FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Penalties

I still can't believe that the Cowboys only committed 5 penalties for 38 yards.  For a while there, I thought that the Cowboys played a penalty free game.  Obviously, not!  A lot better from the previous games when the Cowboys had over a hundred yards of penalties against them.  The Cowboys need to continue to improve if they have a chance to run the gauntlet because 10 wins and maybe 11 wins will not be enough to get into the playoffs.

Defensively

The Cowboys gave too many passing yards, but they didn't allow the Seahawks into the endzone which is more important.  Bend, but don't break approach.  Once again the pass rush was phenomenal.  The defense recorded 7 sacks and 15 knockdowns.  3 sacks were by Ware and James added 2 more.  The secondary intercepted a pass, but they should have had at least 2 more considering how many times Hasselback was sacked and knockdown.  For a while there I thought that the defense was going to have to play without Ware for the remainder of the year, but it turned out to be a hyperextended knee.  One of those that initially looked at lot worse than the injury and probably more of a scare as well.

Offensively

The Cowboys had 447 total yards and Romo threw for 331.  Choice did a decent job of filling in for Barber who didn't finish the game with a dislocated pinkie toe.  But Barber will be ready for next weeks pivatol game against the Steelers.  For the second week in a row the Cowboys offense utilized the big play for there touchdowns and this was evident after the offense scored in the first 4 possesions.  It was also evident on the following two possessions because the Cowboys seemed to have fallen in love with it like a shooting guard falls in love with his/her jumpshot and also led to Romo's lone interception that he should have never thrown into double coverage.  And I'm very sure that he wished he had that one back.  When a shooter falls in love with his jumper and goes into a slump, the shooter will continue to take jumpers until he/she realizes that a couple of drives to the basket will get him/her back on track.  The Cowboys need to realize that they can score touchdowns by moving the sticks and not only by the big play.  Best play in football is one that gains between 4 and 5 yards per attempt.  Another area of concern is the Gerode's shotgun snap.  It seems like it suspends in the air as it is about to reach Romo and if I saw it correctly Romo had to snap 1 out of the air.  Gerode had the same problem towards the end of last year.  This is where I probably disagree with mostly everyboyd about Romo's trip to Mexico.  I alway felt that this is something that both Romo and Gerode should have been working on during the bye weeks that they earned.  Hopefully, both of them will use the 10 days wisely to have a better snap on the road against the Steelers.  Don't get me wrong!  Romo has vastly improved on taking care of the football and has made a tremendous impact on the entire Cowboys team.

Special Teams

The special teams continue to play well.  For the most part the kickoff coverage team did a great job considering Folk can only kick it to the 5 yard line.  Like Joe Buck continues to remind us that he has yet to record a touchback.  However, Folk seems to kick fieldgoals from anywhere on the field.  The punter, Paulesco doesn't seem to punt as long as McBriar.  Which is an asset because he won't have any problem punting the ball between the 20 and goalline which will continue to give the defense a longer field to defend.

Gauntlet(cont.)

The coaching staff and team need to remind themselves that they got to win their last 4 games in order to get to the dance, because the Panthers, Bucs, and Falcons are not going to fade away quietly.  Once game at a time and play each play like if it your last and this means literally, especailly for 1 Cowboy.  Hopefully this individual understands that 1 mistake will be the end of his career and I recommend that he gets involve in charitable causes and develops a friendship with some sort of spiritual adviser.  Otherwise he will be known as the dumbest piece of garbage to ever put on a pair of kleats.