DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Well… I wasn’t quite as on-the-money as I thought (hoped?) I would be. Kubes announced the dearly departed in today’s press conference. They are:

(# denotes practice squad possibility, ! denotes turd-eating pederasts who no longer wear Battle Red)
Chad Stanley!
Bethel Johnson
Keenan McCardell
Wali Lundy
Jared Zabransky #
Darius Walker #
John Walker #
Tyrone Poole
Dexter McCleon
Jon Abbate #
Drew Hodgdon
Alfred Malone
Matt Brisiel
Brandon Frye #
David Anderson
Victor Degrate #
Brandon Mitchell #
Trent Bray
Deljaun Robinson #
Tim Bulman

Which leaves us with the following roster:
QB: Matt Schaub, Sage Rosenfels
RB: Ahman Green, Ron Dayne, Sam Gado, Vonta Leach, Jameel Cook (boo.)
WR: Andre Johnson, Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, Andre Davis, Jerome Mathis,
TE: Owen Daniels, Jeb Putzier, Mark Bruener, Joel Dreessen
OL: Eric Winston, Fred Weary, Jordan Black, Scott Jackson, Chester Pitts, Kasey Studdard, Steve McKinney, Mike Flanagan, Chris White, Ephraim Salaam

DL: Mario Williams, Travis Johnson, , ND Kalu, Amobi Okoye, Anthony Maddox, Jason Babin, Earl Cochran, Anthony Weaver, Jeff Zgonina, Cedric Killings
LB: DeMeco Ryans, Danny Clark, Morlon Greenwood, Charlie Anderson, Shantee Orr, Shawn Barber, Zac Diles
CB: Dunta Robinson, Petey Faggins, Jamar Fletcher, Dexter Wynn, Fred Bennett
S: Jason Simmons, Von Hutchins, Brandon Harrison, C.C. Brown

P: Matt Turk
K: Kris Brown
LS: Brian Pittman

Unless my counting is off, that’s 55, so there are still two more cuts to come. (Eduardo Castaneda does not have to be cut–he will be put on the practice squad automatically and doesn’t count against the number of players we can put on the squad.) I imagine one cut will be either Dreessen or Pittman, as I can’t see carrying two longsnappers, and I am guessing Chris White or Scott Jackson will get the boot.

It blows my mind that McCardell didn’t make this team, but it blows it in a nice, call-you-the-next-day sort of way. When was the last time we could honestly say we had a deep WR corps?

And like that, the preseason is over. Thank goodness. While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Schaub exorcise some demons and watching Jacoby Jones be absolutely amazing, the preseason still reminds me of that girl in high school that would make out with you at a party, but never went any further. She thought she was playing hard to get, but she was really just annoying you and leaving you unfulfilled. That’s the preseason in a nutshell. ESPECIALLY game 4, when most teams play “this is what it would look like if all our starters died.” Blech.

Anyway. Moving on. Like last week, * denotes a player is a lock to make the team. All numbers are based upon last year’s opening day roster.

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky should make the practice squad, as shown by his performance last night. Practice, dude.) Changes since last week: None.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Sam Gado*, Wali Lundy. (That’s right–I think we will carry five RBs and only one true FB. If push came to shove, I’m sure Captain Pie and/or Samkon could play the role of blocking back. Lundy looked good (relatively speaking) last night. That coupled with Jon Abbate’s injury likely puts him on the practice squad. Patrick Pass just misses the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Wali and Abbate switching places.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis*, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. [Ed: Nevermind.] (What a difference a week makes. Last time I did this, I wrote “Keenan McCardell looks to be getting every benefit of every doubt in order to keep him on this team.” However, after seeing Bethel Johnson get every chance in the world to make this team, I think he’s the sixth man if such a creature exists. David Anderson reminded me that he is, in fact, still on the roster.) Changes since last week: Bethel above McCardell on the list.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. I have pretty much already decided that Black is the player I like least on this team, but I’m guessing he’ll still be around come Sunday morning. Chris White and Mike Brisiel won’t.) Changes since last week: NONE.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (Yes, I realize that Joel Dreessen is on the roster, and, yes, I realize that he is a TE and long snapper… but I have been laboring under the impression that he had zero chance from day one. I stick to that.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Dear Chad Stanley. Please leave. Sincerely, all of us.) Changes since last week: NONE.

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson*, Jeff Zgonina, and Earl Cochran. (Just missing the cut: Cedric Killings. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Victor DeGrate, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman. Christ, this is a logjam. Cochran and Killings looked decent last night. I moved Orr back to the LB list just for the sake of simplicity. ) Changes since last week:

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Shantee Orr. (Practice squad: Zac Diles. Getting cut: Trent Bray.) Changes since last week: Orr back on this list, with Diles to the practice squad. I think he’s a great kid and he will probably find a way back onto this roster, but Orr’s ability to play pass-rushing DE and pass-rushing LB keeps him on the roster.

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Von Hutchins, Dexter McCleon and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter Wynn and Roc Alexander.) Changes since last week: Wynn and McCleon changed places.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Mitchell, Brandon Harrison (John Walker gets cut. In my perfect world, Von Hutchins is spending more time at safety. Gary Kubiak does not seem to agree with this plan, so I’m guessing it’s Walker who misses out.) Changes since last week: Mitchell up.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention one last time that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties.) Changes since last week: NONE.

