The Dallas Cowboys

[CM Hooe]

AROUND THE SHIELD

Away	Score	Home
New Orleans Saints	21 - 14	Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers	10 - 22	Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals	6 - 27	Cleveland Browns
Indianapolis Colts	17 - 27	Houston Texans
Tennessee Titans	19 - 9	Jacksonville Jaguars
Atlanta Falcons	26 - 13	Chicago Bears
Buffalo Bills	23 -OT- 20	Kansas City Chiefs
Philadelphia Eagles	33 - 27	St Louis Rams
Detroit Lions	13 - 19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks	21 - 21	San Francisco 49ers
New York Giants	20 - 19	Washington Redskins
Minnesota Vikings	24 - 34	San Diego Chargers
Carolina Panthers	38 - 36	Arizona Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys	30 - 24	New York Jets
New England Patriots	27 - 24	Miami Dolphins
Oakland Raiders	35 - 17	Denver Broncos

The New England Patriots had a scare this week as quarterback Tom Brady went down with an injury very early in the team's contest with the Miami Dolphins. Brady banged his head against the turf hard and appeared to exhibit concussion-like symptoms. Though he walked under his own power to the sidelines and appeared to be okay later, NFL concussion rules prevented him from re-entering the game. Enter rookie passer Ryan Mallett, who handled the pressure quite admirably; he calmly marched the Pats down the field on two touchdown drives - with both scores having been thrown by Mallett. He also didn't throw any interceptions, and picked up 144 passing yards in the process. While not the most gaudy performance of the week, a rookie quarterback stepping onto the big stage so suddenly and unexpectedly and handling the pressure as well as he did is to be lauded.

Panthers' running back DeAngelo Williams appears to be a man on a mission this season. Fresh off a five-year, $43M contract extension, Williams was worth every penny of it today as he ran for 289 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers narrowly beat the Arizona Cardinals. Williams' 291 yards is the highest single-game rushing total by one player since Jerome Harrison's 286-yard effort in 2009 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Week One is barely in the books and already some teams will be forced to continue the season without contributions from key players. Colts' safety Antoine Bethea will miss the season on Injured Reserve with a fractured elbow, while Raiders' linebacker Kamerion Wimbley will meet the same fate after having suffered a compound leg fracture that onlookers described as "gruesome". In addition, Redskins' running back Ryan Torain will miss at least ten weeks with a broken foot, and Jaguars' linebacker and recent free agent acquisition Paul Posluszny will be out until December after having suffered a dislocated hip.

(note: if you want to see an update about any particular team in the Around The Shield section, let me know.)

[CM Hooe]

Matchup Preview | September 18, 2011
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Dallas Cowboys (1-0, 1-0 Away)		San Francisco 49ers (1-0, 0-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 523 Total Yards 386 397 Total Offensive Yards 317 241 Passing Yards 207 156 Rushing Yards 110 30.0 Points Per Game 34.0 1 Passing TD 2 1 Rushing TD 1 17 First Downs 11 4 Red Zone Attempts 1 1-3 Red Zone TD-FG 0-1 100 Red Zone Percentage 100 Defensive Stats Comparison 413 Total Yards Allowed 291 331 Passing Yards Allowed 215 82 Rushing Yards Allowed 76 24.0 Points Per Game 21.0 4 Sacks 1 0 Fumble Recoveries 1 2 Interceptions 3 3 Red Zone Attempts 1 3-0 Red Zone TD-FG 1-0 100 Red Zone Percentage 100 Injury Report LB Victor Butler Herniated Disk / 4 weeks DT Isaac Sopoaga Partial ACL Tear / 2 weeks CB Josh Thomas Broken Forearm / IR DE Ray McDonald Torn Bicep / 6 weeks LB Ahmad Brooks Dislocated Hip / 9 weeks TE Nate Byham Complete ACL Tear / IR C Jonathan Goodwin Broken Tibia / IR Game Notes Both teams enter this Week 2 contest coming off road wins against the Jets and Seahawks, respectively. The Niners endured a significant injury price in the process of winning that game, however, with many key defensive players finding themselves unavailable for this contest. Reserve DE Will Tukuafu, DT Ricky Jean Francois, and rookie LB Aldon Smith will be relied on by the Niners' defense for major contributions this week. Expect the Cowboys to rotate their interior linebackers a bit more this week. Though head coach Jason Garrett was not outwardly unhappy with the performances of veterans Bradie James and Keith Brooking, many in the organization want to get youngsters Sean Lee and Bruce Carter on the field as to get their feet wet, as they will be relied on to start before too long. Continuing on the Cowboys' defense, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has made some changes to the depth chart. Orlando Scandrick will start at right cornerback over Mike Jenkins. Scandrick will remain the nickel corner in nickel sets, with Jenkins continuing to man the outside in those situations. "We think we've found a hot hand in Orlando," commented Ryan, "and we want to ride him as long as we can." Reserve safety Barry Church could also see an increased role, though no depth chart changes were made at safety this week.

