Cowboys-Titans: Teams in similar situations face off... Two teams in similar situations will meet at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday when the Tennessee Titans face the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams are 3-4. Both teams are coming off byes. Both teams lost their most recent game by close scores. The Cowboys are coming off a 20-17 loss to the Washington Redskins that ended with a missed 52-yard field-goal attempt by kicker Brett Maher. And that followed a controversial, 5-yard, illegal-snap penalty. But the Cowboys signaled during the bye week that they still believe they are playoff contenders as they sacrificed a first-round draft pick to acquire wide receiver Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders. "We're always trying to get better," Dallas head coach Jason Garrett said. "We believe very strongly in our team. We have a young football team. We've played some close games here in the early part of the season. We won one of them, we lost a couple of them. We're going to learn from those experiences and keep going." In Cooper, the Cowboys have a player who was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft and had more than 1,000 receiving yards each of his first two seasons. He has just 22 receptions for 280 yards this season, but the Cowboys hope he can return to the production he had in 2015 and 2016, when he was named to the Pro Bowl. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescot has just eight touchdown passes, including one against the Redskins. But Cooper gives him a deep threat to complement Cole Beasley, who leads the team with 33 receptions for 350 yards. The Titans will present a challenge because they rank ninth in the NFL in pass defense, even though they have just 15 sacks. Tennessee is also pretty good against the run, allowing just 4.1 yards per carry. Nonetheless, the Cowboys presumably will feed the ball to running back Ezekiel Elliott, who ranks third in the NFL in rushing at 88.4 yards per game while averaging 4.7 yards per attempt. Dallas fired offensive line coach Paul Alexander this week and assistant offensive line coach Marc Colombo has been promoted to Alexander's position. The Cowboys also hired longtime NFL offensive line coach Hudson Houck as an advisor. "This team is going about it the right way," Garrett said. "They're working hard, they're competing and I think they're getting better week by week." The Cowboys' biggest advantage may be the venue. Although Dallas is 0-4 on the road, it is 3-0 at home. The Titans, meanwhile, are 1-3 on the road, although their most recent game -- a 20-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, which counted as a road game -- was actually played in London. A missed two-point conversion with 31 seconds left cost Tennessee the game. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota passed for 237 yards, one touchdown and one interception in that game. He also led Tennessee on the 89-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes that gave the Titans a chance to win, although most of the yardage in that possession came on the ground. The Titans are hoping for more from Mariota, who has thrown just one touchdown pass in the past three games and only three in the six games he has played this season. He has thrown more interceptions (five) than TD passes. An elbow injury might be part of the problem. Mariota celebrated his 25th birthday on Tuesday by shedding the half glove on his throwing hand. Mariota has worn the glove since the elbow injury in the season opener at Miami caused some of the fingers in his throwing hand to go numb. Mariota missed just one game and came off the bench in another due to the injury. Mariota said that the feeling has returned to his hand, following the nerve injury to his elbow. "Yes. I've been able to practice (without the glove). It feels good. It feels better," Mariota said. (AP)
I’m in a 3-way tie for first in the weekly office pool. The other two have agreed to split if either wins. $100 each. I’ve agreed to pay next week’s entry fee for one of them if I win and vice versa for my fee if he wins ($20 each). $200 is on the line. I picked 39 total points. One guy picked 44 and the other guy picked 48 (vice-versa deal). I need a 41 and Under game tonite. For the record, I missed the Oak-SF game and the Hou-Den game. Let’s go DEFENSE!
Tennessee’s defense is looking good. Amari Cooper has his first TD as a Cowboy, Dak Prescott went full retard in his second red zone trip and gave the Titans life.
I was wrong about the office pool. I ended up with the split. The other guy actually had 45, not 44. 39/45//42= $100 for Frank... which means I’m only paying $50 for my ounce this week. I’ll take it.
Speaking of throwing it away, I just read where Aikman stated that it's time for a complete overhaul of this organization, and I couldn't agree more. Our line is worse, our QB is worse, our wide receivers are worse, and now our defense, which has been our only redeeming quality, is worse than it was a couple of years ago. Garrett needs to go, linehan needs to be shown the door, and obviously jj needs to step down and restructure the guys who make personnel moves, but we all know that won't happen. IsIt hard to believe that this team with this QB and running back and oline was on the cusp of something great and now they look like this.