Three player-related notes on the eve of the 53-man roster.

I wonder if Chad Stanley¹ woke up this morning with a Jack-Bauer-esque countdown clock in his head. Considering it’s 83.2% certain that Stanley will get the axe² at some point between now and Saturday afternoon, it’s kind of fun to picture him racing around town today, trying to save his job. It’s even more fun, however, picturing him getting a pink slip on Saturday morning. Lord knows he deserves it.

Jacoby Jones continues to show that he is a pass-catching, punt-returning, country-music-listening³ super ninja bent on total NFL domination. He ended the preseason with 11 catches for two TDs to go along with his two punt return TDs. Which, of course, means that Kevin Walter is still the second WR. Because, you know, those two catches and two drops he had over the past four games were simply dominant.

I have a love-hate relationship with Brandon Mitchell. On the one hand, he worships at the altar of Woody Hayes and, thus, is a soulless puppy-eating incubus. On the other, though, he’s played well enough this preseason that I would actually feel better about our safety depth if he made the roster. Honestly, I would rather have him on the active roster than Brandon Harrison, whom Mitchell has outplayed in three of the four games.

Final roster decisions made today (trimming from 75 to 53) and most likely announced tomorrow. I’ll have my last set of projections up sometime today. Because I’m sure Kubiak is waiting for my input.

¹ The turd-eating pederast.
² Only figuratively, damn it.
³ Huh?

Ask any Texans fan what he or she thinks of Jacoby Jones and the answer you get will likely include phrases such as “simply amazing,” “great draft pick,” and “want him to be my baby-daddy.” Having your way with the Dallas Cowboys will get you that kind of respect, and deservedly so.

Jones might not be the leagues best-kept secret for much longer, though. It looks like the national media is catching wind of the greatness that is JJ. NFL.com’s Adam Schefter writes

Last year Bears rookie Devin Hester rocked the football world, returning punts for touchdowns and the Bears to NFC prominence.

This year, Texans rookie Jacoby Jones could do the same.

Three weeks into the preseason, no rookie has shined anymore than Jones, who has been a threat as a punt returner and a wide receiver.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Jones has caught eight passes, including one that went for a 19-yard touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys.

As a punt returner, Jones has brought back two for touchdowns in each of the Texans past two preseason games –- one for 81 yards against Arizona, the other for 90 yards against Dallas — and there could have been a third if Jones weren’t narrowly tripped up in Houston’s preseason opener against Hester’s Bears.

The Texans recognize Jones’ talents already, and have for quite some time. While many teams forecasted Jones as a fifth- or sixth-round pick, the Texans picked him in the third round. They liked him then; they like him even more now.

Jones was something of an unknown coming from tiny Lane College. There were questions about Jones’ small hands and dropped passes. But Jones hasn’t dropped anything this summer. It’s starting to look as if other teams dropped the ball on not picking Jones sooner.

Seriously… how cool is that? I know that there’s a list as long as my arm of guys who flashed in training camp, but never did anything in the pros. Hell, we’ve had a few of them. But Jones seems legit. Even if he can’t return punts for TDs in 10 or 11 games this season, we’ll still be more than pleased with what he brings to the table. As long as he treats the Titans like he treated the girls from up north.

The team made two player moves yesterday, one surprising and one not so much. First, despite the fact that (a) he’d played pretty well, (b) Jon Abbate is nursing a bum bodypart, and (c) he’s not Jameel Cook, the team released RB/FB Patrick Pass.

I want to hope that this means Abbate is going to make the team (or, at the least, that we are going to keep a fourth RB) and that we will not have to deal with another year of Cook screwing things up. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, like right around the same time we find out if Chad Stanley made some sort of deal at the crossroads with Jerry Jones and traded his eternal soul for the chance to punt in Houston in 2007.

The other move–the unsurprising one–was that Charles Spencer was put on the PUP list to start the season, meaning he will have to miss at least the first six games. According to Kubes, however, “it’s still a pretty long shot that he plays this year, but who knows.”

Spencer will (theoretically) be ready for Opening Day 2008, regardless of how this season turns out for him. If doctors determine that he’d be better served by not playing at all in ‘07, I am fine with that. That said, and coupled with the dearth of first round quality secondary talent next April, it would not bother me one bit if our first pick was Jake Long, Michael Oher, or Sam Baker.

The other question-marked positions (starter at SLB, C, and DT; survivor at P) should be sorted out some time between now and the fourth of never at this rate. Answers were supposed to come yesterday, then Friday, and now Saturday. My predictions are still Danny Clark, Steve McKinney, Anthony Maddox (though Travis Johnson has impressed me this preseason), and Matt Turk. Of course, the last one in that list is the only one that really matters, as that’s the only battle where the loser deserves to be shot in the face gets released.

The best part about all of this, though, is that it means we are only 11 days from a game that actually means something.

Random Texans-related fantasy football nuggets from Matthew Berry’s “50 Things You Need to Know,”

4. Last season, Ahman Green had more than 1,400 total yards in 14 games. Last season, the Houston Texans had 13 rushing touchdowns as a team and averaged more than 100 yards rushing per game, both numbers better than those of the Packers last season. And the Texans did it with Samkon Gado, Wali Lundy[,] and Ron Dayne carrying the rock.

