168 Comments to ‘Flexing their Muscles’: »

MUSICCITYNORM:

1st

bushpilot:

Primtime Cowboys, it’s good to be back in the spotlight!!

bushpilot:

Norm!!

bushpilot:

Not to be nitpicky Raf, but west coast viewers get the early games at 10 am. I get them at 9 am here in Alaska. Breakfast and football, gotta love it!!

Shane J:

Word is we signed the Desperados kicker to the practice squad if he clears waivers.

I feel better that we (BP) saw Grammatica kick in training camp and he was close. I feel worse that we are already bringing in some insurance at the position.

Shane J:

cool

Shane J:

With all of the national exposure and our current record, how many guys do you see as worthy of pro bowl consideration?

Offense:
Gurode, maybe Romo, Hoyte, Witten, and even TO (yes I will now refer to him as TO instead of Initials, he has served his time for good behaviour)

Defense:
RWilliams, TNew, DWare, maybe BJames and Ferguson (I don’t know how you compare 3-4 to 4-3 for nose tackle)

Special Teams:
McBriar

Raul Villaronga:

ShaneJ:
Hey, ya figured it out …

Shane J:

Raul,
Me likes it

bushpilot:

How do you do that anyway? I can’t seem to post up any of those.

Raul Villaronga:

bushpilot:
Sorry, my bad … I corrected it.

I’m so used to see ing the times based on east coast that I added incorrectly …

Shane J:

With all of the national exposure and our current record, how many guys do you see as worthy of pro bowl consideration? Press has sure been talking up Romo.

Offense:
Gurode, maybe Romo, Hoyte, Witten, and even TO (yes I will now refer to him as TO instead of Initials, he has served his time for good behaviour)

Defense:
RWilliams, TNew, DWare, maybe BJames and Ferguson (I don’t know how you compare 3-4 to 4-3 for nose tackle)

Special Teams:
McBriar

Tear it up, what do you think?

biz is winning:

i’ll take my chances next year without directv.this year i’ve only been able to watch one game the arizona game.that game cost me about 200$ all other’s on national t.v it don’t look like i’ll be needing it the rest of the way.as long as we win that’s all that matters.

Raul Villaronga:

ShaneJ:
Romo just replaced Bledsoe on the Pro Bowl roster at NFL.com …

bushpilot:

Raul, sorry, I thought Raf posted this thread. What’s the trick for posting these animated icons anyway?

Raul Villaronga:

bushpilot:
HINT: Hover your mouse over the image and you may get pointed in the right direction …

bushpilot:

Raul, living in Alaska, I’m always correcting times to correlate to my time. I know what you mean.

biz is winning:

i got directv and it was a waste this year 200$ for one game.the rest we’re on national t.v and it looks like i won’t be needing it unless that detroit game means nothing.

bushpilot:

>hmmmm

bushpilot:

> hmmmm

Shane J:

bushpilot,
Are you ‘being the ball’ or are you the Dali Lama in cogneto.

hmmmmm, hmmmmm

jarhead:

dont want to alarm you all but….

the aikman curse is not dead, though it may be real soon.

the baseball bat on the helmet of our upcoming division rival has not worked yet.

raul posted it AFTER we pasted the skins in week 2. since then, he has posted it BEFORE our division rival games, all of which we have lost.

not that im superstitious mind you.

Raul Villaronga:

jarhead:
Different teams, but I can change it if it makes you feel better …

Shane J:

Jarhead,
Since I posted it after Raul did, it counteracts the pre-game post curse and turns it into a prior post-game post.

Aikman curse is dead. I don’t know that we killed it; I think Aikman killed it. He has been trying hard not to be a homer and has been down on us. He came out of the closet last week and chunked the monkey.

jarhead:

raul,
the common denominator of those different teams is that they all turned out to be losses.
too late to change, the cats out. just another curse for romo to beat. he doesnt appear to be fazed by them too much.

CNMDallasfan:

Raf,

I really don’t mind the time changes! They let me watch the game. I work every sunday from 11-2 GMT, so when they move them to 3:15 Texas time, I get to see the games! Also, is that saturday night game on NFLN? Don’t know what I’m gonna do about that…I don’t get the network. I’m thinking about getting dish network free for a month, then cancel after the game. How slick is that?

bostonfan:

Sunday’s game cannot come fast enough for me. All this work stuff I have to do in the meantime is really dragging me down.

