Cowboys Turn the Corner...

The Cowboys may have made the biggest splash in the 1^st round of the NFL draft last night… trading up from 14 to 6 to nab arguably the best defensive player in the draft… Morris Claiborne.  They also traded their 2^nd round pick (45^th). This is a bold, daddy bulge type of move by Jerry and the boys. The Cowboys had Claiborne as the highest rated cornerback since Deion Sanders…Although its hard to imagine that Patrick Peterson (went to AZ last year) wasn’t rated just as high.

The Next Great Corner?

Claiborne has great ball-hawking instincts and a Corvette Engine in the legs. He can flat out cover and has the potential to be a shut-down corner. A shut-down corner isn’t just rare in the NFL its almost non-existent. Revis…Woodson was but probably not anymore. Claiborne, according to Jerry Jones and many others is ELITE.  Forget that horrific Wonderlic test score…Claiborne claims he didn’t give a fuck about it and at the end of the day..that test really doesn’t mean anything when it pertains to football. Cornerback is not a real cognizant position…you just gotta be an athlete. It seems like Claiborne is a good kid whose head and heart are in the right place…he will be motivated and I don’t think the pressure will be too much for him. He will start right away.

Now the Cowboys secondary is looking much more solidified. Brandon Carr (FA from KC) was one of the top free agents this offseason, Orlando Scandrick (possibly the most over-paid nickel corner) is still a good player for what his role is… He is still young and has the potential to be a very good nickel corner. Add Claiborne into the mix and your corners are second to none. Don’t forget about Michael Jenkins too. The former first round pick was a Pro-Bowler as a rookie…then pussified himself in his second year with gutless performances that will forever taint him. Last season…he manned up, played pretty well through excruciating pain. That’s 4 really good corners although I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cowboys try to trade Jenkins (who is a free agent at the end of this season) for a mid-round draft pick.

When this trade/draft first occurred I was hesitant to applaud it because I thought that with the number of holes the Cowboys have it was dumb for them to give up a second round pick. Now I am back-tracking because I think Claiborne could be so good that it will be worth it…plus I fully expect Jerry to trade back into the second round…possible to grab Wisconsin Center Peter Konz.  Good first pick but theres still a ton of holes to fill. 

Return of the Blog...Cowboys 2012 Offseason

Cowboys Blog

After months of being away for the majority of the NFL season followed by months of lazy idleness, I am ready to revive the Cowboys Blog that has been knocking on death’s door the past half-year.

First things off…we don’t need to dive too much into how much of disgrace the Cowboys were last season. Despite some positive changes by Garrett and noticeable improvements over Wade Phillip’s bulimic system from 2010, the Cowboys are still absolutely gutless. To make matters worse, this was the first year that I could say without equivocation that they are not nearly as talented a team as they have been touted over the past half-decade. Particularly when their defense took the field and all of a sudden it looked like a tombstone banquet.

Without breaking down the many negatives and few positives from last season its time to focus on the team’s weaknesses and what they’ve done to address them in free agency.

Brandon Carr is a great improvement over Terrence Newman

I think that despite his flaws as a coach, Jason Garrett has a very good plan in place to bring the Cowboys back to glory. He has made a point to make this team younger and replace some of the complacent players of the Wade era.

On the defensive side, the most obvious hole to caulk was the secondary. Terrence Newman got hurdled twice in the last game of the season…Finito! Nice career but he was beyond terrible last year and the fact that he’s gone already makes the Cowboys better. But, the fact that they have replaced him with Brandon Carr, one of the best young corners in the league, now makes their defense even better. (Many thought the Cowboys should have pursued Cortland Finnegan—who signed with St. Louis—but Carr is younger and more suited to play outside corner, whereas Finnegan is more of a slot corner)  Orlando Scandrick is now cemented as the slot corner and this should be his best year ever. The cowboys have replaced the forgettable Abram Elam with Brodney Pool. Pool played under Rob Ryan in Cleveland which is a positive…but he looked like a huge pussy for most of his snaps with the Jets…a negative. We’ll see how that works. (Drafting Alabama Saftey Mark Barron at 14 could be a good move!)

