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2007 SCHEDULE
PRE-SEASON
Thu Aug 9 INDIANAPOLIS
(FOX) 7:00 pm
Sat Aug 18 DENVER (BSM)
7:00 pm
Sat Aug 25 @ Houston
(BSM) 7:00 pm
Thu Aug 30 @ Minnesota
(BSM) 7:00 pm
REGULAR SEASON
1. Sun, Sept. 9 NY GIANTS
(NBC) 7:15 pm
2. Sun, Sept. 16 @ Miami
(FOX) 3:05 pm
3. Sun, Sept. 23 @
Chicago (NBC) 7:15 pm
4. Sun, Sept. 30 ST. LOUIS
(FOX) Noon
5. Mon, Oct. 8 @ Buffalo
(ESPN) 7:30 pm
6. Sun, Oct. 14 NEW
ENGLAND (CBS) 3:15 pm
7. Sun, Oct. 21
MINNESOTA (FOX) Noon
8. Sun, Oct. 28 BYE WEEK
9. Sun, Nov 4 @
Philadelphia (NBC) 7:15
pm
10. Sun, Nov. 11 @ NY
Giants (FOX) 3:15 pm
11. Sun, Nov. 18
WASHINGTON (FOX) Noon
12. Thu, Nov. 22 NY JETS
(CBS) 3:15 pm
13. Thu, Nov. 29 GREEN
BAY (NFL) 7:15 pm
14. Sun, Dec. 9 @ Detroit
(FOX) Noon
15. Sun, Dec. 16 PHILLY
(FOX) 3:15 pm
16. Sat, Dec. 22 @
Carolina (NFL) 7:15 pm
17. Sun, Dec. 30 @
Washington (FOX) Noon
Cowboy's Trivia Question of the Week!
Who is the oldest player on the Cowboys' roster?
Last Week's Answer:
Danny White
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Cowboys vs. Vikings Game Notes
This game was pretty ordinary and what I would expect from the
Cowboys for most of the rest of the season. They made some
mistakes against an inferior team, but in the end they were simply to
much. This team has the ability to overwhelm average or below
teams if we don't make mistakes. Even if we make mistakes, they
can usually only stick around for a little while unless we keep
making mistakes. This game was pretty similar to the Bills game in
the first half. The difference was we cleaned up our play much
earlier in the 2nd half.
I don't know how interesting these notes are going to be. Our guys
give consistent performances every week so I end up writing the
same things over and over again.
The offensive line started off slow, but they picked it up. The run
blocking was pretty good against a really stout run defense. Our
pass protection wasn't perfect as Romo had to dodge a couple of
sacks, but it wasn't bad most of the time.
Marion Barber ran hard. Julius Jones looked fast. I don't think
Barber is a better pure runner, it is just that Barber gets so many
more big holes. It is like that every week. It has to be his attitude.
He pumps up the lineman. Jones would look amazing if he got
gaping holes. Most of Barber's awesome runs are when he gets a
full head of steam into the secondary which happens every week.
The bottom line though is Barber is producing more than Jones.
Tony Romo was really accurate. He was fitting balls into very tight
windows. That is now 6 of 7 games in which he has been really,
really accurate. He had another fumble though. He needs to clean
that up.
Terrell Owens had a great first half. He was getting open against
double teams. He didn't drop any passes. Him and Crayton didn't
do anything in the 2nd half, but he didn't need a good 2nd half as
we already had a big day in the 1st half.
Jason Witten was the go-to-guy. Romo really trusts him to make
the tough catch. Some of the windows Romo throws to him through
are tiny.
I really like Deon Anderson. He is a solid lead blocker and he
catches all the passes that come his way. He can also get a few
yards after the catch. He is a special teams demon as well.
Our defense did a great job as we didn't even allow 200 yards. We
struggled stopping the run on the first drive, but we stuffed them
after that. The Vikings did nothing in the air. I know Jackson and
their receivers are bad, but they haven't had a performance that
bad yet. Our safeties did a good job in coverage and Ware and
Ellis mounted a consistent pass rush.
