SB Nation User Blog: Baked Potato Soup

For me, it's Julius Jones. I found out two years ago that he smokes cigarettes and just can't think...

Baked Potato Soup — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:02:29 -0000

For me, it's Julius Jones. I found out two years ago that he smokes cigarettes and just can't think rationally about him after that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/081003

Who do you want to win, Eagles or Skins?

Baked Potato Soup — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:28:08 -0000

Who do you want to win, Eagles or Skins?

I hate both of them with a passion, but I think I hate the Eagles more. I think it's better for the Cowboys if the Eagles win, because if the Boys win and the Skins lose, we jump up in the division. Of course, I'd really like the Eagles to go below .500.

USA Today Arcticle about the Cowboys' D

Baked Potato Soup — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:24:21 -0000

USA Today Arcticle about the Cowboys' D

Like most USAToday articles, it's more highlights than substance, but it talks about the D needing to improve.

I know it's early, but let's talk draft needs.

Baked Potato Soup — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:23:48 -0000

Obviously, we're only a quarter of the way through the season, but seeing the post about the Cowboys having a lot of picks got me thinking. What are the Cowboys biggest needs for next year?

Clearly one issue is age, as T.O. and Zach won't be here forever. Unless Bobby Carpenter makes huge strides over the next 15 games, we need a stud WR and an ILB. Or do we need a WR? I feel like Hurd, Austin, and Stanback just may be able to continue to improve enough that that's not our top priority, unless something great falls to us.

I think a big, mean, monster in the middle would be nice. Then Ratliff can move to DE, and our DL would be dominant. Unfortunately, true 3-4 NTs are extremely rare, so they might have to go DE.

OL is always a concern, especially given Columbo's contract situation, and the poor backups that we have now.

I can't really think of any other glaring needs, but there' s a couple of biggies there. Maybe SS if Roy, Watkins, KD, or CB don't step up, but I expect that Henry will move to FS and Hamlin to SS.

Poll

What are the Cowboys biggest needs in next year's draft?

Wide Receiver

30 votes

Defensive End

3 votes

Defensive Tackle

6 votes

Offensive Line

18 votes

Inside Linebacker

12 votes

Outside Linebacker

2 votes

Safety

17 votes

Other

2 votes

90 votes | Poll has closed

What former Cowboy do you wish was on the team now?

Baked Potato Soup — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:31:39 -0000

First, I have to say that I think this has been done before, so full credit if I borrowed your idea. Second, I love the Cowboys, and have been a fan since around 78, so that's as far back as my personal knowledge goes, but I have read everything I can find about the team before then.

There's no denying that this team of Cowboys is great, and they're loaded at almost every position. But sometimes it's fun to imagine bringing back a former Cowboy in their prime to help them out. Like say you're polishing your Cowboys lamp one day, and a little genie in a suit and fedora pops out. He says he will grant you one specific wish - the ability to add one former Dallas Cowboy in their prime to the current team, for just this year. You would still have the same coaching staff and all of the other players, but this guy would now be on the roster.

Who would it be? At first, I thought, that's easy, Michael Irvin. But I don't know that there are enough footballs to go around with him and T.O., and they're not that much different style-wise. Maybe Bullet Boy Hayes? Or Jay Novacek and terrorize teams with a 2 TE set?

Emmitt or TD probably wouldn't improve the current team too much, as great as they were, but Larry Allen or Nate Newton might. Old time linemen are probably too small. Hmm, what about Moose? Some DBs and linebackers would be shaking in their cleats at the thought of him and MB3 both coming at them.

Prime Time would be nice, but I don't know that he would be as big a factor given the current scheme. Same with Charles Haley, although adding him into the rotation as a pass rusher would be pretty scary.

I think I would end up having to go with Darren Woodson. Add that guy in at SS right now, and this defense would be truly fearsome. Remember in 95 when he knocked out Rodney Peete in the Divisional playoff game, then hit a Packers guy so hard that he bounced off a coach and nearly killed him in the championship game? And he was as good as Newman in the slot.

What do you guys think? Who's the guy you would bring back for this year only?

Mickey Spagnola, I'll accept your apology.

