~ ~ jets @ dallas - saturday, dec. 19, 8:25 pm ~ ~

[kelly]

Ten things to know about the Dallas Cowboys (4-9), who host the New York Jets on Saturday night      :

1. Because of the overall badness of the NFC East, the Cowboys remain alive (barely) in the division, which means they should be motivated for the game in theory. They've clinched their first losing season since 2010 and they could end up with a top-5 draft choice. Dark days in Dallas.

2. The Jets' last meeting against the Cowboys was a classic -- Sept. 11, 2011, the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On an emotional night at MetLife Stadium, the Jets won a thrilling season opener, 27-24, on Nick Folk's field goal with 27 seconds left. The last time they met in Dallas was Thanksgiving 2007, a 34-3 loss for the Jets at the old Texas Stadium. This will be their first game at AT&T Stadium -- a.k.a. Jerry's World.

3. The Cowboys' season effectively ended in Week 2, when Tony Romo fractured his collarbone for the first time. Since then, they're 2-9. Put it this way: Overall, they're 3-1 with Romo, who was re-injured upon his return, and 1-8 with Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden.

4. Things are so bad in Big D that some folks are pining for Kellen Moore to replace Cassel. On Monday, coach Jason Garrett said he's sticking with Cassel. Under him, the Dallas offense has produced only eight touchdowns in 68 drives over seven games. The Cowboys have generated zero or one touchdown in four of his six starts. Cassel stunk it up last week against the Green Bay Packers, completing only 13 of 29 passes for 114 yards and an interception.

5. The Jets shouldn't under-estimate Cassel. Why not? Two words: T.J. Yates.

6. Wide receiver Dez Bryant, who missed five games with a broken foot, must be going out of his mind. Without Romo, he can't get the ball on a consistent basis. He has been targeted 63 times, but only has 27 receptions. He dropped two passes in rainy conditions in Green Bay, finishing with only one catch for nine yards -- his first one- or no-catch game since 2013. The Bryant-Darrelle Revis matchup will be worth watching.

7. The Dallas running attack features Darren McFadden, a running back who was high on the Jets' draft board in 2008. He rushed for 111 yards last week, his fourth 100-yard game, but let's not lose sight of the big picture: The Cowboys erred by not re-signing DeMarco Murray, who obviously isn't digging his new job in Philadelphia.

8. The Cowboys' defense isn't terrible (16th in yards allowed), but it lacks playmakers. They have no takeaways in eight of 13 games -- "inexplicable," according to owner/GM Jerry Jones. Their run defense fell apart against the Packers, as Eddie Lacy led a 230-yard rushing attack. They can expect a heavy dose of Chris Ivory. Linebacker Rolando McClain is a question mark because of concussion-like symptoms.

9. The controversial Greg Hardy (remember him?) has faded in recent weeks. He has only 1.5 sacks in the last five games, giving him 5.5 for the season. But, hey, he's a terrific leader, according to Jones.

10. Lastly, let's pay homage to a future Hall of Famer Jason Witten, who recently became the 10th player in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions. Next to Tony Gonzalez, Witten, 33, is the most prolific tight end in history.

>   http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/57092/jets-hope-to-storm-matt-cassel-on-visit-to-jerry-joness-castle

[faba]

I was at this game- just as bad as the game  it actually snowed that day

 

 

The last time they met in Dallas was Thanksgiving 2007, a 34-3 loss for the Jets at the old Texas Stadium. This will be their first game at AT&T Stadium -- a.k.a. Jerry's World.

[LWC611]

Thanks for posting... These are the type of games the Jets need to win. They cannot afford to be so concerned about the Patriots that they look past the Cowboys.

[kelly]

 -- By any measure, the numbers tell a bad story for the Dallas Cowboys in 2015.They are 4-9 with three games to play, one game off the worst record in the NFL.Sometimes statistics can lie. And sometimes they can tell the truth.

Here is the paint-by-numbers look at why the Cowboys are 4-9 and in last place in the NFC East.

Minus-15

How many times have we heard Jason Garrett say the stat that correlates most to winning and losing in the NFL is turnover ratio? It might be close to 100 times since 2010, and that may be a low estimate.The Cowboys are minus-15 in the giveaway/takeaway stat, which is worst in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens are second-worst at minus-12. The Cowboys have only eight takeaways (six interceptions, two fumble recoveries) on the year, which is worst in the NFL. Baltimore and the San Francisco 49ers have 11. The Carolina Panthers lead the NFL in takeaways with 33.Only three teams have more giveaways than the Cowboys’ 23. Dallas has had 15 passes intercepted and lost eight fumbles. Four of the interceptions have been returned for touchdowns by the opposition.

