Week 13 Analysis: 11-1

Yeah, we beat the toughest competition in the NFC. Now there is no doubt we are the team to beat in the NFC. So why am I not that happy about it?

Because that was some of the sloppiest football we've played in awhile, possibly all season!

Unfortunately I couldn't watch it on TV (along with most of the nation) but I listened to it on the radio via internet. I did not like what I heard.

I know, a win is a win. I'm glad we got the win. But if we play like this in the playoffs, it won't be pretty.

Offense:
Romo went 19/30 with 309 yards, 4 TDs and an INT that was not in any way his fault (more on that later). The leading receiver was *surprise* the player. He caught 7 passes for 156 yards and 1 TD. Unfortunately, he did not have 2 TDs. But you see, Romo hit him right in the middle of his jersey in the corner of the end zone, but it rattled off of his hands/chest and into the hands of Al Harris. Romo did nothing wrong, practically bullseyed his number 81. That was a catchable ball but unfortunately the player couldn't pull it in.

If I had my way, I would change around the INT stat. I think there should be an INT to give to the QB when it is his fault. But I think they also need to create an INT stat category for receivers, when it is the receivers fault. Romo doesn't deserve that INT on his stat line. He should have had 5 TDs, not 4 TDs and 1 INT. Stupid the player.

Jason Witten had 6 for 67 yards, Crayton had 2 TDs on 3 catches, 42 yards. The other TD went to the other tight end, Anthony Fasono.

The rushing attack wasn't quite as balanced as we normally see. MB3 got significantly more carries than JuJo. MB3 had 81 yds on 17 attempts. Ju Jo only had 9 attempts and a measly 26 yards.

So, besides the player's dropped pass, what made this so sloppy? PENALTIES! During the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd, there was a point where we weren't moving the ball at all. It's not that we weren't executing our plays, but that everything was being called back. Flozell Adams was a huge burden with all of his holding/false start performances. We even had a few penalties that were Romo's fault, as TWICE he took too long to snap the ball. IMO the delay of game penalty is among the most inexcusable penalties ever. Pathetic. I know I've said this before, penalties have been our kryptonite all season. We won't get to the super bowl playing sloppy football like we played last night. Dropped passes, stupid penalties, and a host number of other things we did that I don't have time to mention.

Defense:

Something wasn't right about us on the defensive side. There was kind of a "reversal of expectations". Favre (before he was hurt) played like I expect Rogers to play, Rogers played like I expect Favre to play. Seriously, what was wrong? Favre was horrible. He looked confused, made some very novice mistakes. Although these kind of games are more fun when both teams are full strength, it was probably a better game with Rogers playing.

Rogers had a strong game. He, along with all of the other teams that know how to score against Dallas, often threw it towards who ever Roy Williams is covering. How hard is it for Roy Williams to stick his hand in the air? It's always nice to have someone on your defense that lusts after contact, wanting to tackle somebody, but I wonder if someone has told Roy W. that it is better to not have to tackle the receiver? Good grief. Why don't we just put the player in at safety, since passes often bounce off of his hands.

Newman and Hamlin had an INT each. Demarcus ware had a sack. IMO, the Gameball goes to Greg Ellis, who had 2 sacks and penetrated his side of the line all night long.

Good win, but not great. We deserved to lose after that sloppy performance. We played better than this in our only loss of the season vs. the Pats. We'll need to correct a few things before January.

Detroit Lions next week...

This makes me giggle...

OK, so as you all know by now, I'm an extremely sarcastic individual, sometimes to a fault.

So when I heard about churchofchristsingles.com, an online dating website for members of the Church of Christ, I laughed. Little ole sarcastic me thought of several things to say about the thought of such a website.

Really, I just read about this in the Christian Chronicle. It made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it with you. The website even provides Christian pickup lines! Anyways, if anybody like me has some sarcastic things to say about this website, I'd love to hear!

Here's mine:

I'd be curious to know if churchofchristsingles.com is blocked at Harding University...

OK, so that's not really sarcastic. But still a good question, IMO

Shasta Pines Way: Week 2

I have even more of these on my facebook page.

Since I have last posted house pics, they have cemented the foundation and have begun constructing the "skeleton" (most commonly termed "framing") of the house.

Week 12 Analysis: 10-1

Confession: I actually didn't watch a single snap of last Thursday's game. I know, bad me. What better way to spend Thanksgiving than stuffing yourself full of Turkey and watching the Cowboys? I didn't watch the game because my family was taking me around place to place, seeing some interesting sights of the Gulfport/Ocean Springs area. Even though I was out, I still managed to keep up with what was going on. Here's what I could tell:

Offense:
We got it done. However we got it done in a much different way than Cowboy watchers are used to. There was a lot less passing and a lot more running. MB3 ran for over 100 yards (103 on 18 attempts) and a TD. JuJo was behind him with 64 yards on 18 attempts.