[Knickerbocker91]

Odd that every road team won...

[CM Hooe]

BARBEQUED BY THE BAY

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- In what became an interesting game after a rather catastrophic first half which saw the Dallas Cowboys fall behind their hosts by 27, Tony Romo did his best to rally the offense, breaking NFL records in the process, but ultimately fell short as the San Francisco 49ers topped their guests, 51 to 44.

The Cowboys had absolutely no answer for Niners' receiver Michael Crabtree, who enjoyed easily the best game of his young career as he caught passes for 264 yards and three scores. At times it wasn't so much Crabtree's skill gashing the Cowboys' defense as much as huge mental lapses on the Cowboys' part, including one play where Crabtree ran a streak 30 yards down the field uncovered before catching a pass for an easy score.

Playing for large portions of the game in a pass-only mindset, Tony Romo did what he could and then some, completing passes for an NFL-record 556 yards passing, breaking the 554-yard threshold Rams' quarterback Norm Van Brocklin set sixty years ago in 1951. Despite the gaudy numbers, even Romo was not at his sharpest on his day, throwing four interceptions in the process, including a game-sealing pick-six to Niners' linebacker Patrick Willis.

Defensively, there isn't much to be said, at least on the positive side of things. Orlando Scandrick did grab two picks and deflect two passes, which seemingly represented the entirety of the Cowboys' pass defense on this day. The secondary across-the-board was repeatedly gashed throughout the first half, played reasonable for the third quarter, and then collapsed in the fourth quarter as soon as the offense tied the game.

"It's frustrating, watching the team play this poorly" said coach Jason Garrett in the post-game interviews. We really thought we had straightened out our defensive issues in the preseason, but it's evident now that we were dead wrong on that. We have to play better."

A battered-and-beaten Cowboys defense will attempt to reverse course next week against another team with a questionable quarterback situation, the Washington Redskins.

Sep 18, 2011 - DAL at SF
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Dallas Cowboys (1-0)	3	3	17	21	44
San Francisco 49ers (1-0)	17	13	0	21	51

Team Stats Comparison
DAL		SF
650	Total Offense	470
135	Rushing Yards	88
515	Passing Yards	382
25	First Downs	12
31	Punt Return Yards	46
164	Kick Return Yards	0
845	Total Yards	516
5	Turnovers	2
4/14	3rd Down Converstion	5/12
1/1	4th Down Conversion	0/0
0/0	2-Point Conversion	0/0
4/1	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3/1
2-10	Penalties	0
37:20	Posession Time	22:40

