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Oct
10

Episode 1.12 – Week 5 Recap / Week 6 Preview

Steven’s heart is still racing after the great escape in Buffalo. The Cowboys comeback and win a game they had no business winning. Steven welcomes Greg Campbell from the Buffalo Bills Review back to the show, and the two recap one of the craziest games on Monday Night Football in a very long time, as the Cowboys win 25-24 on a last second field goal by rookie kicker Nick Folk.

Steven announces recent Cowboys news: Owner, President and General Manager Jerry Jones has been appointed new chairman of the NFL Network Committee, which acts as the executive board of the league’s year-round television service. Steven discusses what this means for Jerry, plus some not so good news coming out of Valley Ranch, as CB Anthony Henry may not be ready for Sunday’s game as he is still nursing an ankle sprain.

The Good:
The Cowboys Defense: On a night when their QB did not have his best stuff, the defense picked him up. The defense played solid enough to help him over come his mistakes and only allowed 3 offensive points even though the Bills has outstanding field position all night long.

The Good – Part II:
Rookie Kicker Nick Folk: Not only did Folk kick the 53 yard game winning field goal twice, he allowed the Cowboys to get into position to win the game with his outstanding, near perfect onsides kick that was recovered by third string TE Tony Curtis.

The Bad:
Another Special Teams play: One week after allowing Dante’ Hall to return a punt 85 yards for a touchdown, the Cowboys allowed Terrence McGee to return a kick off 103 yards for a touchdown. This needs to stop.

The Ugly:
QB Tony Romo: There is no question that Romo had a horrible night and most likely his worst performance of his first 15 games as a starting QB in the NFL. He threw 5 INTs and had one fumble. Romo knows that he cannot have that kind of a performance against the Patriots this week or the Cowboys will get killed.

You have to hand it to Romo though, to his credit, on the final 2 drives of the game, Romo was 11-14 for 99 yards and a TD. He came through when he was needed and put his team in position to win the game. The Cowboys did just that barely!

 
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Oct
03

Episode 1.11 – Week 4 Recap / Week 5 Preview

Steven recaps the 28 point blow out victory over the struggling St. Louis Rams. The game ball this week goes to WR Patrick Crayton who showed this team has many weapons it can call upon.

Steven goes over some of the recent Cowboys news: Jerry Jones alters Greg Ellis’ contract to help get him back on the field, three former Cowboys players are honored, and not only are the Cowboys the most valuable team in the NFL, they are now the single most valuable sports franchise on the planet, worth $1.5 billion.

The Good:
QB Tony Romo: Romo continues to impress me every week. He completed 21 of 33 for 339 yards and 3 TDs and 1 INT. He also ran for another TD and had the best 4 yard run – EVER! For the season, Romo is has 11 TDS to only 3 INTs and has 1,199 yards passing and a 112.9 QB rating. Not bad for someone who was not going to be able to forget about “The bobble”.

The Good – Part II:
The Dallas Cowboys: After 2 weeks of being “The Ugly” part of this segments, the Cowboys reduced the number of penalties in this game. They were only penalized 2 times for 10 yards. Huge improvement.

The Good – Part III:
WR Patrick Crayton: Lask week, Crayton felt bad about dropping a sure TD pass against the Bears, earning him a spot in “The Bad” segment last week. This week he showed he can be called upon when the Cowboys need him. The Rams spent most of the day with double coverage on T.O. and Crayton made them pay scoring twice and having 184 yards receiving.

The Bad:
1 Special Teams play: One week after making Chicago Bears return man Devin Hester irrelevant, the Cowboys allowed Rams returner Dante’ Hall an 85 yard punt return for a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter. The coverage teams have been very good and I anticipate this will get fixed soon.

The Ugly:
Nothing! There was not a single thing ugly about the Cowboys in this 35-7 beat down of the punch-less Rams!

 
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Sep
26

Episode 1.10 – Week 3 Recap / Week 4 Preview

Steven is excited at the 34-10 beat down of the Chicago Bears. Steven recaps the game and hands out a game ball to a defensive player, CB Anthony Henry. Steven also gives you Cowboys news as the Cowboys release K Martin Gramatica and he announces the release of the 2008 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar.

The Good:
QB Tony Romo: Romo completed 22 of 35 for 329 yards and 2 TDs and 1 INT. He looked like an elite quarterback and was able to shred a very good Bears defense. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys organization need to step you soon and make sure Romo gets locked in for a very long time.

The Good – Part II:
CB Anthony Henry: Henry was a force to be reckoned with picking off 2 Rex Grossman passes and returning one 28 yards for a TD. He also had 4 pass deflections and had 2 tackles. Henry was named the NFC Defensive player of the Week.

Henry had 2 INTs for the second game in a row, marking the first time a Dallas Cowboys’ player had accomplished that feat since Everson Walls did it in back-to-back games back in 1981. Henry becomes only the 30th player in NFL history to have 2 picks in back-to-back games.

