Takeaways.
Or, better yet, Big Apple Turnovers.
It took a franchise-record three takeaways in the first quarter and six overall - the Cowboys' most since creating half-a-dozen against the Washington Redskins in 2003 - to break the voodoo, but the New York Football Giants can no longer say they're undefeated in Arlington.
Despite the plethora of gifts, it wasn't easy.
In fact, Cowboys 36, Giants 31 wasn't officially sealed until Sean Lee recovered an onside kick with 11 seconds remaining. Nor was it pretty - Tony Romo suffered bruised ribs, Dez Bryant was double-teamed into mortal production, the Giants faked injuries to slow Dallas' no-huddle offense and new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin's unit absorbed 450 passing yards by Eli Manning.
But, alas, there's a new streak in Arlington. One that won't be broken until at least Sept. 22:
The Cowboys are undefeated at AT&T Stadium.
For My Top 10 Whitty Observations, let's slide over to NBC 5's Blue Star Blog.
The Cowboys LUCKED out in my book...it took all of the 6 turnovers (3 of which were freak tipped balls and a muffed punt). The secondary was like swiss cheese and even with 5 turnovers, the Giants had the ball with 3 minutes (and timeouts) left, and only 6 points down..and if not for the final LUCKY ASS tipped ball and pick six, they could have actually lost.. pathetic....the Cowboys should have been up by 21 ponts and the game should have been over by the end of the 3rd quarter. The turnovers were great to have, but if they are going to require 3+ turnovers per game, I'm afraid we are in for LONG season.
ReplyDeleteAs a former coach (of both the Cowboys and Giants) used to say, "at the end of the season they don't ask how, they ask how many!" I'll take a "lucky ass" win any day over a "hard fought, well played" loss. Ask the Giants about that in regard to their first SB win over the Patriots.
DeleteWell I've always heard that it is better to be lucky than good. Well that is exactly how this one went down.. the Cowboys were more lucky than good. The problem with that is...is that their luck will eventually run out. And when that happens, so will Red Jesus's luck. And then Jerry the idiot GM, will try once again to "fix" the problem by hiring yet another talking head puppet coach...which will fix exactly NOTHING. I stand by my prediction...when the luck runs out, 8-8 is what you get.
DeleteAs far as the new offensive line goes, I would say it was a push. They did a fairly good job of pass blocking, but their run blocking (23 carries for 87 yards) was less than stellar.
ReplyDeleteCan't argue with either of those, despite their author's anonymity.
ReplyDeleteBut, if you're going to talk about the Swiss cheese secondary, shouldn't you also mention the run defense that held the Giants to 14 for 50 yds? How about special teams? Also, isn't the Tampa 2 designed to create just the kind of turnovers we saw last night? As for the comment "if not for the final LUCKY ASS tipped ball...", well if your aunt had nuts she'd be your uncle. All I know is I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss, any day...at the end of the season every victory looks beautiful...After week 1, every team sees areas where improvements are needed...would you rather be the Cowboys, or the Giants today?? Just sayin'...
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThe Giants had a crew of "nobobys" in the backfield, so I am not going to say the Cowboys run defense was good, so much as the Giants rushing offense was bad. And the Tampa 2 had nothing to do with the aforementioned tipped balls and muffed punt...it was plain ass luck. My point is this.... once again the Cowboys played down to the competition...they should have won that game by 20+ points....instead, the Giants actaully scored after the last turnover and pick six to bring it to within 5 pts and then an on-side kick attempt....REALLY??? Ugly wins are a sign of ugly play....and ugly play will lead to 8-8 seasons....get it??
ReplyDeleteThat guy they have at QB, the one that threw 3 ints, has two rings. I don't want to have to go against him up by 6 and he has the ball with 2 minutes left. The Cowboys took advantage of mistakes and got the win. Regardless of who you're rooting for, there's a winner and loser every game. Remember the time Romo threw 5 ints versus the Bills and the Cowboys won? Just because you win the turnover battle by a big margin doesn't equal a win.