12. Only one wide receiver (Houston’s Andre Johnson) had more receptions than Detroit’s Mike Furrey last season.

27. Owen Daniels had the same number of touchdowns (five) as Tony Gonzalez, L.J. Smith[,] and Heath Miller.

51. Jacoby Jones is clearly the greatest athlete to ever even consider touching a football.

Well, I’m sure that would have been next, had the list continued.

I hate the be the bearer of bad news. Actually, wait… that’s not true. I generally LOVE to be the bearer of bad news, so long as I am not impacted by it. I have a well developed sense of schadenfreude. Unfortunately, this news does impact me (and most of you) as a Texans fan.

Here’s the deal: Barring a whole lot of unforeseen disasters or player developments, it is pretty much a given that we have to address the secondary in the 2008 offseason. Most likely, we will be looking at either or both safety positions, but that supposition hinges on Faggins or Bennett or Fletcher (or whomever) turning in at least an average performance at CB2.

The bad news, though, is that it looks right now like the pickings at safety are going to be extremely thin, both in terms of draft and free agents. On the college front, there appear to be no safeties in the top 40 overall prospects. The highest ranked safety (according to ESPN) checks in at number 42, is 5′8″/180, and inspires such comments as, “he’s a safety prospect that actually lacks ideal size for a cornerback” and, “not afraid to mix it up but he gets lost in a crowd too often when filling versus the run.” Awesome. And it does downhill from there. Only two of the players are currently graded by Scouts, Inc., as at least an 80. More than a few are slow. Many have horrible footwork, hips, or both. Be still, my beating heart.

On the potential free agent front, only one name jumps out–Mike Doss. He’s not exactly durable and he did go to Ohio State (which means that he hates all that is good in the world), but he’s a playmaker and a big hitter. Unfortunately, like I said, he’s the only guy out there that a Texans fan could actively covet, as other names include Jordan Babineaux and William Bartee.

I am fully aware that a lot can change between now and the end of the season. One of the Brandons could develop into a good safety. One or more of the college players could have worked hard this summer to develop into the next LaRon Landry. Nuclear apocalypse could render this whole discussion rather trivial. Etc. Assuming none of that happens, though, the odds are looking fairly good that we are going to have to find our starting 2008 secondary from within the organization. I think we’ve heard that song before.

OK, it’s getting close. I like the colors, I like the layout as it appears in Firefox. I need feedback from people using IE–is the sidebar still falling to the bottom? Also, if anyone more familiar with CSS could look at my source code and tell me how to fix any IE bugs, that would be awesome.

Reader Jersey Bill sends along this story of Zoolander being hobbled by a …wait for it… broken pinkie toe.

‘I’m limping around a little bit; broken toes will do that to you [Author's note: Thank you, Captain Obvious.], but we’ll be alright,’ Carr said after hobbling through Sunday’s practice.’You really don’t need it ; it’s just kind of in the way. I’ve been trying to get rid of it all week, but it doesn’t seem like it wants to go away.’

You don’t need what? The injury? Well, no shit. The pinky toe? Actually, I’m pretty sure you do need that. The weird-ass black glove on your throwing hand? Agreed!

And, yes, the only reason I posted this story was to link to the picture of him with the black glove and glorious, flowing locks.

Over the last week, on a couple different message boards as well as some random comment threads at the Dysfunctional Family Robinson, I’ve seen posts to the effect of “using stats to compare football players is stupid.”

Now, to the extent that someone would claim that Super Mario and Dwight Freeney had similar seasons last year based on the sacks each recorded, I would agree. That’s just dumb. But no one with two ounces of sense¹ would make such a claim, so I highly doubt that’s what the makers of these anti-statistic statements are saying.

It seems like there are people claiming that statistical comparisons of football players are de facto misleading because… well… I’m not sure why. The usual reason tends to include something about “intangibles” or “not truly reflecting the game.”

My initial reaction is one of bemusement. If we all agree that statistics are context-dependent, that especially in football one has to look at the big picture, then a statistical comparison is as valid as any other and is one of the few means we have to remove nearly all the subjectivity. Why would this be stupid?

Looking more closely, though, I think it’s precisely this removal of subjectivity that causes people to bristle at purely numerical comparisons. When we take away the platitudes, reputations, and “intangibles,” all we are left with is performance. Suddenly, the player that is great because he’s “clutch” is only above average when you look at what he’s really doing between the hashmarks. In that situation, it’s easier for some people to disregard the message rather than altering their own beliefs. No surprise there; people are almost always loathe to admit that a personal belief is faulty.

The not-quite-ironic-but-still-kinda-funny thing about all of this is that we’ve seen it all before. Major League Baseball went through the same thing from the mid 80s to the late 90s. The old school cognoscenti derided the sabermetric crowd as eggheads who didn’t take things like clutch hitting into account. Remarkably enough, over the ensuing two decades, the vast majority of baseball fans came around. Today, nearly all are familiar with metrics like OPS and many are comfortable with VORP and ERA+. While none of these measurements are much more than 20 years old, only Luddites like Joe Morgan claim straight-faced that those metrics do not measure baseball production better than comparing Runs and Wins.

