SB Nation User Blog: VAfan

10 Keys to the Eagles game

VAfan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:11:26 -0000

I think either team could win this game. It could be a close barnstormer, like last year's opening game in Dallas. Or it could be a lopsided affair, as it was at the end of last year, or the 2007 game when Dallas came in and dominated Philly. Of all the outcomes, I'd say a dominant Dallas win is the least likely, but it is certainly possible. If you bottle up Philly's weak running game and pressure McNabb, they can get frustrated on offense.

That being said, here are my thoughts on keys to the game for Dallas.

1. Protect the ball. If you look at the stats of the two teams, what jumps out is the turnovers Philly has generated. If we hand them the ball, they are going to beat us, plain and simple. And one turnover tends to morph into multiple turnovers, as Philly is able to gamble more with a lead, bring the blitz, jump routes, etc. If I had only one key to the game, and I'm tempted, this would be it. Equalize or win the turnover battle, and I think we win the game. Lose it and I think we lose the game.

2. Pressure and sack McNabb. Oakland beat them by sacking McNabb 6 times. When he has to run for it, his passes lose their accuracy and their offense can become ineffective.

3. Don't let Jackson get behind the secondary. We beat them in Dallas last year even though Jackson had a long TD hookup. But that's not a recipe for winning. The Eagles are not a team that dinks and dunks its way down the field any more. They like the HR ball. Stifle that and they become far less effective.

4. Cover KOs and punts. Our special teams play has been outstanding in both areas this year. But Jackson will test us. We need to neutralize them at least. It would be nice if either FJ or Crayton broke off some good returns of our own.

5. Use Felix Jones more. One pass on Sunday to FJ was Romo's easiest of the day -- judging by how wide open the receiver was and how quickly the ball came out -- and it went for 30 yards. This same play went for even more yards to open the season. With Philly likely sending lots of blitzers, the Cowboys need to use these outlet passes and screens to burn Philly and force them to consider dialing the pressure down a bit or pay for it. A well-designed trap/draw can also beat some blitzes, though Philly tends to try to get the runner on the way to the QB.

6. Don't force it to Roy. Romo to Williams needs to get fixed, and the sooner the better. But if it's not working early the same way it hasn't been working the last couple of games, then go somewhere else to keep the chains moving. 10 guys caught passes this last week, and Tashard was not even one of them. There are enough options out there without missing on Roy passes over and over again.

7. Keep hitting hard and forcing turnovers. Lately we've been getting these. The streak needs to continue and get better.

8. Let Choice run if MBIII is still too slow. MBIII had some nice holes and a couple of nice runs Sunday. But he can't get too far because it is obvious his leg is not near 100%. Given those same holes, Choice would likely have had quite a few more yards. If you aren't going to give those runs to FJ, then give a few to Choice. Granted, MBIII is still the best blocker. But in terms of running skill, with a bum leg he's the 3rd best choice (unless you are talking short yardage).

9. Use the tight end down the middle and to keep the chains moving. Boss had some of the Giants' best plays down the middle. Witten used to beat Dawkins here regularly. I'm still waiting for Dallas to throw this pass to the faster Bennett, who might actually break it all the way. Also, Philly's corners have a lot of their picks, but are less likely to cover the TEs.

10. Be more physical. We have a huge, bruising offensive line. And Philly's offensive line, while in better shape than it was a few weeks ago, still has holes. We need to win the battle in the trenches. Philly often makes up for this by bringing unique blitzes and by swarming. Still, when Dallas has won these matchups, it is usually b/c we find ways to take advantage of our superior size. This game should be no different.

I'd rather we look bad early than look bad late

VAfan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:18:57 -0000

We all know the issues the Cowboys need to improve on.

1. Romo's INTs. Romo has said he's going to cut down on his turnovers. And so far, he's at least looking better at handling the ball and cutting down on fumbles. But he laid an egg against the Giants and needs to do much better.

2. Pass coverage. This is the other reason we lost the Giants' game. Newman, Scandrick, and Jenkins didn't get it done against the G-men. And they were fairly well torched the previous game against Tampa too.

3. Forcing turnovers. I'd say this is even more important than generating sacks. It probably won't come, however, until the coverage is better and the pressure improves.

4. Generating pressure. No sacks in 2 games after leading the league. Wade's got to figure this one out.

5. Stopping the run. Very bad against Tampa. Very good against the Giants.

6. Catching the ball. The WRs were wide open against Tampa, but gained nothing against the Giants. More consistency is needed.