The Bad:
WR Patrick Crayton: Late in the 2nd quarter, Crayton dropped a ball in the end zone that hit him right between the 8 and the 7. It was the second dropped pass he had in the game, the earlier, creating an interception for Adam Archuleta. Crayton dislocated his finger the previous week in the win over Miami, but said his drops were a lack of concentration and had nothing to do with his finger.

The Ugly:
Penalties Again! The Cowboys are having problems keeping the penalties to a minimum. I cannot remember the last time I saw a Cowboys game where OL Flozell Adams did not get a false start penalty. For the second straight week, the Cowboys had double digit penalties, this week having 12 penalties for 100 yards.

 
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Sep
19

Episode 1.09 – Week 2 Recap / Week 3 Preview

Steven recaps the 37-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins and breaks down the upcoming Week 3 match up against the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. He also talks about the Cowboys 2-0 start, first time since 1999 and their recent signing of defensive tackle Terry “Tank” Johnson. Listen to Tony Romo and T.O.s reaction to the signing of Tank, and Steven’s own opinion on this acquisition.

The Good:
QB Tony Romo. Jerry Jones best get out his checkbook and get ready to write a huge check, as Tony is playing himself right into a giant contract extension. Romo completed 14 of 29 for 186 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

The Good – Part II:
The Cowboys Defensive Secondary: How does the secondary go from being “Ugly” in Week 1 to being “Good” in Week 2? By picking off Dolphins QB Trent Green four times and holding the Dolphins passing attack to under 260 yards.

CB Anthony Henry had two picks and a couple of pass deflections while Ken Hamlin and Roy Williams had one INT apiece. Not a bad performance from a unit that was missing starting CB Terrance Newman for a second straight week.

The Bad:
2nd Half adjustments: The Cowboys went into halftime with a 10-6 lead to start the 2nd half, but quickly found themselves down 13-10 after they allowed the Dolphins to march down the field to start the 3rd quarter.

The coaching staff needs to do a better job to get the team ready as they come out after halftime. There is no reason a team should go down and score a TD on you after you have had the halftime break to prepare.

Something to work on going forward as this is the second time in as many weeks the Cowboys have allowed the opponent to score on the first drive of the second half.

The Ugly:
Penalties: Another thing the Cowboys will have to work on this week – keeping the penalties to a minimum. The Cowboys had 11 penalties for 101 yards. I like the fact that head coach Wade Phillips keeps his team loose, but he has to reel it in some if they cannot stay disciplined on the field.

 
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Sep
18

Looking for D Line Help, Cowboys Sign a Tank!

With the Cowboys needing help on the defensive side of the ball, with the season ending injury to Jason Ferguson, they went out and nabbed a “tank” to help out later on in the season.

The Dallas Cowboys signed suspended defensive tackle Terry “Tank” Johnson to a two year deal. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

According to both head coach QB Wade Phillips and owner QB Jerry Jones, the Cowboys were already doing the research on Johnson. This was something they were already looking into and it was not something done to fill a need.

Steven’s take:
I do not like this signing at all. Do I believe in giving people a second chance? Yes.

However, I believe Tank Johnson was already given a 2nd and even a 3rd chance in Chicago. I am not sure he has learned anything from his past mistakes. I certainly hope he proves me wrong and he stays out of trouble. Right now, the Cowboys are on a roll and the last thing they need are distractions.


Sep
12

Episode 1.08 – Week 1 Recap / Week 2 Preview

What a performance by the Dallas Cowboys as they open the season with a 45-35 defeat of the New York Giants. This win did come at a price though, as the Cowboys lost nose tackle Jason Ferguson for the rest of the season. Add Ferguson to the players sidelined for Week 1, and the Cowboys are facing “Ship all banged up”* already this season.

For now, let’s focus on the huge win at home against a division rival.

The Good:
QB Tony Romo. If you had any doubts about Romo, put them away. He showed he is ready to lead this team and there were no signs that his psyche was affected by the bobbled snap in last year’s playoff loss to the Seahawks. On the day, Romo was 15/24 (63%) for a league leading 345 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT. Romo had an impressive 23 yards per completion which is incredible. He also ran in for a TD for good measure making sure he earned this weeks DCSR GAME BALL.

The Bad:
Injuries! It’s bad enough the Cowboys had to start the game without their No. 1 cover CB Terrance Newman, LB Greg Ellis and WR Terry Glenn. The Cowboys will now play the rest of the season without nose tackle Jason Ferguson, a crucial part of Phillips 3-4 defense. Ferguson suffered a torn right biceps tendon in the first quarter of the game and will miss the rest of the regular season.

The Ugly:
The Cowboys Defensive Secondary: Yes, the No. 1 cornerback was out of the starting lineup, but that is no reason that Eli “Happy Feet” Manning should be able to throw for 314 yards and 4 TDs.

 
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