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Second time in three weeks that we just ripped the heart out of a hated opponent with a late game win. The 70's Cowboys under Staubach did this quite a bit and he became a legend due to it. The early 80's Cowboys under Danny White did it numerous times. The 90's Cowboys didn't have a propensity for this because typically we were so good we got up on teams early and just beat them into submission as the game wore on, especially the 91-95 teams. Since Jimmy left, the narrative has changed to finding/inventing new gut wrenching ways to lose, rather than finding ways to win. This year's Cowboys seem to be reversing that ugly trend however.
1) Prescott's game wasn't perfect but he was near perfect in the 2nd half. 5 possessions, 4 scores and back to back long TD drives to close out the game. First 300yd game of his career. For the season less than 1% of his passes have been picked and he's completed 67% of his passes and averaging a very impressive 8.35 yds per attempt. 7 of his 9 starts have resulted in QB ratings over 103.7. Its an amazing story. No rookie regardless of when they are picked usually does these things, and he was an end of the 4th round player. Interesting note on yesterday, not one single rush attempt for Prescott, I think that was a first.
2) Zeke continues to amaze. Clearly is one of the best players in the league as a rookie. Probably wont win the MVP but either he or Prescott should run away with the rookie of the yr (or more appropriately be co-rookie's of the year) and Elliott is making a strong case for NFL Offensive Player of the Yr. Far and away the best player picked in this year's draft.
3) No player has taken more abuse on our team this year than Dez Bryant, but his numbers are not that bad and will probably only get better as the season wears on. He's basically played 5 and 1/2 games and has posted 100+ yds receiving in 3 of those. He's had 50+ yd plays in two of the last three games. He's also averaging a career best 18.1 yds per reception this year. He also played yesterday's game after learning of his father's death. They do need to ditch the damn inside the 10 fade route calls though.
4) Tyron Smith, Fred and Martin are all locks for the probowl and all three will almost assuredly be 1st or 2nd team All pro, but Ronald Leary is having himself a year too. It's too bad that he is likely gone after the year but not trading him this offseason was clearly a blessing in disguise. Had several mauling blocks yesterday.
5) Our secondary is T H I N right now. Not sure what Scandrick's status for Sunday will be, but if he cant play vs Baltimore he might not be cleared for the Washington game 4 days later either. The new guy McFadden had a rough game and so did Heath. We didn't really miss Claiborne or Church vs Cleveland, but they were both missed badly yesterday. Wouldn't be shocked if they looked around this week for secondary help either on someone else's practice squad or maybe veteran free agent sitting at home.
6) The defense in general has overachieved for the season and while they did a really solid job vs the run yesterday (48 yds on 19 carries) the pass defense and pass rush are huge concerns. They haven't intercepted a pass since the GB game before the bye and didn't force any kind of turnover for the 2nd straight game. Baltimore isn't explosive offensively but Flaccos is one of those guys who occasionally does get into a groove and goes off. They do have a pretty decent WR group too. Then we have games vs Washington, NYG, TB & Detroit. All teams with QB and/or WR groups that can do some significant damage.
7) I just don't understand this team's obsession with Lance Dunbar. He cant block to save his life. Broaddus tried to give him some credit for the "block" he threw on the Prescott to Bryant TD, but he basically got destroyed and it was only Prescott's move in the pocket that saved the play. The Steelers seemed to bring significant blitzes EVERY time Dunbar came in the game, because they knew he couldn't handle it. Broaddus also noted that in the box several Cowboy watchers (including former coach Campo) were pretty disgusted when Dunbar would replace Elliott on 3rd downs. Dunbar sux at blocking, is zero threat as a runner and honestly isn't a threat as a receiver either. Plays with him on the field are essentially wasted.
8) Not sure what Geoff Swaim's status is going to be but it appears he had a very significant injury and didn't return to the game. Escobar had a nice block on the GW TD but otherwise he had issues with run blocking. Hopefully if he is going to miss any real time James Hanna can get back out there. If he cant and Swaim is gone, they might have to make a roster move to find another blocking TE.
