Cowboys getting it from their own website.

[boohyah]

I'll copy and paste this one from Cowboys.com. I won't even get into what Spagnola said.

 

Too Many Problems

Eatman: Cowboys Have More Than Just QB Issues

 

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Nick Eatman - Email

DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

November 3, 2008 1:56 AM Change Font Size A A A A

 

 

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The Giants are definitely a much better team than the Cowboys right now.

 

 

 

 

 

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OTHER RECENT NEWS

 

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - As heroic as it was to be out there, tight end Jason Witten didn't make a difference on this day.

 

The quarterback switch at halftime didn't matter too much either.

 

And as debatable as this might sound, I'm not too sure a healthy Tony Romo would've mattered a whole lot as well. Now that's not to say Romo isn't a difference maker and the Cowboys aren't counting the days until he returns from that pinkie injury. But in this game, on this day, it probably wouldn't have affected the final outcome.

 

The Giants are definitely a much better team than the Cowboys right now. Better on offense, defense and of course, special teams, even though the Cowboys might have turned in their best performance of the season in the kicking game.

 

Add all of that up, throw in the Cowboys' current injuries and their inability to provide capable replacements, and Giants 35, Cowboys 14, here at the Meadowlands shouldn't be that surprising.

 

Somehow to me, it was though. I thought the Cowboys would have a chance. Thought they would dig a little deeper inside and get mad about what happened last year.

 

And get mad at how the national media tags words like "reeling" and "struggling" on top of what was a 5-3 record.

 

But the Cowboys apparently weren't mad enough. Therefore, they're 5-4 and have probably two of the longest weeks in club history facing them before they play again. Of course, the bye week comes up a perfect time, especially with so many injured players expected to be ready for the Nov. 16 game in Washington, it almost felt like this team was counting too much on that game.

 

Even after the Cowboys beat Tampa Bay last week, that huge sigh of relief everyone had seemed to signal that whatever happened in New York wasn't a big deal. Who knows if that's exactly what every player on this team felt, but it sure looked that way.

 

Yeah, I know that was the defending champs. And I know they're now 7-1 with this win. But whether your starting quarterback is in the game or not, and whether the backup can throw the ball more than 20 yards down the field or not, or whether the third quarterback hasn't played in a year, we all expect better than that.

 

A 21-point loss to a division team is unacceptable. And I'm not really sure the game was even that close. Had it not been for a wrapped-gift by Eli Manning, this game had all the makings of a 35-7 blowout.

 

OK, I know the Giants got a few freebies, too. And they took advantage, scoring three touchdowns off their three interceptions.

 

The Cowboys don't have enough fingers to point the blame on this one. Everybody should get a little to go around.

 

The coaches? Well, where was the urgency? Other than switching quarterbacks from Brad Johnson to Brooks Bollinger at halftime, a move that obviously had to happen, the Cowboys didn't really do anything different this week.

 

A couple of offensive players said this week the Cowboys worked on "about five or six" new plays that figured to be inserted into this week's game plan. Where were they? The only new wrinkle, which is really more than a basic offensive play, was the middle slant pass thrown by Johnson that resulted in an interception and a 57-yard return.

 

So much for that. Wasn't that the exact offensive play we've all been screaming for the last few weeks? And yet the Cowboys not only couldn't complete it, but it goes more than half-the-field the other way?

 

That play was a prime example of what kind of day it was. The slant pattern is one of the first throws all quarterbacks are taught. And here the Cowboys try it and it goes the other way, leading to a Giants touchdown.

 

But it wasn't just the quarterback. The Cowboys had a few other head-scratchers that just signal major problems.

 

Say what you about Tony Romo being able to escape the pass rush, he wouldn't have fared much better against the Giants. Too many times it seemed like the defensive ends were just having their own party, meeting at the quarterback's feet. When you try a three-step drop and you end up on your back, that's bad. It doesn't matter if you've got Brad Johnson, Tony Romo or Vince Young back there, he's not getting away from that.

 

But then there were some simple things, too.

 

How do you get called for lining up in the neutral zone for a punt that you're not even trying to block? Jason Hatcher got called for that in the second quarter, wiping out a shank of a punt that netted the Cowboys the ball at the Giants' 42. Instead, after the re-kick, the Cowboys started the possession 18 yards back.

 

Might not seem like much, but when you only get 183 for an entire game, you've got to take every gift you can get.

 

And how about the tackling? Too many missed tackles, especially in the second half. On the Giants' two second-half touchdown runs, a 12-yarder by Brandon Jacobs in the third quarter and then Derrick Ward's 17-yard jaunt, I can't figure out which one was worse.

 

Do you take the four guys that completely whiffed on Jacobs, or the fact that no one even touched Ward on his touchdown? Not sure what cornerback Mike Jenkins saw on that play, but he didn't even make an attempt to bring down Ward.

 

"We didn't tackle well. We had a couple of series where we were thinking about the last turnover or something," head coach Wade Phillips said. "I was disappointed against the run. We played well against the pass except in the red zone, and obviously we had some missed tackles."

 

Last week against the Bucs, the Cowboys might have had their best tackling game of the season. Here we are, seven days later, and it's the exact opposite.

 

And that seems to be this team's biggest problem - consistency. One week the defense holds a team to three field goals and limits the opponent to less than 50 yards rushing. The next week, the Giants go for 200.