DeleteAnd now my negative side....If the Cowboys can only muster 263 yards passing when Dez is doubled or heavily shaded the entire game, they'll go 8-8. At least throwing the ball to him under 10 yards he'll get calls because of his size. My biggest disappointment was gameplanning for that situation and the Cowboys pass coverage.
I thought the Tampa 2 was about putting players in position to be able to make plays...and well, in multiple cases (last night) they did just that. Look, I understand the point...and I certainly don't want another 8-8 season...but, if I look across the NFL from week 1, I believe there were signs of ugly play from "good" teams that won, and will likely make the playoffs - like New England and Seattle...I'm guessing both of those teams will make adjustments and improve, but still gladly take their 1-0 records into next week. I'm cautiously optimistic the Cowboys will do the same - and see the victory as a glass half full occurrence vs. glass half empty. Guess we have another 15 games to see how this plays out...enjoy the season.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the clowns in charge of the Cowboys remain....they will be a circus.
ReplyDeleteRichie,
ReplyDeleteDo you still wear earrings?
The offense will once again be the demise of this season. Pathetic, mediocre, disjointed, out of sync...take your description de jour, they just can't get it done with the talent they have. And I'm sorry. I'm not in the Romo "hater" camp, but I'm damn sure in the Romo "can't get it done" camp. Watched NFL RedZone and I tried my damnedest to find another QB that gets under the center and starts with the incessant aubibles, hand gestures, running from player to player, kill kill kills and omahas. Good fucking Lord no wonder you have guys jumping offsides, or balls being thrown into the back of a reciever's helmet. No one has a fucking clue what play to run after he's done speaking in tongues. And hurry up offense? Give me a break. If that is "hurry up" I'm Speedy Gonzalez...and I don't run.
ReplyDeleteIf they (the offense) don't take a dip in the secret sauce soon, we'll be cheering "Ándele arriba" for the end of this season.
IS CALLED FOOTBALL JACKASS
DeleteTotally agree with you man...I too am not really a Romo hater, but he just doesn't get it done...he finds a way to NOT make a play. With the weapons he has, the offense should not be the problem. Granted the offensive line could falter, they were serviceable against the Giants, yet Romo constantly was out-of-sync with his recievers. They dumbed down the defense by shit-canning that crazy shit Rob Ryan was throwing out there, maybe they need to dumb down the offense some and have Romo follow a stricter game plan....because as the poster above stated, they are not going to get it done if we keep seeing what we saw last night.
DeleteAnon # 1: Thanks for your intelligent contribution. Your insights into the game of football are incredible and makes one strive to be at your level. Please visit us weekly and/or daily, if your busy schedule speaking at NFL engagements frees you up, to speak more about the finer points of the game. We all eagerly await your next post...
DeleteAmazing even after a WIN against a division rival where he completed 75% of his passes against a good defense, made good decisions with the football, took what the defense gave him and didn't try and force what they didn't, threw a couple of TDs and one pick that wasn't on him....and again, got the WIN.....that Romo still catches shit from those who refuse to take their blinders off. What a bunch of horseshit.
ReplyDeleteBet some of you were elated when Romo went down right before half so you could have your boy Orton take over the reigns of the offense, huh? lmao......
-JC
JC - one could surmise you Mr. Jackass above. Listen dude, Whitt even wrote it in his latest article, a team that gets that many turnovers in their house should have won the game by +21. They did not. And I don't see one person here who hates Romo. The thought process here is the offense did not PRODUCE with Romo at the helm yet again. Time will tell if they can pull it together, but the blinders my friend on squarely on your shoulders. And run the numbers JC. Take away the defensive scores and what do you have? Thought so.
DeleteIf, if, if. You can live in a world of "what if," I will continue to live in reality. The facts are the team got the W.....the facts are that Romo's numbers were stellar in the opener, and yet you still bitch and moan. Ever think about the fact that defensive TDs take away offensive possessions? Of course you didn't.
DeleteWhile watching the pregame to MNF last night, I saw Cris Carter, Ditka and Keyshawn Johnson all agree that Romo played fantastic Sunday night. And I'm going to go out on a precarious limb here and say those three combined *might* know a little more about football than you do.
Did the Cowboys win? Thought so. Oh, and that's reality, not "what if."
-JC