9) The ref group that did the game yesterday is the same group that did our last game vs Pittsburgh. In that game they called zero penalties against the Steelers (and 8 on us). Yesterday the tally was 10 penalties for just under 100 yds on us to 4 penalties for 40 yds for them. They got away with TONS of shit. Our OL was flagged for 3 or 4 holding calls and only 1 of those looked legit, meanwhile their OL wasn't flagged for a single holding call the entire game and one of their guys got away with a major illegal block downfield on the Steelers last TD drive. Cole Beasley was nearly decapitated with the facemask that wasn't called on our final drive. On one play the Steelers had 13 or 14 guys on the field, it was flagged and then after meeting the flag was mysteriously picked up. On the one good punt return they had our guy (Dunbar I think) was held from pretty much the inception to the end of the play. G A R B A G E
10) While the defense as a whole struggled (gave up 30 pts and 30 first downs, almost 45 yds offense) I thought Demarcus Lawrence had a good game and hopefully he can start getting to the QB more regular now after finally getting his first sack. He also two or three outstanding plays vs the run. Byron Jones was pretty good again but the one piece missing from his game (pretty much like everyone else) is getting turnovers. He dropped a pick last week and had a gimmee fumble recovery yesterday that he botched. Have to give some credit again to JJ Wilcox too, as he is not the gaping hole back there that he used to be and continues to bring the wood on some of these hits he is making.
11) Dan Bailey is just money. 3/3 on FG's including one from 53 (which I read somewhere is the longest in the history of Heinz Field). He's now 17/19 for the yr and has 3 from over 50 (including one from 56 in week one). He's also one of the few kickers who hasn't missed a single PAT since they went to the new format. We obviously don't have a dominant defense and the league is dominated by close games. He's a huge weapon for us down the stretch and in the postseason.
12) With New England's loss last night, we now sit alone with the best record in football. If we win Sunday vs Baltimore they will set the franchise record for most consecutive regular season wins in the season (9). Would be nice if Cinci would help us out tonight at NYG though I am not counting on it. The Giants next two games after are pretty easy, Chicago and Cleveland. If the Giants were to lose tonight and we take care of business vs Baltimore and Washington, we could almost have the NFC East wrapped up before December. Seattle now appears to be the main competitor for homefield advantage and they are 6-2-1, with the two losses and the tie all coming vs the NFC.
1) Prescott's game wasn't perfect but he was near perfect in the 2nd half. 5 possessions, 4 scores and back to back long TD drives to close out the game. First 300yd game of his career. For the season less than 1% of his passes have been picked and he's completed 67% of his passes and averaging a very impressive 8.35 yds per attempt. 7 of his 9 starts have resulted in QB ratings over 103.7. Its an amazing story. No rookie regardless of when they are picked usually does these things, and he was an end of the 4th round player. Interesting note on yesterday, not one single rush attempt for Prescott, I think that was a first.
2) Zeke continues to amaze. Clearly is one of the best players in the league as a rookie. Probably wont win the MVP but either he or Prescott should run away with the rookie of the yr (or more appropriately be co-rookie's of the year) and Elliott is making a strong case for NFL Offensive Player of the Yr. Far and away the best player picked in this year's draft.
3) No player has taken more abuse on our team this year than Dez Bryant, but his numbers are not that bad and will probably only get better as the season wears on. He's basically played 5 and 1/2 games and has posted 100+ yds receiving in 3 of those. He's had 50+ yd plays in two of the last three games. He's also averaging a career best 18.1 yds per reception this year. He also played yesterday's game after learning of his father's death. They do need to ditch the damn inside the 10 fade route calls though.
4) Tyron Smith, Fred and Martin are all locks for the probowl and all three will almost assuredly be 1st or 2nd team All pro, but Ronald Leary is having himself a year too. It's too bad that he is likely gone after the year but not trading him this offseason was clearly a blessing in disguise. Had several mauling blocks yesterday.