Dallas Cowboys Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
Tony Romo	83.5	37/54	556	2/4	61
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Felix Jones	19	99	5.2	2	27
Demarco Murray	3	25	8.3	0	21
Shaun Chapas	1	1	1.0	1	1
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Miles Austin	8	209	26.1	2	61
Felix Jones	8	43	5.3	0	17
Jason Witten	6	83	13.8	0	31
Dez Bryant	6	72	12.0	0	32
Dwayne Harris	3	54	18.0	0	26
Kevin Ogletree	3	64	21.3	0	57
Martellus Bennett	2	5	2.5	0	4
Demarco Murray	1	26	26.0	0	26
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	INT	PDEF	TD
Marcus Spears	4	1	0	0	0
Orlando Scandrick	5	0	2	2	0
Demarcus Ware	11	0	0	0	0
KICKING	FGM/A	PCT	LONG	XPM/A	PTS
David Buehler	3/3	100	49	5/5	14
PUNTING	PUNTS	YDS	AVG	IN20	TB
Mat McBriar	5	229	45.8	2	0
KICK RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Bryan McCann	2	50	25.0	27	0
Demarco Murray	6	114	19.0	25	0
PUNT RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demarco Murray	4	31	7.7	11	0

San Francisco 49ers Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
Alex Smith	116.2	17/26	390	4/2	15.0
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Frank Gore	24	59	2.4	1	12
Alex Smith	4	16	4.0	0	14
Moran Norris	2	4	2.0	1	4
Anthony Dixon	2	9	4.5	0	6
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Michael Crabtree	5	264	52.8	3	86T
Vernon Davis	5	58	11.6	0	22
Braylon Edwards	2	16	8.0	0	14
Josh Morgan	2	17	8.5	1	11T
Ted Ginn	1	4	4.0	0	4
Moran Norris	1	16	16.0	0	16
Delanie Walker	1	15	15.0	0	15
DEFENSIVE	TACK	SACK	INT	PDEF	TD
Patrick Willis	11	2	2	1	1
Will Tukuafu	5	2	0	0	0
Justin Smith	2	1	0	0	0
Donte Whitner	6	0	1	0	0
Navorro Bowman	7	0	1	0	0
KICKING	FGM/A	PCT	LONG	XPM/A	PTS
David Akers	1/1	100	41	6/7	9
PUNTING	PUNTS	YDS	AVG	IN20	TB
Andy Lee	6	241	40.1	1	0
KICK RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Michael Crabtree	1	0	0.0	0	0
PUNT RETURNING	RET	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ted Ginn	3	46	15.3	17	0

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knickerbocker91

Odd that every road team won...

Somehow I did not even notice that.

I wonder if that has EVER happened in real life in the entire history of the NFL...?

EDIT: turns out I'm reading the scores as listed in the League Schedule screen wrong. Whoops. Not all those teams were away. I'll fix that for Week 1 here in a bit, and from here in it'll be correct for all future weeks. Thanks for pointing that out.

[CM Hooe]

AROUND THE SHIELD

Away	Score	Home
Kansas City Chiefs	27 - 31	Detroit Lions
Seattle Seahawks	23 - 26	Pittsburgh Steelers
Oakland Raiders	7 - 13	Buffalo Bills
Green Bay Packers	38 - 45	Carolina Panthers
Baltimore Ravens	28 - 45	Tennessee Titans
Cleveland Browns	19 - 35	Indianapolis Colts
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	20 - 23	Minnesota Vikings
Arizona Cardinals	24 - 21	Washington Redskins
Chicago Bears	14 - 6	New Orleans Saints
Jacksonville Jaguars	20 - 44	New York Jets
New York Giants	20 - 19	Washington Redskins
Dallas Cowboys	44 - 51	San Francisco 49ers
San Diego Chargers	17 - 20	New England Patriots
Cincinnati Bengals	24 - 6	Denver Broncos
Houston Texans	31 - 20	Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles	3 - 27	Atlanta Falcons
St Louis Rams	20 - 37	St Louis Rams

It would have been very difficult for Panthers' running back Deangelo Williams to top his stellar performance last week, but somehow he has managed to do so. This time, he rewrote the NFL record book, running for a new all-time league best 310 yards on 20 carries, picking up three scores along the way. Even more impressive that such an effort came against the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers. "He's making my job a cakewalk," laughed Cam Newton, the Panthers' rookie quarterback. "All I gotta do is hand the ball off and we're golden. As long as he and the big guys out in front of him are playing this well, we'll be in great shape." Led by Williams, the Panthers have jumped out to a surprising 2-0 start and will look to continue their rushing dominance this week against the yet-to-win Jacksonville Jaguars.