Seven-of-18

The Cowboys were able to establish a power-first mentality last season with DeMarco Murray leading the NFL with 1,845 rushing yards. Nothing says power more than third-and-1 play calls.Last year the Cowboys converted 18 of 27 third-and-1 opportunities. They relied on the offensive line and Murray to get the job done and they mostly succeeded.This year the Cowboys are 7-of-18 in third-and-1 situations. In Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, Robert Turbin was stopped for no gain in that situation at the Dallas 10. The Packers were able to take advantage of a short field for a 48-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession.The Cowboys have failed on three straight third-and-1 calls over their past two games.The Cowboys have used six different personnel groupings in this scenario through the season and none has truly worked well. On Sunday, they went with their jumbo package with extra tackle Charles Brown and they couldn't gain any leverage.

6.9

The Cowboys can’t make any explosive plays in the passing game. They have just 27 pass plays of 20 or more yards this season. They have had two games, including the loss to the Packers, in which they had none. They had 41 pass plays of 20 yards or more through 13 games last season.Big plays translate to points. On 38 of their 41 big plays last year, the Cowboys scored points, including 31 touchdowns. This year the Cowboys have scored points on 24 of the 27, but eight of those drives ended in field goals.Cowboys quarterbacks are averaging just 6.9 yards per attempt. Last year Tony Romo and Brandon Weeden averaged 8.4 yards per attempt. The last time the Cowboys QBs averaged fewer than 7 yards per attempt was in 2003 with Quincy Carter as the starter (6.56 yards per attempt).

536

This number is just staggering. It represents how many passes have been thrown since the last Cowboys cornerback recorded an interception. You have to go back to Orlando Scandrick’s takeaway late in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ Week 14 win last year against the Chicago Bears to find the last corner with a pick.Brandon Carr has gone 33 straight games without an interception. Morris Claiborne hasn't had a pick in his past 12 gamesGiven how much teams throw the ball in the NFL these days, it’s hard to fathom this streak. The Cowboys play more man-to-man than zone coverage, which doesn’t lend itself to a lot of picks, but it’s certainly not illegal to pick one off every now and thenIt’s been 16 games since the Cowboys’ last pick. The Arizona Cardinals have the next-longest streak at eight games. Patrick Peterson has their last pick, which came in Week 5.

230

The Cowboys are averaging 17.7 points per game. Yes, Tony Romo has missed all or parts of 11 games but the Cowboys are still supposed to have a great offensive line, they still have Dez Bryant, they still have Jason Witten, they still have Cole Beasley, they still have Terrance WilliamsInstead of Romo-friendly, we have seen just how Romo-reliant the Cowboys have been. Only the St. Louis Rams, who fired their offensive coordinator, and San Francisco 49ers, who fired their starting quarterback, are averaging fewer points than the Cowboys.The Cleveland Browns are averaging more points per game.Last year the Cowboys scored 467 points, the second most in franchise history. They scored 30 or more points in a game 10 times last year. They have yet to score 30 points in a game this season.

>     http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748026/numbers-paint-a-bad-picture-for-the-cowboys

[kelly]

-- Forgive me, but why should the Dallas Cowboys shut down Dez Bryant for the season ?

He’s healthy. He should play. As Bill Parcells once said, “Football players play football during football season.”And he needs to play.Bryant’s season has gone poorly with just 27 catches for 351 yards and two touchdowns in eight games. He wasn’t himself in the regular-season opener against the New York Giants, and he hasn’t been himself since breaking his foot against the Giants.Stephen Jones expressed regret at how the Cowboys handled the Bryant negotiations two weeks ago in an ESPN.com story. The Cowboys put the franchise tag on him last March and never really negotiated until they got close to the July 15 deadline.

As a result, Bryant missed virtually the entire offseason program, except for a couple of workouts and one-on-one drills. He strained a hamstring early in training camp and missed half the practices as well as the four preseason games.“Could there have been a better way?” Stephen Jones said. “I don’t know the answer to that. Contract disputes are contract disputes. But at the end of the day when you don’t practice and you’re in a skill position, then I think you suffer. I think it’s hard to be consistently good. You think about Dez, he missed the whole offseason, then missed most of camp and then gets hurt in the first game and misses the next six weeks. Obviously he’s not able to perform at the level that we’ve been used to with him. If he makes a few catches that he normal makes that could’ve been a couple more [wins] and in our division that would be a lot right now.”

