Cowboys looking like NFC East front-runners
Cowboys looking like NFC East front-runners
Howie Long / FOXSports.com
Posted: 49 minutes ago
That was a great win for the Cowboys. Tony Romo won his first home game, and he does seem to have whatever "it" is. He could have gone into the tank earlier in this game when nothing was going right for him, but he didn't. He hung in there and played a huge role in knocking off the Indianapolis Colts.
We've talked all year about how Bill Parcells has built this team. He's changed the defensive front. He's brought in fast and very quick defensive linemen. Peyton Manning and the Colts have had trouble in the past with 3-4 defenses employed by New England and Pittsburgh, and that's what the Cowboys played.
The Cowboys were giving up big plays on defense all season, but not in this game. They have such physical safeties. I mean, Roy Williams plays and hits like a linebacker. He brings quite a bit to this team.
But getting back to what Parcells has built here, he has stabilized the offensive line and Julius Jones and Marion Barber are very good young backs. I played with Barber's father in the Blue-Gray All-Star game coming out of college, and all I can say about the kid is that he's as tough as his father was. He's the kind of back that Parcells loves. He may lack the explosion and breakaway ability of Jones, but he can hit a hole and run you over or move a defender off the ball.
It was important getting receiver Terry Glenn back for Dallas and having everyone on the same page offensively. I have to admit that the Cowboys under-performed in the first month or so of the season. They had some bad breaks, and I'm still trying to figure out how they lost that Washington game a couple Sundays ago.
Romo has given this team a spark. Now, I don't know whether it was the quarterback situation before or the T.O. distraction that contributed to the problems that hurt the Cowboys and had them at 3-3. But the bottom line is whether Parcells leaves after this season or the following season, he has left this franchise with a future. Most of the pieces are in place for the Cowboys to be successful.
I have to think that Dallas now has a real shot at winning the NFC East given the injury problems facing the New York Giants. The Giants are in a must-win game tonight against Jacksonville. It's huge for them to keep pace with this Dallas win. But, first, the Giants have to make some major adjustments on the offensive line with Luke Petitgout out for the season. They may have to move David Diehl out to tackle and plug in Rich Seubert at guard.
Dallas is a very good team and they could win this by attrition with Donovan McNabb going down in Philadelphia, and with the Giants really hurting along the defensive line, especially at end. We all liked Philadelphia and figured they would make a playoff run, but that's going to awfully tough without McNabb. This is a devastating loss for that football team and fans there are going to find out how truly valuable he was now that he's gone for the season. I mean, he's one of the league's very best players. It's just going to be totally different with Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley as their quarterback.
Howie Long / FOXSports.com
Posted: 49 minutes ago
That was a great win for the Cowboys. Tony Romo won his first home game, and he does seem to have whatever "it" is. He could have gone into the tank earlier in this game when nothing was going right for him, but he didn't. He hung in there and played a huge role in knocking off the Indianapolis Colts.
We've talked all year about how Bill Parcells has built this team. He's changed the defensive front. He's brought in fast and very quick defensive linemen. Peyton Manning and the Colts have had trouble in the past with 3-4 defenses employed by New England and Pittsburgh, and that's what the Cowboys played.
The Cowboys were giving up big plays on defense all season, but not in this game. They have such physical safeties. I mean, Roy Williams plays and hits like a linebacker. He brings quite a bit to this team.
But getting back to what Parcells has built here, he has stabilized the offensive line and Julius Jones and Marion Barber are very good young backs. I played with Barber's father in the Blue-Gray All-Star game coming out of college, and all I can say about the kid is that he's as tough as his father was. He's the kind of back that Parcells loves. He may lack the explosion and breakaway ability of Jones, but he can hit a hole and run you over or move a defender off the ball.
It was important getting receiver Terry Glenn back for Dallas and having everyone on the same page offensively. I have to admit that the Cowboys under-performed in the first month or so of the season. They had some bad breaks, and I'm still trying to figure out how they lost that Washington game a couple Sundays ago.
Romo has given this team a spark. Now, I don't know whether it was the quarterback situation before or the T.O. distraction that contributed to the problems that hurt the Cowboys and had them at 3-3. But the bottom line is whether Parcells leaves after this season or the following season, he has left this franchise with a future. Most of the pieces are in place for the Cowboys to be successful.
I have to think that Dallas now has a real shot at winning the NFC East given the injury problems facing the New York Giants. The Giants are in a must-win game tonight against Jacksonville. It's huge for them to keep pace with this Dallas win. But, first, the Giants have to make some major adjustments on the offensive line with Luke Petitgout out for the season. They may have to move David Diehl out to tackle and plug in Rich Seubert at guard.
Dallas is a very good team and they could win this by attrition with Donovan McNabb going down in Philadelphia, and with the Giants really hurting along the defensive line, especially at end. We all liked Philadelphia and figured they would make a playoff run, but that's going to awfully tough without McNabb. This is a devastating loss for that football team and fans there are going to find out how truly valuable he was now that he's gone for the season. I mean, he's one of the league's very best players. It's just going to be totally different with Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley as their quarterback.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:46 PM
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