Daks first season and Zeke in the backfield really showed promise. What the hell happened and so quickly? On the other hand JJ says he wont make mid-season changes and he is not down on Dak… sounds like a recipe for destruction. Something has to give... you'd think even JJ would wise up and realize the status quo thing is not working right now. Dallas has been a huge disappointment.
I have no clue what happened. I know we don't have Travis Frederick, our all pro center who is our anchor on the oline, but surely that isn't why we are so bad. You just don't see quarterbacks come in as hot as Dak his rookie year and regress like he has. It reminds me a lot of rgIII. I think I'm done with Dak though. Hes inaccurate, he holds on to the ball too long, he's already been sacked about as many times as he was last year and we are only at the half way point in the season, he's fumbled the ball 7 times...and I think all that stems from him being uncomfortable in the pocket. His footwork just looks so stiff compared to his rookie year, which to me says it's all in his head, and I'm not sure that will ever be fixed
Garrett has to go; Linehan has to go. Marinelli is going to retire soon, but I like the idea of Kris Richard taking over the defense. Dallas needs to strike gold in landing a new head coach/offensive coordinator, whether it's a current college coach or an NFL assistant. Someone who can bring a breath of fresh air to this high school offense. I'm also wondering if maybe Dallas shouldn't move some of the pieces around on their O-line. Tyron Smith has been struggling at LT, and Le'al Collins hasn't been great at RT; rookie Connor Williams might not have the brute strength for guard. It's a lot of moving around, but what about moving Williams to LT (which he played at Texas), Smith to RT (which he played in college), and Collins to LG? Team's also going to have to make a decision on Sean Lee. He's out again...no surprise there.
You might be right. I think we can survive with Tyron at LT but he definitely has struggled so maybe moving him at RT would be a good idea soon. La'el Collins was at his best at guard, so that leaves us needing a tackle. Does Williams have the quickness/length to play tackle? I'm not so sure on that. I was hoping we wouldn't trade for Cooper so that we could get a stud olineman in the first round but obviously that ain't happening. Sean Lee is so good, but you're right, he's injured most of the time. He went thru a phrase where he was actually staying on the field a lot for a couple of years so I was hopeful he was just unlucky early in his career but that's not the case. Leighton Vander esch and Smith will probably be the strong point of his team down the road but Lee needs to be replaced. We need a QB, tackle, TE, lb, and Cheeto looks....bad. like, way way bad. He's young and I know cornerbacks tend to have the biggest learning curve so I'm not giving up on him, but it wouldn't hurt to get another corner and a safety as well. This team went from contenders to needing a little bit of everything seemingly overnight.
Agree we'll probably need more o-line help...and an LB since it appears Sean Lee could be on his way out...and definitely a TE. I'm not writing off Prescott yet. I want to see if he can improve under new tutelage. Same with Cheeto. He's had some great games, and some not-so-great. But overall I like what he brings.
Definitely not writing off cheeto yet, but Dak looks too gun-shy and personally I think his days off being a winning qb are over. I hope I'm wrong in that assessment, and I very well could be. Anyone who thought that Alex Smith would wind up being a really good qb after his first few years in sanfran is a liar, and Jared Goff looks like a different qb with the new coach there, but I'm just going with my gut on this.
It could be if the o-line is revamped and provides decent protection, Dak can settle in again. I don't think he's lost talent, just needs to relax a bit and get his mo-jo back.
I do not understand why Connor Williams was moved to a different position when he excelled at LT in college. I know position needs come into play but that switch doesn’t look too good right now and (if I was a Cowboys fan) I’d be concerned that the move could impact his development in the NFL.
His situation was not unlike Zack Martin's coming out of notre Dame. They felt he lacked the length of a true tackle and that his game wouldn't translate top the pros. I wish they'd switch he and Collins out just to see what happens. This season is already over so why not see what you have?
Williams might be a bit of a 'tweener - he doesn't have the length for tackle, and I'm not sure he has the strength (now) for guard. Not knowing what the future holds for Travis Frederick, Williams might warrant a look at center.
