SB Nation User Blog: JimmyJohnson

Jerry admits he is the coach

JimmyJohnson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:55:02 -0000

Here he is on the FAN saying he had final say on who does and does not start - and that he exercises that power regularly. He also claims personal responsibility for our superbowls. I love the idea of giving Ogletree a shot. But it should be the football guys' call, not the owner. He just doesn't understand that he may not know as much about football as his coaches. I wonder what got into him today to make him so Boss Hogg-ish.

A Very Premature Playoff Scenario

JimmyJohnson — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:21:03 -0000

6 games into the season is way too early to start thinking playoffs. And you can never count on any team to beat any other team in this league (See Philly vs. Oakland). But, I was giving some thought to how we can reach the magic number of 10 wins. To me, the key will be beating the bad teams on our schedule. We've done a good job of that so far this season (though the KC game was too close for comfort). So, here is my scenario:

Assuming we beat Seattle, the Raiders, and Washington twice, that gets us to 8 wins. We need to win 2 of the remaining games to make the playoffs: Philly - twice Green Bay
Giants
San Diego
New Orleans

I think any of those 6 games are winnable (New Orleans is poised for a late-season fall). All we have to do is go 2-4 in those games. That makes beating the bad teams like Seattle an absolute must.
Thoughts?

A rose-colored take from a glass-half empty guy

JimmyJohnson — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:20:39 -0000

"Good enough is the enemy of great"

After a game like that, you want to just throw the whole team under the bus. Our O-Line and Running Backs get A+'s for the game. The rest of the team gets an A-. This loss was a bad one - both in terms of our performance and what it means for our long-term prospects. You CANNOT lose a home game in the hyper-competitive NFC East. But, if I dig down deep and search for one saving grace from this game, it is this:

We played better than early last season, but we know we suck.

Last year, we were stinking it up in similar games early in the season. But everybody wanted to point to our winning score and to tell the naysayers to back off. And that a W is a W. Players continued to prepare (or not prepare) in the same cocky manner as if they were bored waiting for the Superbowl.

This team can't do that now. They have to take a long, hard look at themselves and how they played. And it is only game 2. I think that may be a healthy thing. It is clear that no coach on this staff can ever get inside Romo's head and make him accountable. The only solution is for him to feel the full weight of costing the team a big game - and not having a full offseason to forget about it. My pet cat, Scandrick, may have thought he could do no wrong coming into this game. But he's learned what it is to be abused by opposing receivers, and what happens when you fail to wrap-up when you go for a knockout hit. The same goes for T-New, who I doubt we'll hear whining about probowl snubs again anytime soon. With his job on the line, Garrett may need to look back on his 2nd half mistakes - including eliminating our TE's from the gameplan and going back to his pattern of out-routes with receivers built for slants and posts. If this game did that, we will look back on it as a positive.

No Week 1 Vets signed

JimmyJohnson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:41:55 -0000

I'm a little surprised we didn't go out and sign a veteran CB or O-lineman after week 1. The Giants just cut Tutan Reyes whom Big Blue View thought was their top backup. That would make him a certain upgrade over any of our bottom 5 linemen. Evan Oglesby is also still available. Most considered him a lock to come back to Dallas. Anybody else the Cowboys should be looking at now that contracts are no longer guaranteed?

DC Fanatic's hilarious review of the touchdown on Jenkins. And an epic - EPIC - slam on a blogger...

JimmyJohnson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:40:33 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pczig8hcmjg

DC Fanatic's hilarious review of the touchdown on Jenkins. And an epic - EPIC - slam on a blogger by the name of Saint Jimmy who tried to defend Jenkins.

Using 3 Talented Runners... Look at 1980

JimmyJohnson — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:07:42 -0000

I was just watching the 1980 Divisional Playoff with the Falcons. I had forgotten the quality and depth of runners we had that year. We wonder how to split carries between MBIII, Felix, and Choice today. But the Cowboys of 1980 had:

Tony Dorsett (A top 5 all-time rusher)

Preston Pearson (The Man who defined the position of 3rd down back)

Robert Newhouse (A power runner who struck fear into opposing tacklers)

Ron Springs AND Timmy Newsome (Great runners in their own right who could have started for almost any other team).

If the 1980 cowboys could find a way to get all 5 of these guys on the field (and still maintain a record-setting passing game), there has to be a way to use all 3 of our talented backs.

Upgrading the Backup Offensive Line

JimmyJohnson — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:50:28 -0000

Sometimes you can excuse the poor play of your backups because they are developmental guys. You expect them to improve over time. That is the case with Doug Free. We aren't expecting him to set the world on fire at LT. We are expecting him to hit the weightroom hard and eat his Wheaties for the next year. On the other hand, does anybody honestly expect Proctor, Holland, or McQuistan to improve significantly at this point in their careers? Given that they are not developmental players, we can look to the waiver wire and unsigned free agents as replacements. Here is Scout.com's list of top free agent O-linemen. I think we should go get the 3 guys who will be an improvement over our underachieving three.