7. Running the ball. Tremendous game against the Giants. OK game against Tampa. Could use more consistency if teams start stacking the box.

The point I want to make in this post is that I think all of these problems are correctable over the course of the season with the players we currently have on the team. And I thnk it may be a good thing to get a wake-up game like the one against the Giants early to keep the team from getting complacent and thinking they've got if figured out. This is a team that to be successful is going to have to improve every week.

No one should care where we rank on offense or defense over the course of the season. The only thing that should matter is how we play each game, and have we improved.

We've got young guys in the secondary who are likely to get better. We've got a prideful veteran CB who knows how to step up his game. We have an experienced DC at head coach who knows how to make adjustments to get pressure on QBs. We've got a QB who has played plenty of great games, and has more often than not won them.

There's no guarantees that this team will come together and get stronger as the season goes on, unlike the Cowboys teams of recent vintage. But I think some early adversity could be better than getting off to a start where the team thinks it has already arrived, only to find out in December that the teams that keep improving are now better than us.

Start Felix Jones

VAfan — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:50:14 -0000

One thing will be interesting to see this year is how the Cowboys deploy Felix Jones. Clearly they underutilized him last season, which may have led to his hammy pull (after which he messed up his toe and missed the season).

This year, the Cowboys plan on starting MBIII again, spelling him with Felix after the defense is used to MBIII's (lesser) speed.

I think this is a mistake. If Barber were truly a guy who beat up teams, ala Brandon Jacobs, I could more easily see the value of saving the speed guy until the defense was tired. But I don't think MBIII is that guy. Sure, he runs very hard, and bangs guys. But if they are fresh, he isn't so big that he's going to win most of those early head butts. (He's 6 ft. 222. FJ is 6 ft., 218.) When they are tired, he's a load to tackle, but not so much when they are fresh. I think the "proof" is in the much lower YPC totals he posted as a starter v. as a finisher. (4.8 in 2007 v. 3.7 in 2008). (Sure, some of this should be chalked up to Kyle Kosier's injury.)

Felix Jones, on the other hand, is to me the best RB the Cowboys have, and by a pretty good margin. On any given play, he has the chance to take it to the house. He had the longest run from scrimmage last season on only 30 carries, and consistently had long runs despite only a few chances per game. He has the longest pass play this pre-season, a little dump off he turned into a 42-yard romp by blowing by 3 guys who thought they had him boxed in.

By starting Jones, the Cowboys are more likely to give him the most carries, which he should have. He's going to win the YPC race, I think pretty easily, no matter how many carries you give him. And it's not as if he's can't be durable enough. He's 6 feet, 218, just 4 lbs less than MBIII at the same height. Chris Johnson, who is 5'11" 200, got 250 carries last year for the Titans.

Jones is also likely to force defenses to adjust to start games more than MBIII will. I think teams think they can stop Barber early with their standard defense. He doesn't have the speed to burn them long, and hasn't proven he can run, run, run down the field early in games. So they don't have to stack the box. Deeper safeties will help cut off the Cowboys' passing game, both to WRs and to the talented TEs.

Putting Jones in the game to start forces more of a problem. You almost have to stack the box to keep him penned in, b/c if he gets into space he'll kill you. But this will open up better deep passing opptys, esp. off play action. And, the Cowboys will more likely gain yardage when they do run b/c Jones is scary good when he gets to the edge, but that means the area between the tackles should also be open as defenses have to cover the field side-to-side. Don't think Felix Jones can't run between the tackles. He can, and against a spread D with safeties up, it won't take a huge hole for him to threaten some home runs that way as well.

I would use MBIII on short yardage, near the end zone, when we have a lead, and as a closer when defenses are too tired to handle his style of running. Those are the places where MBIII excels. I don't see him as that far above average as a starting tailback in the beginning of games.

If you ignored the contracts, which the Cowboys should do, I think starting Jones is the best plan. MBIII played best when he backed up Julius Jones. It's time to return him to that role. He'll stay fresh and healthy that way too.

Of course, that leaves Tashard Choice, who is good enough to start himself, as he proved last year against Pitt and Baltimore. Problem for him is he's not better than Felix Jones. And he's not the same banger as MBIII is. What he can do, though, is keep both of those guys as fresh as possible, so maybe we can win some December games for a change. I would use Choice extensively whenever we have a significant lead. I would also use him to spell both Jones and MBIII if they are looking at all tired or have sustained any type of injury. I would also phase him in more as the season wears on and Jones' and MBIII's carries accumulate.