5) Our secondary is T H I N right now. Not sure what Scandrick's status for Sunday will be, but if he cant play vs Baltimore he might not be cleared for the Washington game 4 days later either. The new guy McFadden had a rough game and so did Heath. We didn't really miss Claiborne or Church vs Cleveland, but they were both missed badly yesterday. Wouldn't be shocked if they looked around this week for secondary help either on someone else's practice squad or maybe veteran free agent sitting at home.
6) The defense in general has overachieved for the season and while they did a really solid job vs the run yesterday (48 yds on 19 carries) the pass defense and pass rush are huge concerns. They haven't intercepted a pass since the GB game before the bye and didn't force any kind of turnover for the 2nd straight game. Baltimore isn't explosive offensively but Flaccos is one of those guys who occasionally does get into a groove and goes off. They do have a pretty decent WR group too. Then we have games vs Washington, NYG, TB & Detroit. All teams with QB and/or WR groups that can do some significant damage.
7) I just don't understand this team's obsession with Lance Dunbar. He cant block to save his life. Broaddus tried to give him some credit for the "block" he threw on the Prescott to Bryant TD, but he basically got destroyed and it was only Prescott's move in the pocket that saved the play. The Steelers seemed to bring significant blitzes EVERY time Dunbar came in the game, because they knew he couldn't handle it. Broaddus also noted that in the box several Cowboy watchers (including former coach Campo) were pretty disgusted when Dunbar would replace Elliott on 3rd downs. Dunbar sux at blocking, is zero threat as a runner and honestly isn't a threat as a receiver either. Plays with him on the field are essentially wasted.
8) Not sure what Geoff Swaim's status is going to be but it appears he had a very significant injury and didn't return to the game. Escobar had a nice block on the GW TD but otherwise he had issues with run blocking. Hopefully if he is going to miss any real time James Hanna can get back out there. If he cant and Swaim is gone, they might have to make a roster move to find another blocking TE.
9) The ref group that did the game yesterday is the same group that did our last game vs Pittsburgh. In that game they called zero penalties against the Steelers (and 8 on us). Yesterday the tally was 10 penalties for just under 100 yds on us to 4 penalties for 40 yds for them. They got away with TONS of shit. Our OL was flagged for 3 or 4 holding calls and only 1 of those looked legit, meanwhile their OL wasn't flagged for a single holding call the entire game and one of their guys got away with a major illegal block downfield on the Steelers last TD drive. Cole Beasley was nearly decapitated with the facemask that wasn't called on our final drive. On one play the Steelers had 13 or 14 guys on the field, it was flagged and then after meeting the flag was mysteriously picked up. On the one good punt return they had our guy (Dunbar I think) was held from pretty much the inception to the end of the play. G A R B A G E
10) While the defense as a whole struggled (gave up 30 pts and 30 first downs, almost 45 yds offense) I thought Demarcus Lawrence had a good game and hopefully he can start getting to the QB more regular now after finally getting his first sack. He also two or three outstanding plays vs the run. Byron Jones was pretty good again but the one piece missing from his game (pretty much like everyone else) is getting turnovers. He dropped a pick last week and had a gimmee fumble recovery yesterday that he botched. Have to give some credit again to JJ Wilcox too, as he is not the gaping hole back there that he used to be and continues to bring the wood on some of these hits he is making.
11) Dan Bailey is just money. 3/3 on FG's including one from 53 (which I read somewhere is the longest in the history of Heinz Field). He's now 17/19 for the yr and has 3 from over 50 (including one from 56 in week one). He's also one of the few kickers who hasn't missed a single PAT since they went to the new format. We obviously don't have a dominant defense and the league is dominated by close games. He's a huge weapon for us down the stretch and in the postseason.
12) With New England's loss last night, we now sit alone with the best record in football. If we win Sunday vs Baltimore they will set the franchise record for most consecutive regular season wins in the season (9). Would be nice if Cinci would help us out tonight at NYG though I am not counting on it. The Giants next two games after are pretty easy, Chicago and Cleveland. If the Giants were to lose tonight and we take care of business vs Baltimore and Washington, we could almost have the NFC East wrapped up before December. Seattle now appears to be the main competitor for homefield advantage and they are 6-2-1, with the two losses and the tie all coming vs the NFC.