Given the improvements in understanding baseball that came from accepting the sabermetric offerings, I imagine that a similar movement will sweep the NFL. To be sure, guys like Football Outsiders have already started the ball rolling. Until new measurements become commonplace, however, we have to use the numbers we do have. While I will be the first to admit that raw numbers can be used to “prove” some things that simply aren’t true, that does not mean that all statistical comparisons are flawed from the start. To say that they are is the only “stupid” part of the whole debate.

¹ Cowboy fans need not apply.

Is this format better than the black background?

EDIT: It’s 11:30 CST and I’ve gone cross-eyed from tweaking. Call it version 2.21. Better? I’m starting to like it.

Another week, another demonstration by Jacoby Jones as to why he should be the starting WR2. Which, of course, means that he’s not. That’s life, I guess. Like last week, * denotes a player is a lock to make the team. All numbers are based upon last year’s opening day roster.

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky should make the practice squad.) Changes since last week: Quinton Porter and Bradlee Van Pelt were cut. So, far, I am 2/2.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Sam Gado*, Jon Abbate, (Wali Lundy and Patrick Pass just miss the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Gado bumped up to lock status. Abbate is hanging on by a thread and I could see Pass or Cook (NO!) supplanting him.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. [Ed: Nevermind.] Keenan McCardell looks to be getting every benefit of every doubt in order to keep him on this team. Bethel Johnson was given a temporary stay of execution, as poor Charlie Adams was killed instead. David Anderson reminded me that he is, in fact, still on the roster.) Changes since last week: Adams and Harry Williams were cut. I am 3/4.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. There is still no indication that Kubiak is as unhappy with Turnstile Black as fans are, so I am guessing that he’ll be around come the end of the preseason. Chris White and Mike Brisiel get sent packing.) Changes since last week: NONE.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (I think this is why we’ll be carrying 6 WRs, which is good news for Charlie Adams someone other than Charlie Adams.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Chad Stanley is gone. Praise Jesus.) Changes since last week: NONE, technically, but Kubiak’s statement that they “could have” made a decision yesterday but decided not to suggests to me that Stanley is 99% out the door. I mean, I see no way that they could have decided “you know… I am really sick of getting good punts and winning the field position battle. Turk’s gone!”

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson*, Jeff Zgonina, and Shantee Orr. (Just missing the cut: Earl Cochran and Victor DeGrate. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Cedric Killings, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman.) Changes since last week: Thomas Johnson released, a week after I had moved him UP on this thing. I am 3/5. Orr was moved from LB to RDE and seemed to play extremely well.

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Zac Diles. (Getting cut: Trent Bray. Theoretically, Orr might make the team as an LB who just plays DE, kind of like DeMarcus Ware, with Diles going to the practice squad, which would allow for Earl Cochran to make the team as a DL.) Changes since last week: NONE (though it looks and sounds like Clark is back to being the bona fide starter at SLB).

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Von Hutchins, Dexter Wynn and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter McCleon and Roc Alexander. The last four guys on this list were more or less invisible Saturday, so I am not sure if there was any real shake-up here.) Changes since last week: I moved Hutchins back to CB because I think there was some movement at safety.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Harrison, Brandon Mitchell (John Walker gets cut. I moved Hutchins back to CB, as I think Mitchell strong showing Saturday has him back on the good list. Also, there is a possibility that we will carry only 5 WRs/3 TEs so that we can use the extra roster spot for a 5th safety along with our 6 CBs.) Changes since last week: Mitchell up, Hutchins moved.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention AGAIN that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties?) Changes since last week: NONE.

Dear Randy,

I just wanted to write and offer a sincere “fuck you” in regards to your column–In Lousy Loss, Cowboys had Trifecta: Stink, Stank, Stunk–from this past Sunday.

To be clear, it’s not the overall message of your post I take issue with. I agree wholeheartedly that the Cowboys played like a bunch of ninnies. (That was the message of your post, wasn’t it? I find it so difficult to decipher poorly-written sports columns.)

No, my “fuck you” is directed at this line:

The Cowboys had an embarrassing “all three phases” first-half collapse against the Houston Texans, a team that will be lucky to win five regular-season games.

Lucky to win five, eh? And you are basing that on what, pray tell? My guess it that you’ve spent far too much time writing love letters to Tony Romo this offseason to actually look at the Texans. Of course, coming from Fort Worth–the ugly sister with an inbred crush on her drug-addict brother, Dallas–I suppose it only makes sense that you would be busy worshiping at the Altar of Botched Snaps.

Fact is, you were fed a steaming turd sandwich by a team that played its starters less than you did, rendered your blitzing defense more or less null and void, and featured a running back that your own announcers were laughing about until he ran all over you. Do you really want to say that this team is unlikely to wi–

Wait a second… did you really paraphrase “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in your title?!? Did your group home arrange this job for you as a way to get you out in mainstream society? Do you wear a helmet? Are you going to treat your readers to “Romo Hears a Who” next? Would my message be easier for you to comprehend in some sort of rhyme?

I do not like you, sportswriting jerk
I do not like you, I hate your work
Your city’s a joke
Your analysis is too
From the depths of my heart
Randy, fuck you

I hope this helps. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely,
Matt

I’m not gonna lie. I was cheering and yelling at the television as if last night’s game really mattered. Considering I have no special feeling for the Governor’s Cup (I mean, he’s not even my governor), I can only chalk this up to some combination of seeing the team play well and hating the Cowboys.