Bryant is coming off perhaps his worst game since he joined the NFL’s elite receivers. He caught one pass for 9 yards. It was the first time since 2013 he was held to one catch. In games in which he has had one catch, it was the fewest yards he has had since 2010.He dropped two passes and had another go of his hands for an interception.Speaking on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones indicated the surgically-repaired foot is not an issue. Bryant has had ankle and knee issues for the better part of the last month but leading into the Dec. 7 meeting at the Washington Redskins, Bryant said this is as good as he has felt all season.

A lack of practice time has hurt Bryant’s growth as a receiver, but he was not able to build up much of a rapport with Matt Cassel either. They have clicked the way Tony Romo and Roy Williams clicked after the receiver was picked up in a trade from the Detroit Lions in 2008.“Dez is a really good football player for a lot of different reasons,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s a big, strong, physical guy. He’s quick. He’s fast. He’s explosive. He’s got great instincts and feel for the game. He knows how to get open in man to man, and he knows how to get open in zone, and he goes after the football and catches. He’s very aggressive toward the ball. Those are all the traits that he has that make him so dangerous. Then, once he gets the ball in his hands, he’s really good running with it. He’s hard to tackle. So whenever you don’t play as much as you’d like it, I think all of those things get diminished a little bit. Again, I don’t want to make this about excuses for Dez. It’s his responsibility to get himself ready to play and play at a high level. No one knows that more than he does.”

Sitting Bryant for the final three games doesn’t get him better. It doesn’t get the Cowboys better.Yes, there is a risk of injury. There is a risk of injury in a training camp practice (see, Orlando Scandrick).But if you’re worried about injury, then Bryant shouldn’t be the only player to be shut down. If you want to shut down Bryant, then they need to shut down Tyron Smith, Jason Witten, Zack Martin, Sean Lee, Travis Frederick, Barry Church, Tyrone Crawford, DeMarcus Lawrence and anybody else you want to consider part of the Cowboys’ core for 2016 and beyond.

If Bryant is healthy -- and Jerry’s words say he is -- then he plays.

There can be no other answer.

>      http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748053/no-reason-to-shut-down-dez-bryant

[kelly]

 -- The Dallas Cowboys find themselves in last place in the NFC East and tied for the worst record in the NFC because they took an arrogant approach to the offseason.It was easy to do because they finished 12-4 and won the division behind the game’s best offensive line in 2014. DeMarco Murray produced a franchise-record 1,845 rushing yards and Tony Romo had never played better when it mattered most.

And that’s why they believed their own hype.

The Cowboys pride themselves on making decisions collectively, so you can blame the quartet of owner/general manager Jerry Jones, vice president Stephen Jones, head coach Jason Garrett and scouting director Will McClay in any order you choose.

This season’s demise began with the foolish decision to make Brandon Weeden the Cowboys’ backup quarterback, because it’s obvious Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan had zero confidence in Weeden.They gave him a Pop Warner game plan, then wondered why he didn’t produce before demoting him as starter after three winless starts. Matt Cassel, Weeden’s replacement, was acquired the week Romo broke his collarbone and the Cowboys knew they would need a starter for nearly two months.Cassel has a 1-5 record as a starter, with five touchdowns, six interceptions and a 73.5 passer rating overall this season. He has flunked a quarterback’s most important job, which is getting the team into the end zone.

The Cowboys have scored one touchdown or less in four of his six starts. Pathetic.

A lot of the Cowboys’ offensive issues besides the obvious absence of Romo can be traced to the team's negotiating tactics with Murray. Clearly, the Cowboys were afraid of his age and his workload, which included more than 400 touches in 2014, so there was no way they were going to give him the five-year, $40 million deal he received from Philadelphia.Matching Philadelphia’s deal wasn’t the problem. The Cowboys never really gave Murray a legitimate offer until free agency began. Everybody knows that if you allow a player to reach unrestricted free agency, the odds of him returning are virtually nil.The Cowboys figured their offensive line was so good that even Joseph Randle, released after Week 6, and a running back by committee could get the job done.

They haven’t.

