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December 2008
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November 23, 2008 ArchivesPost-game notes from the Dallas Cowboys: The Dallas defense yielded just 26 rushing yards today, the fewest this season, and the fewest since giving up just 19 against Philadelphia (10/9/05). The 1.7 yard-per-rush average allowed today was the lowest since allowing 1.8 against Arizona (10/5/03). Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens says the team changed the offense up some. "They unleashed me today," Owens said. Owens has 212 yards receiving. "It's not anything wrong with me performance wise, I just have to go out there and make plays," Owens said. He's happy with how today turned out. "When I get my hands on the ball things happen, it's not a mystery," he said. ...Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips knows the hierarchy in the NFL. "When you win it's the quarterback, when you lose it's the coach," Phillips said. Simple enough, but I think some quarterbacks would say they get some blame too. Tony Romo said the 49ers are the first team in a while not to make a particular effort to shut Terrell Owens down. "They didn't do anything special to take him out of the game," Romo said. "Their number one focus wasn't to take him out of the game." Despite a recent interview with Deion Sanders criticizing the Cowboys offense, Romo described Owens as a great teammate. "It's a receiver who wants the football," said Romo... Cowboys coach Wade Phillips didn't have any specifics about why guard Kyle Kosier missed much of the game. He described him as being banged up. ...Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips says, despite Terrell Owens big day and interview pleading for change, that offense is pretty much what it's always been. "I don't know that we changed a whole lot," said Phillips, now noted having Tony Romo makes a big difference. Phillips said Owens had a great week of practice and commented several times late in the week about the preciseness of the routes he ran. "We try to g... The Cowboys won a game they had to dominating the San Francisco 49ers from the second quarter on in a 35-22 win. The Cowboys are now 7-4 on the season. ...He wanted the ball and boy did he get it. Terrell Owens has 212 yards on seven catches and a touchdown. That is walking the walk after T.O. talked the talk. Now I don't know that the offensive system has changed that much, but T.O. sure showed he still can perform at a high level. His last catch, which put him over 200 yards, was one he bobbled several times and may not have caught under other circumstances. ... Cowboys guard Kyle Kosier has not been in for most of the second half. There hasn't been an injury update. Kosier missed several weeks already this year. ...On my trip from the press box to the post-game interview room, there was a bit of scoring. Nick Folk added a 42-yard field goal to give make four of four on field goals, all from 40+. The 49ers added a touchdown, but missed their two-point try. ...Isaac Bruce, 36, is having a big day in what should be a 49ers loss. Overshadowed by a nearly 200-yard performance by Terrell Owens thus far, Bruce has eight catches for 125 yards and the touchdown. Cowboys still lead 32-16. ...Rookie cornerback Mike Jenkins has a right hamstring injury and will miss the rest of this game. It's the latest in a very long line of injuries for the Cowboys this season. Eagles coach Andy Reid has done the almost unthinkable in Philadelphia: He's benched Donovan McNabb. Kevin Kalb is now quarterbacking the Eagles. This may be the end for McNabb in Philly, although Kalb is not looking very good. ...Nick Folk added a 47-yard field goal to ones of 41 and 48 yards this game. Now he just needs to work on the kickoffs. Cowboys lead 32-9. ...That's two false start penalties for Marc Colombo this game. Flozell Adams had one earlier too. Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten was drilled on an incompletion and is now on the Cowboys sideline. Witten is nursing a broken rib and has battled through intense pain to play. This means more Martellus Bennett. ...Terrell Owens now has 197 receiving yards today. This is the same day a controversial interview Owens did with Deion Sanders aired. Owens called out the Cowboys coaching staff for not getting him the ball enough. Maybe he spoke too soon. Owens has five catches for those 197 yards and a touchdown. Manny Lawson get the interception of Tony Romo thanks to instant replay after another blown call by the officials. Then on the 49ers first play, Shaun Hill throws a jump ball in the end zone that Anthony Henry comes down with to give it right back to the Cowboys ...Tashard Choice had a couple carries for five yards in the first half, now he's getting some real work in the Cowboys offense with an eight yard carry and five yard reception on consecutive plays in the third quarter. There is now reason to kill Marion Barber and Choice has some ability. Jerry Jones even sort of compared him to Emmitt Smith this week. Choice just added