Some thoughts.

Been jammed up with other stuff lately and now going on vacation for a week. 2 thoughts:

Cowboys have no incentive to play anyone crucial tomorrow although it would be nice to go 14-2. I'd also rather have the Redskins in the playoffs than the Vikes. See you in the playoffs.

Mavs are starting to worry me. Defense was what made this team good the past couple years and its been lacking. Still exercising some patience because as last years team can attest, championships aren't won 25 games into the season... but I'm starting to get worried.

Rangers trade Volquez for Josh Hamilton

This is pretty shocking. Its got the potential to be a great deal or an awful deal. I was really looking forward to seeing Volquez pitch next year. Assuming Hamilton stays off the drugs, theres still a concern that hes an injury prone player. Despite the fact that he is now one of the Rangers best hitters and will probably be hitting 3rd or 4th, I'm a little uneasy about all of this. Aren't you supposed to never trade young pitching for young hitting? Perhaps I'm overrating Volquez with visions of Chris Young dancing in my head. An upside here is we've solved CF without having to overpay for Torii Hunter. This probably means Cruz is done and it leaves Jason Botts in a precarious position. It also means that Padilla is probably staying. One things for sure, JD isn't afraid to make moves. The Rangers have the potential for a young exciting lineup going into 2009 and 2010 with Kinsler, Hamilton, Salty, Botts, Blalock currently in the bigs, along with Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden in AAA.

Someone has a sense of humor

Kryptonite.

Pickin up steam

Smell my pits.

Can he do that?

You bet. Check out my 31 points.

11 Pro Bowlers

11 Cowboys have been named to the Pro Bowl.

QB Tony Romo
WR Terrell Owens
TE Jason Witten
RB Marion "The Barbarian" Barber
LT Flozell Adams
C Andre Gurode
RG Leonard "Bigg" Davis
K Nick Folk
CB Terence Newman
FS Ken Hamlin
OLB DeMarcus Ware

Notably missing is Roy Williams. Hes an alternate. Hallelujah. The Thunder From Down Under Mat McBriar didn't make it either which is kinda surprising. Is it funny that Marion Barber is a Pro Bowler but doesn't start for his own team?

Roy Williams Suspended...

for 1 game, says ESPN. The Panthers are expected to appeal the suspension.

But seriously, why was he so mad after the penalty was called on him during the Eagles game? Looked like a fat baby.

I laughed

Some immediate post game thoughts

I wouldn't be as upset about this loss (considering we're still 12-2) if it weren't for the fact that we're now tied with GB and this is two straight lackluster games. It forces us to play out the last two games which can be dicey as all the injured Cowboys from today can attest. So we've got two road games that we need to win, one of them against a division opponent with nothing to lose that would love to take home field away from us.

At least the D played well. Didn't figure the offense to have such a tough day but it seems a lot of that can be attributed to Romo's thumb. Couldn't grip the ball, thus the fumbles, and he didn't have zip on his throws. We completely abandoned the run game which was a bit questionable. Jason Garrett got a lesson from the seasoned vet Jim Johnson today.

The injuries are a concern obviously. Canty has been playing very well but we do have some capable backup DE's. Gurode looks to be out at least a few weeks and it always hurts to lose a Pro Bowler. Pat Watkins has been our best special teamer and his injury did not look good. It affects our secondary rotations too (i.e. more PT in passing situations for Williams). Lets hope Romo's thumb is ok. Should be an interesting week of injury updates.

Would have been a nice day to have Terry Glenn. Crayton didn't get it done today as a secondary receiver with TO being doubled all day. Last week it took Witten to have an absolutely insane game to cover for TO being taken out of the game. He was still good today but the Cowboys needed their other options to win their one on one matchups and that didn't happen.

Did anyone catch on the replay who got beat on the game sealing long 3rd down pass to Brent Celek? He was back-pedaling all the way down the field with the receiver, and instead of staying with him, he froze when the ball was let go and ended up woefully out of position. Zero DB instincts. I'll give you one guess as to who it was and thats all you should need.

An Ill Wind Blowing

I've got a strange feeling about today's game. I cruise a lot of forums and read a lot of media stories and nobody really seems to be talking about today's game as a possible hiccup for the Cowboys. Its kinda silent considering its the Eagles who have absolutely owned us in years prior. Lest we forget its still an NFC East grudge match against a very prideful team with a lot of talent. This Eagles team is not much different than the team that won the NFC East last year and they've lost the last couple weeks because of turnovers. Despite being 12-1, the Cowboys still haven't locked up a 1st round bye, but more importantly, home field throughout the playoffs. 1st Round bye should only be a matter of time but lest we forget about last years December collapse. We almost saw the start of it last week so I'm still wary. Defense needs to have a good game or we're gonna be leaking water again in December heading into the playoffs. There hasn 't been much player talk coming from Valley Ranch about how this game is important, we'll be ready, etc. Then again there was plenty of talk the week before Detroit and I felt really good about how the Cowboys would fare in that game... so go figure.

Updated: Well it looks like Matt Moore (yes the same one cut by the Cowboys in training camp) is gonna get a win over Seattle in his first start so that gives the Cowboys a 1st round bye. So scratch what I said about that in my post.

Fukumori (giggle!)

His blog. Someone please translate.

Here's an entry with lots of pictures of him with major league players. Most likely hes saying "I come to America!". The best picture is probably 6 pics down where hes sitting with the Japanese Lex Luthor.

The return of 'Most Definitely'?

For the record my official stance is that I'm against trading for Jason Kidd but this is a good read nonetheless. Sounds like the recent playoff failures still really sting and this group wants to prove that they aren't fatally flawed to the point that they can't win the title. Interesting to note that Avery stripped primary playcalling duties from Devin after the Denver debacle. Give this thing some time to work out the kinks. The Mavs are still working out the proper rotations and are still runnin a bit out of sync. The hope is that it will be worked out and the Mavs will hit their stride in the 2nd half and entering the playoffs. Obviously we'd all prefer that than reeling off 10 game winning streaks during the regular season.

Don't buy this

I understand its been a long time, but why would you buy this merchandise? The Cowboys have loftier expectations and sporting division champs gear should be left for teams like the Cardinals.

Some reading material for the avid Cowboys fan

For those that don't already read it, Albert Breer's weekly Tale of the Tape on the DMN Cowboys blog is phenomenal reading. He offers some excellent insight on, amongst other things, why the Lions were able to throw the ball all over the Cowboys. Part of it, unfortunately, was because Jon Kitna wasn't exactly lying when he said Bradie James gets lost in pass coverage. Theres a reason why we like to sub LB packages on 3rd and long. I also felt we played it pretty close to the vest on Sunday. No exotic blitz packages and it looked like a standard 4 man rush most of the game.

On Milton Bradley

I don't really have a problem with this signing. Its a pretty low risk move (salary wise) for a productive player... when healthy. He is immediately the best OF on the team. His antics will make for some entertainment. As long as hes healthy he will be a solid contributor. The only issue is this is a typical Rangers signing. Guys you find in the bargain bin are there for a reason. At some point we have to stop saying so and so was above our price. Its market value and in order to get a few key pieces you have to get up to the market price or go above it. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the organizational track record doesn't exactly sell itself.

Wanted

Alternative post title: Reasons why the Cowboys will win tomorrow.