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By Todd Archer Dec 6 2011IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys have their biggest game of the season Sunday against theNew York Giants. A win and they take command of the NFC East with three games to play. A loss and they will be tied for first place and in a fight for the final three games just to earn a wild-card spot.
With all that said it’s time for this week’s Five Wonders:
**I wonder if Dan Bailey’s first miss of the season – a 21-yarder at San Francisco – was running through the minds of Jason Garrett, Joe DeCamillis and Chris Boniol when they called a timeout before the 49-yard attempt Sunday at Arizona. If you can think back to that game, Bailey pushed his kick wide in part because the play clock was running down and he was not able to go through his normal pre-snap routine. The coaches saw the clock winding down this week and saw Bailey going through his steps. They felt he was rushed and called the time out. I don’t believe they “iced” Bailey. I think what happened on the missed kick after the timeout was a little delay in Bailey’s approach because of a slightly high snap from L.P. Ladouceur.
** I wonder if defensive lineman Sean Lissemore is turning into another Stephen Bowen. Lissemore, a seventh-round pick last year, had the first full sack of his career Sunday at Arizona and was active in limited snaps as Jay Ratliff’s backup with Josh Brent out of the game with a knee injury. Lissemore can play end or nose and he has a non-stop motor, which is why the Cowboys drafted him. And he’s an athlete if anybody remembers his kick return earlier in the season. Bowen was an undrafted pickup in 2006 out of Hofstra and each year he improved. At first he was a role player. Then he became a nickel pass rusher. Last year he showed he can be a full-time player. In the offseason he cashed in with a free agent deal from Washington. Lissemore has improved in his first two years and is starting to change those initial impressions.
** I wonder if the Cowboys need to go sign a tight end with Martellus Bennett suffering this rib injury. It leaves them with Jason Witten and John Phillips as the only healthy tight ends in the building. With Tony Fiammetta expecting to return this week, the Cowboys could use rookie fullback Shaun Chapas some as a move guy if they don’t. Tony Romo has completed a pass to 14 different receivers this season, the most variety the Cowboys have had in their passing game since 2004 when 17 different players caught a pass. If they add another tight end, then maybe Romo could up his total to 15.
** I wonder what’s happened to the Cowboys’ screen game here of late. They spent nearly every day in training camp with a period of practice dedicated to screen plays, but lately that has been scrubbed from the offense. Getting the ball to Felix Jones in space – orDeMarco Murray – is a good thing. They have a number of tight end screens too. I’ve seen a rocket screen to the wide receivers a couple of times, but nothing that gave the backs much of a chance. Weird. And after seeing LaRod Stephens-Howling go 52 yards in overtime on a slip screen, it got me to wondering why the Cowboys have largely abandoned the screen.
** I no longer wonder if the Cowboys will add a quarterback to the roster. Unless Romo orStephen McGee gets hurt, they’ll go with them. They Cowboys had zero interest in Donovan McNabb when he was cut by Minnesota last week. I think they would have had more interest in claiming Sage Rosenfels off waivers from Miami because of Rosenfels time with Garrett years ago with the Dolphins. Two practice squad quarterbacks the Cowboys were monitoring – Tampa Bay’s Rudy Carpenter and St. Louis’ Tom Brandstater – were called up to their teams’ active rosters last week. The Cowboys are holding out hope Jon Kitna can return soon, but he’s been out of action for the better part of a month. Even if can return, I wonder if he should return to the No. 2 role anyway.
