Week 2: Cowboys vs. Redskins, Cobb and Cooper ~ Nick Solak ~ No Fear

GO COWBOYS!!! 1-0 (wins-losses)
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins (away vs. home)
Sunday, September 15th @ 12:00 PM CST

Watch out for #18 & #19! They took to the tag team method in last weeks victory over the New York Giants!

We acquired Randall Cobb (#18) from the Green Bay Packers in the off-season and it looks like it worked out for the Cowboys and not the Packers. How do I know this, you ask? Because Aaron Rogers is my fantasy QB and he only had one TD last week, to Jimmy Graham, his faithful TE (tight end). I should have drafted Dak.

Mid-season last year, we acquired Amari Cooper (#19) from the Oakland Raiders. If you watch TV or check social media at all, you know that it worked out for the Cowboys and not for the Raiders, as far as WR's go. But that's the Patriot's problem now. And I may need to apologize for being so disgruntled last year when this trade happened. AC fits in our offense just fine. #ACtrumpsAB

And if you're wanting to add a triple WR threat... Michael Gallup (#13)?? He had a great pre-season, but took it to the next level in game one! Here's a short video clip about him focusing on getting yards after a reception. HUGE for WR's and tough for Defenses. Gallup lead our WR corp in Week 1 with 7 receptions and 158 yards, with 76 of those yards coming after the catch, 48%. Carry on young man. Carry on.

THIS WEEKS GAME

The Washington Redskins. Another division rival. We destroyed the NY Giants last week and hope to do the same against the Redskins. The Eagles (the fourth team in the NFC East, our division) beat the Redskins last week, 32-27. They play the Falcons this week, which we need them to lose, so when we beat the Redskins, we'll be the only 2-0 team in our division. Done and done.

But not so fast... (Lee Corso??)

Josh Norman, the most talkative Cornerback (CB) in the Redskins secondary (defense), had some words to say about Dak and his performance last week. According to many articles, he said "anybody can do that." What Dak did on Sunday, was record a perfect passer rating of 158.3, and win his first game of what will be many.

Norman had four tackles last week and will play hard against the WR (wide receiver) corps I mentioned above, but can he take us out of our game? Can the entire Redskins D take us out? Holcomb, Dunbar, Collins? I'm not scared. I believe our O-Line will hold and Zeke will be even more impactful in his second week with the team and second game of the season.

Defense... Defense... (Mavs game drums playing)

Y'all. We don't have time to talk about it all, but they are FUN to watch! All day!! I'm just sitting back going, yeah. This is some good D! I can't wait to see how they attack Case Keenum (Redskins QB) and their top WR, Terry McLaurin. Chris Thompson and Vernon Davis will also be factors in the game.

Two keys to winning...

1) Leverage Jason Witten! I'm SO glad he's back and SO glad he got a TD in his first game back! I texed my old roommate from NYC and had to thank her again for my Witten jersey that was a birthday gift back in 2008. I was able to bring it out of retirement too. #82

2) Attack the Redskins run game. Their starting RB, Guice, tore his meniscus in the game last week. Super sad, never wish anything bad on a player, but this means they're bringing back Adrian Peterson. He was not on the starting roster and has since been added. He had some reps in pre-season, but it's not the same as having the guy you built a game plan around.

We play all of the teams in our division twice a year: Redskins, Giants and Eagles (fun block party if you add the Cowboys). It's an advantage because they're the teams you come to know all of their strengths and weaknesses. So, it's not a guaranteed win, ever, but I have a good feeling about our entire team, for the first time in years. It would be hard to bet against them right now.

GO COWBOYS

Cowboys 27 ~ Redskins 21

Checkout the Cowboys full schedule.

#dallascowboys
#cowboysnation
#undefeated

GO RANGERS!!! 74-75 (wins ~ losses)

We're almost back to .500 on the season, but we couldn't get the job done against the Oakland A's, who are in the race for the Wild Card slot!

We went 2-2 vs. the Mariners, swept the Orioles, won 2-3 vs. the Tampa Bay Rays (who are also in the Wild Card hunt) and then lost to the A's.

We've seen Nick Solak, the rookie 3rd baseman we got in a trade with Tampa Bay, hit homer after homer in the last few games. He has opportunities to grow at 3rd base, but we had one of the best on that bag for years, and it's hard to replace Beltre.

Odor has also had a good streak in the last few games. 5 HR's (home runs), 11 RBI's and 2 stolen bases, out of the last 10 games. He's getting a lot of pressure with the money we paid him and his overall performance this year. .204 batting average (BA) and .712 OPS (On-base Plus Slugging). The league average OPS is .710 and the top players are around 1,000.

MLB.com Definition of OPS
OPS adds on-base percentage and slugging percentage to get one number that unites the two. It's meant to combine how well a hitter can reach base, with how well he can hit for average and for power. As a result, OPS is widely considered one of the best evaluative tools for hitters.

Trivia: There's only one active player on our team that has above a 1,000 OPS. Who do you think it is?

My family and I were able to attend the A's game, and aside from getting to watch fireworks, which are my favorite... we got to say "hi" to Joe Nathan. He and his wife unveiled that there are only 8 games left at Globe Life Park (aka, The Ballpark in Arlington), and then they sat in the section next to us. Pretty cool! We looked up his stats from 2013 and 2014, when he played for the Rangers, and then our friend who sits behind us asked if he'd come out of retirement because our closer, Springs, was not doing so well! He laughed and said we'd see him in one of those old-timer games.

Here are a few fun photos from the game. If you are able to make it out... Red Sox and Yankees are coming up! And yes, I have tickets to both! Wouldn't miss it for the world!