Julius Jones & Marion Barber gave the Cowboys great production in the running game.  Julius Jones started all 16 games and he carried the ball 267 times for 1,084 yards (4.1 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 9 passes for 142 yards (15.8 avg).  For his career, Jones has played in 37 games (35 starts) and he’s carried the ball 721 times for 2,896 yards (4.0 ypc) with 16 TD runs.  He also has caught 61 passes for 469 yards (7.7 avg), but has never caught a TD pass.

Marion Barber had a great season for the Cowboys.  He played in all 16 games and carried the ball 135 times for 654 yards (4.8 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also has caught 23 passes for 196 yards (8.5 avg) with 2 TD catches.  For his career, Barber has played in 29 games (3 starts) and he’s carried the ball 273 times for 1,192 yards (4.4 ypc) with 19 TD runs.  He also has caught 41 passes for 311 yards (7.6 avg) with 2 TD catches.

Tyson Thompson had his season cut short due to injury.  He played in 7 games this season and carried the ball 13 times for 30 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  For his career, Thompson has played in 22 games and has carried the ball 59 times for 212 yards (3.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 3 passes for 16 yards (5.3 avg).

Lousaka Polite didn’t do much this season.  He played in 12 games this season and carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc) and he caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg).  For his career, Polite has played in 27 games (3 starts) and he’s carried the ball 9 times for 26 yards (2.9 ypc).  He also has caught 12 passes for 97 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.

I must have had a crystal ball as Bill Parcells called it quits after I predicted it.  It really wasn’t hard to figure out.  Jones brought in Parcells to win playoff games and he never did that in Dallas.  Parcells also didn’t want to coach another season with Terrell Owens on his team and who could blame him. 

I have a feeling that Jerry Jones over ruled Coach Parcells about adding T.O. and about changing the QB.  Drew Bledsoe was brought to Dallas because he was one of Parcells’ boys and I have a hard time believing that Parcells would bench a veteran for essentially an undrafted free-agent.  Parcells likes to make all the decisions when it comes to picking the players and I think Jones doesn’t like to let him have that power.  The Cowboys made the playoffs, but they lost a disappointing game to the Seahawks and only finished 9-7 on the season.  For his career, Parcells now has a record of 172-130 (57%) during the regular season and 11-8 in the post season.  In his four years for the Cowboys, Parcells record now stands at 34-30 (53.1%) in the regular season and 0-2 in the post season.

As frustrating as it was to see Tony Romo screw up the snap in the playoff game, the Cowboys would have never gotten the chance to play in that game without Romo’s play at QB.  Romo played in all 16 games (started 10 at QB) and completed 220 of 337 passes (65.3%) for 2,903 yards with 19 TD passes and 13 interceptions (95.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 34 times for 102 yards (3.0 ypc).  The only difference between last year’s stats and his career numbers are that he’s carried the ball 36 times in his career for 100 yards (2.8 ypc).

Drew Bledsoe started the first 6 games of the season and didn’t play too well before Parcells benched him in favor of Tony Romo.  Bledsoe completed 90 of 169 passes (53.3%) for 1,164 yards with 7 TD passes and 8 interceptions (69.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for 28 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  For his career, Bledsoe has played in 194 games (193 starts) and has completed 3,839 of 6,717 passes (57.2%) for 44,611 yards with 251 TD passes and 206 interceptions (77.1 QB Rating).  He also has run the ball 385 times for 764 yards (2.0 ypc) with 10 TD runs.

Everyone will always remember Tony Romo mis-handling a snap on a game-winning FG attempt, but their were many other factors that led to this awful loss that ended the Cowboys season.  The play that also sticks out in my mind is when Terry Glenn fumbled deep in Cowboys territory and the ball went out of the endzone for a safety to cut the Cowboys lead to 20-15 in the 4th quarter.  Then the defense, that had played well most of the game, lost track of TE Jerramy Stevens who got loose for a 37 yard TD in the 4th quarter to give the Seahawks a 21-20 lead.  That set up Tony Romo to lead the offense right down the field at the end of the game to give Martin Gramatica a chance to win the game….but he couldn’t handle the snap.

Julius Jones had a great game for the Cowboys as he carried the ball 22 times for 112 yards (5.1 ypc).  Tony Romo had a decent game as he completed 17 of 29 passes for 189 yards with a TD.  Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn both dropped alot of passes in this game and that really hurt the Cowboys cause in this football game.

The defense was led by linebackers Bradie James (11 tackles) and Akin Ayodele (10 tackles) who bottled up Shaun Alexander (24 car, 69 yards, 2.9 ypc) and took the running game away from the Seahawks offense.  But, the Cowboys didn’t look prepared for the Seahawks to be throwing the ball alot to TE Jerramy Stevens and that hurt them badly as Stevens wound up with 5 receptions for 77 yards with 2 TD grabs.