The running game may rank in the top half of the NFL, but it has been unreliable all season. The Cowboys have struggled in short-yardage situations and haven't controlled games with their running game the way they did last season.The inconsistent running game has affected their ability to be productive with play-action passes and their deep passing game. See, it all works together.Ignore the stats, which say the Cowboys have rushed for a 4.4 average on 346 carries and Darren McFadden has 798 yards and a 4.2 yards-per-carry average. If you’ve watched the games, you know the truth: They miss Murray -- or somebody like him.The Cowboys eschewed selecting a runner in the best running back draft in years last spring, but it’s clear they need a starter. McFadden has been solid, but this team needs more than that because it wants a dominant running game.

In the process, the Cowboys have found out this line isn’t so good that anyone can gain 1,300 yards running behind it. You could not convince them of that last spring.Part of the problem with the running game is the offensive line hasn’t been nearly as good as it was last season. There have been too many whiffs and too many average performances.It’s not that Zack Martin, Tyron Smith or Travis Frederick -- the core -- have played poorly, because they haven’t. They’ve been really good in a season in which the Cowboys needed them to be great to compensate for Romo’s loss.Bill Callahan is one of the league’s best offensive line coaches, but he and Garrett had a frosty relationship. Frank Pollack, Callahan's former assistant and the Cowboys' new line coach, will probably be among the first scapegoats at the end of this season.

There’s always a scapegoat or two when a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations ends with a top-10 draft choice.The Cowboys handling of Dez Bryant's contract negotiations also proved to be one of the big mistakes of the offseason. When it was all said and done, the Cowboys essentially gave Bryant the same money he wanted when negotiations began.Talk to enough folks in the front office and they’ll admit the club would’ve been better served paying Bryant in March so he could’ve been a full participant in the offseason program.

Instead, he missed all of the offseason minicamps and OTAs, so no one should’ve been surprised when he strained a hamstring early in camp that forced him to miss the entire preseason.He broke his foot in the first game of the regular season and missed five games before rushing back. Watch him play, though, and it becomes clear he hasn’t been right much of the season.His numbers are pedestrian and he’s had just one 100-yard game this season, which is awful for a player who averaged 91 catches, 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns over the previous three seasons.The Cowboys figured he was good enough to miss the offseason and still perform at the highest of levels.

It’s just one more arrogant offseason decision the Cowboys made that has turned what was supposed to be a season to remember into one to forget.

>      http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748040/arrogant-offseason-approach-has-cowboys-at-bottom-of-nfc

[rex-n-effect]

 Instead of Romo-friendly, we have seen just how Romo-reliant the Cowboys have been.

All of this really shows how mismanaged the Cowboys are. They have a guy they think of as a franchise QB who looks great on paper but is an injury disaster and in play isn't nearly as fantastic as statistics show. The Cowboys have had mostly 6-9 win seasons with a team that has tremendous offensive talent. That's particularly unimpressive considering the division but even with Romo they would probably be an 8-9 win team. All that talent can't overcome a questionable QB, terrible coaching and terrible management.

That team operates to Jerry's ego. Garrett is an awful coach but great at kissing Jerry's ass. Jerry wants to walk around bragging about a "franchise QB" he found and has built the whole team around showing how smart Jerry was to find Romo and has let the team develop into holding up Romo as the whole success of the team. As long as Jerry runs that team they will never be a serious contender in the NFC.

[kelly]

-- "Fight" has been one of Jason Garrett’s buzzwords the past two years for the Dallas Cowboys. He has printed up a couple hundred T-shirts with the message on the front.

For the most part, the Cowboys have fought. Effort has not been an issue. Execution has. Scheme has.

At 4-9, the Cowboys have their worst record since 2010, when Garrett took over at the midway point of the season for Wade Phillips. They need almost a miracle to remain in playoff contention and are staring at their worst record since 2002, when they finished 5-11, if they can’t win two of their final three games.For the tenured core of this team, they are staring at their first stretch of games without playoff implications in the past six seasons. Only the die-hard will hold out hope that a 7-9 record will be good enough for a playoff spot.

This will be Garrett’s truest test of his message since taking over.

Will the Cowboys fight?

“The makeup of the guys on our football team is outstanding,” Garrett said. “The football character is outstanding. They come to work. They practice hard. They play hard. So I don’t expect anything different ... We expect our guys to respond the right way.”It’s easier to fight when there is something to play for late in a season. A year ago the Cowboys were a game out of first place at the start of December and won their final four games to clinch the NFC East. In 2011-13, they were in the thick of the NFC East chase until Week 17, losing de facto NFC East championship games to the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.Even with that 4-9 record through 13 games in 2010, the Cowboys had to fight. Garrett was fighting to remove the interim coach tag. Players were fighting to show they deserved a roster spot.