a three yard run. Then they tried to run a screen to him, w... Down 23 points early in the second half, 49ers receiver Bryant Johnson makes a first down catch and then decides to channel Michale Irvin. He hops up and does a first down point. That works if it's a key first down in a tight game or a blowout the other way, but not when you are getting creamed. But the 49ers did get a field goal on the drive to cut the Cowboys' lead to 29-9 ...Don't let receiver Patrick Crayton get lost in the all the great offensive pplayers for the Cowboys. The recently demoted receiver adds to the Cowboys lead with a 10-yard touchdown from Tony Romo. Cowboys lead 29-6. On third and goal from the five, just after an encroachment penalty that was first called as a false start on left tackle Flozell Adams, he gets a real false start penalty. It wouldn't be a Cowboys game if he didn't get one. The Cowboys front line looked impressive in that first half. They limited All-Pro running back Frank Gore to just 17 yards on 11 carries. They also sacked Shaun Hill 2 times The Cowboys run defense coming into the game was 15th in the league. They were giving up about 105 rushing yards a game. The 49ers will be pass happy this second half being down 22-6. Lets see if Ware, Tank, and Ratliff can keep getting pressure on Hill. <... Tony Romo and Terrell Owens are in connecting at ease right now. Romo and Owens add a 52-yard play to 75 and 45-yard pass and catches from the first half. Owens now has 180 receiving yards today, just a couple minutes into the second half. ...The Cowboys do between first and second quarter adjustment. The 49ers moved the ball at will on the Cowboys during the first quarter, but only managed six points on ineffective red zone play. The second quarter was all Cowboys. They scored 22 points in the quarter and limited the 49ers offense in yards and most importantly points. No more big plays for Isaac Bruce and the defense continues to shutdown running back Frank... Martellus Bennett is starting to live up to his mouth. The rookie tight end caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo with 52 seconds left in the first half. The Cowboys have now scored 22 unanswered points to take a 22-6 lead over the 49ers. After the touchdown, Bennett did a weird shake. It looked like he was trying to do some kind of a dance, but it sure was ugly. ...The Dallas Cowboys missed a touchdown thanks to a miss-call by the officials. 49ers QB Shaun Hill fumbled and the ball was recovered by linebacker Zach Thomas, he was on the ground covering for a second before he got up and ran in the end zone. It should have been ruled a touchdown, but he was called down by contact even though it was pretty clear no 49er touched him down. Nick Folk is good. He just nailed a 41-yard field goal after making a 48-yarder earlier in the second quarter. Cowboys lead 15-6. Terrell Owens now has 120 yards receiving on just two catches. He caught a 75-yarder earlier in the game and just added a 45-yard catch. He had an ugly drop a couple series ago too. But he said, again, he wanted to be utilized more and so far he's getting his wish in a big way. DeMarcus Ware does it all. Not only is he a dominating pass rusher, he's also good in pass coverage. He broke up a pass running stride for stride with 49ers running back Frank Gore. Big time kicker Nick Folk did one really good thing for the Dallas Cowboys (making a 48-yard field goal) then did one bad thing (kicked the ensuing kick off out of bounds, giving the 49ers the ball at their own 40). The Cowboys have had some really good special teams play today, but as it always is with this unit, a bad play is always nearby. ...49ers return specialist Allen Rossum has a right ankle sprain. His return is questionable. ...Maybe the Cowboys special teams is improving before our eyes. Sam Paulescu gets a 70 yard punt downed on the 49ers one yard line. That comes a few plays after a blocked punt by the Cowboys. Of course it helps when the return man for the 49ers, Allen Rossum, falls down with an apparent injury. When the Cowboys signed linebacker Carlos Polk early in the season, Wade Phillips talked about the contributions he could make on special teams. He's right again. Polk played in San Diego when Phillips was the defensive coordinator there. Polk blocked a Andy Lee punt in the end zone for a Cowboys safety and a 9-6 lead. How about Bruce Reed's special teams now? That's the pass rush Wade Phillips has been talking about. On consecutive plays, Anthony Spencer get sacks of 49ers QB Shaun Hill. Terrel Owens criticized offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and the receivers role in the offense in an interview with Deion Sanders. I bet he's pretty happy after the last play call. Tony Romo connected with Owens on a 75-yard pass play, that Owens took in for a touchdown and a 7-6 Cowboys lead. It's the Cowboys longest play this season. Because Jason Witten made a "natural step" according to referee Mike Carey, the Cowboys miss out on a big pass play. Witten had possession and one foot down, but his second foot the toes