Hey TO Owens, You Satisfied with 213 Yards?

TO Owens generally seems to have big days against his former team. In Dallas’ 2nd game this year, playing the Filthadelphia Foul, he had 89 yards receiving (on just 3 receptions) and 2 touchdowns. Last year, when Dallas visited Filthadelphia, Owens caught 10 balls for 174 yards and a touchdown. Needless to say, TO Owens is motivated when he plays against former teams. This was no different yesterday as Owens had 7 receptions for a whopping 213 yards and 1 TD helping Dallas win 35-22 over the San Francisco Forty Whiners. That was the second-most yards of his career, behind only the game he played for San Francisco in 2000 when he caught an NFL-record 20 passes for 283 yards. Earlier in the week, Owens was interviewed by Deion Sanders (um…ok) of the NFL Network and indicated that he was not getting the ball enough and that “when I get the ball in my hands things happen.”

I know Owens is a drama queen. I know this is what we (or whatever team he is playing for) have to deal with when he is on the team. But for the love of Tom Landry, give it a freaking rest TO. Especially now that Tony Romo is back at the helm. You are going to get your numbers. Just take a valium, run the correct routes, GET OPEN and the ball will find its way to you. You don’t have to go on the freaking NFL network to espouse you getting the ball more. During the 3 games that Romo wasn’t playing, who exactly was going to get you the ball? Neither of the other two quarterbacks on the Cowboy’s roster, that’s for darn sure. Since 2006, you and Romo have hooked up for more TDs than any other QB/WR tandem. So just chill!

TO Owens ability to magically get open was due in part to his ability but also due in part to the soft San Francisco defense. And when I say soft, I don’t mean gutless. I mean that
Nate Clements played several yards off the line of scrimmage instead of jamming Owens during the first 5 yards. The fact that Owens got off the line cleanly and unmolested meant that he had a running start and, in most cases, he will pass most corners in the league. I really have no idea why San Fran’s defense played Owens like this. In just about every other game, the cornerbacks were right up in Owens face and would hit him as the ball was snapped which interrupted his timing and blew him off his route before he even got started. But the Forty Whiners? Who know why they didn’t employ this obvious and useful tactic against Owens. I’m not complaining…just wondering.

Romo was back on his game although it took a full quarter to get there. The first quarter of the game the offense seems to be AWOL and Romo wasn’t doing much to help. However, by the end of the day Romo was 23-of-39 for 341 yards and three touchdowns. That is what we are used to seeing from him around here. Also, I noticed something else which was absent from him, even when they were winning, before he got hurt…his smile. I know that might seem gay saying that but seriously, I think part of Romo’s success is due to his carefree personality and we saw some of that return on Sunday…and it was good to see it back.

The defense played well enough in the first quarter to keep the Cowboys in the game until the offense got warmed up. San Francisco missed a 53-yard field goal on its opening drive, then reached first-and-goal from the 4 on its next two drives—yet managed only a pair of field goals. The fact that San Fran was dominating the Cowboys in the first quarter, yet only had 6 points to show for it, was huge. I really think that played a big part of why they got so far behind. Shaun Hill was sacked four times, including consecutive plays inside the 20 in the first quarter. And Frank Gore who, before Sunday, was responsible for 1/3 of San Fran’s offense was held to 26 yards on 14 rushes. So the front seven picked up where they left off last week in Washington.

However, the defensive unit as a whole didn’t play as well as they did last week, especially the defensive backs. The Forty Whiners were passing the ball all over the Cowboys in the first quarter. The Dallas corners made Isaac Bruce look like he was 15 years younger and he ran free time after time after time. TE Vernon Davis would have had a touchdown in Shaun Hill had been more accurate because Davis was behind everyone running free but the pass from Hill was just a bit to long for him. This is an area Dallas desperately needs to shore up before their brutal Dec. schedule hits…and it IS brutal. But, injuries have killed this part of the team with Roy Williams being on IR, Mike Jenkins being iffy for Thanksgiving, Pat Watkins being banged up and Terrance Newman not 100%. This is probably why Jerry is welcoming back Pac Man Jones with open arms…because he has to. I’m not going to rant and rave about this because, frankly, I don’t want to get worked up again. Just be rest assured that I am against Pac Man coming back to the Cowboys and really don’t see how it can help the team. He is a bad seed, will always be such and it will only be a matter of time before he is banned for life from the NFL.

The Cowboys need to get more consistent especially before their final four games. They really ought to win on Thursday against a Seattle team that can’t seem to get out of their own way. They will be playing a fired up Julius Jones but with the way they have played run defense the past few weeks, I anticipate seeing what we saw from Julius last year…a whole lot of nothing. Hopefully they can shake off any soreness and get through Thursday’s game without any more injuries and get a good 9 day rest to get ready to invade Steel town…and the rest of their gauntlet in December.