Passing was still effective, but we just didn't do quite as much of it. Romo aired it out for 195 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. The passing attack was a bit more balanced than we've seen in the pass few games. By that, I mean, we used some receivers besides the player. The player still led the team with 6 catches for 65 yards and a TD. Jason Witten was next with 4 for 54. But we also saw catches from Austin, Hurd, and our RB duo of MB3 and JuJo also were used in the passing attack effectively.

We got the job done, but we did it differently than we normally do.

Defense:
When the opposing team only scores 3 points...is there really a lot to say about the defense?

Instead of seeing Roy Williams lead the team in tackles, what we see is a core group of other players step up. Ellis, Hamlin, and Watkins each had 4. Then there is a forever long list of 3s, 2s, and 1s that I won't list. It's nice seeing other players get to the ball besides Williams.

I was nervous after Clemens completed his long, 4th quarter pass and Jones rushed it for another first down. But the Cowboys did a good job of not letting them in the end zone after that and the Cowboys streak is still alive. The Cowboys (still) have never allowed a 4th quarter touchdown on Thanksgiving day. Close call, but good job stopping them on 4th and goal!

Coming up:
Two key games coming up. Next week is the Packers. The week after that is the Lions.

Next week should be fun. The Packers are having a great season. I'm not a Green Bay fan but it has been kind of fun to watch Favre this year as he may have found the fountain of youth.

As fun as it has been, I won't be rooting for him next week. It should be a great game to watch. I'm predicting one of those offensive scoring fests. I think the Cowboys team is a wii bit better. They appear to have more weapons on offense. Plus, I feel like at times the Packers have had a few more close calls slip by while the Cowboys have been dominating.

Not to make light of the situation though. Green Bay has an awesome team this year and our defense will need to be on its toes if they want to put pressure on Grandpa Favre. It should be a fun game, hope you'll tune in!

Gulfport still suffering

Today was my first full day back from vacation. Gulfport, Mississippi is a very unique place. It was my first time there so I am not sure what it was like during its pre-Katrina existence. The beach isn't the most luxurious one you'll ever see for that reason (and for a few other reasons). I literally saw house siding in the water. Every now and then you'll still see a roof shingle approach shore. In the picture below I'm holding a random bottle of mayo that was on the beach.





Besides the beach being the dirties beach I've ever been on, the stay was quite nice. The condo was wonderful! It was pretty much a 3 bed/2 bath apartment that you can rent per night and downstairs was an indoor pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, workout room, and a movie rental "thingy" that lets you rent movies for free. Not bad for a price that is only a hair more than a hotel suite.

My thanksgiving meal was also unique to me. Instead of the traditional turkey, ham, and etc. I had a seafood buffet. However, the buffet also included some turkey, ham, and veggies for the traditionalists. It was some incredible shrimp, I completely made a pig of myself and don't have any regrets for doing so.

Gulfport, MS is kind of depressing. I have always seen on tv/internet the damage done by Katrina, but this is the first time I'd actually experienced it. I promise, you will never be the same once you visit an area on the coast that was hit. I'm convinced that Gulfport, MS will never be the same. There used to be beach houses, casinos, hotels, shops, and resorts along the coast. Now you have to go several blocks inland before you see life. Although, the casinos have been rebuilt (talk about priorities?) much still needs to be done.

It was a great break for me. I thank all of those who made it possible for me. You, among many others, were on my "thanksgiving" list.



I'll (most likely) review the Turkey day Cowboys game tomorrow, and later in the week I'll post more pictures of the house construction.

Grace and Peace!

Shasta Pines Way: Week 1

Our house is moving right along. OK, so the house itself isn't moving...but here is what it looks like so far.





Heading out of town tomorrow. See you next week!

Week 11 Analysis: 9-1

Well, a win is a win...right? uh...Right?

Offense:
Romo and the player must be telecommunicating. That's the only way to explain it. They think the same thing at the same time.

As you can tell from my opening sentences, this was a frustrating game to watch. Even though the offense dominated most of the game, a few of the mistakes were too much for me to take. We had a snap sail over Romo's head, another snap bounced off of his head (but conveniently into the hands of JuJo).

It was sloppy, but the offense still managed to put up some amazing numbers. Romo threw for 293 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. All four of the TDs belonged to the player, who was by far the leading receiver of the game, piling up 173 yards. Witten was a distant second with 8 catches for 67 yards, but for the past few games has been pulled back to block much more than the first half of the season.

