SB Nation User Blog: silverblue5

Great News

silverblue5 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:57:43 -0000

And it doesn't involve Geico and savings on auto insurance.

Just read on Nick Eatman's blog that the MRI results for BOTH D-Ware and MB3 came back negative.

However...

Eatman does mention some "iffy" news regarding Ware and Barber's status for the Week 14 road game against the Steelers.

The Cowboys’ PR staff sent out a release Friday afternoon stating that both players will be re-evaluated on a “day-to-day” basis, but did not give their availability for the upcoming Dec. 7 game against Pittsburgh.

I'm extremely thankful for two things:

1. These two studs have not suffered serious, season-ending injuries (although I'm sure they're in some kind of pain).

2. They have at least 10 total days to heal and rest up.

Whew.

Who is Tra Battle?

silverblue5 — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:29:58 -0000

With Felix Jones officially placed on Injured Reserve, the Cowboys signed DB/ST Tra Battle off the Chargers practice squad.

According to the Associated Press, Battle may play today. With special teams injuries to Patrick Watkins and Mike Jenkins out for the Seahawks game today with a hamstring injury, the ex-Bolts safety could see some action and add a little depth for the Week 13 tilt.

The Dallas Morning News also tells a little about his reaction yesterday.

To see one of his highlights, click on this link.

Key Injuries From Week 12

silverblue5 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:42:11 -0000

Looks like Kyle Kosier aggrevated the right foot injury he's been dealing with all season long.

Not to be outdone, there lies the possibility that Terence Newman may have re-injured his groin area, as well.

After sustaining a hit to the ribs by Niners CB-Nate Clements, Jason Witten maintains he will play in the Thanksgiving Day home game against Seattle.

And the newest member to suffer a serious injury is rookie corner Mike Jenkins, who's set to undergo an MRI for an apparent leg injury (reportedly of the hamstring variety).

Oh yeah, Patrick Watkins also endured a stinger after flailing back on that faux tackle attempt against San Francisco's DeShaun Foster, who happened to score a TD on that play.

For more on this report, click here.

Guess we'll be seeing more Cory Procter, Martellus Bennett, and now Alan Ball.

Getting Pacman back in a few weeks will actually fortify some badly-needed DB depth... especially with the latest injury to Jenkins.

Sux.

Owens vs Garrett?

silverblue5 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:13:14 -0000

Nice try, mediots.

The popular method of modern-day journalism strikes again when reporters asked Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett about his relationship with Terrell Owens.

HIs response...

"Terrell is always a featured guy in our offense," Garrett said, "and he always will be."

Of course, Timmy Mac of the Damn DMN spins it like Red Ball is side-stepping the question, but is the writer just sore because the Dallas OC didn't give him any ammo to scribe a he-said/he-said verbal spar in Big D?

Move it along, people. Nothing to see here.

But if you did wanna read the brief, worthless DMN blog for the day, here's da link.

DeAngelo Hall

silverblue5 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:50:43 -0000

I just perused Adam Schefter's blog on NFL.com, and he reports that the Oakland Raiders are on the verge of releasing DeAngelo Hall.

Immediately, many of you are gonna say "no, he's a head case... I'll take our chances with the rookies Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins, and besides Terence Newman will be back after the bye week."

And to be honest, although I can't stand his guts on a personal level (he's even from the area I live in, which makes it worse for me), i think he could help us.

Stuff still has to happen though... like Hall clearing waivers before becoming a free agent -- which could possibly happen because a lot of teams aren't gonna wanna be on da hook for the remainder of the stupid contract Al Davis signed him to.

Here's the link... let me know what you think!!!

Another Quality DB Still Out There

silverblue5 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:27:40 -0000

Let's face it. Our secondary has lost two experienced starters for at least four games in Terence Newman and Pacman Jones. Personally, I'm intrigued with rookies Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. These next four games gives them an opportunity to shine and make some plays. Yeah, they'll stumble and makes some mistakes... but let 'em learn and forget their faux pas and maintain a swagger exuding some confidence.

But there's always the temptation to dip into what's available from a free agency perspective... and right now there's a vet who's won two Super Bowls, who's still available and in playing shape as we speak.

The player is a former All-Pro, who lists the Dallas Cowboys as a contender he'd like to play for.

His name -- Ty Law.

Adam Schefter on NFL.com writes about it. If Law doesn't ask for much, da King could sign him for JUST the remainder of this season.

I'm content with Jenkins and Scandrick -- and of course, Anthony Henry, who'll start with Jenkins... and Scandrick acting as the nickel.

