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WFAA Sports BLOG |
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December 2008
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November 16, 2008 ArchivesIn Washington on Santana Moss the entire game, Terence Newman showed he is an elite corner back in the NFL. Now he just has to stay healthy. Moss, a known Cowboys killer, who torched Newman and the rest of the secondary for 145 yards. This time Newman was better. Moss had five catches, but for just 29 yards. Newman had an interception that thwarted a likely Redskins scoring drive. ...The most important stat: 14-10. The Dallas Cowboys won and it may have had more to do with just having Tony Romo back than anything he actually did. Most of the Cowboys offense consisted of short passes and a lot of running with Marion Barber. Romo finished 19 of 27 passing for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Not horrible and one of the interceptions was a strange play where a ball hit Terrell Owens in the hand... At this point in a tumultuous season a 14-10 win for the Dallas Cowboys sounds pretty good. Marion Barber ran for 114 yards and a touchdown and added six receptions for 39 yards. What's bigger? Barber accounted for every yard on the Cowboys last drive to eat up the clock to secure the win. ...It will go down as a three yard run, but Marion Barber's outside run to the right on fourth and two gives the Cowboys a 14-10 win and a 6-4 record. It's not over yet. ...This is why you have Marion Barber. The Cowboys workhorse running back's job now is to simply win the game. He'll do that by just pounding the Redskins on play after play. What makes Barber better and smarter than most backs is that he has the presence to stay in bounds and work the clock. ...I was wondering what happened to Tank Johnson the loquacious nose tackle has been absent on the field for much of the season and absent recently in the locker room. In the preseason and early in the season he was talking a lot and the expectation from the preseason was he would be an impact player in the middle. He has just 11 tackles and no sacks this season. I mention all this because he made a nice tackle behind the ... Martellus Bennett, the Cowboys rookie tight end, loves to talk. He's a pretty funny guy. He was even talking this week in the locker about how he really shouldn't talk much because he hasn't done much. A 25-yard touchdown catch to give the Cowboys a 14-10 lead is something. He can talk a little now and that shouldn't be too hard for him. The talking part, not the little part. ...That little flick pass to Miles Austin for a first down was sure reminiscent of Brett Favre. Of course Tony Romo grew up idolizing Favre. ...On the television broadcast of the game, Andrea Kremer reported that the Cowboys are having some communication issues with the radio system that allows the defensive coaches to talk to linebacker Bradie James. It's the same thing the offensive coaches use to talk to the quarterback and Kremer reported the Redskins have had similar issues. ...Former Cowboys kicker Shaun Suisham did his old team a favor by missing a 46-yard field goal for the Redskins. It doesn't matter much since the Cowboys have had a hard time sustaining much on offense. ...OK, I really like Seinfeld. Now how about Terence Newman stopping a methodical drive by the Redskins to start the second half. That was big because of the Cowboys' inability to score on offense, a Redskins touchdown would have made it a 10 point lead. ...Rock Cartwright used his now infamous rear ( see here and here ) for a 58-yard kick off return that led to a 40-yard field goal by former Cowboys kicker Shaun Suisham. Redskins lead 10-7 at the half. Special teams bites the Cowboys again. But then again there's no stopping R... If you want something to do during halftime, here is a great article from The New York Times about NFL referee Alberto Riveron, the first Hispanic to hold that job. Read here. The last line is great. ...The difference of being pinned on their own 1-yard line and the 20 may have made for a huge difference for the Dallas Cowboys. The Boys go 80-yards and use a crossing route by Terrell Owens to set up a Marion Barber touchdown that was confirmed by replay to tie the game at 7-7 heading into halftime. ...The rear end of Rock Cartwright make for a 19 yard difference for the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins punt cover guy rolled just a little too far after downing a punt at the Cowboys 1-yard line, but since he rolled into the end zone and the ball touched his "rear" (that's how referee Jeff Triplette put it) it's a touchback. ...It's shocking but the Dallas Mavericks have actually won a game. Here's more from the Associated Press: Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his season-high 39 Josh Howard added season highs of 31 points and 14 rebounds. He The Cowboys needs to stop throwing slant routes to Terrell Owens deep in Redskins territory. Two have ended up as interceptions by Tony Romo. The second was a bizarre one, where it looked like Owens was going to make the catch, but he was drilled by Carlos Rogers and the ball went flying up in the air and into the hands of Rocky McIntosh. That's two interceptions in Romo's return on what should have been long scoring d... Maybe the Cowboys finally figured out rookie Tashard Choice, one of the top collegiate rushers last season at Georgia Tech, can play a little. With fellow rookie Felix Jones out the past three games, the Cowboys have almost predominately run Marion Barber. Choice has just seven rushes for 40 yards since Jones' injury. It was nice of referee Jeff Triplette to help Tony Romo up from the ground after an incompletion, but I'm sure Cowboys fans want him to be careful when pulling him up from his right hand. Romo surely doesn't want to do anything to further bother his right pinkie. It was nice of Triplette, though. ...The Cowboys were finding some rhythm in their offense then Tony Romo is late getting the ball to Terrel Owens and DeAngelo Hall, in his Redskins debut, gets an easy interception. Romo was 6 of 6 passing before an incompletion and the interception. I bet the Cowboys wished they had Hall now. ...The Cowboys have run two plays so far designed specifically to get receiver Terrell Owens involved in the game. First they put Owens in motion and do a quick pass to him, then he proceeds to get flipped by Fred Smoot. Then a few plays later they run the rare double reverse to Owens for no gain. Flozell Adams does it again. The referee should just record this line: "False start number 76." Yes he is deaf in one ear, but he has been playing in the NFL for a decade, Flo has got to find a way not to move ahead of the snap so often. ...Going three and out, a short punt and penalty sets up the Washington Redskins for an easy scoring drive. Clinton Portis looked strong rushing five times for 29 yards and Jason Campbell found full back Mike Sellers for a short touchdown and a 7-0 lead over the Cowboys. So far the Cowboys aren't playing like a team that must win this game, the Redskins are. They've been better on offense, defense and special teams very early in ... Cowboy killer Santana Moss didn't take long to get involved. He beats Terence Newman for a 13-yard gain. The Redskins are moving the ball with ease on the Cowboys. Jay Ratliff adds a sack, but it's pretty easy for the Redskins for the most part. ...If the first drive is any indication, we'll see a lot of Marion Barber tonight. He gets one reception and two runs in the three plays. Well maybe we won't see more Barber if the Cowboys don't get any first downs. ...Tony Romo's first throw is a dump off to Marion Barber for five yards. He looks comfortable. We'll see after a few hits. No surprises from list of inactive Cowboys for the game in Washington tonight, but there is a bit of one from the Redskins. Running back Clinton Portis will play. For the Cowboys, running back Felix Jones won't play. He has not practiced since the team's loss to Arizona last month. Also out are Bobby Carpenter and Isaiah Stanback, who are both injured, offensive linemen Montrae Holland, Joe Berger and Doug Free and corner bac... It might not exactly be a must-win for the Dallas Cowboys tonight against the Washington Redskins, but it's about as close as it can be without actually being a game they must win. The season won't end if the Cowboys lose, but their chances of making the playoffs will be very slim. With that said, here is what to watch for: 1. Tony Romo. This is the easy one. Romo missed three games with a broken right pinkie. The offense was s... |
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