Chris Canty had the play of the game blocking the field goal. That
was a 10 point swing right there. Pat Watkins did a good job of
alertly picking it up and running all the way back for the score.
So he is human, Nick Folk finally missed a field goal. He pulled one
just a hair left on a 50 yarder. He nailed his only other attempt
which was from 45 yards out.
I think you guys get the idea. I could write about Jay Ratliff or
Jacques Reeves or Bradie James or Matt McBriar, but what is the
point. You could look at any of my game notes and it would have
the same thing about those three that I am going to say now.
Reeves is solid, Ratliff is very good at stopping the run, and Bradie
James consistently blows up short yardage running plays. I guess I
just told you but you see how it is a broken record. This team does
a lot of things really well and they struggle with some things. These
facts are evident every single week. I pretty much know what to
expect from this team. They have an identity. I will go into greater
detail about their identity at some point in the near future.
Tim's Talk: Week 8
1. Before I get into the past game, let me say something about what
Wade Phillips said last week for his strategy against the Patriots.
Phillips said that he would stop the run and have Tom Brady beat
them with the pass. Excuse me? What have you been smoking
Wade? I know that was the strategy you used last year in the
playoff loss to the Chargers and you did pick them off 3 times and if
were not for some mistakes, you would have won the game. But that
was a different time. Reche Caldwell was the Patriots number 1
receiver. Now Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker are his 3
options. If he had admitted it was a mistake, it would have been a
little better received but refusing to admit that was a mistake and
saying you would not change anything? If that is the way you
strategize, I hate to see if it comes down to a close moment or what.
Well Brady did beat you and pretty much shredded you. The
Patriots number 1 back was not even playing and you still went with
that strategy. God help us.
2. If Phillips was still on the same mindset against the Vikings, I
worried he would go into the game saying, we dare them to beat us
with Adrian Peterson and stop the pass. But fortunately, Vikings
coach Brad Childress stopped Peterson for us. Other than that long
scoring drive early in the game, the Vikings offense was abysmal
and I was surprised they abandoned the running game. And by the
looks on the sideline, all is not well in Vikings land with all the
sideline clashes. That said with all that went bad with the Vikings the
Cowboys should have beaten them up. But again stupid mistakes
killed us. Romo and Craytons fumbled killed all the momentum and
the Vikings defense could not stop us. If the Cowboys are going to
contend with the Patriots and Colts of the league, they need to beat
up on these bad teams.
3. Again the Cowboys need to start Marion Barber in the games
because he gives the Cowboys more momentum in getting to score
in the first quarter. I know he still gets more carries than Jones but
we need to start getting some yards.
4. Wow was that Roy Williams actually blocking a pass in coverage
and not getting beat deep? The world must be coming to an end!
5. Wade Phillips needs to not be so gung ho on these challenges.
Granted he won one but the other was a waste and in the first half.
We are just lucky we did not need that challenge later. I still say
adopt the college replay system and it will be much simpler.
6. The way Romo played this game should have been a blowout.
The Boys should not have to be running out the clock in the fourth
quarter to try to keep the Vikings from getting the ball. We need to
finish plays and stop this gung ho reckless play that will ultimately
kill us at the end.
7. The bye comes at a great time because the Boys need to rest up
on some injuries particularly Tony Romo who strained a hamstring
and needs the rest plus this is usually the time of year where all the
small aches and pains can be rested. The schedule after this is not
easy with the Eagles and Giants on the road and then the Redskins
at home and short weeks with the Jets and Packers at home and
then closing out with 3 of the final 4 games on the road. Now we will
see what these guys are capable of.
8. That said I believe the Boys are the class of the NFC. That is not
really much to go by because the NFC is that bad. About 4 AFC
teams I feel are better and the road to the Super Bowl will be easier
this way but the Boys need to beat up on some good teams to
prove they belong among the elites.