Second Half Domination

As the Cowboys shuffled off the field at halftime I had one thought in my mind. I was thinking that if this team is really a playoff team then they will come out in the second half with a new attitude. Two quarters later I felt a giant sense of relief as the defense completely shut down Carolina during the second half. The offense was a little off all night whether it be penalties, sacks, or just bad play calling. But they scored enough points to give the team the lead and the defense sealed the deal with a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. The Cowboys did not play a great game but they did show that they fight through a slow start. I came away from the game satisfied with the win but there are a lot of problems that need to be corrected with this team.

Reasons to Celebrate: The defense finally showed up this season. Three sacks, three turnovers and a timely return for a touchdown to close out the game. Four straight three and outs to start the second half. It was very impressive to see what the defense can do when they play aggressive football. Say what you want about Terence Newman but the guy knows how to handle Steve Smith. He has done it in the past and he had Steve Smith frustrated again. On offense, the running game continues to dominate. Tony Romo did a good job protecting the ball. The special teams kept the Panthers pinned on their own end of the field all night long.

Reasons to Worry: Felix Jones is starting to earn the name Mr. Glass in my book. I hate that he seems to get up limping after every carry and his injuries always come on plays that don't even involve big hits. Jason Garrett is still making bad play calls at critical times. The opposing defense might be begging you to run the fade route from the one yard line, but sometimes you need to just line up and pound the ball into the end zone. The field goal instead of a touchdown in the fourth quarter could have cost the team the game. Run the ball! And I know a lot of people love Martellus Bennett, but I don't trust that guy with the game on the line. He cut off the route when Romo expected him to run to the corner of the end zone. Martellus needs to worry less about Marty B TV and more about his playbook during the week. And the penalties at the worst possible times have got to stop.

More Reasons to Worry: The secondary has to be the worst tackling secondary in the NFL. Running up and throwing a shoulder into a player may seem like a great way to deliver a big hit, but when you don't hit the guy square then he breaks free for more yards. I don't know if it is Dave Campo teaching that tackling technique or what, but those guys have got to wrap up. And I mean every single guy in the secondary...Hamlin, Newman, Scandrick, Jenkins, and Sensabaugh.

Play of the Game: Terence Newman jumped the slant route for an interception that he returned for a touchdown at a critical moment in the 4th quarter. It was nice to finally see a defensive back up on a receiver at the line and then actually jump a route. I hope it will be a sign of things to come. I know we are all sick of seeing the cornerbacks 8-10 yards off the ball at the snap and then watching the receiver catch the ball underneath.

Two winnable games are ahead on the schedule. Denver might be undefeated, but, on paper, the Cowboys are clearly the better team. Kansas City has nothing to make you worry. So the Cowboys need to take care of business so they can head into the bye week at 4-1. I'm not looking past the Broncos, but I know if the Cowboys play good football they will dominate Denver.

Week 3 Keys to Victory

The Monday night game against Carolina may not be billed as a must win for the Dallas Cowboys but it is about as close to a must win as you can get this early in the season. After going toe to toe with the New York Giants it would seem that the Cowboys have at least proven that they can play with anyone. The problem is that the Cowboys are only 1-1 even if they have the talent to be a good team. The next three games are games that you would expect the Cowboys to win. They are not a good enough to lose games that they should win and expect to stay in the playoff hunt. Here is what I think they need to do to make sure they get things going in the right direction again.

1. Contain Steve Smith. Terence Newman has a pretty good history against Steve Smith so I won't be surprised if Newman shadows Smith all over the field tomorrow. The last thing the Cowboys need to see is Steve Smith running free in the secondary. That first two weeks make me very nervous about the defense's ability to stop any player, let alone Steve Smith.

2. Put Pressure on the Quarterback. Last week Eli Manning had all day to throw the ball. The pass rush has to improve or quarterbacks are going to light up the Cowboys all year long. I'm sure Wade Phillips is going to go for the jugular with his blitz packages this week. That is fine as long as they get to the quarterback. But if the pass rush gets nullified on a blitz then we might see the Panthers break off some big plays. The only way the defense is going to start forcing turnovers is if they force opposing quarterbacks to rush their decisions.

3. Limit Turnovers. Tony Romo has to play better and protect the ball and I believe he will. This is one of those games where the Cowboys have the superior talent so they need to play clean football to force the Panthers to beat them. I don't think the Panthers can beat the Cowboys without help from turnovers. The Cowboys lost a game they could have won last week in large part due to horrible turnovers. We don't need to see a repeat performance.

4. Run a Balanced Offense. It was great to see the running game dominate last week. But I am still waiting for the Cowboys to show that they can run a balanced attack to keep the defense guessing from play to play. Week 1 was all passing and week 2 was all running. I want to see a mixture of both. I understand that you have to take what the defense gives you but it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

5. Stop the Run. Last week was much better for the run defense. Carolina can really get rolling by running the ball so they need to continue to focus on containing the run. They don't have to shut down the Panther running game but they need to keep it under control.

There is no reason for me to believe that the Cowboys won't bounce back from last week's tough loss. Jake Delhomme is the type of quarterback this defense has been waiting for. They need to get the ball rolling on the turnover front and Delhomme gives them over in bunches. If they can't force a turnover this week then we can probably conclude that the defense has a major problem. I predict the pass rush to unleash the beast this week and the Cowboys to dominate. My prediction is a 31-13 victory for the Cowboys.