in the past."
OK, if anybody is doing a better job of covering the Cowboys right now than the Breerman, I haven’t found them. Go read his whole chat.
Don Banks on the Cowboys/Packers game. Banks highlights a play that has been truly underrated in that game.
The play of the game in my book? That 35-yard Tony Romo to Patrick Crayton pass on third-and-19 from the Dallas 11 late in the third quarter. Absolutely everything was going Green Bay's way in the previous quarter-plus before that momentum turner.
You know, Tony Romo broke the Cowboys single-season passing record for TD’s in the Packers game, and I didn’t even post about it. That’s partly because he’s going to obliterate the record by the end of the year. But anyway, a belated congrats to our resident playboy.
Ray Sherman – The T.O. Whisperer.
Cowboys receiver coach Ray Sherman — Phenomenal job of not only keeping Terrell Owens in check and feeling loved, but in helping Owens' consistency. Remember, just one year ago we were all wondering why this guy had so many drops. Sherman, a former long-time offensive coordinator, has Owens tearing up the league at a furious pace and, at the same time, propelling Patrick Crayton into a solid and dangerous option for Tony Romo. Sherman has long been respected by players, which was probably why Wade Phillips knew he'd be the perfect guy to keep Owens from repeating his soap operas of years past.
Maybe it wasn’t aliens after all.
Dallas Cowboys 37, Green Bay Packers 27
The Cowboys now have the best record in the NFC at 12-1 after dispatching the Packers last night. Tony Romo had a great game as he completed 19 of 30 passes for 309 yards with 4 TD passes and 1 interception. Marion Barber got the tough yards as he carried the ball 17 times for 81 yards (4.8 ypc). Julius Jones pitched in with 9 carries for 26 yards (2.9 ypc). Terrell Owens had another monster game for the Cowboys as he caught 7 passes for 156 yards (22.3 avg) with a TD grab. Jason Witten pitched in with 6 grabs for 67 yards (11.2 avg). Patrick Crayton only caught 3 passes for 42 yards (14.0 avg) but he made them count as two of them were TDs. The Cowboys finished up with 105 yards rushing on 28 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 30 passes for 309 yards.
The Cowboys defense was led by CB Terence Newman who had 5 tackles and a interception and linebacker Greg Ellis who had 4 tackles and 2 sacks. The Packers finished up with 124 yards rushing on 19 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 40 passes for 233 yards.
Wade?s Boy Scouts
Late in the first quarter, the Packers ran a funky play at the Dallas defense. Operating from a three receiver set, Green Bay lined up their right end and running back Ryan Grant in the backfield. Brett Favre faked a handoff to Grant and looked to throw a bootleg pass to the TE, who was blanketed by Roy Williams.
The fake boot was a diversion, to pull coverage away from Grant, who was setting up behind his blockers to receive a screen pass.
Bradie James recognized the ruse, beat a Packer lineman’s attempt at a bear hug and dropped Grant for a very short gain.
Twelve games into the season and it has become clear that nothing surprises the ‘07 Cowboys, on either side of the football. Wade Phillips’ guys are boy scouts — always prepared. Opponents may out execute them, as the Packers did on Grant’s 60 yard TD run last night, or isolate and exploit a mismatch, as the Patriots did with Wes Welker against Nate Jones.
What opponents almost never do is fool the Cowboys. Has any defense kept the Cowboys offense off balance for more than a quarter this year? Has any opponent left the Cowboys defense scratching its collective head and blowing assignments play after play?
A story appeared in the national press the week of Dallas’ blowout win over Chicago. It quoted a stewardess on the team plane, who told Phillips that she had never seen a team more prepared for a game. When asked how she of all people would know, she remarked that she had covered many team flights before and they always had players engaged in horse play and idle talk.
This Cowboys’ flight was monastic; each player was in his seat studying the game plan.
That attention to detail offers the greatest hope three quarters through the schedule — that the Cowboys still have another level or two left in this year’s learning curve.
