Cowboys in '07?
By Os Davis on December 8, 2006 12:55 AM
Is it officially known as the Tony Romo Era in Dallas Cowboys land yet? Romo is the King heading up this month's big bandwagon entourage. At 5-1 (with an asterisk, for taking out the last, what, 20 seconds of insanity from the Washington game makes the 'Boys 6-0) since taking over at QB, Romo's got lots of folks even outside the Dallas-Ft. Worth area thinking Super Bowl.
And why not? This team has the complete package: Marion Barber III is turning in some sweet numbers in the running games, as has Julius Jones. With Romo guiding, the receiving corps now has four viable weapons. The QB is making Patrick Crayton (Patrick Crayton, for Landry's sake) look good, while fully exploiting the talent of TE Jason Witten and the criminally underrated Terry Glenn. Even Terrell Owens, second on the team (hee hee) in receptions is in peak form. Ol' T.O.'s No. 1 in dropped passes and recently drew unwarranted media attention for admitting that he has the attention span of a housefly. Imagine that.
Then there's the defense, a group of dudes from which high expectations for the better part of three years have been awaited. Against the run, the Cowboys rank fourth seemingly across the board, trailing some combination of the Minnesota Vikings (whatever), the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots in terms of attempts allowed (24.9 per game) and yards allowed (90.3 yards per game). Overall, the 'D' is statistically in seventh spot, giving up just under 289 points per game. And they've been even better lately, giving up a stingy 13.3333333 points per game in the Romo Era.
On Sunday, as the "Madden" game says, "you can put aside all those charts and statistics," because the President and his New Orleans Saints come marching into Dallas this weekend. The 'Pokes' key to victory this week is simple: Stop Reggie Bush.
In fact, it's even simpler than that: Stop Reggie Bush on the pass play. Well, contain him at least.
And Bill Parcells, who never names names, stated at a press conference this week that the Saints are "pretty diverse ... They have different kinds of players coming out of the backfield. I like that philosophically, I'd like that myself." Wonder who he meant...?
As most of this arm of the galaxy now knows, Bush ran up some gaudy numbers against the San Francisco 49ers . Four TDs will wake up many a form of extra-terrestrial life, to be sure, but more long-term relevance will be seen in his 131 yards receiving on nine receptions.
Has a rookie ever been more highly anticipated for than Reggie Bush? Perhaps not since Bo Jackson has a draft pick altered so many game plans before earning a single yard on the field.
Bush was seen as a threat worth keying defenses to from the go, and you know what? They were right? Reggie is currently almost Bo-level unanswerable regardless. Seriously, has anyone noticed that the guy has 73 receptions? That's good enough for second in the league, folks.
Want an even simpler game plan? Stop Bush on the little short in route. Check out Reggie's average yards per reception: 7.7. Having had everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him defensively, Bush, Drew Brees and the New Orleans brain trust have answered by managing to get Bush the ball and let him push his bad self forward for extra yardage. Anyone who saw Bush do his impression of a pinball, taking a catch at the 20 and bouncing off five 49ers before being stopped at the 1-yard line, knows that Bush is good to multiply what he's given.
And this is where serious red-alert type danger lies for the Cowboys. The Dallas 'D' has given up a relatively high 5.0 yards per play and allows a 39.5 percent success rate on third down, placing the unit a lowly 18th just above the Atlanta Falcons . Though last week was the electorate's christening of Bush as a bona fide NFL superstar, this week may well be one in which Bush is first tested in the clutch. On third-and-some, figure Reggie to be keyed on. On a final drive in the fourth quarter of a close one, figure Reggie to get six touches.
Romo and the Cowboys will get their points, to be sure: New Orleans is giving up a crazy 20-plus per game in what has been a long run of shootouts. The opportunity for a home win will be on the 'D', though. If only they can punch Bush's ticket.
Is it officially known as the Tony Romo Era in Dallas Cowboys land yet? Romo is the King heading up this month's big bandwagon entourage. At 5-1 (with an asterisk, for taking out the last, what, 20 seconds of insanity from the Washington game makes the 'Boys 6-0) since taking over at QB, Romo's got lots of folks even outside the Dallas-Ft. Worth area thinking Super Bowl.
And why not? This team has the complete package: Marion Barber III is turning in some sweet numbers in the running games, as has Julius Jones. With Romo guiding, the receiving corps now has four viable weapons. The QB is making Patrick Crayton (Patrick Crayton, for Landry's sake) look good, while fully exploiting the talent of TE Jason Witten and the criminally underrated Terry Glenn. Even Terrell Owens, second on the team (hee hee) in receptions is in peak form. Ol' T.O.'s No. 1 in dropped passes and recently drew unwarranted media attention for admitting that he has the attention span of a housefly. Imagine that.
Then there's the defense, a group of dudes from which high expectations for the better part of three years have been awaited. Against the run, the Cowboys rank fourth seemingly across the board, trailing some combination of the Minnesota Vikings (whatever), the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots in terms of attempts allowed (24.9 per game) and yards allowed (90.3 yards per game). Overall, the 'D' is statistically in seventh spot, giving up just under 289 points per game. And they've been even better lately, giving up a stingy 13.3333333 points per game in the Romo Era.
On Sunday, as the "Madden" game says, "you can put aside all those charts and statistics," because the President and his New Orleans Saints come marching into Dallas this weekend. The 'Pokes' key to victory this week is simple: Stop Reggie Bush.
In fact, it's even simpler than that: Stop Reggie Bush on the pass play. Well, contain him at least.
And Bill Parcells, who never names names, stated at a press conference this week that the Saints are "pretty diverse ... They have different kinds of players coming out of the backfield. I like that philosophically, I'd like that myself." Wonder who he meant...?
As most of this arm of the galaxy now knows, Bush ran up some gaudy numbers against the San Francisco 49ers . Four TDs will wake up many a form of extra-terrestrial life, to be sure, but more long-term relevance will be seen in his 131 yards receiving on nine receptions.
Has a rookie ever been more highly anticipated for than Reggie Bush? Perhaps not since Bo Jackson has a draft pick altered so many game plans before earning a single yard on the field.
Bush was seen as a threat worth keying defenses to from the go, and you know what? They were right? Reggie is currently almost Bo-level unanswerable regardless. Seriously, has anyone noticed that the guy has 73 receptions? That's good enough for second in the league, folks.
Want an even simpler game plan? Stop Bush on the little short in route. Check out Reggie's average yards per reception: 7.7. Having had everything and the kitchen sink thrown at him defensively, Bush, Drew Brees and the New Orleans brain trust have answered by managing to get Bush the ball and let him push his bad self forward for extra yardage. Anyone who saw Bush do his impression of a pinball, taking a catch at the 20 and bouncing off five 49ers before being stopped at the 1-yard line, knows that Bush is good to multiply what he's given.
And this is where serious red-alert type danger lies for the Cowboys. The Dallas 'D' has given up a relatively high 5.0 yards per play and allows a 39.5 percent success rate on third down, placing the unit a lowly 18th just above the Atlanta Falcons . Though last week was the electorate's christening of Bush as a bona fide NFL superstar, this week may well be one in which Bush is first tested in the clutch. On third-and-some, figure Reggie to be keyed on. On a final drive in the fourth quarter of a close one, figure Reggie to get six touches.
Romo and the Cowboys will get their points, to be sure: New Orleans is giving up a crazy 20-plus per game in what has been a long run of shootouts. The opportunity for a home win will be on the 'D', though. If only they can punch Bush's ticket.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:04 PM
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