And they did play well, especially the first team, in all three facets of the game.

OFFENSE
Matt Schaub is rapidly making his signing look like the smartest thing this organization has ever done. Which, I realize, is not saying much–kind of like calling him the prettiest girl at Flathead Valley Community College–but still. He is poised in the pocket. He can make all the throws from all the possible drop distances (as well as rolling to either side). He can avoid sacks with his feet. He gets rid of the ball in short order. And so on, and so forth. In short, he’s doing absolutely everything we could have hoped for. Plus, he has a totally awesome first name.

I was also thrilled with the WR play of Andre Johnson, Apostrophe Davis, and (of course) Jacoby Jones. AJ flashed speed and nice open field moves on one catch, then turned around and showed his amazing strength/size combination on the TD grab. Without jumping that route, I can think of only one or two CBs in all of football who might have stopped him on that slant. Apostrophe looks like he is completely fine with playing the role of slot guy/3rd WR, which is perfect for what he brings to the table. JJ has done absolutely everything and then some to win the role of WR2 (leaping TD grab/end around speed), PR (breakin’ off a little somethin’ somethin’ twice), and defender of the free world (he could totally catch bin Laden).

Batman looked great. Power runs, toss plays, that huge off-tackle gain… so this is what it’s like to have a real running back. Weird. I like it. The Dallas announcers can make all the Ahman-is-old jokes they want. When push came to shove, he run the ball right at them and–with the help of some good blocking–took them from first to fourth in average rushing yards allowed this preseason. I’m still calling 1100 yards and 8 TDs this year.

Speaking of the blocking, I thought the o-line looked very good in run blocking and above average to good in pass blocking. We knew Dallas was going to throw more bodies (and faster bodies) at us than we’d seen so far. The unit was able to pick up blitzers and/or slow them down enough to keep Matt Schaub upright for all but one play. In fact, that one sack wasn’t even on a blitz so much as it was a blown assignment where Burnett came free. Sure, you have to credit a lot of that to Schaub’s ability to avoid sacks and whatnot, but it was still a good performance all around. And it was nice to have Chester Pitts back.

Owen Daniels and Jeb Putzier played well, too. And that’s all I feel the need to write about TEs.

DEFENSE
Super Mario, baby. Sure, I am probably putting too much emphasis on this one game. I’ll even stipulate to that. But here’s the thing: I am only a fraction of the importance on this good performance as people were putting on his two previous games. If Chicago and Arizona were proof that Mario is a piece of shit bust who should probably just go play in traffic, last night’s game supports my notion that he is the greatest athlete ever to play any sport anywhere in the world. The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle. Still, by my count (though I haven’t gone back over the tape closely) he had 3 tackles, 2 assisted tackles, a sack, and at least one hurry. More importantly, though, is that he did a lot of this from the LDE spot, which physically he is probably better suited for.

DeMeco and Dunta continued to shine. D-Rob was the third man to the clusterhump that missed TO on the touchdown, but he otherwise had the Dallas headcase on lockdown. DeMeco was in on 8 tackles. What else is new?

Other defensive notables included Jamar Fletcher, who had a nice defense of a quick pass to the slot man, Jason Babin, who had five tackles and a big sack (as opposed to ND Kalu’s 1 tackle and virtual anonymity), and Danny Clark, who should be the damned starter at SLB.

SPECIAL TEAMS
JJ. Punt return TD. Again, he flat ran past people like he was a created player in a video game. I am currently petitioning the wife to let me name the new child, boy or girl, Jacoby. She seems unreceptive.

Matt Turk averaged 39.7 on his three punts, pinning two inside the 20 with one of the boots going 51 yards. TEP hit one 32 yards, yet somehow managed to avoid today’s roster cuts.

Ten things I’ve noticed in just over a quarter of play.

1. Jacoby Jones is as good as advertised. If he ever learns to square his shoulders before he catches a punt, he’ll be unstoppable.
2. Mario is looking good. By my count, two assisted tackles, one solo tackle, and a sack.
3. Mario is also playing about half the snaps at LDE. I am in favor of this.
4. Manchild is not lining up directly beside Mario very often. I am also in favor of this.
5. Batman is running the ball well. Off tackle, mainly, but he’s showing some power is left in that engine.
6. Dunta is owning TO so far. And he still plays the run extremely well.
7. Dallas announcers are jerk offs. Smug jerk offs.
8. Schaub has completions on 1-, 3-, and 5-step drops. David Carr does not.
9. Tony Romo is being allowed too much time to pass against our base defense.
10. Seriously. Jacoby Jones.

Bonus coverage: Another live blog at BRB.

At some point last night, DGDB&D got its 20,000th visitor. I’d like to thank all 23 of you who read it for checking so often, from so many computers.

Totally unrelated: Here’s a fun picture of Leon Lett’s graceful 40 foot slide.

Zero. That’s the number of times Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels have been sacked this preseason.

Now, the optimist looks at that number and says, “I told you the line was improved!”¹ The pessimist, however, counters with “it’s just the preseason–hardly anyone gets sacked much this time of year.”