Jason Witten 64 Yard TN…2002 Citrus Bowl
Cowboys vs. Packers: Random thoughts a day after
Whew, this win is feeling even better as time passes. Immediately after we won, it was all good but I had some minor worries about not being able to put them way early, the success of Aaron Rodgers, and the penalties and mistakes we made. But now, almost 24 hours removed, the perspective feels a little better. One, we have Tony Romo. Seriously, anybody who isn’t on this kid’s bandwagon by now has decided to walk, and it’s going to be a long walk, because Romo is going to be here for a long time. Franchise QB, that’s a good thing. You also got to love the work by Terrell Owens. I know, a huge drop that turned into an INT, but look at his body of work this year, especially over the last five or six games. Plus, he even gets an old curmudgeon like me to actually enjoy a TD celebration. You guys know I’m against them on principle – well, at least the most extravagant ones – and I’m against them because of the penalty that usually follows. But that popcorn in the face was just plain funny and somehow T.O. managed to avoid a penalty. So just this once, I’m going with the celebration.
But the group that is really blowing my mind is the offensive line. Everything works like it does only because the offensive line gives it a chance to work. Sure, Romo is the trigger guy and we have so many weapons for him to use, but with bad pass protection there’s no way we put up 33 points a game. The genesis of our explosive offense is the five 300-pond behemoths up front. Marc Colombo was all over Aaron Kampman last night. And usually, when the fourth quarter rolls around, they roll the defense and MB3 kills the clock.
OK, here’s my final thoughts on the pass interference play and the T.O./Al Harris quick whistle play.
Pass interference – I think it was a good call, but not a sure call. There is some wiggle-room here and a case for the penalty not being called, but I believe that's a weak case. The preponderance of evidence goes against the Packers on this one. First, the corner puts his hands on the receiver and tried to give him a little hook, it really didn’t have any effect, but still, strike one. Then seconds after that, he trips the receiver. This could be incidental contact but the defender wasn’t making a play on the ball. He was trailing the receiver and didn’t even know exactly where the ball was. If he had been stride-for-stride with Austin then maybe he has a better case. Austin does know where the ball is and is trying to adjust to it as he gets tripped. He was moving from the middle towards the outside with his body. Also, it appears that the Packer guy has his hand on Austin's back and helps him fall from the trip. He’s probably just putting out his hand to get his balance or break his own fall, but it looks like it’s right in Austin’s back. Finally, the ball is just on the edge of catchable/not-catchable. I don’t think Austin makes the catch, but he has to get the chance, however slim, to make the effort. So when you add up all those things, I think it was a good call. But, I will admit, if the situation was reversed, I would have been mad.
Quick whistle – Watching that play again, I think that whatever was called on the field would be the ultimate decision if the whistle wasn’t blown prematurely. The ref who blew the whistle was blocked out from seeing what was going on with the ball by T.O.’s and Harris’ bodies. The ref behind the play saw the ball transferring from T.O. to Harris and ran up after the play and ruled it a turnover. He was overruled because the whistle had blown. But, without the whistle, the call on the field would probably have been a turnover because that other ref was very animated in his call and had the best view. If it had gone to the booth that way, it would have been a tough ruling. There’s a point where Harris has the ball firmly in his hands with two feet inbounds, but T.O. still has a hand on the ball. That’s a tough call. I think they would have ruled inconclusive evidence and let the call stand as a turnover. But I agree this one is wide-open to interpretation without the quick whistle.
Let’s talk about where the Cowboys stand in the NFL hierarchy. Obviously, the Patriots are the top dog, but there is some hope for the rest of the league. Dallas hung with them for three quarters with an injured secondary and the Eagles and Colts showed that they can be beat, well, that there is a possibility they can be beat. Dallas is the second-best team in the NFL right now by a razor-thin margin over the Colts. The only thing that’s slowing down the Colts is injuries so if they get healthy, they could be the #2, but they’re at #3 right now. Plus, they have a huge showdown on Sunday with Jacksonville, which might be making it’s own bid to join the elite. Then come the Packers, who also could be right in the #2 mix if they were healthy.
