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Here are ten questions about Sunday night’s win over the Chicago Bears:

Make your own Quiz!

I have selected an odd game for the history lesson this week, mostly because the message boards and some other blogs have focused on more recent games. Today’s feature was actually a loss, but it was noteworthy for several reasons. Here is the background:

Date: November 1, 1971
Game: Dallas (4-2) at Chicago (4-2)
Dallas Coach: Tom Landry
Chicago Coach: Jim Dooley
Result: Chicago won, 23-19.

Most people who are familiar with this game recall that it was the one where Tom Landry shuttled between Roger Staubach and Craig Morton at quarterback. According to the DMN article of the game, though, the shuttling is not what led to the loss.

Chicago won 23-19 and could have sentenced the Cowboys to the role of also-ran in the NFC East. Dallas, 4-3, now trails Washington by two full games and does not appear at this particular time to be able to do much about it.

As he said he would, Tom Landry shuttled his quarterbacks and called the plays. This did not appear to be the contributing factor to the defeat. Dallas made more yardage than usual, 418 to 194 for Chicago, and totalled 18 first downs to five for the Bears.

Biggest factors in the defeat, besides the Bears, was extremely poor punt and kickoff coverage, as the specialty teams once again un-distinguished themselves, and pathetic field goal kicking.

And in another repeat, the Cowboys also insisted on committing suicide late in the fourth period … Shades of New Orleans.

After Craig Morton had scrambled out of the pocket and hit Gloster Richardson with a 45-yard pass with 3:16 left to play, the Cowboy defense held. Bobby Joe Green punted short to Cliff Harris, who had his teeth rattled by a tackler and fumbled the ball right back to Chicago’s Bill Tucker at the Dallas 39. There was 1:41 left at the time. But the bell tolled.

What really hurt the Cowboys in this game was the kicking game. Kicker Mike Clark missed three field goals, prompting the Cowboys to sign Toni Fritsch. Clark came back two games later, but played in only four games after 1971.

More from the DMN story:

Landry shuttled Craig Morton and Roger Staubach except for a 2-minute offense just before the half and the final half of the fourth period. At these times he used only Morton.

“It seemed to work,” said Landry. “We moved the ball. I left Morton in during those times because we knew we were going to have to throw and he was reading the Chicago defenses well and hitting the hooks and turn-ins well (prescribed patterns for openings in the Chicago zone defense.)

Dallas put up more passes, 47, than it has in ages. The club record is 48 which Don Meredith once threw in 1963. Morton finished with 20 of 36 for 257 yards. He suffered five drops, one drop by tight end Billy Truax being a tough catch but a catch just the same. Lance Alworth, Mike Ditka. Walt Garrison and Gloster Richardson also dropped passes. So despite three interceptions (one which he had to throw up on the game’s final play) he had a good day throwing and could have had an outstanding day.

Staubach hit seven of 11 for 87 yards and suffered one interception when a long attempt took off on him. Speaking of long passes, the Cowboys had to go without Bobby Hayes most of the second half because the split end was bothered by a muscle pull.

There were, then, the usual boo-boos that have plagued Dallas this season. Besides the interceptions and Harris’ fumble, Duane Thomas, who ran extremely well once again, and Cornell Green were charged with fumbles.

. . .

Dallas kickoff and punt coverage teams were atrocious, though at this particular stage of the season you must admit they are consistent. Chicago got 44 yards on three punt returns and 120 yards on four kickoff returns. In fact, but not for a fine tackle by punter Ron Widby, Chicago’s Ron Smith would have taken a punt all the way instead of 43 yards to set up the first Percival field goal.

“We were poor on coverage,” said Landry, “and a Chicago strong point is their kick returns. The Bears had to get in position with returns because they didn’t move the ball much.”

Bobby Douglass hit only seven of 19 passes for 140 yards but pulled out two big ones to help the Bears get their two touchdowns. Douglass found George Farmer over the middle for 41 yards, putting the ball in position for his own 9-yard roll out to the end zone in the first period.

Cowboy cornerbacks were kicking the Bear receivers, trying to take away the short, stop routes Chicago has been so successful with this season. Farmer wasn’t held up and the Cowboys didn’t have a good rush so Douglass hit him.