Offensive Tackle
Levi Jones (LT) - Talented, long-time starter for the Bengals, but has suffered through various injuries over the past few years which have limited his play.
Mark Tauscher (RT) - May not be ready to play until after the regular season starts.
Jon Runyan (RT) - He still wants to play one to two years and should be ready to go by some time in August.
Jonas Jennings (LT/RT) - Oft-injured since he signed a big free-agent contract with the 49ers and probably is better off at right tackle because of his short arms.
Charles Spencer (LT/RT/G) - Very talented and versatile, but hasn't been the same after suffering a horrific leg/knee injury during his rookie season with the Texans. Recently signed with the UFL.
Kwame Harris (LT) - Marginal starter, but could be a solid backup for a team in need of a LT.
Jason Fabini (RT/G) - Can play probably at least three spots on the offensive line. Serviceable backup at this point in his career.
Wayne Gandy (LT) - Last word we had was that he still wanted to play.
Junius Coston (RT) - Fits in as a fourth tackle.
Rob Petitti (RT) - He was recently selected in the UFL draft.
Fred Miller (RT) - 36-year old tackle who probably will retire.
Kevin Sampson (RT) - Started his career off with the Kansas City Chiefs and has bounced around of late.

Guard
Kendall Simmons - 30-year old interior lineman who started 80 games in seven years for the Steelers. Could find a starting job if a team loses a guard during training camp.
Pete Kendall - He turns 36 early next month, but probably still has two good years left in him.
Terrence Metcalf - Had started 25 games in seven years with the Chicago Bears.
Edwin Mulitalo - Oft-injured interior lineman who could be a pretty solid backup at this point of his career.
Chris Naeole - Turns 35 at the end of the regular season and probably will retire.
Scott Peters - Basically a fourth guard.
Barry Stokes (RT/LT) - The 35-year old journeyman lineman has spent time with 10 teams in his career, but could find a new home before the regular season starts because of his versatility.
Lennie Friedman (C) - Basically a fourth interior lineman.

Center
Jason Whittle (G) - The 33-year old lineman is capable of playing four positions on the offensive line.
Steve McKinney (G) - He's pretty much at the end of the line, but could have one more season left. His versatility could get him a job.
Matt Lehr (G) - Versatile veteran backup.

Is there a Fairness Doctrine in Sports Radio

JimmyJohnson — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:59:08 -0000

One of the great things about my new smartphone is the ability to listen to Dallas Sports Radio for updates on the Cowboys and for insights from Michael Irvin and Nate Newton. I usually jump between ESPN, The Ticket and the FAN. But one thing really irritates me. On every show (including Irvin), they seem to feel obliged to dedicate equal time to every other sport - especially the Mavericks and Rangers. I notice they do the same thing in North Carolina with Hockey or women's basketball during ACC basketball season. The other day, Nate started to share something really insightful when the hosts cut him of and said "Sorry big fella, next segment is the Rangers".

I want to say "WHO CARES ABOUT THE RANGERS???" But I'll make my criticism much more narrow. There are 3 sports radio stations. Don't you think people who are really interested in baseball would tune into one of the other stations during the MICHAEL F'n IRVIN SHOW? Additionally, when an average football game pulls in a bigger rating than the World Series or NBA Championship, you would think they would skew coverage toward the NFL instead of making sure they cover each sport equally. But no such luck. Maybe it's my own bias. Maybe baseball fans feel like they are neglected during their regular season for TC coverage. But c'mon... I'd like to hear the thoughts of other fans - especially in the Dallas Area.

DWare's thoughts on Ellis / Spencer

JimmyJohnson — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:59:21 -0000

As a huge Ellis supporter, I found this comment really interesting. Maybe I'm not interpreting it correctly. But it sounds like a subtle slam on Spencer / Carpenter. I hope it is but maybe it's just my own slant on things.

Ware was asked about Ellis, who once again appears may be one his way out of town with another round of linebackers being drafted.
"When I first came in he was a mentor to me and all the rookies. I’ve learned a lot from Greg," Ware said. "He’s a guy people leaned on. He’s also a guy that shows and leads by example. And then they brought - I’m not going to call any names - they brought a lot of guys in to take his position and you see how hard he works and nobody has been able to beat him out yet. He’s out there working hard and playing hard. I think he fits in our defense. I hope he’s here to stay."

Bennet Misses Practice

JimmyJohnson — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:23:35 -0000

I'm surprised there isn't discussion of this already. He was excused from Thursday's practice for "personal reasons" (after missing part of Wednesday's practice with "sore feet"). We've seen his lackadaisical attitude on Hard Knocks but unless a parent died or something, there is no excuse for a rookie to miss the tuneup for his first preseason game. I just hope his problems aren't of the Quincy Carter variety. I thought it was a mistake in April when we passed up several potential #2 receivers for a #3 tight end (and then traded our reliable #2 TE for nothing). But this is bigger than a draft mistake. I don't want his attitude affecting the rest of the team. Maybe we should use him as this year's Curvin Richards.