Click the link and tell me what you think...

Terence Newman's Surgery

silverblue5 — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:33:18 -0000

On the heels of a tougher-than-expected game against the Bengals where we were expected to dominate, but instead won a hard-fought victory...

...came the news on why TO was crying (okay, so no big deal for us fans)

...came the criticism of Wade Phillips for not being inspirational and in-your-face enough to the assistant coaches and players

...came the criticism of Romo supposedly underachieving (which is a media-driven crock if you ask me)

...came the Adam "Pacman" Jones scuffle with his bodyguard

...came the Jerry Jones investigation and statement and non-discipline of the Pacman incident

...most recently -- as in earlier today -- came news of Terrence "T-New" Newman's groin surgery, which ended up NOT being a sports hernia and ended up only being a less-than-expected recovery time prognosis. According to NFL Network's Adam Schefter:

Pro Bowl cornerback Terence Newman underwent groin surgery Friday in Philadelphia and is expected to miss about a month, according to a Cowboys source.

All of these developments in the course of less than a week.

Only with the Dallas Cowboys, aka America's Team, can all of this news transpire in such a short period of time.

Owens Not Upset with Romo, Takes Shot at "Sheshawn"

silverblue5 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:04:10 -0000

According to star-telegram.com, Terrell Owens is not angry with the Dallas Cowboys offense -- nor is he upset with starting quarterback Tony Romo.

But then again, many of you already knew that... with some of you accurately pointing out that it was much ado about nothing -- except for BSPN attempting to draw viewers by bashing TO and the Cowboys.

Back to the story.

Owens stated that he never exchanged words with Romo about his role in the offense after the 'Boys 26-24 loss to the Washington Redskins last Sunday as some mediots reported.

His exact words...

Owens said his postgame comments about needing to be involved more in the offense were blown out of proportion and more a product of his frustration in the Cowboys loss than any displeasure about the Cowboys offense.

“It’s a matter of being frustrated with the loss,” Owens said. “It had nothing to do with the offense.”

Furthermore, The Original 81 ran a verbal post pattern and scored a TD with this stellar shot at one of BSPN's talking heads -- you know, the other one-time Dallas Cowboys receiver, who robbed teams like the Jets, Bucs, Panthers, and our Cowboys by not living to his own hype and is now serving as a sour grapes basher of America's Team.

Check it --

Regarding Keyshawn Johnson, whom Owens’ referred to as Sheshawn at least three times, he said: “[As the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft] he is the ultimate underachiever on that panel. I am the reason he is in the booth. Everybody is aware when I was brought to Dallas he was the one they let go to get me here.”

Ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!

Take that Sheshawn... and just shut up your damn mouth!!!

Romo Bashing Still In Vogue

silverblue5 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:38:01 -0000

I was on SI.com a few minutes ago and stumbled across their "Morning Jolt" section. Of course, the headline effectively hooked me in and drew my ire -- being a Cowboys fan and all.

It said, "Rodgers Better Than Romo," was in the "Truth and Rumors" area, and pertained to ex-Packers Safety LeRoy Butler commenting on his on-field observations of last Sunday Night's Dallas-Green Bay game.

The snippet had a link, which led you to the piece in its entirety -- JSOnline.com, the web site of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- and Butler based his opinions on the following:

- Decision Making

- Long completed pass plays that inflate stats

Butler also went on to comment about other aspects of the game including the Cowboys' offensive strategy, breakdowns in the Packers defense, and Green Bay injuries.

I suggest that you click on the link and read the article. Although he makes some correct points, it's somewhat obvious that he had his homer cheesehead hat on.

Based on Butler's comments, I've got some questions for all of you.

1. Don't you think it's premature to compare Aaron Rodgers to Tony Romo at this point? Rodgers has all of 3 starts under his belt, and Romo is going on his way to two full regular seasons as a starting quarterback.

2. Based on #1, can anyone make a valid argument that Rodgers is better than Romo when the Packers #12 hasn't led his team to a division title, a playoff win, an NFC Championship, or a Super Bowl win. At least Romo has led our Cowboys to a Division title, two playoff appearances, a 22-7 record as a starter, and a 13-2 record as a starter on the road in the regular season. Yes, Rodgers has only started 3 games in the NFL, and that's my point.

3. After reading the article, Butler opines that the secondary is the weakest part of the Cowboys defense. Do you agree with him?

4. Butler seemed to outline the many injuries to starters in the secondary -- namely CB-Al Harris and safety Atari Bigby. He also threw in that with 2nd year WR-James Jones playing hurt, it affected Green Bay's ability to effectively go to their 5-wide receiver sets. Does he have a legitimate argument or is he just making excuses?