If Dallas were to meet the Patriots today, I would give them a shot even though I think the odds would be in New England’s favor. But, it this team continues to gain confidence and continues to improve on the field, by the Super Bowl - if we make it - I think we could give them a solid game, and could get the win if things went right.
Dennis Miller, Michael Irvin & Denny McLain Talk on Versus
Cowboys vs. Packers: What they’re saying
Time for a little "What they’re saying" after the Cowboys victory over the Packers.
Let’s start with the head coach, who still isn’t getting enough credit for what he has done with this year’s Cowboys. Yes, Bill Parcells helped build the roster and instilled discipline and credibility, yes Jason Garrett is doing a superb job as offensive coordinator and has future head coach stamped on his forehead. But the soft and cuddly Wade Phillips is one hard-nosed football coach and has the Cowboys playing fantastic football. Anyway, back to coach.
"It's great to be 11-1," head coach Wade Phillips said. "This put us in the playoffs, which was our first goal. Our second goal was to win our division - which we are closer. Obviously, there are some implications towards home-field advantage, but we knew that going in. But this was a big win for our football team. We really came out and played well."
Yes, we made the playoffs last night. I guess that’s not the headline that it should be because when you’re 10-1 before the game, the playoffs seem like a foregone conclusion, but take a moment to celebrate the Cowboys clinching a birth.
The big event of the game was Nate Jones knocking Brett Favre to the sidelines where he was a spectator for the rest of the night. First, a little credit to Jones, if there is one thing Jones does well is rush off the edge on cornerback blitzes. I’ve kind of ripped him about his pass coverage ability, but he’s a mini-DeMarcus Ware on the pass rush. Jones was a little apologetic about hurting the Great Greybeard.
"I don't know how I feel about knocking a guy - hopefully he's OK," Jones said. "Obviously, he's a Hall-of-Fame quarterback. But it's a big play in the game."
Don’t worry Nate, you were just doing your job, it was a clean, solid hit. And solid hits by a lot of the front seven when Brett was in the game.
"Brett is an older guy," Cowboys safety Roy Williams said. "You can't take too many hits at that age because DeMarcus (Ware) and all those big boys don't play around when they land on you."
By the way, great hit on Ryan Grant early in the game Roy.
But the unexpected turn of events after the Jones’ tackle was the Cowboys defense becoming a little befuddled by Aaron Rodgers. In my scouting report, one of my points was Brett’s not going anywhere when he drops back, his days of fancy-moves and running the ball are long past him. The Cowboys pass rush was just heading to a spot and didn’t care about lane integrity. But Rodgers handled it all very well, DeMarcus Ware explains.
"It did make it tough, especially on the rushes," Ware said of Rodgers' six runs for 30 yards. "We're back there rushing on him and sometimes we'd get out of our pass rush lanes, and he'll make you pay."
But not pay enough, because the Cowboys offense continues to put up points.
Once again, a team had to pick its poison by deciding how to defense the Cowboys passing attack. Terrell Owens forces you to make decisions on coverage outside, and Jason Witten forces the same problems inside. It just seems inevitable that you can’t cover both. In the first-half, the Cowboys moved T.O. around and got him favorable matchups, but he also beat Al Harris one-on-one multiple times. In the second-half, it was Jason Witten’s time as the defense was doing all it could to stop T.O. Wade explains:
"Those two pose problems, because if you commit to the outside guys, the tight end's going to be open," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "And if you help with the safety on the tight end, you're going to be one-on-one with Terrell."
Let’s take a moment to mention another wide receiver in this game that did a lot of damage; no, not Miles Austin, I’ll get to him in a bit, but Patrick Crayton. Ever so silently, Crayton put two TD’s on the board in the game and proved once again that he’s a very valuable #3 option on this team.
I was wondering though, what happened in the first half when Romo and Witten couldn’t connect to save their lives. Witten says:
"Tony and I were just kind of out of sync there in the first half," Witten said of the incomplete passes, "and we had some misses, but we got it going in the second half. This team's been talking about it all year: We play our best football in the second half and put teams away. The second half we just had some opportunities. It wasn't about their coverage. They played the same coverage the entire game."