Though the Atlanta Falcons won this week, it came at a very tall cost. Midway through the contest, Matt Ryan was sacked by Jason Babin, and in the process his ankle rolled awkwardly under him. Ryan was carted off the field, and x-rays revealed that the third-year quarterback had a compound fracture in his ankle. The Falcons have placed him on IR and will look to Chris Redman to deliver the high promise the offense showed in the preseason, and also to continue to keep Atlanta alive in the NFC South division race.

It's still early, but Saints' fans have to be alarmed that quarterback Drew Brees is suddenly struggling. In two games, Brees has thrown for only 355 yards, and this week against the Bears he failed to lead the Saints' offense on a touchdown drive. It's the first time the Saints haven't scored a touchdown in a game since December 2005, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers intercepted a declining Aaron Brooks four times en rout to a 10 to 3 grinder of a victory. It's unclear what the problem is, as Brees appears fine physically, but the Saints' passing game in general is very much out-of-sync right now. Though the team - and virtually everyone that follows the NFL, for that matter - is confident that Brees will turn around his fortunes and quickly, one wonders what would happen to the Saints if Brees' sudden decline in play is more than a fleeting month in a marathon of another successful NFL season. The Saints currently sit at 1-1 in the NFC South, tied for third with Tampa Bay.

(note: if you want to see an update about any particular team in the Around The Shield section, let me know.)

[CM Hooe]

CHARRED COWBOYS REGROUP SECONDARY

VALLEY RANCH, TX - After being lit up in consecutive weeks by the likes of Mark Brunell and Alex Smith, the Cowboys' coaching staff understood the obvious that something had to change - and quickly - if the team was going to enjoy any sustained success this season. To that end, some assignments in the secondary have been adjusted in an attempt to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down.

Foremost, the Cowboys signed DB Rashad Carmichael. Carmichael, a rookie from Virginia Tech, was drafted by the Houston Texans in April but failed to find a spot on that team's roster. Carmichael brings ball-hawking skills to the secondary, as well as some versatility as he is capable of playing free safety as well as cornerback - in fact, he may be better suited there altogether. It remains to be seen how the Cowboys will deploy Carmichael. To make room for the rookie acquisition, the Cowboys waived FB Chris Gronkowski, who did not appear in either of the team's first two contests.

The Cowboys also shuffled the roles of some of the players on the roster. Though the roles of the safeties in the Cowboys' defense are largely interchangeable, Abram Elam will now line up closer to the line of scrimmage as the "strong" safety, with Gerald Sensabaugh sliding away to the "free" safety position. Alan Ball and Barry Church remain the reserve safeties. Further down the depth chart, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah was seen taking reps at cornerback this week. The second-year man out of IUP may have been a bit miscast at safety, falling behind other safeties on the team because he lacks the bulk to play against the run effectively. Since the move was made, some analysts wonder whether Owusu-Ansah could push Mike Jenkins for playing time as the third cornerback; given his background with the Cowboys at safety, the line of thinking is that IUP product could be a more effective blitzer and better player around the line of scrimmage in general than Jenkins, who has a reputation of a poor tackler. Such a slide would be rather shocking for Jenkins, who was a Pro Bowler in 2009 and a former first-round draft choice under the Wade Phillips regime.

[Knickerbocker91]

Tough loss, looks like the defense forgot to make the trip to San Fran with the rest of the team. Not a fan of the Cowboys (or anyone else in the NFC East beside the Giants), but this is looking good. Good luck next week against Washington.