Cash:

jarhead:

Cash,
the gods will not be mocked, by men or by dinosaurs.

Squidlo97:

When I was watching saints game all I saw was NY NY NY NY. I didnt realize how much the cowboys got moved. Dallas plays alot of games at 12 as do the saints so I didnt get many cowboy games which really sucks. Around here we get alot of colts game because of Peyton which is cool if they are playing a top AFC team but too many times its a last place team were you just decide to cut grass. The NFL is too watered down so they need to give us great match ups.

CowboyMan:

I’ve heard the TV commentators say that Columbo has not allowed a sack all season. How then did Strahan get a clean sack on Bledsoe, and it not count as a Columbo f*(H up?

CowboyMan:

Hey, maybe the ‘Aikman Curse’ was only on Bledsoe. Heh?

Toast:

After watching the last night MNF game… I can see why BP is concern about Romo… not becoming like his idol “Farve”.
Farve is a true gun slinger… All or Nothing type of QB… his passes at times are up in the air waiting to be picked by defense.
Green Bay fans have come to both appreciate and resent him…
I hope Bill keep Romo on the leash till he gets rid-of all his gun slinging Brett Farve tendencies. So far so good.

jarhead:

cowboyman,
the first sack strahan had, columbo blocked down and thus never faced strahan. if that was a mental error, then i would agree he screwed up. if his assignment was to block down, then you cant say he screwed up.

the second sack, he stopped strahan cold, strahan saw an opening in the middle and looped inside (between guard and center) to make a play on DB. he thus was no longer columbo’s responsibility (columbo could have stopped him by holding him i guess).
though i dont like the term much in this case i think it applies, DB “held the ball too long” on his second sack.

in either case, i dont think you could put the sack on columbo.

while not perfect, him, gurode, and kosier have been the most consistent lineman this year. the veterans, rivera and adams, have struggled the most.

PlayMaker88:

Regarding game times…

I do personal security contract work in Afghanistan. I personally like the noon games (be it for purely selfish reasons) they start at 10:30 PM here. The 3:15 games come on at 1:45 am which is quite a bit harder when you have to get up and start the day at 5am. Gladly do it week in and week out for my Boys! This will be my last one for a while though. I will be back home in the Dallas area for the Saints game and will be able to finish the rest of the season watching them on the big screen in HDTV in the comfort of my own home!

7 days and counting before I set my feet on good ‘ol Texas soil again!

God Bless Texas! & God Bless The Cowboys!

joey2zs:

The Cowboys will have been viewable as a featured national game on either the networks or cable down here in Charleston, SC 13 out of their 16 games. (I should say 16 out of their 19 games?)

I’ve had to go to a bar to see them on satellite just 2 times, and from this point onward they’ll be on national network or cable, except for the final game vs Detroit.

I could swear that you all believe in some sinister east coast media bias against the Cowboys. Interesting.

biz is winning:

i think this aikman curse is garbage.our real curse was drew bledsoe and no i’m not saying that because romo is doing well it’s because i took alot of c#$p from new england fans about bledsoe and it was all true.good to see him gone!

mikhu:

I’m debating about dropping NFL Sunday Ticket next year. With the Packers sucking once again and the Cowboys getting better I will have fewer conflicts as the Packers will typically be on at noon and the Cowboys at 3:00, and that’s just for the regular games, not even accounting for the multiple primetime games they’ll get. Sure would be nice to save that $250+ for NFLST and Super Fan (HD games).

scn:

Fighter15:

Interesting note about the flex schedule. Out of the seven weeks:
- Cowboys were already primetime for 3,
- twice were protected as one of the five games allowed by CBS/Fox, thus moved to the national games
- Moved to NBC for the primetime for NO

That leaves only one game (Detroit) in the finale that is not a national game. 6 for 7 is better than Vanderjerk.

Couple of notes about the kickers. Being a tournament golfer, I’ve seen the shanks and yips affect the best golfers ever. Same thing has been said about kickers.