Wade says that the defense actually did adjust, and that’s when it became Witten Time.
"Yeah, they started paying more attention to Terrell," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said of why the passes were going elsewhere in the second half. "That's just the way it was."
OK, let’s talk about Miles Austin. Last week in my film review I said I liked Austin’s speed when he has the ball in his hands and that the Cowboys should use him on a WR screen or something. I should have said I like Austin’s speed – period – and that the Cowboys should try to use him on some long bombs. Twice, Austin got behind the Packers secondary and twice got pass interference calls to move the ball into the redzone. But not only that, Austin had some great kick returns and has grabbed hold of that position like a G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip. One thing I will say though, Austin needs to learn how to cut with the ball and still maintain speed and balance. He had ample opportunity to put a move on someone during kick returns but failed to do it. If he can learn that, look out. Wade has much love for Austin.
"Miles had a great game," head coach Wade Phillips said. "He had been doing well on kickoff returns and gave us good field position. But I think he gained some confidence (on offense) last week. He beat his guy twice and they had to interfere with him to stop him from scoring two touchdowns.
"He's got a lot of speed and he's got a lot of confidence on offense and special teams."
Let’s give the final word to the Great Greybeard.
"They are the best team in the NFC," said Favre, who is now 0-9 as a starter at Texas Stadium. "They proved that today. I'm not concerned about the fact that we lost to Dallas again. There's still lots of football to play. We may meet them again, maybe here. Who knows?"
Cowboys Now For Sure the Team to Beat After Win over Pack
This was to be the game of the year with Tony Romo facing off against his long time idol Brett Favre. The show down between the two QBs, however, only lasted one and a half quarters as Brett Favre was pulled from the game with an apparent injury to his arm.
Both teams came out firing to open the game. Brett Favre was the first to lead his team down the field with a couple quick passes and put the Pack up 3 to on the opening drive. The Cowboys would then answer back with a field goal of their own snatching away the Packers only lead of the game.
About midway through the second quarter, after throwing his second interception of the game Brett Favre was hit by Nate Jones on a blitz and injured his arm he would not come back for the rest of the game. Aaron Rodgers filled in nicely for the injured Favre going18 of 26 for 201 yards and a touchdown pass. Other contributers the Green Bay team would be Ryan Grant who ran for 94 yards on 14 carries and had two TDs and Greg Jennings who had 87 reception yards and 1 TD on five receptions.
Despite their hard play, though, the Packers were unable to keep up with the Cowboys high scoring offense. Tony Romo went 19 of 30 for 309 yards 4 TDs and the lone interception was because Owens bobbled the ball into a defender’s hands. Terrell Owens had over a hundred yards receiving in the first half of the game alone and finished the game with 7 receptions for 156 yards and 1 TD. Other key contributers to the Cowboys offense would be Patrick Crayton 3 receptions for 42 yards and two TDs, and Anthony Fasano with 1 reception for 26 yards and a TD. Jason Witten, who was believed by many to being a key factor in the game did not get his first catch until the Fourth quarter. Witten finished the game with 6 receptions for 67 yards.
Tidbits:
Romo’s four TD passes now give him 33 TDs on the season, surpassing Danny White’s single season record of 30. Brett Favre’s winless record in Dallas is now moved to 0-9. With one more TD pass Terrell Owens can beat the team record set by Frank Clark, they are currently tied at 14. Brett Favre’s first pass interception is his first in a 139 pass attempts. This wins gives the Cowboys a playoff berth, with a Giants loss this week Dallas would clinch the division.
Game Balls
Up way too late. Have to work way too early, so here are my nominations for BB game balls, in no particular order. Make yours in the threads.
1. Miles Austin — finally! Consistent returns beyond the 30. He’s made Tyson Thompson an afterthought.
2. Marc Colombo — The guy goes against the NFC’s top pass rusher on a sprained ankle and keeps his QB’s jersey clean. Colombo is probably the least athletic member of the o-line but he’s probably the grittiest.