Running the ball was a struggle. MB3 was the lead rusher with 43 yards on 15 attempts. JuJo had 27 on 9. Eh...let's hope for a better turkey day.

Defense:
Ouch! There's not really much I can say. The defense continues to be incredibly inconsistent.

This game should not have gone down to the last play as it did. We were excellent at stopping the run...but we have a few kinks to work out when defending the air attack. Everything just shut down in the fourth quarter, giving the skins a chance to comeback.

Roy Williams led the team with 8 tackles. T. Newman had an INT. Oh, and Anthony Henry saw some action...good to see that his recovery is going well. Hopefully he'll be back to 100% in no time so that we can get both of our top corners in the game at the same time (for pretty much the first time all season, knock on wood).

Other than that, i really don't have a lot to say about the defensive performance. First - Third quarter we were great. Fourth quarter we were non existent. It really looked like the skins were just running some plays as if it was a practice. I guess some credit goes to the Skins offense. So kudos to the skins, but I can think of several times when the closest defender was in a different zip code from the ball. I saw a lack of effort from many of the DBs, hardly jumping for a ball that looked like it could have been batted down, at the minimum. Ugh.

We need to work on some stuff before the Packers game in two weeks. But before that game, we got the Jets on turkey day. Perhaps we'll get it straightened out then?

I'll have another post tomorrow, but that will probably be it for the week. I'll be out o town Wed. - Sat.

What's wrong with Skip Bayless?

It's no secret that I'm not a Bayless fan. For starters, he has written 3 books (his most famous one here) that trash the Cowboys. It's not that I have a problem with him not liking the Cowboys, it's just that he his completely illogical with his approach, not to mention the fact that many of his "facts" aren't even valid. Throw in the fact that he has no idea what he is talking about to begin with and it becomes quite obnoxious to even hear him state his opinion on ESPN.

Enough of that. I think I may have discovered what his problem is. The following video my haunt your dreams. It's pretty scary, but I think it says a lot...

High School reading level

I was introduced to a site that checks the reading level of your blog. It turns out my blog has a High School reading level. I guess that is appropriate, being a Youth Minister.

Click here to see what your blog's reading level is. It also works for facebook, myspace, and numerous other websites.

h/t: ysmarko

Week 10 Analysis: 8-1

By my count, Dallas just moved ahead of Indy in the power rankings. If you disagree, I don't really care.


Offense:
I could give you a bunch of stats from the receivers and from Romo, but the truth is the offensive stat of the game belongs to the O-Line. All night long they were blocking and blocking well. NY displayed a variety of unique blitz formations, but the O-Line did what O linemen do best. Flozell Adams has had two solid games in a row by neutralizing T. Cole and O. Umenyiora. I still stick to my previous comments on Mr. Adams, calling him the "False start champion", but I just felt the need to acknowledge the good job he has been doing lately. And yes, perhaps he's a bit better and waiting for the snap before he pushes fatties around. It's a contract year for Flozell. I'm not sure if the it'll be the Cowboys but someone will give him decent money. Anyways, onto the juicy stuff.

T. Romo went 20 for 28 with 247 yards, 4 TDs and a pick. The player (who is tempting me to start calling him by his name after his very humbling interview) hooked up for 6 catches, 125 yards and a coupla TDs. Jason Witten was almost non existent, being doubled nearly every play (which I guess is why the player was in single coverage nearly every play). Witten just had 2 catches for 12 yards. Romo's other two TD passes went to P. Crayton and T. Curtis. It was Curtis's third reception of the season. It was also Curtis's third TD catch of the season. He doesn't catch that many but we he does, he's making them count apparently.

Running the ball was a struggle. JuJo led the team with 48 yards on 11 carries. MB3 was right behind with 34 yds on 12 caries. The Giants stopped the run very well. Late in the game, it seems as if we did our clock management using 3-4 yard passes, instead of runs. After JuJo broke his 20 yard run in the first quarter, that pretty much did it for the run. It doesn't really worry me at this point at least. The Giants were blitzing quite a bit, which contributed to stopping the run. Since they were blitzing so much, they didn't really get very many attempts. Besides, why would you run the ball if the player is consistently being left in single coverage?

Defense:
K. Burnett, although he led the team with 10 tackles, had a very stupid taunting penalty which practically gave the Giants an extra field goal before halftime. Boo Burnett!

