Thoughts on the Mo-Town Game

Ok, I know it's been several days since Dallas and Detroit played but I have been pretty busy and haven't had time until just now to relay a few of my thoughts on the game. It's strange that the only games I didn't really think Dallas would have a problem with winning are the two games that have been the most challenging for them...Buffalo and Detroit. So, after watching the Detroit game, there are some positives and some negatives to take from it. First the negatives (in my opinion):

-The defense play like dog pooh almost he entire game! I thoroughly thought, with the way the defense (Bradie James, Terrance Newman and others) were shooting off their mouths last week that they would come out and take Kitna's head off. Detroit is almost last in the league in sacks given up and Dallas didn't really even bother Kitna (except for that LATE pile driver Ware put on him) until the final play of the game. Way to go defense...way to get fired up! What the crap was all that, huh? If you are going to talk all that smack, Bradie James, you better go out and knock the snot out of somebody and not do your best matador impression, miss tackles or generally "look lost," again. Terrance Newman got torched most of the day too. Seems like every time I looked up, Kitna was completing a long pass or 3rd down conversion on Newman. So I guess Newman will get to keep that $20,000 he would have had to pay the NFL for hitting Kitna. Utterly freaking ridiculous how the defense played. In fact, that is how I thought Dallas' defense would play against Brett Farve a few weeks ago. I am only hoping that the defense just had a bad game and that this is not the beginning of yet another bad December. I would say that was a wake up call but I already said that when Dallas played Washington several weeks ago so I'm not going there again. They just need to nut up and play. Here ends the rant...

Now for the positives. For as bad as the defense played most of the game, the offense played very well most of the game. Detroit simply had no answer for Witten or Barber. It's almost like Detroit said, "We are going to take T.O. Owens out of the game, so let's see if you can beat us some other way." That was by far the best game a tight end has had for Dallas in about a decade. Witten is a tree trunk of a man with good hands and who, seemingly, has no fear...exactly what a tight end should be. Marion Barber ceases to amaze me each week. Even if he gets 3 yards, he is running extremely hard. And what's more is his high football IQ. He just seems to know the little things to do (like staying in bounds when Dallas is trying to run out the clock toward the end of a game) to help the team win. And Romo...well, his legend is growing by the week. I can only hope his head does not grow as well. That last, and game winning, drive was a thing of beauty. You could almost hear the Detroit fan's/player's stomachs turning every time Romo would complete a 3rd or even 4th down conversion. He is simply greatness.

There are many things that have to happen during a season for a team to go to the Super Bowl. Obviously winning games is paramount. However, if a team is going to have a good season and do well in the playoffs, they also need the football gods to throw some good luck their way. And make no mistake about it, Dallas has had more than their share of favorable bounces by the ball (in the Buffalo, St. Louis and Detroit games) as well as calls/non-calls by the officials. Another thing Dallas hasn't been hit with is the injury bug. Terry Glenn hasn't played a snap all season and Dallas has lost 1 game. When Terrance Newman was out and then Anthony Henry, the defense stepped up and performed rather well all things considered. So dare I say that Dallas might be a team of destiny this year? I'm almost cheesed to the core typing that but really, you can't deny it.

I will post my thoughts on the Filthadelphia game a little later on but suffice it to say that the defense better get their act back together and play with a little more fire than they did in Detroit. If Dallas wants home field advantage, and not a trip up to Lambeau field in late January, the defense has got to play better than they have the last couple of weeks.

But then again, even if the defense sucks it up, with the juggernaut offense Dallas has I'm not sure who can stop the Cowboys. Hopefully, I won't have to find out either.