3. the rest of the o-line — What did John Lennon sing in Come Together — “got to be good looking ’cause he’s so hard to see…” We can say the same thing about Adams, Kosier, Gurode and Davis. Jason Garrett learned early that the Packers were stacking the line to stop the run and the short pass. He called lots of intermediate and deep routes. And the line gave Tony Romo the time to let these routes unfold.
4. Tony Romo — four TD games seem automatic now. And he should have had five, had T.O. not bungled a TD toss in the 4th. Romo has 33 TD passes on the year. He’s on pace to top 45.
5. Anthony Fasano — Got his first TD pass tonight. He made a textbook block on a Packers corner on a Marion Barber 9 yard sweep, flipping the guy into the air.
6. John Garrett — He’s the coach who’s finally taught Fasano and Jason Witten to be such devastating blockers this year. I cannot praise this guy enough.
7. Greg Ellis and Demarcus Ware — the old guy got two sacks tonight. Ware got one. Ware has 10 sacks now. Ellis is second in the NFL with 10.5 sacks and would be leading the league had he not missed some early games rehabbing his Achilles.
This is the type of bookend production you need from your 3-4 OLBs.
Cowboys vs. Packers: Hot topics
Here are my hot topics from the game.
- Terrell Owens – It’s too bad that on a night when T.O. had a monster game, I can’t shake the image of him bobbling that ball in the endzone right to Al Harris. He was so open and that would have been a kill shot. But if you can clear that mental image from your head, the guy absolutely dominated in the game and there’s no way we win that game without him. Another 100-yard receiving game and another TD in a game, T.O. is da man.
- Brett Favre - What the heck was Brett up to in this game? He was just winging balls down the field like it was 1992 or something. It’s hard to say this because I respect Brett so much as a player, but the Packers were a much better team with him out of that game. Aaron Rodgers took the short passes and let his receivers work, which they’ve been doing all year. People can say maybe Green Bay could have won if Brett didn’t get hurt, but I say the only reason it looked like they could win was because Brett was hurt.
- Cowboys mistakes – The tackling, especially in the secondary, left a little to be desired. That long run by Jennings was a case of blown tackles by three or four guys. The long run by Ryan Grant for TD was a terrible job by Ken Hamlin with an assist from Roy Williams. There were numerous other examples. Also, the penalties were back and they could have cost us. But...speaking of penalties...
- Refs calls – I have to admit that some of the calls in that game went our way, and they were major calls. Let’s start with the big one, the second pass interference on a long pass to Miles Austin. I’m sure everyone agrees that the first pass interference was totally legit. That second one was tricky, if the Packers defensive back hadn’t put his hands on Austin’s shoulder, he might have got away with it. It looked like the ref on the inside who couldn’t see the brief shoulder-hook ruled it incidental contact. The ref on the other side who saw the shoulder-hook and then saw the feet get tangled ruled he impeded Austin’s progress and that tripped him, I guess. Anyway, it could have gone either way. Where the Packers got jobbed was on the pass to T.O. that Al Harris obviously stripped away inbounds and the spot of the football on Ryan Grant’s 3rd down run late in the game. I thought on both of those we got lucky. But, saying all that, they didn’t decide the game, the 27-10 hole Green Bay dug for themselves lost that game.
- Tony Romo – The dude gets it done. He’s been fantastic this year.
- Offensive line - These guys are good. Tony Romo had all day to survey the field and didn’t get sacked on the day and was rarely touched. And in the fourth quarter they were able to get Barber going and close out the game. Truly, this is the reason everything else works for us on offense.
- Good quotes – A couple of regular BTB commenters had some clever and insightful comments about the game.
On the great play of Aaron Rodgers, who this week imitated Romo on the Packers scout team, I give you scottmaui: "instead of [this game] being about Favre and the guy imitating Favre, it's about the guy imitating Favre and the guy imitating him!" Nice.
And on people complaining that Favre was hurt, or the refs blew the game, or any excuse people might come up with for the Cowboys win, I give you Nelson: "Lot of Haterade being drunk tonight. But that's fine by me. Perfectly fine. We're 11-1, and anyone who has a problem with that can kiss our collective asterisks. :D"
I’ve got nothing more than that.