Then in the fourth period Douglass capped a 63-yard drive by finding the NFL’s top receiver, Dick Gordon, on a 28-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Bears in front 23-12 with 9:42 left to play. Dallas blitzed on the play and left corner Mel Renfro appeared to be attempting to kick Gordon. Gordon made a fine hesitation move, Douglas pumped twice and hit Dick streaking down the sidelines behind Renfro.

“Renfro makes that real quick move,” said Chicago coach Jim Dooley, “So we felt we had to use a double fake (Gordon’s hesitation and Douglass pumping the ball twice) and it worked.”

Once again Dallas hurt itself and helped an opponent on penalties (Dallas drew seven for 80 yards and the Bears had only two for 10). But when the game opened it appeared for all the world that the Cowboys could overcome most anything and that Landry’s alternating quarterback system would work well. Dallas moved its first possession 68 yards in eleven plays with Thomas going over from the three.

The alternating system was at its best on this one. Early in the fourth period it was at its worst. End Larry Cole stripped Douglass loose from the ball and end George Andrie recovered at the Chicago 8-yard-line. Thomas lost two yards on a draw play when end Ed O’Bradovich made a fine play. Landry then called another draw with Thomas making the two yards back.

Questioned why he’d come back with the same play, facing second and ten at the ten, Landry said, “It was a passing situation and sometimes when they expect a pass, you can run a draw play all the way to the goal line.”

Morton passed to Garrison to the three on third down and Clark came in to kick a tremendous 10-yard field goal. “We had a down-and-in called to Ditka,” said Landry. “Ford (corner back Charlie) came up and got right on him (bumping and causing Mike to delay his route). Close in that’s the first time we’d seen Ford do that. We weren’t expecting it.” So Morton had to come back and drop the pass off to Garrison.

Dallas now goes to St. Louis next week with the thought that it really has no idea where it’s going.

As turns out, the St. Louis game was the turning point in the season. Dallas won on a Fritsch field goal, and the loss to Chicago turned out to be the final loss of the season for the Cowboys. Chicago, on the other hand, only managed one more win in 1971, finishing 6-8 after starting 5-2.

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You might also recall that 1971 was the year that Brian’s Song aired, giving men one movie during which they are permitted to cry.

For lack of a better description, each Wednesday I will feature something known as Way Too Much Information Wednesday. If you are bit odd and like stats like I do, you’ll probably like this. Otherwise, I hope you like the reincarnation of Gnome:

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Witten’s 100-Yard Performance

Five tight ends in team history have had more than 100 yards receiving in a single game. For the first time since 2004, Jason Witten surpassed this mark in the Cowboys’ win over the Giants. Here is a complete list of those tight ends.

Tony Romo’s 300-Yard Passing Performance

With his 345-yard performance against the Giants, Tony Romo now has four 300-yard games in less than 12 games. Here is an updated list of the total number of 300-yard games by Cowboys quarterbacks in history.

Aikman, Troy 13
White, Danny 10
Meredith, Don 7
Staubach, Roger 6
Pelleur, Steve 4
Romo, Tony 4
Bledsoe, Drew 3
Hogeboom, Gary 3
Testaverde, Vinny 3
Carter, Quincy 1
Garrett, Jason 1
Hutchinson, Chad 1
LeBaron, Eddie 1
Morton, Craig 1

Pigskin Pick’em: 7/16

I have played Pigskin Pick’em for about five years, and once again, I am not off to a great start. I play against the spread, which is more challenging. The Colts’ win in the opener

helped me out, but I gave too much credit to Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and Baltimore.

Here’s a breakdown, with my picks in bold.

My Correct Picks (7)

Indianapolis (-6 1/2) 41, New Orleans 10
Pittsburgh (-3 1/2) 34, Cleveland 7
New England (-5 1/2) 38, N.Y. Jets 14
Miami (+3 1/2) 13, Washington 16
Detroit (+2 1/2) 36, Oakland 21
Seattle (-6 1/2) 20, Tampa Bay 6
Dallas (-3 1/2) 45, N.Y. Giants 35

Note: I noted last week that three of the last four wins by the Cowboys over the Giants were by three points. If not for Sam Hurd’s touchdown, Dallas could very well have won 38-35. Fortunately it wasn’t the case.

