Week 11: Cowboys 28, Redskins 23 (9-1)

He is a bad man.


On March 14, 2006, I wrote my feelings about the Dallas Cowboys looking at signing Terrell Owens …

I raised a firestorm of controversy yesterday when I stated my claim that I would give strong consideration to signing T.O. when he becomes available today. Many, many emails filled the box, and honestly, the majority 60-70% were wanting me to be drug tested. But, I do think that under the right circumstances he can work. Here they are:

1) – Bill Parcells is your coach. He will be in charge, and T.O. can either deal with that or be released.

2) – His contract is constructed with behavior clauses, so that he can be released at the first sign of trouble.

3) – His contract is short term.

With these three stipulations, I think it might be worth the trouble. And make no mistake, he can still be considerable trouble, but I think he might be on his very best behavior as he tries to regain his ability to make a living. Like Keyshawn Johnson, I expect that at least for 2006 and maybe even 2007, you will see Owens as the biggest angel he can be.

But, most think I am out of my mind. One NFL Personnel guy who heard the show yesterday has advised me to “put my crack pipe down”. He also indicated that if this happens it is 100% Jerry Jones and 0% Bill Parcells. That would concern me greatly, of course.

He is still about as talented a WR as there is in this league, and the Cowboys still struggle to score points. I am not saying Owens is your only option, but this offense must get a playmaker and I would think that given the circumstances, he should be considered strongly.

Of course, the theme of many emails is that no Cowboys fan would endorse a move to acquire the man who once desecrated the Star. Maybe not, but touchdowns heal many hurt feelings. Time will tell…

Some may be wondering what that has to do with Cowboys 28, Redskins 23, but I think most of you know. This team is the best team in the NFC in large part because they have Terrell Owens and nobody else does. Green Bay is 9-1, and they have a franchise QB, too. But they don’t have a Wide Receiver for who there is no answer. The Cowboys do. Like it or not, he is what makes you better.

As I was looking at my blog entry from 19 months ago, I got a giggle out of this comment from a reader:

If TO gets signed by Dallas, I will no longer root for the Cowboys for as long as Jerry Jones owns the team. Period. TO is an infected sore of a human being and the Cowboys can win without him. Go sign another receiver, ANY other receiver than TO. This will blow up in the Cowboys face so badly, it's just a question of when. I'll even sign this thing so somebody can hold me accountable to what I said.

Signed,
Jonathan Brashear

I wonder if Jonathan is still reading this blog…and if he has held true to his pledge as the Cowboys roll to 9-1…

The following are notes from another Cowboys NFC East win:

• The Redskins deserve plenty of credit for hanging in there yesterday. Jason Campbell is a guy who I have really liked in 2007, and I think although he doesn’t have the “wow” factor of our young Jedi Knight, he does seem to have a bright future leading the Redskins. He throws a pretty decent ball, and if they could ever get him a 6’4 wide receiver to lead the way, he will be a very nice threat. 348 yards is not a good number for the Cowboys to surrender.

• When Washington’s starting Right tackle Todd Wade (who himself is a backup) left the game, I expected the Cowboys pass rush to really cause trouble for Campbell. The fact is, aside from DeMarcus Ware the pass rush was largely disappointing. This is where a lot of us like to turn the secondary into a piñata. You must remember the idea of “Pressure-Pick, Cover-Sack”. The opposite of that is “No Pressure-Campbell throws for 350”. After a real good week of rushing Eli, the Redskins did a fine job of protecting.

• Speaking of Ware, in the long line of guys to get a raise from Jerry Jones, is there one who is more set up than Ware? 24.5 sacks in 28 games? Try signing that in the open market. Ware is all that anyone could have dreamed he would be.

• I don’t really want to dive back into the Roy Williams fun bag today. Once again, the opposing Tight End was isolated a fair amount against him and had a huge day. But I do want to make this point: One thing that does not endear his work to my sensibilities is that when he is on the scene of a big pass play, he is quick to throw his arms up in disbelief that his teammate would screw up so badly. I believe this is a result of ridicule, and now his defense mechanism is to instantly claim his innocence to the world whenever someone catches a ball around him. But it looks Bush League. It looks like a guy who is ready to show up a mate in the name of passing the buck. I want my leader to lead, and part of that is not always making sure he is blameless rather than remembering the object of the game is to stop the defense. Not to protect your own hide. On the Cooley touchdown, he was once again trying to light up Bradie James after the play. James wasn’t hearing it and was yelling right back. According to a source, it was more Roy than Bradie, if you weren’t sure who screwed up on that Cover 2 Touchdown.

• Is the Cowboys running game ok? Just curious.

• Those Final 4 minutes took forever. The game looked like it was over on Owens Touchdown, but it wasn’t. Then, it looked like it was over on the Newman interception, but it wasn’t. It was only over when Owens broke up the Hail Mary. But, if the Cowboys could have converted one first down in the final 2 drives, it isn’t that complicated. But, the first drive was collapsed when Leonard Davis was abused by Phillip Daniels for a sack (on the play Flozell Adams got hurt), and on the last offensive drive, the Cowboys ran 3 times and punted it right back.

• Andre Gurode might have lost his trip to Honolulu yesterday. I love his season, but those snaps are drive killers, and at some point, those become game killers, or worse yet, season killers.

• Shawn Springs is having a tough season. His dad is in a coma, and he travels back and forth to Dallas every week. I think most people were hoping he would have had a solid game yesterday, but he was pretty much on the scene for all 4 Owens Touchdowns. That Redskins secondary is very, very good when healthy. They obviously are not healthy.

• Those two teams were really hitting each-other yesterday. Man, what a physical game. You have to believe it will be tough to get your bodies working again on Thursday.

• Romo is just flat out money again. 4 more Touchdown passes, putting him at 27 for the season. He is great at making the big play at the big moment. It helps to have Owens, but those throws were all right on the spot.

• Isn’t it interesting to note that the only two other times the Cowboy have started 9-1, they have lost in the first playoff game? I have no idea how that happens, but I suppose it tells you that there is no reason to believe that anything is in the bag yet.

• Happy Wade Phillips didn’t break his hand on that hi-5. That can be dangerous, Coach.

• So here comes the 2-8 New York Jets coming off a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thomas Jones on Thanksgiving reminds me of 2004, when the Jones brothers squared off and a guy named Drew Henson got the start. Wow. Time flies when you are having fun. And 9-1 is surely fun.