When you think of historic Cowboys running backs, the guy I would liken Felix Jones most to is Tony Dorsett. I'm not sure we've had that kind of speed at RB since Dorsett. Of course, Dorsett was a lot smaller than Felix, at 5'11" 192. Yet he was more than able to run between the tackles.

Love to read your comments.

VAfan

The "Greg Ellis era" is over in Dallas -- maybe we can return to playoff winning football now

VAfan — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:51:06 -0000

Just wanted to point out that the Cowboys never won a playoff game during Greg Ellis's 12 years with the team.

Of course, there is no correlation between him being on the team and that run of futility. But it is an easy way to mark the sorriest stretch of the Dallas Cowboys' great history.

(Note: we also didn't win a playoff game the year before Ellis arrived, but this doesn't change my observation.)

Is Romo developing a rapport with Miles Austin too?

VAfan — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:56:45 -0000

All the articles about Roy Williams talk about Romo and Roy spending time this offseason getting in sync. 20-30 minutes per day, several days per week, is what I have read.

I guess my question is -- is Romo spending any time getting in sync with Miles Austin, who many people feel will leapfrog Patrick Crayton into the starting lineup opposite Roy?

And, if the answer is no, then why not? Austin has something like 18 catches in his CAREER. Wouldn't time with him be equally well spent?

Ditto for Isaiah Stanback and Sam Hurd. Romo needs to be in sync with all his potential receivers, doesn't he?

If it's 20 degrees Sunday, field will be more frozen than muddy

VAfan — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:21:03 -0000

New turf was laid at Heinz Field right before the Pitt/WV game just over a week ago. The Steelers played on the road last week. So that field has had only 1 game played on it. Plus, if it really is in the 20s, it will harden up, yet not be rock hard.

The result? Expect a faster field than everyone is predicting. That should help the Cowboys.

It will be the wind, more than the turf, that will affect play. I expect us to have a game plan similar to our victory in Washington, where the swirling wind kept Romo from chucking it deep. He's just got to be careful not to throw those slant passes to Steelers.

Treat Pacman As a Human Being

VAfan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:55:10 -0000

Count me among those who felt the commissioner's punishment this season for Pacmans' little ruccus with his bodyguard in a hotel bathroom was grossly disproportionate to the offense. It was pretty much a non-event in my eyes. No one was hurt. Apparently, according to Jerry Jones, it may have been as much the fault of Pacman's "bodyguard" as Pacman. Though the police were called, they felt it was a non-event. And even if was apparently alcohol-related, it didn't trigger any problem with Pacman's ongoing probation terms which specifically cover alcohol.

But my bigger point is this. Pacman was -- and the operative word here is was -- a thug. When he "made it rain" in that strip club, and when he engaged in numerous other irresponsible acts, he was a guy deserving of punishment. But he paid for that conduct with a year's suspension from the NFL, and criminal sanctions, which include ongoing probationary terms that still cover him.

Does anyone think that Pacman -- the one during his Tennessee years -- is the Pacman that showed up to play for the Dallas Cowboys? Does anyone think he's any longer remotely like the thug who "made it rain"?

I don't. And, because I don't, I believe the guy deserves to be treated like any other human being who has screwed up and paid his debt to society. Anything else he does should be treated on its own merits. Don't keep hanging him for events of the past. That person really no longer exists.

Stanback and Felix -- future "wildcat" duo?

VAfan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:24:41 -0000

Let me start this post off by saying I have no idea how to draw up the "wildcat" plays that many teams, starting with the Dolpins, have been running this year.

But, don't we have two players on the Cowboys who would be absolutely perfect running that formation a couple of times a game? I'm talking about Isaiah Stanback and Felix Jones.

I know Stanback's shoulder is hurt, but is it his left or right shoulder? If it's his left, there should be no reason he can't throw the ball out of a wildcat formation. And if anyone has seen that You Tube video of his 70-yard heave while at Washington, he can probably throw it farther than Tony Romo. Plus, he was always a running QB at Washington, and he has speed to burn. Not all that unlike Pat White of West Virginia, who I've watched a lot.

Then you have Felix Jones, who ran this formation a lot while at Arkansas, correct? So it's totally natural for him.

This strikes me as a far superior "trick" play to the unproductive end-arounds that seem to be all Jason Garrett can think up. Indeed, given the speed of both Stanback and Jones, you could run this play anywhere on the field and threaten to break it for a TD. Plus, with Stanback, it would have a passing option that none of the other teams running it have really exploited.

I want to see us run this play! More than once!!