Baked Potato Soup — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:53:40 -0000

So, after the Browns game, I wrote into DC.com, and actually got my letter selected by the website. My letter was very similar to the fanpost that I wrote on this site, addressing my concerns about Tony Romo's ball handling inside of either 20 yard line. I was pretty much pooh-poohed by all of the writers, but the most irritating was Mickey, who of course acted like I didn't know what I was talking about, then put up the Cowboys Red Zone statistics from last year. Of course, he left out the turnovers and bad ball handling in our own 20, and did not point out that though the stats might look decent, they were well below the league average in touchdown% in the Red Zone, and scoring% in the Red Zone.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this game's done and the Cowboys will win, but through 2.5 games, Romo has thrown 2 interceptions and had 2 fumbles inside the 20s. Unfortunately, it appears that I'm not an idiot.

Mickey and the other writers can just reach me here to apologize and say that they were wrong and don't know nearly as much as they think that they do.

I wish the Cowboys tackled like the Eagles.

Baked Potato Soup — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:05:21 -0000

One thing that I noticed during that great game was how well the Eagles wrapped up when they were tackling. That was part of the reason that I think that they were able to do well on Barber. Obviously it helps to stack the box, but most teams did that the last couple of years when he was running late in the game, and he would break tackles for big gains. The Eagles were very good at keeping hold of his legs and ankles, as well as on the other Cowboys. If nothing else it gives time for someone else to come in and help.

Another thing I noticed was that most of the Cowboys seemed to tackle high. I think that's why they had so many facemask penalties, and probably should have had more. I think this is an unfortunate side effect of not having full contact practices in the offseason. Maybe part of it is trying to avoid horse collaring?

Is there a way for an NFL team to improve it's tackling during the season? I know that you definitely don't want to have full contact practices now, but I think the Cowboys need to work on tackling guys lower, especially from behind or the side. I remember practicing breaking down and wrapping up on the dummy in high school, but that was from straight ahead. It's hard to simulate tackling while chasing. 15 yards and an automatic first down is just a killer every single time.

ESPN.com calls the Cowboys the top NFL franchise.

Baked Potato Soup — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:36:26 -0000

ESPN.com calls the Cowboys the top NFL franchise.

They did a power ranking of all of the teams since the merger, and confirmed what we all knew: "The Cowboys might not be your team, but they are indeed America's Team."

Romo has to take it to the next level.

Baked Potato Soup — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:57:42 -0000

He's very, very good, no doubt about it. But, he needs a little more ball security to be on the level of Brady and Peyton Manning, or former Cowboys greats. Particularly inside the 20s, where he had another turnover this past Sunday.

He had 7 turnovers inside our or their 20 last year, and the one against the Browns looked real similar to the one in preseason that everyone said was just because it was the preseason ( I think they even tried to blame it on Jason Witten somehow). They're trying to say this one was because of Felix Jones, but the fact is, the receiver was blanketed.

Romo has to learn to throw it out of the end zone, or even take the sack when nothing's open, because not only does it leave points on the board, but it can cause a huge shift in the momentum and possibly be a 14 point swing (the 7 we could have scored plus the seven they might score from the turnover + momentum).

Last year the Cowboys scoring percentage inside the Red Zone was .857, which was below the league average of .861. While it might seem not that far off from the league average, this team and QB are supposed to be elite, not just below mediocre. The average on Sunday was .853. Even if you credit the Cowboys with a score on that last drive, that's .800 - below average.

I don't want him to stop being gutsy, but he has to be more brainy at the same time. I think that's the last piece to the puzzle that ends with the Lombardi Trophy.

Thoughts?

I hope this is allowed.

Baked Potato Soup — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:51:50 -0000

I hope this is allowed.

If this is not okay, please delete. I need some people to fill out a Fantasy Football League. We've got 6 but would like 10. It's not for money or anything, but just for fun, so if you've never played this would be a good league to join. We're using Yahoo!, so all you have to do is either have or create a Yahoo! I.D. It's pretty basic scoring and all that. The draft is tonight (Monday, 09/01/2008) at 11 p.m. EST and it's a live draft, or you can set your order and let the computer pick for you. Please only sign up if you are sincerely interested in participating. You don't have to be a fanatic, but at least try to make sure that all of your starters are actually playing that week. Sign up here: http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy League ID: 393211 Password: tpf Direct link to league: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/tpf2008