At 4-9, the writing looks to be on the wall for the 2015 Cowboys.

"I don't look at any writing, really, like I can’t read," defensive end Greg Hardy said after Sunday’s 28-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers. "Wonderful education at a private school went completely to waste; we just put up blinders, man, put them up here and you've got to keep going straight. That's the only way to the rest of the season to keep the mindset in this kind of situation, this circumstance."There is plenty to quibble with Garrett about offensive and defensive schemes and clock management, but he has had his team emotionally ready to play. Since 2011, 21 of the 37 losses have been a touchdown or less.

The Cowboys are coming off a 21-point loss to the Green Bay Packers but have not had back-to-back double-digit losses since 2011.

“We just got to tackle better, we got to set edges better, we got to do a lot of things better,” defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “Me as a player, I’m going to focus on getting better as a player regardless, and I’m sure the rest of my teammates are going to do the same.”These circumstances are different now. Interim Miami Dolphins coach Dan Campbell, who was part of a 6-10 season with the Cowboys in 2004, saw his team get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with Monday’s loss to the Giants.

"You find out who loves the game because that's what you're playing for," Campbell said. "There's three games to go. Who really loves the game?"It’s the same question that will be asked of the Cowboys over these final three weeks.

“Early on these past couple weeks, we’ve been able to control our destiny. Now to leave our fate in the hands of other teams losing sucks,” safety Barry Church said. “But we’re in a position where we are now and just got to take one game at a time now.”

>      http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748076/with-writing-on-wall-will-cowboys-continue-to-fight

[kelly]

- Last season the Dallas Cowboys set their identity with their running game.

DeMarco Murray led the NFL in rushing with 1,845 yards. Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin went to the Pro Bowl.

How well is the offensive line run blocking this season ?

“We’re not running the ball as well as we did last year,” coach Jason Garrett said. “It’s a collaborative effort.”

Nothing about the Cowboys’ offense has gone as planned this season. Start with Tony Romo's twice-broken left collarbone and then go to Dez Bryant missing five games with a broken foot. The ineffective quarterback play in place of Romo has not helped, either.The Cowboys are averaging 17.7 points per game, which is 30th in the league. They are averaging 325.6 yards per game, which is 28th. They are averaging 207.5 yards per game through the air, which is 29th.

So what do the Cowboys hang their hat on offensively ?

“Well, I do think we’ve run the ball fairly well this year,” Garrett said. “I think we’re probably in the top third in the league running the football.”If you’re slightly confused by Garrett’s quotes, the answers came within three minutes of each other.The Cowboys haven’t run the ball as well as they did last year, but the best thing they've done this year is run the ball.

Both statements are true.

The Cowboys finished second in the NFL in rushing last season. They are averaging 118.2 yards per game on the ground this season, which is 11th-best in the league. With 1,536 yards on the ground, they are on pace for 1,890, which would be the third-best total since Garrett arrived as play-caller in 2007.Their league ranking is poised to be the second-best since Garrett became head coach midway through 2010. In 2012 and ’13, the Cowboys had the 31st- and 24th-ranked run offenses, respectively.“We haven’t been as balanced as we need to be,” Garrett said. “So I think in some ways that hurts the running game. If you’re not as effective throwing the football, they can load up against the run on you, so it’s been a harder environment to run the football. You want to be able to break the huddle and challenge the defense different ways. But if you’re asking me what we’ve done the best: We’ve probably run the ball better than we’ve done anything else on offense this year.”

It will be tough to run the ball Saturday against the New York Jets.

They have the NFL’s top-ranked run defense, giving up just 78.9 yards per game on the ground. They have not allowed a team to have a runner with more than 23 yards in the last three games. Two times this season, the quarterback was the leading opposing rusher (Tom Brady, Johnny Manziel). One time a receiver was the leading rusher (Jarvis Landry).The Jets have not faced some of the better running teams this season, though. They have faced run offenses ranked 20th or worse on nine occasions. The best running games they have faced this season belonged to the Buffalo Bills (No. 3) and Philadelphia Eagles (No. 13).

Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy had 19 carries for 112 yards in the Bills’ victory. Ryan Mathews had 108 yards on 24 carries in the Eagles’ victory. The Jets have given up three 100-yard rushers this season and lost all three games.“It starts with their players,” Garrett said of the Jets’ defense. “They’re really good in their front four on defense. They’re really good at the linebacker level. They’re really good in the secondary from a personnel standpoint. Their scheme is really good. They do a good job playing a scheme that makes it difficult to run the football and they have a tremendous amount of faith and confidence in their corners to cover on the back end and rightfully so; they are two of the best guys in the league. So they do a good job from a scheme standpoint playing to their personnel, which is awfully good.”

But remember, the Cowboys aren’t running the ball like they did a year ago even if it’s the best thing they've done this year.

> http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748070/a-confusing-tale-about-the-cowboys-running-game

[kelly]

 -- The Dallas Cowboys have no chance to beat the New York Jets if they don't handle coach Todd Bowles' elaborate blitz package.

The Jets' defense is based on creating pressure and disrupting their opponents' offense. Sometimes the pressure causes turnovers. Other times it leads to negative plays or incompletions.The key, though, is to make it hard for the offense to move the ball consistently. The problem for Dallas is that quarterback Matt Cassel has had issues with the blitz, completing just 22 of 50 passes for 266 yards with a touchdown and an interception this season. He's been sacked seven times in those situations and has a passer rating of 59.3.

The Jets have blitzed on 77 of 211 first-down passes and 61 of 161 second-down passes. And if the Cowboys face 3rd-and-7 or longer, Cassel won't have to wonder if the Jets are blitzing. They have blitzed on 38 of 56 plays in that situation."They use a lot of different players in a lot of different spots and they bring them from different areas on the field," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said, "and they play a lot of different coverages behind it and they have really good cover guys and really good down guys who can rush. They have good players who do these things well and they do it from a variety of different looks."

The Jets' scheme can be taxing on players mentally. Miss a blitz pickup and it can lead to disaster.

"You certainly want to look at as many blitzes they run as possible in your preparation," Garrett said. "It's challenging to practice all of those, so you try to prepare for them different ways. Maybe you group them a certain way. There are certainly some concepts they use both in coverage and in pressure that you try to expose to your team and practice as best you can."

>     http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748084/matt-cassel-cowboys-must-handle-jets-blitz

[kelly]

The Jets are facing quite a bloc (pun intended) of tight ends in this last quarter of the regular season. Last week it was Tennessee's Delanie Walker, this week it's future Hall of Famer in Jason Witten of Dallas, then New England's Rob Gronkowski, then Buffalo's Charles Clay.

Calvin Pryor says bring 'em on.

"We feel comfortable with how we're playing tight ends," the second-year safety said after today's practice, three days before running into Witten on Saturday night in Big D. "We know we're going to have tough matchups week in and week out, but we're looking forward to it as well. Just with our preparation and game-planning, I think it's starting to pay off. We just have to do our job and play disciplined football."Green & White fans who remember only Gronk's 11 catches for 108 yards in Game 6 and two long receptions by the Giants' Will Tye might think the Jets haven't improved much against TEs, but that would be incorrect. Last year TEs caught 14 touchdowns against the Jets. This year the number is two — one to Gronkowski and one to Miami's Jake Stoneburner in London.And anecdotally, the defense is coming off a strong showing against Walker. With Buster Skrine getting a lot of the coverage responsibility, Marcus Mariota threw to his favorite target eight times with three catches for 28 yards until the final drive with the 30-8 win locked up.

A lot of the D's improvement in this area is due to Pryor's improvement. He has just his Game 2 interception at Indianapolis but the past three weeks he's totaled four pass defenses and two tackles for loss, and despite missing three games with an ankle injury, his 57 tackles, many of the big-bopper variety, are tied for second-most in the secondary."Well, I've played better than last year, so I think that's one step in the right direction," he said. "I just have to keep playing at a very high level and keep making plays for this defense."

Head coach Todd Bowles wasn't buying the notion that Witten is no longer a threat now that at the age of 33 he's reached his NFL dotage."Oh yeah, big time," Bowles said. "He’s been like that his whole career. He’s steady, always tough. You know he’s going to get the ball. He’s going to make his catches, he doesn’t turn the ball over, he can block, so he’s a guy we have to look out for."Witten, who's played in every Dallas game since '04 and started all but two, is at 65 receptions for 594 yards and two touchdowns this season. The catches are a little more than he'd had the previous two seasons but his 9.1 yards/catch are the lowest of his career.He's played in all three games vs. the Jets since his 2003 rookie season, but he made his presence felt in the last two. On Thanksgiving 2007 at Texas Stadium, he had four catches for 54 yards and a touchdown, and he did his best to spoil the Jets' 2011 home opener with six catches for 110 yards.