I suppose both sides have a point.

The realist, however, knows that this week is the true test of our new line.² Because, apparently, the girls from up north are coming to Houston and bringing a passel of blitz packages. Whiny protestations of John Lynch notwithstanding, I think this is a great opportunity for us to see exactly what we have up front and, perhaps even more importantly, to see how The Schaub reacts to pressure, collapsed pockets, and forced hot reads.

So far this preseason, the Cowboys have used their blitzing 3-4 defense³ to notch 3 sacks and 3 forced fumbles, to hold opposing teams to 42 yards per game rushing, and to keep teams under 200 yards passing. If we get through this game without Schaub getting sacked, you will have to like our offensive line going into this season.

On the flip side, the Cowboys’ o-line has allowed Tony “Slipperyhands” Romo to be sacked twice in 29 attempts, while completing just over 72% of his passes. If our front four can get pressure against this line, and maybe knock Romo on his butt two or three times my fears will be somewhat allayed. (Also, with Weaver looking less and less likely to start the season, one has to imagine that this game is an open audition for Kalu and Babin to figure out who will be starting on the left side against Kansas City.)

Things to watch for this week:

• Babin v. Kalu, part III
• Mario. Of course. Just so you are up to speed when McClain, et al, resume bashing him on Monday.
• CBs other than Dunta. Petey was torched last week and was most at fault for Edge’s TD. Fletcher has looked pretty good. Which, of course, means that Petey is still the starter. Huh?
• Our running game. For all the talk about how the running game has been solid enough to make play action mean something (and this is true), the “solid enough” has not translated to much actual real estate on the field. Now, they face an extremely stingy run D. Good Times!
• Kevin v. Jacoby. 2 against 2a. Though, if we looked just at performance thus far, this one shouldn’t even be a question.
• Turk finally, mercifully issues the coup de grace to Chad Stanley’s career in Battle Red. Somewhere, Tim smiles.
• Jordan Black. Just how bad can he be?! Tune in to find out.

¹ Or, if that optimist is also a grudge-holding type, “I told you David Carr was the cause of a whole lot of those sacks!” Then he makes some random joke about Carr and a vagina… you get the picture.
² Christ, that was a contrived way to start a post. I apologize.
³ Shake brings up a good question–what’s the point of the 3-4 if Ware just lines up as a DE on every play? Also, how long is Jerry Jones’ tail?

Yes, it’s been a little quiet around here.

Part of that is because I’ve been busy in the evenings (damn it) and haven’t had time to go back over the game tape from Saturday. I still want to go over all of Petey’s snaps, mainly to see if he did anything positive to make up for getting owned repeatedly by Boldin and vacating the spot where Edge caught the TD. I might as well help OJ look for the real killers.

The other reason is because I am refusing to talk about a couple certain stories for the time being. Foremost on the posta non grata list is any further reference to Mario Williams performance until the season actually starts. Sure, I have theories on the guys just like everyone else, but I am going to stop re-writing the same old tired stuff until I see how he plays when it actually matters. Because, if he gets three sacks in week 1, a whole lot of tunes are going to change.

With any luck, we’ll be back to multiple daily postings in the next day or so. (Thankfully, we didn’t sign Robert Ferguson, so I don’t have to post about how dumb that would have been.) For now, just ponder why every media outlet keeps talking about Jacoby getting 24 yards on two “reverses.” I’ll give you two possibilities: Ignorance or Laziness.

Another game, another round of roster shuffling. There weren’t too many changes this time around, if only because our defense has the most question marks, but no one really stood out. Click here for last week’s entry. (* denotes lock to make the team; all projections are based on the number of players we took at each position last year.)

QB (2)- Matt Schaub*, Sage Rosenfels* (Jared Zabransky on the practice squad. Bradlee Van Pelt and Quinton Porter cut.) Changes since last week: NONE.

RB/FB (5)- Ahman Green*, Ron Dayne*, Vonta Leach*, Jon Abbate, Sam Gado (Wali Lundy and Patrick Pass just miss the cut. Darius Walker continues to not be good. Jameel Cook not invited back after last season’s debacles.) Changes since last week: Gado supplants Lundy in the last slot because Kubiak is strangely enamored with Samkon. Pass snuck up to “just misses the cut” status, based mainly on special teams work.

WR (5)- Andre Johnson*, Jacoby Jones*, Kevin Walter*, Jerome Mathis, Andre Davis. (Charlie Adams is the sixth WR if we really keep six like Kubiak is saying. Keenan McCardell is on the verge of having no shot. Bethel Johnson is already there. Harry Williams is like one of those uncles you never see–you know he’s alive, but you have no proof.) Changes since last week: Adams up to #6, McCardell less likely to make the team without a big showing over these next two games.

OL (9)- Eric Winston*, Chester Pitts*, Fred Weary*, Ephraim Salaam*, Mike Flanagan*, Steve McKinney*, Kasey Studdard, Drew Hodgdon, Jordan Black. (Just missing the cut: Scott Jackson, Kevin Barry, and Brandon Frye. There is still no indication that Kubiak is as unhappy with Turnstile Black as fans are, so I am guessing that he’ll be around come the end of the preseason. Chris White and Mike Brisiel get sent packing.) Changes since last week: Hodgdon moved up, due mainly to a biceps tear to Kevin Barry.