 

This team has problems, and it's not just injuries. You can't just bank on the fact that Romo, Felix Jones, Terence Newman and Kyle Kosier are all going to just come back in two weeks and save the day.

 

Will they help? Of course. But other than Kosier, weren't all of those guys in the game the first time the Cowboys played Washington? If this team doesn't fix all of these problems pretty quick, not only is the Super Bowl a pipe dream, and the playoffs, too, but even a winning season is going to be tough.

 

There are seven games left to play and road trips to Washington, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia remaining, not to mention another game with the Giants. At this point, nothing is a gimme.

 

That's why it is boggling that there wasn't more urgency with this game.

 

I guess not everyone can be like Witten. I mean this guy has doctors advising him that playing with his broken rib is a bad idea and he convinces the team to let him play. Was he hurting? Of course. But he wants to play, because he thinks he can help. He knows he can help. And he's not about to sit back and let this opportunity come and go without putting up a fight.

 

Not only is Witten tougher than a $2 steak, you could tell he was hurting because of more than just the rib injury.

 

Yet, while Witten said he was glad he played, although he did break his own personal streak of consecutive games (74) with a reception, you almost wish he wouldn't have. Especially if his teammates were going to play like that.

 

Because if Sunday showed us anything, it suggests the Cowboys have more than just a handful of problems.

 

Now we'll see if two weeks is enough time to fix them all.

 

 

 

 

[Nesta]

I can't believe they don't have more outrage than that for Jenkins.

 

How do you let a guy get away with that and not call him out big time.

 

If I was a cowboys writer, my whole article would've been about Jenkins.

and that punk damn sure would never make that mistake again.

[Treehugger]

I can't believe they don't have more outrage than that for Jenkins.

 

How do you let a guy get away with that and not call him out big time.

 

If I was a cowboys writer, my whole article would've been about Jenkins.

and that punk damn sure would never make that mistake again.

I laughed so hard when that happened!

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, what the fuck was that penalty on Tuck?

[fringe]

Coaching was poor too. what was with the delay of putting bollinger in the game? he was warming up for 3 series before they finally pulled the plug. I thought i was watching a baseball game.

[boohyah]

I laughed so hard when that happened!

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, what the fuck was that penalty on Tuck?

 

 

Terrible call, Bollinger jumped in the air to throw it over Tuck. If he hadn't jumped, then it would have been a fair tackle.

 

 

[MakeMeSomeFoodHo]

Terrible call, Bollinger jumped in the air to throw it over Tuck. If he hadn't jumped, then it would have been a fair tackle.

and that would have brought up 4th down so the cowboys would have never scored on that drive. if the ref doesnt make that terrible call, the dallas gets shut out on offense.

[CrazedDogs]

Terrible call, Bollinger jumped in the air to throw it over Tuck. If he hadn't jumped, then it would have been a fair tackle.

 

Shit, even if he had stayed on his feet it would have been a fair tackle...a FORM tackle. There's no reason for that to be a penalty. And IIRC, that extended a drive into a Cowboys score. Other than a miscommunication-gift INT-TD and official's errors, the Cowboys wouldn't have scored.

[Treehugger]

What was the actual penalty though? It was a perfect tackle and the ball was still in his hand when he first touched him.

[BIGBLUE01]

What was the actual penalty though? It was a perfect tackle and the ball was still in his hand when he first touched him.

 

Wasn't it an unnecessary roughness call?

[Lughead]

Wasn't it an unnecessary roughness call?

 

 

Driving the quarterback into the ground was the call . Tuck was an eighth way into his hit when the ball was thrown how is soposed to go from 200 mph to 0 mph and hold the QB from hitting the ground? I mean come on the qb is a football player too enough of this kid glove treatment they get on the field.

[Lubeck]

Driving the quarterback into the ground was the call . Tuck was an eighth way into his hit when the ball was thrown how is soposed to go from 200 mph to 0 mph and hold the QB from hitting the ground? I mean come on the qb is a football player too enough of this kid glove treatment they get on the field.

 

Yeah pile-driving the QB is a big no no. Problem is the QB JUMPED trying to get the ball OVER Tuck. He put himself into the position to be pile-driven, Tuck was just tackling him. And wasn't that the drive that ended with their sole offensive TD?

 

Even Aikmen criticized the call, and that poor guy looked like he wanted to cry every time they cut to a shot of him.

[BIGBLUE01]

Driving the quarterback into the ground was the call . Tuck was an eighth way into his hit when the ball was thrown how is soposed to go from 200 mph to 0 mph and hold the QB from hitting the ground? I mean come on the qb is a football player too enough of this kid glove treatment they get on the field.

 

Is that an actual call? I thought all of those types of calls were lumped into the "unnecessary roughness" category?

[BlueInCanada]

Is that an actual call? I thought all of those types of calls were lumped into the "unnecessary roughness" category?

 

No driving the QB to the ground is a different penalty from unnecessary roughness.

[Virginia Giant]

No driving the QB to the ground is a different penalty from unnecessary roughness.

I think it was either U.R. or unsportsmanlike conduct.

[Nesta]

it was roughing the passer (by driving him into the ground)

[Lubeck]

I think it was either U.R. or unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

The only unsportsmanlike thing happening on that play and so many others in that game was how the Giants simply wouldn't let the Boys have a chance at getting back into the game.