were in then the rest of his foot stepped down out of bounds, making an incomplete pass. ...This score could be a lot worse for the Cowboys than 6-0. While the 49ers are throwing at will against the Cowboys, including a 47-yarder to tight end Vernon Davis on the last drive, they are not having success against the Cowboys in the red zone. Star runner Frank Gore has just 10 yards on seven rushes. The Cowboys are making the 49ers one-dimensional, just not the way you'd expect. ...Sam Paulescu endeared himself to Cowboys fans with a big tackle in his first game. Now, though, he's struggling doing his main job: Punting. He's averaging just 36.5 yards punting today and 41.4 for the season. His net is just 35.2 yards this season. ...The 49ers get a field goal, but Isaac Bruce, who already has four catches for 81 yards, set them up on the five yard line and the 49ers couldn't get a touchdown with the great Frank Gore. Still they lead 3-0. ...The 49ers are doing just fine with one of the league's top backs, Frank Gore, not doing much. That's because Isaac Bruce, cut to the back of his head and all, is running pretty freely against the Cowboys' secondary. The 36-year-old receiver looks about 26 against the Cowboys secondary. ...It's a head laceration that forced 49ers receiver Isaac Bruce to leave after his second reception. His return is probable. ...The 49ers are thin at wide receiver, so why is their only legit receiver, Isaac Bruce, able to get so open? He's beaten the Cowboys twice for first downs already, although he's on the sideline now being attended to. His helmet flew off on his last reception. ...Mike Singletary must not like the new NFL rule where teams who win the toss can defer to get the ball to start the second half. The 49ers won the toss, but are electing to receive to start the game. ...Terence Newman is playing for the Cowboys, but the 49ers are the ones who are really hurt on the opposite side. The second and third receivers for the 49ers, Josh Morgan and Arnaz Battle, are both inactive for today's game. ...Tony Romo has been working more and more without a brace on his previously broken right pinkie finger. But it appears he's not quite ready to play in a game without it. He has the small brace on his finger during pre-game warm ups. ...Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman is on the field warming up and it not included on the team's inactive list, which includes the usual backups and injured players. ...The special teams players warm up before the rest of the team, including the returners. In addition to regular punt returner Patrick Crayton, cornerback Anthony Henry is working on returning punts. Isaiah Stanback, Orlando Scandrick and Mike Jenkins were working on kickoff returns. With the injuries to Felix Jones and Miles Austin and suspensions of Pacman Jones, the Cowboys are thin on their front-line returners. >> Continue reading: Anthony Henry could return punts For the first time ever, I decided to drive in to Texas Stadium from the west on highway 183. I live in Fort Worth, but usually come to Cowboy games from downtown Dallas. I will never, I repeat never come to a Cowboys game again from the Fort Worth direction. It was by the far the longest I have ever had to wait coming to a game. From my apartment to the stadium is 21 miles. It took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to leave my parkin... At 6-4, the Dallas Cowboys have to win the games they should win if they want to make the playoffs. This game against the San Francisco 49ers (3-7) is a game they should win. Here is what to watch for today: 1. Intensity. Since Mike Singletary became the interim head coach of the 49ers they have played with passion and fire, the hallmarks of the Hall of Fame linebacker. The Cowboys need to match that intensity. The wa... Maybe it's just some guys having fun before the game, but in pre-game warm ups 49ers punter Andy Lee was practicing drop kicks. Now the drop kick isn't something that's common in the NFL. Only Doug Floutie has successfully used it in an NFL game in more than 60-years, in 2005 for a PAT for the Patriots. Could we be on the verge of seeing it again? I kind of doubt it. ...Remember all those years of noon kickoffs at Texas Stadium, with the sun beaming down through the hole in the roof? Well this is the last noon game we'll see at Texas Stadium and it's cloudy. The Cowboys have three games after this here, but the Thanksgiving game is a 3:15 p.m. start and there is a Sunday night game with the Giants and the final game at Texas Stadium, oddly, a Saturday night game. ...It seems like no matter whom TCU beats or how many wins they wrack up (40 in four-years), the Horned Frogs never get the respect they deserve. When the USA Today Coaches Poll came out earlier in the week, #17 TCU found themselves behind #14 BYU. This was significant because TCU destroyed the Cougars four weeks ago on national television by 25 points. While TCU did have one more loss than BYU, their two blemishes came against #5 Oklahoma and #7... |
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