The other issue the Cowboys were facing were the two senior citizens that split time at middle linebacker. Keith Brooking is 37 and Bradie James is 32. Neither could cover a bed last season and their inability to be agile affected the run defense. The Cowboys have signed former Panther Don Connor (Penn St.) to compete with Bruce Carter to start alongside Sean Lee. I like this move as Connor is a young, tough run stopper and will push Carter to work harder and move his way into the starting line up. The line-backing depth is definitely improved. On a sad note…the Cowboys franchised Anthony Spencer who has never lived up to expectations, but there just wasn’t anyone better in FA that would have come at a comparable price. (This could be another high priority draft position)

On the Offensive side, the Cowboys replaced the retired Jon Kitna with a younger and more talented Kyle Orton for the backup QB position. Should Romo go down this year at any point, I think it’s safe to trust Orton to come in and run the offense efficiently.

The Cowboys have also begun to address their most glaring needs, in the interior of the offensive line. They received terrible play from the Guards and Center last season. They have now signed Mackenzy Bernadeu from Carolina to help push some of the younger lineman and perhaps compete for a starting spot. It’s more likely that he’ll be a valuable backup. They have also signed 3 year Bengals starter, Nate Livings, who has a big frame and should instantly improve the offensive line. (They also released veteran Kyle Kosier, who was good but never healthy) The Cowboys still must address the Center position in the draft ( The Wisconsin Center in round 2 would be nice) since Phil Costa is a joke of an NFL player.

The Cowboys have also signed FB Lawrence Vickers (Texans) who should help improve the size of the holes that Demarco Murray and Felix Jones will penetrate.

With all of this in mind, the Cowboys still need to continue to address the Offensive Line depth as well as the defensive end and cornerback positions and they need to find a blocking tight end to replace Martellus Bennett and a 3^rd receiver to replace Laurent Robinson who is now being overpaid by Jacksonville.

We’ll see what the draft holds but I think the Cowboys are maneuvering in a very prudent and wise manner this offseason. 

Same ol' Boys

The Dallas Cowboys have once again proved that they are good enough to lose in dramatic fashion. In a scenario that has been very familiar in the past few years, the Cowboys once again shriveled in the moment and blew a game that easily should  have been theirs. They make Lebron James look as clutch as MJ with their frightened school-girl cloak that they put on every 4^th quarter.

Tom Brady is a bag of horse-shit, but a bag of horse-shit that wins. The Cowboys are like the fuck-child of a bag of horse-shit and a bag of dog-shit. They reek of folding-chair syndrome. Ever since the fired Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett has tried to change the mentality and toughness level of the team. Their defense is clearly a far superior force to that cartoon network cast they put out their last year, but the offense has regressed in grotesque fashion and the defense, as good as they have been, still cannot put teams away.

Here are a few thoughts from last nights game. Yes, the defense played exceptionally well, and the offense, ONCE AGAIN, put them in extremely difficult situations, where they often had to defend half the field. Still, their run defense was gruesome  and despite 3 sacks, their pressure often resembled Citi Field crowd…non-existent. And you have to stop them on that last drive even if it was the offense’s fault that you were put in that terrible position.

Now…the offense. Fucking disgusting. Watching Garrett’s play-calling at times can be like chugging month-old whole milk. Over and over again, we have seen conservative play-calling at the end of games when the Cowboys have the lead fail. Garrett needs to fix this egregious running game before he can start trying to have them finish out games. I like Demarco Murray to get more touches and I like Tashard Choice to fuck off and leave this team—his big fumble may have sealed his fate.

The offensive line has gotten little push and their discipline is still terrible. Doug Free has seemingly regressed after a stellar output last year. He had 3 penalties by himself  in the 1^st quarter and has not been as reliable with outside rushers. I can’t get on Tyron Smith too much for his repeated penalties because he is a rookie, its expected.