TE (4)- Owen Daniels*, Jeb Putzier*, and Mark Bruener*. (I think this is why we’ll be carrying 6 WRs, which is good news for Charlie Adams.) Changes since last week: NONE

K (1)- Kris Brown*. Changes since last week: Impossible.

P (1)- Matt Turk. (Chad Stanley is gone. Praise Jesus.) Changes since last week: NONE, though I would be putting a * by Turk’s name if we’d gotten a nice 18 yard wobbler out of the Turd Eating Pederast.

DL (9)- Mario Williams*, Amobi Okoye*, Anthony Weaver*, Anthony Maddox*, Jason Babin*, ND Kalu*, Travis Johnson, Jeff Zgonina, and Thomas Johnson. (Just missing the cut: Earl Cochran and Victor DeGrate. Also not making the roster, though by a wider margin, DelJuan Robinson, Cedric Killings, Alfred Malone, and Tim Bulman.) Changes since last week: Johnson onto the roster, DeGrate moved up, Malone moved down.

LB (6)- DeMeco Ryans*, Morlon Greenwood*, Charlie Anderson*, Shawn Barber*, Danny Clark*, Zac Diles. (Just missing the cut: Shantee Orr. Also getting cut: Trent Bray.) Changes since last week: NONE (though Anderson is now co-starter at SLB with Clark).

CB (6)- Dunta Robinson*, Demarcus Faggins*, Fred Bennett*, Jamar Fletcher*, Dexter Wynn and Tyrone Poole. (Not making the cut: Dexter McCleon and Roc Alexander. These last two positions are up in the air as much as any two can be.) Changes since last week: Wynn up, Poole added, McCleon downgraded.

S (4)- C.C. Brown*, Von Hutchins*, Jason Simmons*, Brandon Harrison. (Brandon Mitchell and John Walker are left out if we only keep 4 safeties. However, given the flux at that position right now, I would not be surprised if we kept 5 CBs and 5 Safeties, in which case Mitchell would get in. This would actually be preferable in my mind, if only because Hutchins really gives you a sixth CB if need be, anyway.) Changes since last week: NONE.

Long Snapper (1)- Bryan Pittman*. (I just want to mention AGAIN that Zgonina can long snap, which would allow us to carry 6 CBs and 5 Safeties?) Changes since last week: NONE.

This should be the final entry in the DGDB&D / DeMeco Ryans saga. You might recall the last entry, where the attorney told me that DeMeco was going to make a donation to StandUp For Kids and send an autographed football to my son.

Well, a few days ago, I received word from the attorney that the football had been mailed, that BOTH DeMeco’s Foundation and the law firm were going to make donations to the charity, and that SUFK would actually be the initial charity donated to by DeMeco’s Foundation.

Then, yesterday, I received a package from Alabama to find not just a single football for Gabe, but two footballs along with other autographed memorabilia. Once again, the people involved had gone above and beyond.

So, it is with this last fact in mind that I have decided to go ahead and shorten the name of the blog (at least as it’s used here) to DGDB&D. They have not asked me to do this since the initial emails, nor has there even been any hinting about doing it in exchange for the gifts. Quite the contrary, actually–it seems like everyone involved is more than happy with the compromise we reached. So why the change?

First, just out of a feeling of good will towards DeMeco, his attorney, and the classy manner in which the whole thing has been handled. Second, I think shortening the name will allow me to be a little less PC, especially in describing people like Chad Stanely or Petey Faggins, without wondering if I am putting DeMeco in an awkward situation with his teammates. (I might be being paranoid with that one, but whatever.) Third, and most importantly by far, it’s my little way of saying “thank you” to them for making donations that will help many homeless and at-risk children in the Houston area.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. The name of the blog is still and will always be “Da Good, Da Bad, and DeMeco.” I like that name a lot and don’t plan on pretending like the acronym does not stand for the original name. If you have already linked to it in that manner, please leave it that way. I will still refer to it both as the full name as well as the acronym. I am simply taking the name off the top of the page. Otherwise, nothing has changed. Well, other than a slight restoration of my faith in humanity.

I put the other two entries about this story below, just so I have all of them in one place.

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Update 1, Thursday, August 9, 2007

When last we left our hero (me), the disclaimer had been moved into a more prominent position, DeMeco and his attorney were happy, and it seemed as though the whole situation had wrapped up all nice and tidy.

Last night, however, the founder of StandUp For Kids, Rick Koca, found the post and commented on it. (Which is pretty cool.) Then, this morning, I received another email from the lawyer, saying that DeMeco’s Foundation is going to make a donation to SUFK, that he thanked me for bringing the charity to their attention, and that DeMeco was going to send an autographed football to my son. (All of which is also pretty cool.)

I still think there is a big underlying issue here and it’s likely one that won’t go away until one of these “blogger v. celebrity” cases winds up in court. Thankfully, all sides involved in my situation remained calm and worked through the discussion like rational human beings. (Full disclosure: I have to thank my friends for keeping my replies friendly and level-headed. I am nothing if not prone to flying off the handle.)

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Original Entry, Wednesday, August 8, 2007

If you glance to your right, you will notice that the disclaimer once buried near the bottom of the right hand column has been moved up. “Why is that,” you are likely thinking. And the answer would be “because I am a nice guy.”