Living in Tampa, I saw what happened to Gramatica. He has a huge leg and was on, but lost it to a groin injury.

He was out last year because he didn’t fully heal until after the season started. He’s healthy and still has a HUGE leg.

Better than a guy with the yips…for sure.

TL fan:

On Oct 15th the 2-2 Cowboys played the 1-3 Houston Texans.

That game was shown locally here in Southern California.

That is all you need to know about the appeal of the Dallas Cowboys.

jarhead:

joey2zs,
i think the argument for an east coast bias is connected more to HOF voting and general assessments of talent and team vice networking.

most would probable agree that network bias, vice sportswriter bias, is toward making money by selling advertising space based on strong viewer ratings.

nothing wrong with that as boy’s fans nationwide can now watch most games without a dish.

Foos:

For Dallas residents, I think the NFL Network game will also be seen on UPN 21 or whatever they call that station.

alanTdot:

CowboyMan
Jarhead

Columbo blocked down on that play yes, and he was supposed to. The play was supposed to trap Strahan into rushing the QB and Bledsoe was supposed to flip a pass over him to JJ who would then take the screen upfield. Columbo was probably supposed to release his block and lead JJ.

What happened instead was Bledsoe took the snap and began to assume a standing fetal position as he saw Strahan come at him.

The second sack was also Bledsoe holding on too long. Columbo has been a great discovery.

bushpilot:

mvppalisades:

Toast:

scn:

http://theboysblog.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/bash_jints.gif

scn:

Hey how’d you post the image?

CKnight:

Everybody go to NFL.com and vote for Tony for fed ex air player of the week. He is trailing Drew Brees somehow. To me this reflects how people that don’t like the Cowboys hate them. People gotta give credit where credits due.

mvppalisades:

scn:

scn:

scn:

mvppalisades:

mvppalisades:

bushpilot:

scn:

scn:

scn:

scn:

Got to go bye!

scn:

CowboyMan:

alanTdot: Thanks. I can remember, now that you’ve explained Columbo’s role, that BP said the sack was not Columbo’s fault. I also remember Columbo’s several rush stopping blocks on Peppers in the Carolina game. He buckled Peppers knees on one play in particular. Wow what a find Columbo has turned out to be.

eightball:

The best thing about Bledsoe’s benching is we no longer have to watch him just crumble into a puddle on the ground when the pressure is close. I live in the Buffalo area & I was soooo tired of seeing him just crumble without even being touched over the last five years. I could take the sacks a little easier if he was actaully hit. I was not sure Romo would be this good, but I knew he could not be worse. Let’s hope the team continues roll and Romo picks apart the gitns secondary!

bushpilot:

Bledsoe and the fetal position are synonomous with one another.

scn:

Romo’s record has been nothing to sneeze at

scn:

If we win on Sunday, then the fat lady will be warming up for the Giants season.

bushpilot:

:guitar:

Squidlo97:

Joey, I think its a northern east coast bias. The SEC and the Cowboys get no respect up there.

scn:

I’ve probably gotten carried away abit. Raul, I hope I haven’t taken this too far….

scn:

…but it is fun…

scn:

Seriously though, this game on Sunday is when boys become men. If we go into NY, face a desperate team and beat them in December on their home field, then I will feel very good about our chances to get a bye going into the playoffs.

scn:

scn:

In fact its not only the Giants game that’s big, but the Saints game the following week. If we win those two, then we are on our way!

scn:

Keep our penalties and turnovers to a minimum and we should win. :nono2:

scn:

Raul Villaronga:

scn:
OK, time to take the remote away from l’il Tommy …

Let’s not go overboard - you guys are like kids with a new Christmas toy…

Mikaele 1:

Shane J

I would add Fowler to that special teams list. He has made a lot of solo tackles on KO’s and PR’s… as well caused disruption to slow the runner down.

