In depth 2013: Dallas Cowboys

by | Mar 25, 2013 | 2012 season, 2013 season, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Random Thoughts

When an 8-8 record kept the Dallas Cowboys out of the 2012 playoffs, Owner/General Manager Jerry Jones promised changes. And changes did follow, including the firing of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and the hiring of Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator and Bill Callahan as offensive coordinator.

But were those the changes necessary to turn the Cowboys around and get them back to the playoffs? Steven Mullenax, editor and head writer at The Landry Hat, indicates that he’s not convinced Jones’ solutions went to the heart of the problems.

Mullenax thought Ryan’s defense was good enough to keep the team competitive and thought injuries and offensive line play contributed more to last season’s demise. He shared some thoughts with Zoneblitz.com on the 2012 season and on what he thinks the team needs to do moving into 2013. Here’s what he had to say.

Zoneblitz: What were your thoughts on the firing of Rob Ryan and the overhaul on the coaching staff after the 2012 season? (more…)

NFL Picks, 2012 season, Week 17

by | Dec 26, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Picks

With a convincing win over Detroit on Saturday night, the Atlanta Falcons took another step toward a championship by locking up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

So why isn’t anyone buying Atlanta? The 13-2 Falcons have been dominant against teams they should beat this season, but have not played the most difficult of schedules. That’s not their fault – you can only play the teams they tell you to play. But there’s still the lingering feeling stemming from blowout losses in playoff games the last two seasons.

Greg Huseth, senior editor and staff writer for Blogging Dirty, says those two games have this team better prepared for what it takes to have success in the playoffs.

“The Falcons have been embarrassed the last two seasons in the playoffs and I think that has made them more mentally tough,” he says. “They also overlooked a bad Carolina Panthers team in Week 14 and got obliterated. Those playoff losses, and the more recent loss to Carolina, have taught them not to overlook any aspect of the game and that if they don’t execute, it won’t matter that they’re the number one seed in the NFC.”

The Falcons are going to have a challenging road in the postseason, even if they are playing at home. San Francisco and Seattle look to be peaking and Green Bay also is playing well. But it did look to me like Atlanta did take its game up a notch against Detroit, so maybe they are poised for a better showing.

Huseth joined us as our guest blogger for the regular season’s final week. Last week’s guest celebrity blogger was Keith Myers from 12th Man Rising. He went 12-4, which was good for second place last week. He beat Tony, who went 9-7. Andy hit on a bunch of upsets, which led to a 14-2 week that sprung him to a two-game lead for the season.

  Week 16 Season
Andy 14-2 153-86-1
Tony 9-7 151-88-1
Celebrity bloggers 12-4 148-91-1

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Cowboys-Giants reaction

by | Sep 5, 2012 | 2012 season, NFL Random Thoughts

I always get excited and overreact to what I see during the first game of the season. Tonight was no different.

My first reactions to the Dallas-New York opener:

1) Mostly boring. Neither team really seemed to have it going on tonight. There were very few big, downfield plays, long run plays, etc. Both defenses were good. Both offenses need work.

2) Dallas might be better than expected: The defensive backfield, powered by rookie corner draftee Morris Claiborne and free agent cornerback signee Brandon Carr, is much improved. Last year Eli Manning threw for something like 1500 yards in two games against Dallas. Tonight he was well under 300, in part because his two key receivers — Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz — could not get open. The offensive line is still abysmal. Tony Romo was getting crushed all over the place. But overall I was much more impressed with Dallas than I expected.

3) Giants might be less than expected: Last year was a tale of two seasons. Through 14 games New York was 7-7. That unspectacular stretch was followed by a spectacular run to the Super Bowl. That’s the last thing people remember. So expectations may have been inflated by that. Tonight’s team looked nothing like the Super Bowl winner. Granted, it’s one game. But it was a key divisional game on national television opening the season. And the results were underwhelming. I’m not judging an entire season by it, but I am muting my opinion on the Giants. They are still in the mix as a favorite, but they’ve allowed a division rival to get a leg up on them in a game they should have won at home.

4) Replacement refs played minor role: Sure, there may have been a missed call here and an overblown call there, but tonight I saw little difference between the replacements and the “real” refs. The flow of the game was never interrupted. The missed calls were not of any major variety. And I don’t believe any team can claim they were cost a victory from what went on tonight. As stated in my notebook earlier today, both teams have to live with them and in most cases bad calls even out. Tonight the replacements acquitted themselves well.

Rip away in the comments section if you’d like. But welcome to the 2012 football season.

ZB Notebook 09-05-12

by | Sep 5, 2012 | American Football League, NFL Random Thoughts

We’re putting in something new this year. We’ve generally got a bunch of ideas for little things that would make for borderline stand-alone posts. Now on a (hopefully) weekly basis, we plan to empty our brains and paper scraps of those items in a “Zoneblitz Notebook.”

This will give us an opportunity to feature not only a few more of our own blurbs, but also a chance to feature other works from around the Internet that we find interesting. We’re still tinkering with the format, but in general we’ll pick two or three main topics and several other items with links to supporting source materials. If you run across something that might be an interesting addition to the notebook, please feel free to drop us a line or a link in the comments section below. In the meantime, here’s the first installment of the Zoneblitz Notebook.

Replacement refs overblown: It’s not all that often that I agree with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose team has been more or less irrelevant since he ran out Jimmy Johnson. But he’s right in his observations regarding the league’s referees, who will be locked out through at least the first week of the regular season.

He noted last week on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas (which was picked up by ProFootballTalk.com) that he isn’t terribly concerned about winning or losing games because of referees in part because the mistakes generally even out and that the permanent refs make mistakes too.

“As long as it’s consistent, then how it affects the games may not be as much,” Jones told the radio station, according to PFT.
I think the rancor surrounding replacement referees is a little blown out of proportion. Yes, the replacements looked goofy several times during the preseason. Sure, during the preseason, they made some embarrassing and obvious gaffes, particularly with respect to spotting the ball, calling pass interference penalties and other mess-ups.

But I think this is just an issue on which the NFL teams are going to have to suck it up. Both teams have to deal with them. In all likelihood, they won’t be around for long. And if they are, their performance is likely going to improve as they get accustomed to the game.

It’s not like the officiating from week to week with the permanent refs is spotless. And I also find it unlikely that the replacement refs are going to miss something so blatant that it is going to cause a major injury, as has been speculated in some places.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope permanent referees do ultimately get a deal done soon. The game is definitely smoother when they are in there. But if the lockout results in at least some of the permanent officials becoming full-time refs, then I think it’s a stance worth taking for the league.
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In depth: Dallas Cowboys

by | Feb 6, 2012 | 2011 season, 2012 season, NFL Draft, NFL Free Agency, NFL Random Thoughts

Few teams have been harder to figure out in recent years than the Dallas Cowboys. The team often has tons of talent on the field only to self-destruct in strange ways and the 2011 season was no different. After 11 games, Tony Romo was clicking and DeMarco Murray was running hard.

Then Dallas lost two heartbreakers to Arizona and the New York Giants late and the Cowboys were on their way to a 1-4 finish.
So what’s ahead for Jerry Jones, Jason Garrett and crew? Steven Mullenax, editor and head writer at The Landry Hat blog, recently shared his thoughts with Zoneblitz.

Zoneblitz: Are Jason Garrett and his current coaching staff the right mix for the Cowboys? (more…)