Bowles offered high praise for MLB David Harris today."I don’t think we could function on defense if David wasn’t playing right now," the coach said. "David’s probably the most underrated guy over there, but he’s the glue that keeps everybody together over there. He does everything, not only just mentally. He makes a ton of plays. They’re probably not flashy, like you see Mo [Wilkerson] and [Darrelle] Revis and the rest of those guys, but David keeps that core intact. David understand the game, he’s our coach on the field. Without him, I don’t know where we’d be."Pryor's take on the big guy in front of him on the defense: "Everybody listens to him. ... He just comes to work every day and he pushes guys to get better. That's something I respect about him and that's why I love playing with him."

>      http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/article-randylangefb/NotesQuotes-Pryor-Jets-vs-Witten-Dallas/639869e2-b97a-4790-924a-726abc011962

[UnitedWhofans]

I would like somebody to tell me, outside of the Jets turning the ball over more than once, how the Cowboys win this game

[kelly]

–- Matt Cassel has won just one game and has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season for the Dallas Cowboys.But Calvin Pace knows the second the New York Jets defense doesn’t respect Cassel, it could get burned.“He’s a veteran guy, seen it, done it,” the Jets linebacker said. “It’s tough when you haven’t been with a team, you get traded there and get thrust into action. I’m sure it wasn’t the easiest transition for him but he is more than capable of making plays and beating us.

“It is not like we are just looking down on him as if he can’t play,” Pace continued. “Treat him like every other quarterback, respect him.”

The Jets visit Dallas on Saturday night and the defense will need to stop the Cowboys' running game. The hope is to force Cassel into third-and-long situations and some turnovers. Cassel has thrown five touchdowns to six interceptions this season.“They are pretty hard-headed about running the ball,” said Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers. “That’s the thing, you know they have explosive players in Dez Bryant and you’ve got [Jason] Witten, so what we see is they’re making a wholehearted effort to establish the running game.”

Cassel has passed for only one touchdown in his past four games. The Jets would love to make that five by continuing to get the type of pressure they got in Week 14 in a 30-8 victory over Tennessee.The Jets sacked Marcus Mariota five times and limited him to just 274 yards passing and three yards rushing, no touchdowns and one interception.

Another defensive effort like that and the Jets’ winning streak might reach four games.“Our job is to make his day uncomfortable, get to him, hands in his face, knock him, hit him, hopefully get some interceptions,” Pace said of Cassel. “We got to go out and play our game plan and stop the run so that we give ourselves good rushing opportunities and put him third-and-long and in our favor.”

“The key is starting fast,” Pace added. “We have been bad on the road, we haven’t started fast. The energy, the body language, it is like we wait too long to kick it into gear. When that whistle kicks off at 8:25 (p.m. ET), we got to be ready to go.”

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Matt Cassel can't find pay dirt

Just how bad has the Dallas QB been when throwing into the end zone? Cassel has the second worst completion percentage in the NFL this season when passing into the end zone.

 

>   http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/dal/dallas-cowboys

 

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Because his team plays Saturday night, New York Jets coach Todd Bowles will have a rare day off Sunday. Instead of spending it glued to his TV set, keeping track of the Jets' wild-card competitors, he's planning to do his Christmas shopping.

The way Bowles sees it, it's a waste of energy to worry about other teams. His mantra is, "Just win out, baby."

"We definitely have to win out and that still might not be good enough," the coach said.The Jets (8-5) close out the season with the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. If they finish in a three-way tie with the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, both also 8-5, the Jets would be the odd team out, based on the tiebreaking procedure.

Technically, the Jets don't have to run the table to make the playoffs, but a loss -- especially to an AFC team -- would put them in a dire situation. Nevertheless, there's no excuse to lose to the woeful Cowboys (4-9), who have curled up into the fetal position without Tony Romo. On the flip side, a victory would extend the Jets' winning streak to four games (the longest since 2010) and would secure their first winning season since 2010, setting up a monster showdown against the Patriots in Week 16.

It sets up perfectly for the Jets. Too perfectly  ?