Killed by the Spread (2)

In two games, the team that a picked to win actually won but did not cover the spread.

Denver (-3 1/2) 15, Buffalo 14
San Francisco (-3 1/2) 20, Arizona 17

Just Blew It Altogether (7)

I would have missed most of the picks below even if I played non-spread.

Philadelphia (-2 1/2) 13, Green Bay 16
Houston (-1 1/2) 20, Kansas City 3
Jacksonville (-5 1/2) 10, Tennesee 13
Minnesota (-2 1/2) 24, Atlanta 3
St. Louis (-1 1/2) 13, Carolina 27
San Diego (-5 1/2) 14, Chicago 3
Cincinnati (-3 1/2) 27, Baltimore 20

Fantasy Football: Thurman’s Thieves (1-0)

I can honestly say that I have never been nervous about fantasy football, until last week. Despite the fact that Drew Brees’ only gave me 1.6 points with his dismal performance against Indianapolis, Thurman’s Thieves jumped out to a pretty significant lead.

Then came Monday. I have RB Rudi Johnson and CB Leon Hall for Cincinnati, while my opponent has WR Chad Johnson. My lead started to slip away, as neither Rudi nor Hall could give me the type of points that Chad Johnson put up that game (15.7 for Chad, a combined 12.6 for Rudi and Hall).

I had no players for the Arizona/San Francisco game, while my opponent has 49er CB Walt Harris. What should happen in the first quarter? Harris had a pick, and the lead dwindled quickly. I finished with 82.6 points, and with Harris’ eight points, my lead was suddently down to less than a point. By some miracle, though, I was able to hold on to an 82.6 to 82.4 win.

In keeping with the “Way Too Much Information” theme, here is my starting lineup:

QB Drew Brees (1.6 points)
RB Rudi Johnson (7.6 points)
WR Marty Booker (3.2 points)
WR Marques Colston (4.7 points)
WR Randy Moss (26.3 points)
TE Daniel Graham (2.4 points)
LB Jonathan Vilma (4.3 points)
LB Shaun Phillips (4 points)
LB/DE DeMarcus Ware (2 points)
DL Mark Anderson (7 points)
CB Leon Hall (5 points)
DB Sean Taylor (3.5 points)
K Adam Vinatieri (11 points).

Here are ten questions about the Cowboys’ 45-35 win over the Giants on Sunday.

Make your own Quiz!

I thought that perhaps we would have heard the last of “The Botch” after the win, but… of course not. Here is Tony Kornheiser leading off his commentary by mentioning that play. Again.

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You’ve probably heard that Dallas lost Jason Ferguson for the year. Mickey Spagnola provides some perspective, however:

The Cowboys will receive no injury sympathy around the league for losing nose tackle Jason Ferguson for the season in the season opener. In the opening week, the Bears lost two starters for the season, safety Mike Brown and defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, who was starting for the suspended and then released Tank Johnson. The Redskins lost offensive tackle Jon Jansen for the season. St. Louis lost starting tackle Orlando Pace for the season. Miami lost starting safety Yeremiah Bell for the season. And look at the Giants, with Osi Umenyiora, Brandon Jacobs and Eli Manning all expected to miss time.

The quiz below features ten questions about the rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. For each question, guess the year in which the event described took place. Each of the games that the questions refer to were played in Dallas.

Make your own Quiz!

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ESPN featured this preview of the Cowboys-Giants game. Ron Jaworski discusses the change in the Cowboys’ defensive philosophy.

Here is this week’s entry of Instant Trivia, focusing on last Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

Make your own Quiz!

Word on the street is that outside linebacker (and former defensive end) Greg Ellis is mulling whether to retire. While this would cause some problems on the team’s current roster, our issue for today is how Ellis ranks among the best defensive end in team history.

I think it is only fair to compare Ellis with defensive ends playing in the 4-3 defense, which Dallas ran in different forms from 1960 to 2004. According to my figures, a majority of the 22 players who were full-time starters during those years only started a year or two, so other than mentioning them below, I did not consider them as candidates for this list. I also excluded Bob Lilly, who started at defensive end from 1961 to 1963, because he was so much better as a defensive tackle.