Romo once again was good enough to have decent stats and a few nice passes but at the end of the day he is either throws retarded passes to the wrong team, get’s tentative, happy-feet in the pocket and doesn’t connect with his receiver, or goes to the wrong check-down in critical 3^rd down situations. And by the way, didn’t the Cowboys have an extra week to prepare for this game? What the fuck do Romo and Dez Bryant do during practice? Do they even practice on the same team—I’ve had enough of these two not being on the same page. I see this as more of a Dez issues because as talented as he is, this “he wasn’t able to practice” excuse is complete bullshit. He needs to study the plays and know what the fuck to do. I can’t stomach him running one way an Romo throwing the other way.

One final thought…Anthony Spencer could be the goat of the game. He had 3 penalties that ultimately could have cost the Cowboys. His idiotic roughing the passer and the kicker penalties literally let the Patriots sustain drives that were dead in the water, and these continuations allowed them to pull out the victory. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more Victor Butler in the coming weeks.

Tony Romo...fuck you

I’ve never been so happy to not be in America…because if I was in America that would mean I’m in the same country as Tony Romo.

The leagues biggest muppet

Enough is E-fucken-nough. The jury is officially out on Romo…he is downright retarded…you don’t need sophisticated words to describe it. Retarded is something everyone understands.

If you look at the Cowboys this year they are really 2-0. Tony Romo is 2-2. He literally lost the Jets game and this DISGRACE of a game to the Lions. He is like the Santa Clause of the NFL…dropping off gift victories down every NFL franchises chimney and then squatting down the Cowboys chimney, the coal glistening in his stupid eyes, and taking a fat Romo-ey dump. ESPN’s Bill Simmonds suggested a QB stat called a “Romo” that accounts for all bone headed plays made by a quarterback. No surprises here, Romo leads the league in Romo’s.

What have we learned this year? The Cowboys defense is actually outstanding thus far. Rob Ryan has these guys playing. The Cowboys offensive line isn’t great yet but it is still improved over last year. The Cowboys have gotten a lot out of a receiving corps that is plagued with injuries and they have a subpar running game. Then there is Romo. First orchestrating the largest 4^th quarter collapse in Cowboys history, but he decided to up the ante on his blunderous ways and orchestrate the largest Cowboys collapse in its entire history.

Tony Romo’s two best friends are Jason Witten and Lions LB (and miserably busted former first round pick out of OSU) Bobby Carpenter. If I were Jason Witten I would string Romo up with a rope. Witten saves Romo’s ass time after time and sacrifices his beat-up body every play. If I were Bobby Carpenter, I would name my first child Tony because, Tony showed how much he loved his friend Bobby…by  tossing him an interception and then showing him the way to the end

zone, effectively ending the game for the Cowboys.

There’s gotta be a nice bounty out on Romo in Dallas. Where’s The Dog and his fat trailer park wife when you need them?  

Red Sox blow just like the Mets

I would like to dedicate this blog to John Tunas and the Boston Red Sox. Thank you  Red Sox for fucking up so bad, and blowing your huge September Wild Card lead. Thank you for embarrassing your entire city and choking like a Jenna Jameson porno while the Tampa Bay Rays stormed back to take the AL Wild Card. Thank You Boston Red Sox for taking the “Biggest Collapse” burden off of the New York Mets. We were tired of holding onto that trophy… The Mets have long been the most embarrassing franchise in sports but at least we have Bill Buckner and now were not the only team who can’t win when it counts. The Mets could probably have beaten the Orioles too, unless Tom Glavine was on the mound. Papelbon looked like Armando Benitez out there. He can do an irish jig straight to hell.

Jose Reyes...Mets...Embarrassment

A Mets player has, for the first time in their history, won a batting title…and it’s still an embarrassment. Yup, Jose Reyes, arguably one of the best players in MLB, and certainly the most dynamic, finished his stellar 2011 campaign with a .337 average, beating out the Brewers Ryan Braun.

And still it all happened in the typical embarrassing and confusing New York Mets fashion. As expected, the Mets season has long been irrelevant so we only had Jose Reyes to boast about. In a selfish, player before team manner, and even worse, COWARDLY manner, Jose asked to be taken out of the last game of the season after getting a bunt single in his first at-bat.