Kickoff is 8:25 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium. The top storylines:

1. The Jets can't lose to a No. 3 quarterback, can they? Well, yeah, they did it last month in the state of Texas, falling to T.J. Yates and the Houston Texans. The Cowboys' starter is Matt Cassel, who replaced the injured Romo, who replaced Cassel, who replaced Brandon Weeden, who replaced Romo after his first injury. Cassel is 1-5 as the starter, displaying no ability whatsoever to spark the offense. The Cowboys have scored zero or one touchdown in four of his six starts. Things are so bad that coach Jason Garrett actually gave a few practice reps to untested backup Kellen Moore, suddenly the most popular guy in Dallas.

2. Streak vs. streak: Ryan Fitzpatrick has gone 123 consecutive passes without an interception, nine attempts shy of the longest streak of his career (2013). Now he will face the most benign defense in the league. The Cowboys have only eight takeaways, including six interceptions -- none of them by a cornerback. In fact, they've gone 536 passes without an interception by a corner. As if they didn't have enough problems, the Cowboys might not have starter Morris Claiborne (hamstring). In theory, Fitzpatrick should have his way. He needs five touchdown passes to break Vinny Testaverde's team record, 29 in 1998.

3. Speaking of records ...: Brandon Marshall, who has a touchdown catch in a league-high 10 games, needs only five receptions to break Al Toon's team record, 93 in 1988. Marshall's sidekick, Eric Decker, needs 125 receiving yards to reach 1,000, which would give the Jets their first pair of 1,000-yard receivers ... ever. If one of them scores, they'll set a team record for most receiving touchdowns in a season (21) by a tandem.

4. Approaching his first grand: Chris Ivory needs 86 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the first time in his life. Most running backs compile a bunch of them before they get to the NFL, but Ivory didn't get the ball a lot in high school because he played fullback. He was a role player at Washington State and got hurt in his only season at Tiffin University. Ivory grew up a Cowboys fan in Longview, Texas, so it would be fitting if he reached the milestone in his home state.

5. Winning checklist: If the Jets remain patient and exert their physicality, they should be able to break the Cowboys' will. They'll need to be physical to handle the Cowboys' outstanding offensive line. This will be a step up in class for the Jets, who have faced a slew of soft rushing attacks in recent weeks. They'll need to be physical with wide receiver Dez Bryant, who should be motivated after reading Calvin Pryor's comments. They'll need to be patient on offense. The Cowboys employ a vanilla, Tampa 2 system that can frustrate opponents; it'll be up to Fitzpatrick to stay cool and stay within the game plan.

>      http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/57171/advice-for-jets-as-they-prepare-for-struggling-cowboys-dont-choke

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Rich Cimini ESPN Staff Writer 

The Jets have upgraded PR/WR Jeremy Kerley (bruised calf) to probable for tomorrow night against the Cowboys. That alleviates the concern of having to break in a new punt returner. WR Eric Decker would be the fill-in if Kerley can't finish the game.

>      http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/nyj/new-york-jets

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 -- The optimism Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett expressed Thursday about the availability of Rolando McClain was extinguished Friday when the linebacker was ruled out of Saturday’s game against the New York Jets because of a concussion.

With a shorter prep time from last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers, McClain simply ran out of time as he was never fully cleared. He took part in the walkthroughs Tuesday through Thursday but did not practice during the week.

Anthony Hitchens will replace McClain at middle linebacker.

McClain missed the first four games of the season because of a suspension. He has posted double-digit tackles in four of the last five games as well as having five of his eight tackles for loss during that span.The defense also could be without cornerback Morris Claiborne, who is doubtful with a hamstring strain that has kept him out of practice all week.

Claiborne will attempt to work out before Saturday’s kickoff. If he can play, then Byron Jones will start at free safety. If he can’t, then Jones will start at cornerback. Claiborne missed two games earlier this season with a strain to the same hamstring.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, who leads the Cowboys with six sacks, is probable after not practicing Tuesday and being limited on Wednesday because of a rib injury. Linebacker Kyle Wilber (shoulder), safety Jeff Heath (shoulder) and defensive end David Irving (back) are also probable.

>        http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4748145/rolando-mcclain-ruled-out-of-jets-game

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Rich Cimini ESPN Staff Writer 

The Jets got RB Chris Ivory, WR Brandon Marshall and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick for 4th, 5th and 6th-round picks (2013-2015), respectively. Tonight's opponent, Dallas, made trades this year for the same positions, giving up similar value -- two 5s and a 7. In return, Dallas got QB Matt Cassel, RB Christine Michael, WR Brice Butler, plus a 6 and a 7. Advantage: Jets. (Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information).

>      http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/nyj/new-york-jets