CowboyMan

I agree, Colombo is a great find. I’ll bet Chicago would like to have him back. He definately dominated Peppers in that game.

dizzypac:

scn:

Yes Raul, I couldn’t help myself

mvppalisades:

ESPN NFL LIVE on tv now-

two analysts were asked who will win the nfc title?

one says cowboys over bears
another says panthers over cowboys

bottom line?

cowboys mentioned in both instances. both both admitted that if the title game was tomorrow, cowboys would win. they say the panthers is the “sleeper team”. steve smith is the only one playing consistently on the offensive side and teams adjust by ganging up on him and no other players have stepped up.

a sleeper? more like hibernator. 5 more games left and no one have stepped up yet. not even keyshawn. i pass.

cowboys over bears for the title game.

cowboys over ravens in miami.

Mikaele 1:

Raul

That is great news! If the Cowboys and 49er’s are playing at the same time on Fox, living in Northern California, guess which one I get to watch.

I have Dish, and they don’t have NFL Sunday Ticket, however based on what I’ve heard, from my brother bloggers, it may not have been worth it anyway.

Kudos to CowboyMan for opening his home to me, for games not locally televised.

dizzypac:

lets add one more to this

scn:

Right now the Cowboys are the hot team. Winning, just like losing as we have learnt, is a habit.

scn:

Hopefully we ride this romomentum all the way.

scn:

Just like the Steelers who were 6-5 last year but never stopped winning after that.

scn:

Isn’tt it great to be playing in meaningful games this time of year and with a good shot at winning? This weeks game could be for the division, and if we win on Sunday, then next weeks game could be for a playoff bye.

Foos:

:bash_jints:

Foos:

http://theboysblog.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/lombardi.gif

Foos:

Foos:

ok I’m stupid.

any help?

mikhu:

testing 1..2..3…

mvppalisades:

things must be good in texas.

vince young (former Texas) destroys the Giants in 9 minutes

dallas stars are having a decent start.

manny ramirez might be traded to texas rangers.

dallas mavs are the nba’s hottest team right now.

dallas cowboys are the nfl’s hottest team right now.

Shane J:

mvp,
Don’t forget about the San Antonio Spurs!!

Shane J:

Of the top 6 rated teams (ESPN & Sportsline, both have Cowboys @6th), I can see an argument for any of them. It is nice to be a legitimate part of that arguement.

The defense is starting to come into its own and the only knock would be the inexperience of Romo, or if he hits that wall. Anything could happen, but it seems we are poised.

Now we just got to do it.

staubachfan:

bashnyg

staubachfan:

illcowboy:

illcowboy:

That’s friggin awesome!

illcowboy:

scn:

Raul,
Did you make these animated gifs? If so, what program did you use?

illcowboy:

:bashchi:

scn:

nice try illcowboy

scn:

Raul will have to make that one for us so we can use it

staubachfan:

http://theboysblog.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/bash_jints.gif

illcowboy:

scn

It was worth a shot. Being in Illinois, I’d love for us to meet the Bears for the NFC championship and send everyone around here back to pining for the 1985 team.

keystonetom:

What happened to the meaningful discussion?
I watched BP’s presser and it sure seems like a lot of thinking went into letting Vanderjagt go.( much to the surprise of the media) BP seems comfortable with Gramatica.

jarhead:

keystonetom,
im not sure he’s comfortable.

i think he decided that vandy had to go and they figured that gramatica was the best option.

if they were comfortable, there wouldnt be a kicker on the PS.

bushpilot:

I think Parcells got a lot of input from Belichek. He had him in training camp, so the “other Bill”, must have had some good things to say about him.

jarhead:

bushpilot,
he talked to somebody im sure. the GM there is his son-in-law so im sure he got some scoop.

he was cut there over a 4th round pick kicker. very few teams actually spend a higher round pick on their kicker so i guess they figured they would go with youth.

i think the guy is a wash. we’re basically in the same boat we were before. we’ll see what he does.

mvppalisades:

“I know what his track record is. And I know in 2003-2004, I know why he had some problems kicking and I know why he was out of football in 2005, and I know where he was this summer,” Parcells said. “I have good information from the people that had him this summer; they were very positive about it. I looked at everything.”

“Bill’s all about comfort and what he feels good with,” tight end Jason Witten said.

all i know is.. if BP is comfy with it, then I’m comfy with it.

Rafael Vela:

bushpilot,

Dallas has a scout covering the Pats and other regional teams during the preseason.