Miles Austin also had a huge play in the 3rd quarter as he returned a kick-off 93 yards for a TD right after Hasselbeck’s first TD strike to Stevens to give the Cowboys the lead at the time 17-13.

The Cowboys deserved to win this football game, but, they made a couple of huge errors that doomed them and will have the whole off-season to think of what might have been.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270106026 

 

This game was a huge let down for Dallas. Where do I start?  Tony Romo has let the fame of being the starting QB go to his head and cost us the playoffs. I do not know about any of you but I was ready for the Superbowl.  Tony Romo is not ready for this kind of responsibilty, he can not handle the pressure that it takes to be a good QB. Not saying that we would have been better off with Bledsoe, I do not think we would have made it this far without Romo.  Except he let fame go to his head and forgot what was the real purpose behind it all; another shot at the Superbowl.  With the slip of the hand he threw it away. Parcells I know people have been very critical of you including myself, but I would not blame you if you decided not to stick around for another year of this kind of disappointment. How could you brace yourself for another let down? As for myself I do not know how sit and go through another season of this.  Cowboys have a lot growing to do before we will ever see them in the Superbowl again, right now they are just not ready. 

The Dallas Cowboys have limped into the playoffs losing 3 of their last 4 games.  Tony Romo has had trouble against playoff teams so that will bear watching in this football game.  The Cowboys will likely come out running the ball against a Seahawks defense that is allowing 126.8 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry over the regular season.  Julius Jones (1,084 yards rushing, 4.1 ypc, 4 TDs) and Marion Barber (654 yards rushing, 4.8 ypc, 14 TDs) should find running room against the Seahawks.  It will be up to the Seahawks defensive linemen to keep the linebackers clean to make plays for the defense.  Lofa Tatupu (122 tackles), Julian Peterson (89 tackles, 10 sacks) and LeRoy Hill (92 tackles) are the heart of the Seahawks defense and will battle the Cowboys running game on Saturday Night in Seattle.  The Seahawks have suffered alot of injuries in the secondary so if the line gives Tony Romo time to throw, he should have alot of success.  Terrell Owens (85 rec, 1,180 yards, 13 TDs) and Terry Glenn (70 rec, 1,047 yards, 6 TDs) will cause big problems for the Seahawks secondary.  The Cowboys will also attack the safeties for the the Seahawks with TE Jason Witten, but the secret weapon for the Cowboys on Saturday Night could wind up being WR Patrick Crayton against the nickel back of the Seahawks, no matter who that might be due to the massive injuries that the secondary of the Seahawks have incurred.

The Seahawks would like to run the ball with Shaun Alexander (896 yards rushing, 3.6 ypc, 7 TDs) to try to keep their own defense on the sideline.  Alexander had played great as of late, right in time for the playoffs but the Cowboys allow 103.7 yards per game rushing and only 3.9 yards per carry.  With Darrell Jackson (63 rec, 956 yards, 10 TDs) a gametime decision, the Hawks might have a little trouble in the passing game.  The one thing the Seahawks have going for them is that Deion Branch (53 rec, 725 yards, 4 TDs) has played really well on the big stage and he could again starting Saturday Night.  The Cowboys pass defense has allowed 219.1 net yards per game, so if Hasselbeck has time to throw he could do some damage.  The Seahawks must keep OLB DeMarcus Ware (11.5 sacks) away from the QB to have time to throw.

Special teams could be a problem for the Cowboys in this game.  Martin Gramatica has only attempted 8 FGs this season and hit 6 of them.  Punter Matt McBriar has sometimes out-punted his coverage with his leg strength.  He has averaged 48.2 yards per punt, but only 38.6 net yards.  He also has downed 22 of 75 punts inside the 20-yard line.  Terence Newman has done a fine job returning punts as he has averaged 10.1 yards per return and scored a TD.  Miles Austin is an exciting kick returner, but he puts the ball on the ground and you can’t do that in the playoffs.  Austin has averaged 26.0 yards per kick-off return this season.

The Seahawks have played well on special teams and they have a huge advantage on the Cowboys here.  Josh Brown has hit 25 of 31 FGs this season and he’s very dependable.  Rookie punter Ryan Plackemeier had a solid season averaging 45.0 yards per punt and 37.3 net yards average.  He also has placed 25 of 72 punts inside the 20 yard line.  Nate Burleson had a rough time at receiver this season but he’s done a great job of returning kicks.  Burleson has returned 34 punts for 322 yards (9.5 avg) and a TD.  He also has returned 26 kick-offs for 643 yards (24.7 avg).

It should be fun watching Bill Parcells and Mike Holmgren matching wits on Saturday Night.  Both of these guys have had a lot of success in the post-season as Parcells sports a 11-7 record, while Holmgren has an 11-9 record.  I think the Seahawks have a slightly better team and they’re at home so I will side with them in a high-scoring, close football game.