5. One interesting thing that Butler stated was that Rodgers didn't throw an interception in the game last Sunday -- even in a loss. And that he's just glad that this game's over and that he expects them to be right there and get better come January. Do you agree with him that the Packers are that close to Dallas in terms of being an elite team?

I'm interested to hear your takes on the story.

How Our Offensive Unit Evolved

silverblue5 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:59:34 -0000

I decided to do some research and analyses on how our starters on offense – along with key backups – were acquired, and here’s what I learned (some of the info I already knew prior to posting this entry):”

WRs

TO (Tenn-Chatt) was what a 3rd round draft pick selected by San Francisco in 1996 (acquired by Dallas via Free Agency).

Witten/J-Dub (Tenn) was a 3rd round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2003.

Crayton (NW Ok St) was a 7th round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2004.

Backup WRs/TEs

Hurd (N. Ill) was an undrafted free agent signed by our Cowboys in 2006.

Austin (Monmouth) was an undrafted free agent signed by our Cowboys in 2006.

Stanback (UW) was a 4th round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2007.

Tellus (Tex A&M) was a 2nd round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2008.

Curtis (Portland St) was an undrafted free agent signed by our Cowboys in 2005.

RBs

MB3 (Minn) was a 4th round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2005.

El Gato (Ark) was a 1st round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2008

T-Choice (GT) was a 4th round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2008.

Cricket (UConn) was a 6th round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2007.

Of course, most every Cowboys Fan by now knows that...

QBs

Romo (E. Ill) was an undrafted free agent signed by our Cowboys in 2003.

Backup QBs

BJ was a 9th round draft pick selected by Minnesota in 1992 (Dallas acquired Johnson via Free Agency in 2007).

Bollinger (Wisconsin) was a 6th round draft pick selected by NY Jets in 2003 (Dallas acquired Bollinger via Free Agency in 2008) [Interesting Notes on BB – started all four years at the University of Wisconsin, has ties with B. Johnson as his backup in Minn, backed up ex-Cowboys QB Vinny Testaverde with Jets before Vinny was a Cowboy, his first NFL game had him replacing ex-Cowboys QB Quincy Carter with the Jets].

Now check out the starting O-line:

The Hotel (Mich St) was a 2nd round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 1998

Bigg (Texas) was a 1st round draft pick selected by Arizona in 2001 (acquired by Dallas via free agency).

Gurode (Colorado) was 2nd round draft pick selected by our Cowboys in 2002.

Kosier (Ariz. St) was a 7th round draft pick selected by San Francisco in 2002 (acquired by Dallas via free agency).

Colombo (Boston College) was a 1st round draft pick selected by Chicago in 2002 (acquired by Dallas via free agency while in process of rehabbing torn knee ligaments after Bears released him).

Top O-line reserves:

Procter (Montana) was an undrafted free agent originally signed by Detroit in 2005.

Holland (Fla St) was a 4th round draft pick originally drafted by Denver in 2003 (Dallas acquired via trade with Broncos in 2008).

After analyzing the info above, it dawned on me that our scouts, front office, and coaches have done a darn good job drafting, signing and developing players on the offensive side of the ball.

Notice that all starting O-linemen were drafted with 4 of the 5 being 1st and 2nd rounders.

As far as skill positions go...

Our star QB was not even drafted

Our star WR and elite TE were 3rd rounders

Our top RB was a 4th rounder

Our other starting WR was a 7th rounder

To me, this shows that if you have an outstanding scouting dept -- and front office people who listen to them -- you don't need first day draft selections for your skill position starters.

However, the assembling of our "O-line" starting personnel does reveal that acquiring high draft picks from big schools increase the probability to developing successful O-line starters.

I found that researching and analyzing this data manifested some things about our team. Of course, you can't just take a broad brush and say that every team should do it the Dallas Cowboys current edition way to be successful. However, it is interesting how the pieces were assembled and developed.

Of course, one cannot underestimate coaching, as well. And I think this year's staff is one of the best we've had in a long, long time.

The most underrated, yet obviously valuable signing was that of OL coach Hudson Houck. It's already paid early dividends in our pass protection AND especially in our running game going into Week #4.

And we all know how crucial having a brilliant OC like Jason "Red Ball" Garrett is to our potent offense.

Also, I like Ray Sherman as WR coach, Skip Peete as RB coach, and John Garrett as TE coach.

What do you all think?