They also swapped scouts with the Pats for a week. I believe Jeff Ireland got to see N.E. in camp for a few days.

Whatever info he might have gotten from Belichick and Scott Pioli, he has just as much, if not more on Grammatica from his own people.

mvppalisades:

raul- we the cowboy nation demand you make a bash chicago bears gif.

SDCOWBOYFAN:

Raul, can you make an image of the dallas face riding the romo train?

keystonetom:

MVP
I can’t picture BP saying “comfy” youll have to use a different word.

BECKER2:

Raf any chance that this love from the
NFL schedulers could translate into some love from the refs and put an
end to the bogus crack back and roughing the passer calls??

keystonetom:

Becker
Wishful thinking. I think the refs are enjoying their newfound power over the assumed “cheap shot” players

SDCOWBOYFAN:

All the power polls have us at #6, exept for the retarded Boston Heald. They have us at 10. Well, maybe we will get a chance to pull out a can a WHUP-A** on their homo pats in feb.

keystonetom:

10 is better than 15 where Dr Z had us a few weeks ago

BECKER2:

Tom,
I’ve noticed the “better” teams in the
NFL seem to get the calls or non calls
so i am hopful we are moving into that
category.

keystonetom:

Really ? Which teams do you see getting the calls?

SDCOWBOYFAN:

Bolts last Sunday, for one.

Raul Villaronga:

mvp:
I’ll see what I can do …

SDFan:
Not sure… maybe I can cull some images and get it done, but don’t count on it …

bushpilot:

Raf, good points. I have to believe that Parcells has had his guys on this for a long time. He obviously didn’t want Cundiff back, he was signed a week or so ago, and had been available for awhile.

I don’t think it’s just field goals, although I think that had something to do with it. I just think Parcells wanted someone who can boom some kickoffs, for field position, and be consistent on everything inside 40.

Vanderclank was turning into a full fledged psychiatrists dream, they probably could do a case study on him. I just think that Bill took the info available to him, and made a judgement call that will benefit this team. I trust his judgement, and I don’t think he would have done this if he didn’t think Grammatica would bring a comfort level to the kicking game.

Comfy, I don’t know. Maybe predictability and consistency were all he was looking for. God knows, Vandy wasn’t giving any of us that. Imagine what was going through BP’s mind every time they got in field goal range.

Foos:

Foos:

:bashiggles:
:basheagles:
:bashskins:

Foos:

Foos:

yay I win daSuperBoll

Foos:

yay I win da Super Bool!!!11

itrustintuna:

SDCOWBOYFAN:

Raul, you shulda never told us how to do it!

SDCOWBOYFAN:

Hey I’m trying to remimber if Tyson tompson is out ALL season, because if he has a chance to go to the pro bowl, we can vote for him.

bushpilot:

He’s out for the year.

DAG:

Hey everybody, I think you’ll all like this:

Jay Leno on the Tonight Show tonight:

(talking about Vick giving his fans the finger)

“The browns QB did the same but there were no fans in the seats. ELI MANNING ALSO TRIED TO GIVE HIS FANS THE FINGER, BUT IT GOT INTERCEPTED”

hehe, I love it!

Mikaele 1:

You’ve got to love Jay Leno. His only favorites are the ones who feed his joke machine.

Personally, I think the #6 power ranking is a joke! Many of those same sports writers picked the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl, and when they didn’t live up to expectations early on, they put them somewhere in the middle. Now, they can’t turn their backs on 3 straight wins and the play of Tony Romo, but their Eastern bias won’t allow them to exult the Cowboys just yet!

I watched the Tampa Bay game again, and Romo picked them apart with precision. He will do the same to the Giants! Both Aikman and Buck agreed that there wasn’t a more well balanced team in the league… running, passing, defense!

Their power rankings are about to climb!

alanTdot:

alanTdot:

The giants are the biggest pretenders of this year.

