Cowboys trying to flush out negatives
Tom Orsborn
Express-News
IRVING — If there was a silver lining to Sunday's 39-31 loss to Detroit, it's that the Dallas Cowboys got through the regular-season finale without any serious injuries.
Their first-round playoff opponent wasn't as lucky.
Seattle likely will be without three of its top four cornerbacks when it plays Dallas at 7p.m. Saturday in a wild-card game at Qwest Field.
Starter Kelly Herndon and reserve Jimmy Williams suffered leg injuries in the Seahawks' 23-7 victory over Tampa Bay. The defending NFC champions entered the game with another starting corner, Marcus Trufant, sidelined with a high right ankle sprain.
Herndon broke his left ankle. Williams suffered a knee injury and was scheduled for an MRI on Monday.
The injuries, coupled with the fact Cowboys receivers Terry Glenn, Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton are healthy, should give Dallas a glimmer of hope when it returns to practice today.
Then again, the Cowboys may be too far gone after losing three of their last four, including two in a row to end the regular season.
"I look at the positives," owner Jerry Jones said after Sunday's game. "At our good health as a team. At the play of the quarterback at times out there.
"I refuse to be in a negative frame of mind going into the playoffs. Let's go win a game. Maybe two games."
That's a tall order for a team that limps into what coach Bill Parcells calls "the tournament" with a laughingstock defense and a young quarterback who has six touchdown passes, eight interceptions and seven fumbles in his last five starts.
But even if Dallas manages to pull off the upset in Seattle, history says its playoff run would likely end in the second round. Only eight teams this decade have entered the playoffs losing three of their final five regular-season games as the Cowboys did in December.
None won more than one game.
"We'll have our work cut out for us," said quarterback Tony Romo, who passed for a career-high 321 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit but also committed three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception). "But I think if we can minimize our mistakes and do things the right way leading up to the game, we can be a team that teams don't want to play against."
It won't be easy with a defense that surrendered 39 points, four TD passes and 362 yards against the lowly Lions. For Dallas' five December games, opponents compiled averages of 30.4 points and 419.2 yards.
In that same span, opposing quarterbacks threw 16 TD passes.
"You can't say it's this and fix it," linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "I'm a player, and I can't explain it myself. We've got to get our mojo back."
Ware notched three of the Cowboys' five sacks against Detroit. But the pressure, generated mainly out of the unit's 4-3 nickel package, rarely came on third down.
Led by quarterback Jon Kitna, the Lions went 9 of 17 on third-down plays. The last time a Dallas opponent didn't convert 50 percent of its third-down plays was Nov. 12 at Arizona.
"It's just poor play by everybody," said cornerback Terence Newman, who gave up the go-ahead TD when Kitna passed to Mike Williams for a 21-yard TD with 4:24 left.
Still, there are reasons for optimism. Dallas was 5-3 on the road this season and is 1-1 at Qwest Field during the Bill Parcells era.
"It's going to be a tough place to play — everybody knows that's one of the best home-field advantage places in the NFL," Romo said.
Express-News
IRVING — If there was a silver lining to Sunday's 39-31 loss to Detroit, it's that the Dallas Cowboys got through the regular-season finale without any serious injuries.
Their first-round playoff opponent wasn't as lucky.
Seattle likely will be without three of its top four cornerbacks when it plays Dallas at 7p.m. Saturday in a wild-card game at Qwest Field.
Starter Kelly Herndon and reserve Jimmy Williams suffered leg injuries in the Seahawks' 23-7 victory over Tampa Bay. The defending NFC champions entered the game with another starting corner, Marcus Trufant, sidelined with a high right ankle sprain.
Herndon broke his left ankle. Williams suffered a knee injury and was scheduled for an MRI on Monday.
The injuries, coupled with the fact Cowboys receivers Terry Glenn, Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton are healthy, should give Dallas a glimmer of hope when it returns to practice today.
Then again, the Cowboys may be too far gone after losing three of their last four, including two in a row to end the regular season.
"I look at the positives," owner Jerry Jones said after Sunday's game. "At our good health as a team. At the play of the quarterback at times out there.
"I refuse to be in a negative frame of mind going into the playoffs. Let's go win a game. Maybe two games."
That's a tall order for a team that limps into what coach Bill Parcells calls "the tournament" with a laughingstock defense and a young quarterback who has six touchdown passes, eight interceptions and seven fumbles in his last five starts.
But even if Dallas manages to pull off the upset in Seattle, history says its playoff run would likely end in the second round. Only eight teams this decade have entered the playoffs losing three of their final five regular-season games as the Cowboys did in December.
None won more than one game.
"We'll have our work cut out for us," said quarterback Tony Romo, who passed for a career-high 321 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit but also committed three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception). "But I think if we can minimize our mistakes and do things the right way leading up to the game, we can be a team that teams don't want to play against."
It won't be easy with a defense that surrendered 39 points, four TD passes and 362 yards against the lowly Lions. For Dallas' five December games, opponents compiled averages of 30.4 points and 419.2 yards.
In that same span, opposing quarterbacks threw 16 TD passes.
"You can't say it's this and fix it," linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "I'm a player, and I can't explain it myself. We've got to get our mojo back."
Ware notched three of the Cowboys' five sacks against Detroit. But the pressure, generated mainly out of the unit's 4-3 nickel package, rarely came on third down.
Led by quarterback Jon Kitna, the Lions went 9 of 17 on third-down plays. The last time a Dallas opponent didn't convert 50 percent of its third-down plays was Nov. 12 at Arizona.
"It's just poor play by everybody," said cornerback Terence Newman, who gave up the go-ahead TD when Kitna passed to Mike Williams for a 21-yard TD with 4:24 left.
Still, there are reasons for optimism. Dallas was 5-3 on the road this season and is 1-1 at Qwest Field during the Bill Parcells era.
"It's going to be a tough place to play — everybody knows that's one of the best home-field advantage places in the NFL," Romo said.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:41 PM
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