Even though we won, I have acquired a new worry about our defense. The worry is this: covering Tight Ends. I know it's Jeremy Shockey, and so standards should be lowered when covering a Tight End like that. But what worries me is that Roy Williams is who Jeremy Shockey was matched up with. No wonder Shockey had 12 catches for 129 yards! We need to find a new way to cover TEs than simply sticking Williams on them. Williams is an incredible safety, but he's more like a contact lusting linebacker who just plays at the Safety spot. He is horrible when it comes to coverage. If I was an Offensive Coordinator playing against the Dallas D, I would take a page out of what the Giants did yesterday, and I would quite frequently set up a Tight End and have him run Roy Williams direction.

We need to find a better way to cover TEs. I don't think there is a team that can beat the Cowboys in a defensive brawl, type game. If the Cowboys are going to be beat, it will be by out lasting them in an offensive marathon (as the Pats did). One way to do that is by taking advantage of the R. Williams, TE matchup. Hopefully Wade and Co. can think of something else to do there.

Enough on that rant. In other defensive news, T. Johnson made his Cowboy/Season debut yesterday. He also sacked E. Manning in the 4th. K. Hamlin and P. Watkins had INTs each.

Good win yesterday. I know it's only mid November, but we are at a good place having swept the 2nd place team in the division. This was a big "statement win" for the Cowboys. No longer should I hear this "the cowboys haven't beaten anybody good" garbage. They are in the NFC east for crying out loud...and that was the SECOND time they beat the Giants, no the first. I understand the Giants started slow, but why does the first matchup not seem to count? It's especially satisfying after Skip Bayless predicted the Giants to win this game, even though his reason for that prediction made absolutely no sense.

As I said, good statement win. The power rankings will probably show Dallas move ahead of Indy to the #2 spot, since the Colts lost. I'm not sure how long we can stay at the #2 spot though. Truthfully, Indy probably is the better team (although I'd take the Dallas defense over Indy's). But it'll be nice to be up there for however long it is. Who knows, I could be flat wrong and not know the power ranking system as good as I think I do. We'll see. If I'm wrong, it's still a good statement win.

Next week we have the Skins at Home.

Incredible....

Warning: do not watch this while drinking milk....

The announcement...

As promised, I bring good news to share to all:

Jenny and I are gonna get a house! We signed the documents Sunday night, the land will start to be leveled next week (most likely). We are excited about this opportunity.

The pictures below are us putting the earnest $ down on the land (paid to the builder) and us standing in front of where our house will eventually be.




What I'd like to do is post a picture of the construction site about once a week, to share with you all what is going on/what it looks like. That will start in a few weeks probably.

Special thanks to those who played a big role in helping Jenny and I get into a nice house at a reasonable price. Particularly JC McMullen, Jake Dasher (pictured above), and Glenn Copeland.

Week 9 Analysis: 7-1

Wow, it's hard to want to recap this game after the incredible Colts/Pats game last night. That was an amazing game. If you want to know my thoughts about it, just ask. Otherwise, here's the recap of the game played by America's Team:

Domination.

Our offense couldn't be stopped, our defense did exactly the opposite.

Offense:
Romo launched 324 yds with 3 TDs (and probably the stupidest INT anyone will ever see). Only one wide receiver caught a pass for the Cowboys. But it more than made up for our lack of spreading it around. The player caught 10 passes for 174 yds. Jason Witten caught 3 passes for 77 yds! I couldn't imagine the difficult decisions facing defensive coordinators that play against the Cowboys. Do you blitz your linebackers towards Romo or do pull back on the blitz and double Jason Witten? It seems like everytime they blitz Romo, he would pop it out to Witten, but everytime they tightened up on Witten Romo would have plenty of time to set up something long downfield with the player.

I'm very proud of our rushing game. Jones and Barber complimented each other well. Jones had 13 attempts for 57 yards, Barber had 16 for 56 yds. It's nice having two guys that share duties yet still both average about 45-60 yds per game each. It's tough for teams to come back against us when we are eating clock and moving chains in the fourth quarter. As long as we go into the 4th quarter up, things will most likely go pretty well. These guys hardly fumble, too!

Defense:
D. Ware is a beast! That's about it. Oh...and Hamlin caught an INT, but mostly D. Ware is a beast!

That special announcement I promised will come tomorrow! All I lack is a picture, which I will get today. C ya then!

Interesting...

Those of you that Watch Family Guy may be interested in this...

The guys over at FamilyGuynow, a fantastic site where you can watch Family guy episodes for free, have put this Sunday's episode (Stewie Kills Louis Pt. 1) up in advance. Congrats...now you can watch it before the TV shows it.

I wonder if this will be a first time thing or if this will become routine. Should be fun to watch (pun intended)