Hold on. Let me back up a few days and fill you in. Because, you see, there have been some rather strange and unexpected goings on in the land of DGDB&D over the past three days.

Sunday morning, I plopped down on the couch to map out my fantasy football draft strategy and check email. Which is to say, it was shaping up to be a pretty typical Sunday.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I opened Gmail to find a letter from DeMeco Ryans’ lawyer. According to Mr. Lawyer, my use of DeMeco’s first name in the title of this blog presented some possible legal and marketing problems for DeMeco. Lawyer then said they would “greatly appreciate” it if I would remove the name.

I was puzzled. Granted, I didn’t pay much attention in law school–OK, I didn’t pay ANY attention in law school–but I was pretty confident that I was doing nothing wrong. I replied to the barrister, thanking him for a very polite email (his approach was much better than a boilerplate cease-and-desist letter) and asking him to explain what the problem was. I also mentioned that, while I was pretty sure I wasn’t doing anything other than exercising some free speech, I was totally willing to work with him and his client (including changing the name) if we could reach some sort of mutually beneficial agreement.

The law-talkin’ guy replied, still in a pretty gracious manner. He said that owners of intellectual property have a right to police “the marketplace” in order to prevent loss of income or marketing viability resulting from unauthorized use, that DeMeco’s marketing agreements require him to be pro-active in making sure people aren’t illegally using him or his image, and that my use could potentially expose DeMeco to lawsuits through no fault of his own. (I had also asked in my previous email if DeMeco was aware of the site and the attorney assured me that he was. Which means DeMeco might be reading this. Email me, dude.)

Anyway, there are some nuggets of truth to what he was saying. In a vacuum, at least. As they applied to my situation, however, this explanation fell a little short. So, another email from me to him. I asked him to point to me where anyone has intellectual property rights in his or her first name, especially as that would apply to a non-commercial blog. (The non-commercial aspect is the key to this whole exchange, really.) Also, because he had mentioned in his previous email that DeMeco was cognizant of the importance of fans and free speech, I suggested that asking a fan to abridge his free speech rights seemed contradictory.

The attorney again replied. He “explained” that DeMeco has common law and statutory rights in his name and substantial rights of publicity. He also said that, insofar as free speech goes, they have no issue whatsoever with me (or anyone) discussing DeMeco’s play in the blog; they were merely concerned that his name in the title of the blog could lead someone to think Ryans supported everything that was said here. (Author’s note: I want to meet someone that clueless. That’s how millionaires are made.)

And that’s where it sat as of Monday night. I read back over his previous email. I had to give him points for aggressively representing his client; he was hyper-vigilant. Still, the legal analysis was not quite right because this is (and always has been) a non-commercial site. And–without getting into boring legal crap–he couldn’t claim assumption because, again, I was not making any money off of his name. In short–there was pretty much no way they could force me to change. Still, I was willing to work with them, if only because I didn’t like the idea of having DeMeco or the Texans organization mad at me.

But how to respond to the lawyer? He had mentioned throughout the exchange that he and his client were amenable to reaching a compromise that would leave all of us happy. I guess he thought I would ask for some tickets or something. I don’t know. Instead, I decided that, if I was going to give up something that I didn’t have to, I wanted someone who really needed help to benefit from it. So, I replied with an offer.

I proposed the following exchange: I would shorten the name of the blog to the acronym “DGDB&D” in the header, the page title, and by email to anyone who links here. In return, DeMeco would make a donation to the Houston Chapter of Stand Up For Kids. (They get homeless and at-risk children off the street.) Also, if DeMeco was interested, I’d like to do a phone interview. I figured this charitable donation was in keeping with the whole Ahman Green-Jason Simmons thing and would be good press for the team and DeMeco (and, yes, me). Conversely, I offered to move the disclaimer up on the page so that it was more prominent, but stipulated that I would be keeping the name if I did that.

Lawyerman replied the next day (yesterday) and told me he would run it by his client.

Today, I get an email at 7:14 CST. They had chosen the latter option and would be placated if I moved the disclaimer up. So long as I kept it non-commercial. He also said that they would suggest the charity to DeMeco’s foundation at some point in the future. Which brings us to where we are right now.

This whole thing was somewhat interesting, not only from a legal standpoint, but also from a blogger/free speech/new media point of view. Part of me thinks this was just a good attorney doing what he thought was best for his client. I mean, I had a new hit from where his office was located about ten minutes before the first email, so I kind of assume he took it upon himself to run with the ball. And there is no harm in that. Hell, I would want my representative to do the same. (I also respected how cordial he was through the whole thing and his stick-to-it-itiveness throughout the legal back-and-forth.)

Another part of me, however, wonders if this is the tip of the iceberg. As sites like Kissing Suzy Kolber and Ghosts of Wayne Fontes and Fire Joe Morgan grow in popularity, once has to believe that the sites’ namesakes are aware of their existence. To the extent that any of it results in negative feedback or positive income, I would imagine that the parties named will slowly start to intervene. And, in the realm of the All Powerful NFL, I assume the “aggrieved” parties will have Goodell and Co. behind them more often than not. It will then be up to the courts to decide where free speech and fair use end, if at all.

For now, however, this blog lives. Free speech rules.