Raul Villaronga:

All:
Nice article at the Boston Globe on Gramatica from back in April.

keystonetom:

Raul
Excellent article. I think it bears out the point Bushpilot made in that Gramatica can be expected to provide long kickoffs and consistency inside 40. He had made pressure kicks which is what I’m most hopeful for, someone who won’t choke.

mikhu:

From Mosley: CNBC is talking about the marketing of Romo. The best part is at the end when the guy in the middle forgets which Drew is in Dallas.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/fv.htm??t=s55

SDCOWBOYFAN:

just a reminder to everyoneto go to NFL.com andvote for tony asFedEx player of the week. And pro bowl voting too. Ican’t beleive Tyson Thompson still holds the league record in returns, after being on IR so long. He is a stud.

Raul Villaronga:

SDCowboyFan:

• http://www.nfl.com/partners/fedex
• http://football.fedex.com/ag_home.php

mvppalisades:

shockey is in romosexual denialllllllllll…..

Raul Villaronga:

Interesting article on Manning …

Shane J:

Interesting article but I don’t know how much I agree. Eli probably will not be Peyton, but who is. He may not win games on his own (Iggles game might be on him though), but when he had his 0-line and receivers (Toomer) they were tearing it up.

Now that the Gnats are having to rely on him, he isn’t getting it done. How many qb’s could, maybe 5. I think I would still take him over MVick, the media darling.

I just caught myself taking up for a divisional opponent. I’m sorry and am whipping myself now, it won’t hapen again. Whatever the reasons, squash them while they are down, don’t give them any hope, their still a threat to us.

bushpilot:

Almost 32% of the people in that pole are confident that Eli can lead them to the Super Bowl(10), while almost 24% are not confident at all(1). Everyone else falls in the middle.

I think those 32% are deluding themselves, and are afraid to face the rality of the situation. if they get to the Super Bowl, he won’t be leading the way, it’ll be Tiki Barber. If not this year, I think little Eli is in for a huge awakening when the running game isn’t as good without Tiki.

bushpilot:

Shane….blasphemy!!

mvppalisades:

Carlos Emmons is the OLB that is covering for Strahan. How good is he?

Four seasons- only one sack!!!

bushpilot:

Shane, I don’t disagree about Vick though. He’s a great RB/receiver, who happens to play the QB position. I believe he’s just an improved version of Kordell Stewart with a better arm. Anyone remember what happened to him?

Shane J:

Bush,
Time for some kitten straps this Sunday?

mvppalisades:

i think i made a mistake, he doesn’t cover for strahan. but he suck anyway.

mvppalisades:

jarhead:

Bushpilot,
I’d bet the gints gameplan calls for a heavy dose of tiki this weekend.

the seahawks had to give the ball to alexander 40 times the other night, and they needed some help from the officials.

im surprised if tiki isnt scheduled for 40 touches sunday.

mvppalisades:

MSNBC.COM breaks down the game.

“The Matchup: The Cowboy duo will start drooling when they look at films of the Giant corners and will count the minutes this week until kickoff. Owens and Glenn clearly rank in the top three of WR combinations in the league (Indianapolis and Cincinnati are the others), while McQuarters and Walker are backups who have been forced into the starting lineup. Owens is big, strong, fast and physical who lives to make big plays and appears to be more focused and team-oriented than he was earlier in the season. Glenn has speed and can separated and a ton of guts. McQuarters is one of the fastest corners in the game, but he is easily beaten on double moves and is too aggressive for his own good. Walker plays with confidence and hits hard for a smaller defensive back (5-10, 197), but he is in over his head when asked to do anything else but come off the bench.”

Shane J:

MVick is an awesome athlete, but does not seem like he is gong to be the passer that everyone wants him to be. I agree, he could excel in a ’slash’ type role.

Doesn’t matter how far you can throw it if you can’t throw it to the right place. Of course if his receivers would catch the balls that do get there it would help.

If he doesn’t learn to think throw first pretty quickly, he may be ruined for the position if he isn’t already. I do think you can blame the system/coaches a little on this one as well.

mvppalisades:

question-

if Cowboys go deep into the playoff (or win the Superbowl god forbid), will Parcells be a candidate for Coach of the Year?

I mean he did something no team could do, handle T.O. He made the decision to bench Bledsoe. He also made the decision to cut Vandy (assuming Gramatica does a good job for rest of the season). He basically made Cowboys the only