Another problem is that defensive ends are often ranked by sacks, but that statistic was not available officially until the 1982 season. Thus, we do not have complete statistics for four of these players.

Here they are, in reverse order:

8. Larry Cole: Full-time starter at DE from 1968 to 1974; 176 total games; four career interceptions.

Cole was a solid defensive end for several years, though he was overshadowed by Lilly and George Andrie early in his career, and then by Randy White, Harvey Martin, and Ed Jones later in his career.

7. Greg Ellis: Full-time starter at DE from 1998 to 2005 (Dallas ran the 3-4 in 2005); 124 total games at DE; 52 sacks at DE (4.5 as OLB).

Ellis never recorded as many as 10 sacks in a season and has never been named to a Pro Bowl. He showed great athletic ability over the years, but he was not always consistent in getting pressure on the quarterback.

6. Tony Tolbert: Full-time starter from 1991 to 1997; 144 total games; 59.0 career sacks.

A fourth-round pick in 1989, Tolbert was named to one Pro Bowl in his career. As a left defensive end, he was more responsible for run defense than to provide pass pressure, but he was certainly a presence no matter what his role was.

5. Jim Jeffcoat: Full-time starter from 1984 to 1991; 227 total games; 102.5 career sacks.

Jeffcoat was in a position similar to Ellis when the former was drafted in the first round in 1983. He came along as the team started to experience its decline in the 1980s, and he was forced to play much of his career for bad Dallas teams. Although he recorded double-digits in sacks five different times, Jeffcoat never made the Pro Bowl.

4. George Andrie: Full-time starter from 1964 to 1971; 141 total games.

Andrie was part of the original Doomsday defense in the 1960s, and he made the Pro Bowl five times during his career. A sixth-round pick in 1962, he was a starter on two Super Bowl teams, including the Cowboys’ win in Super Bowl VI.

3. Too Tall Jones: Full-time starter from 1975 to 1978 and 1980 to 1989; 224 total games; 57.5 official sacks (1982-1989 only).

A first-round pick in 1974, Jones was an important part of the dominant Cowboys defense of the late 1970s. His stock as an all-time great would probably be better if the NFL had kept official stats in two categories: (1) sacks, which were not tallied officially until 1982; and (2) passes knocked down. With respect to the first category, Jones had 57.5 sacks later in his career, including 13 in 1985. In the latter category, few in NFL history have been more effective at knocking passes down, though few ends have been 6′9, either.

2. Charles Haley: Cowboys’ full-time starter from 1992 to 1995 (and part of 1996); 63 total games; 34 sacks.

Haley is the only player on this list who was not originally picked by the Cowboys in the draft. However, he still deserves to be ranked this high, for the Cowboys may not have had three Super Bowl titles in the early 1990s without him. Haley made two Pro Bowls in his five seasons with the team.

1. Harvey Martin: Full-time starter from 1975 to 1983; 158 total games.

Martin was another player who would have benefited from official stats for sacks. He was a four-time Pro Bowler, the defensive player of the year in 1977, a Super Bowl co-MVP in 1977, and was a member of the All-Decade team for the 1970s. How he is not in either the Pro Football Hall of Fame or the Ring of Honor is a travesty.

Other Full-Time Starters at Defensive End (with years as starters): Nate Borden (1960-61), John Gonzaga (1960), Bob Lilly (1961-63), Larry Stephens (1964), Maury Youmans (1965), Willie Townes (1966-67), Pat Toomay (1972-74), Daniel Stubbs (1990), Shante Carver (1996-97), Kavika Pittman (1998-99), Alonzo Spellman (2000), Peppi Zellner (2001), Ebenezer Ekuban (2002-03), Marcellus Wiley (2004).

Technorati Tags: Larry Cole, Greg Ellis, Tony Tolbert, Jim Jeffcoat, George Andrie, Too Tall Jones, Charles Haley, Harvey Martin

Here is a new feature I am going to try out this year: Instant Trivia. In this feature we will explore the most recent games with 10 questions. This debut focuses on the Cowboys’ 23-10 win over Indianapolis on Thursday night.

Make your own Quiz!

Technorati Tags: Dallas Cowboys trivia