Know Your Dallas Cowboys

I thought that the award for the worst rap video by an NFL team during the 1980s would come down to the Cowboys or the Bears. But little did I know that the 49ers also threw in a video that would compete for the title. And so here is the definitive contest for Worse 1980s Team Rap Video:

1985 Chicago Bears

1986 Dallas Cowboys

1988(?) San Francisco 49ers

First, Emmitt Smith wins a dance contest. Now some folks think that we have a shot to beat the Indianapolis Colts?!

Blogging the Boys had a very good post today about how Buffalo handled the Colts’ offense:

How do you stop the Colt’s offense? That’s the question for Dallas this week. So with that in mind, I went back and watched the Bills-Colts game from last weekend. Buffalo held them to 17 points and were in the game the whole way. Here’s what I observed.

I’ve never seen a team play one basic defensive formation for 90% of their plays on the field. No exaggeration. The Bills lined up in the same spots, play after play, using a 4-3-4 or 4-2-5 defense. Coach Parcells discussed how the Colts’ formations and packages are very simple, it’s true – more on that in a minute – but that allowed the Bills to run the same basic formation and they had no problems with the no-huddle, because they only subbed for one position almost every play.

. . .

The Colts on offense are so simple but so deadly effective. They lineup with Marvin Harrison on the right side, Reggie Wayne on the left side, one RB (Addai/Rhodes) and use two TE’s, either both on the line or one split-out, that being Dallas Clark. They flip the TE’s with Clark lining up in the slot on either side. Occasionally they’ll line up with 4-wide. When Manning comes to the line he’ll reposition either a TE or the RB, and they’re off. There’s never any motion, or exotic formations, they’re just a well-oiled machine.

So what the Bills did on defense was all designed to not get beat deep, keep everything in front of them, make sure tackles, and hope to turn the ball over a couple of times. The Colts scoring drives took 9 plays twice and 13 plays once. The hope is that by making them run so many plays on their drives, they’ll mess up somewhere, and they did fumble the ball twice. It’s hard to get a turnover if they’re marching 65-yards in four plays for a TD.

At Dallas Cowboy Fans United, a poster named Schmitty said this:

Passing Defense-Heres’s where it gets tricky….. How do you stop peyton manning and his outstanding WR’s? Well it sounds like and common sense would lead you to think that Newman’s going to be on Harrison about all day. Im not real worried about that. The last 2 years newman has been up to the challenge of every bigtime WR he has faced and either shut him down or contained him. The guy im worried about is henry. Henrys been a real inconsistent guy in his time in dallas. Sometimes hes amazing he looks like a all pro. Others he’s average or flat out bad. Lately hes been average borderline bad. Henrys obviously going to be matched up on wayne.

At FS Kieth Davis should see most of the time. As you all know Peyton Mannings probably the smartest QB ever. Watkins been tricked by double moves and look offs for several big plays this season. Nobody’s better at doing that type of stuff then peyton and id preffer someone with some more experience(davis) in there. Watkins speed would be nice to have in the lineup tho…

The key in the game is getting to peyton manning. 3-4 teams have had some success getting to him and rattling him in the past and were going to need to do the same. We cant be scared to blitz him. Take some chances on defense and get after him all day. Demarcus Ware needs to have his best game of the season. Were going to need a couple sacks from him and constant pressure.

And from Big Shot Blurbs:

I really thought last year’s team had a good chance to finish 16-0. They were that dominant on both sides of the ball.

But this year is different. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes are a nice combination, but they’re no Edge. Indianapolis is ranked 18th in rushing offense. On the flip side, they’re dead last against the run, giving up 159.3 yards on the ground.

But this is what jumped out the most: Of their nine wins, the Colts have won two by more than seven points. Four wins have been by three points or less. That’s not domination.

I’m slightly ashamed that I saw before my wife that Emmitt Smith won Dancing with the Stars this evening. Even more disconcerting is that I saw last evening’s show before her as well. So now is a good time to watch no fewer than four hours of NFL Network– and I’m feeling better already. Here [...]

Such a selection of audio and such for the day. If you have an hour or so, enjoy. Otherwise, fast-forward and enjoy. Bill Parcells Press Conference [audio:http://lb.dallascowboys.com/mp3/parcells_audio_111506.mp3] Bill Parcells Conference Call with Indianapolis Media [audio:http://lb.dallascowboys.com/mp3/conf_parcells_111506.mp3] Tony Romo Conference Call with Indianapolis Media [audio:http://lb.dallascowboys.com/mp3/conf_romo_111506.mp3] And lastly, if you missed the highlights from the Colts-Bills game last [...]

Most Cowboys fans on the *older side* would be hard-pressed to forget the Cowboys 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V. Had I been born on time, perhaps my birthday could have been on January 17, in which case I could say I was born on the same day (Jan. 17, 1971) [...]

Mentioned earlier the Dallas Morning News article indicating possible replacements for Greg Ellis. Thought this was interesting: the Dallas Cowboys Fan Zone had a poll, and though only 33 people responded, Al Singleton received the most votes. The results (thus far?): Al Singleton: 45.5% Bobby Carpenter: 30.3% Kevin Burnett: 24.% Mickey Spagnola had the following [...]

This is a day late, but here is the clip of Bill Parcells’ press conference from yesterday: [audio:http://lb.dallascowboys.com/mp3/parcells_audio_111306.mp3] This is a bit more timely– Jerry Jones’ show from today: [audio:http://lb.dallascowboys.com/mp3/jones_111406.mp3] Tweet

If Greg Ellis’ injury is career-ending, which it might possibly be, then the play in the clip below would be his final play. He lined up at left defensive end, shot the gap between left guard and left tackle, and made his move toward Leinart. Just as Leinart stepped up in the pocket, Ellis went [...]

Got some answers to Questions Waiting for Answers, but I am more interested in the trivia contest today on Dallas Cowboys Fan Zone. Here are the questions: (1) What was the nickname given to Cliff Harris by his teammates? (2) Which Dallas Cowboys player is the only player in NFL history to be named Super [...]

Here is the postgame press conference from yesterday’s game: ———— Mickey Spagnola had an interesting comment about how the Cowboys handled the three wide receiver sets: The Cowboys kind of tinkered with their nickel defense to combat those Arizona three-receiver sets on first and second down when the run still was prevalent. Instead of taking [...]