The Mets fans booed and they have every right to. Not only was this potentially his last game, but what kind of man are you? Compete motherfucker. Compete. So what if you got out your last 3 at bats and Ryan Braun (who went 0-4 anyways) beat you out. At least you would have played through. Now this first batting title for the NY Mets feels tainted, and everyone will regard it as such from here on out. I don’t like the Red Sox but I respect the hell out of Ted Williams for taking every at bat possible in 1941. He didn’t give a shit what his average was, he was a man and wanted to play the season through. Oh yeah, by the way…his average in his last games (it was a double header for the final day of the season) was 399.5. He went 6-8 and ended up batting .406 Man talk.

Don’t get me wrong, I fucking  want Jose Reyes back as badly as any intelligent Mets fan. He is a cornerstone of our team and if we want any legitimate chance of success in winning ballgames and attracting free agents, he must be on a roster. I am just saddened by his decision to disgrace the Mets, but at least our skin is thick for this type of shit.

Final thought…Terry Collins was holding back tears at his press conference and it is obvious that he did not want to take Reyes out of the game, as he is a true baseball professional. Smart also because he had no choice but to accede to Reyes’ request. The Mets need Reyes back so if he asks you to take him out, you have to listen. Collins did a hell of a job this year with a shit team that was even shittier after injuries. I am excited for him to coach a good team if that day ever comes.

Redskins get Hogtied by the Boys...cuz my boys gotta hit too

Last year's first match up between the Cowboys and the Redskins started with me being extremely tired after a day-long drive from Chapel Hill NC with M. Sanz to his house in New York. The Cowboys lost in one of the most embarrassing fashion's in their teams storied history.

In this year's first match-up, thanks to skype and M. Sanz (my boy gotta get a hit too) I was able to see (when the connection allowed) to see the Cowboys gain some redemption from Beirut.

Next Question

This game was sloppy, and like last year's came down to the wire, but the Cowboys knocked the over-achieving Skins out of first place and now share that spot with the Giants. Let's not get too excited however. I don't want to sound overly pessimistic but the Cowboys looked pretty bad against a team that is not that good. Yes, the Skins defense has been underrated but Rex Grossman is the equivalent of a New York Mets 5th hitter...which is equivalent to the 8th batter on any other major league team. He blows.  The week before, we barley escaped with a victory against a SF team that is also terrible and has an even worse QB. These Cowboys are not yet ready for real teams. Still...this start to the season beats the hell out of last years.

Some of the many negatives from the game...The play-calling was suspect today, the offensive line struggled---what the fuck is going on with these shot-gun center exchanges? I thought it was just an Andre Gurode problem but his replacement, Phil Costa, snapped early 4x today. Part of this is Romo's fault clearly. This MUST be addressed in practice, its downright childish. Also, the receiving corps is about as productive as Stuart Scott's eye without Miles Austin in the lineup. Dez needs to get healthy and prove that he can be a consistent threat, and Ogletree needs to seize this once in a lifetime opportunity and play with more consistency.

Bailey bailed our the Cowboys with his leg

There were some positive signs however. Game balls have to go to Felix Jones, who finally over came an abysmal start to the season and broke for his first 100+ game of the season. Demarcus Ware and Sean Lee continued their dominance. Victor Butler has proven that he deserves more playing time and Jay Ratliff came through at the end when it mattered most. I really think this defense will evolve into a scary machine in a few weeks time when the secondary is fully healthy and Rob Ryan's scheme is fully implemented.  One more game ball... Dan Bailey. Balls to the wall with his kicks today. It's disgraceful that we need to kick 6 field goals to win a game but he made everyone, under pressure. We all know Buehler would have missed around 2 of those.

two last thoughts..D'angelo Hall...you're and idiot and next time you think about talking about hitting a quarterback you should remember that you have two 1/2 sacks in your career. So I guess you have one, but you got help with it. Also...Tashard Choice... you blow.