With seventh straight loss, the Cowboys are done

The star receiver, who made headlines the past week with a profanity-laced tirade aimed at reporters, later said while he expected a penalty to be called, he nevertheless should have done more to make the catch.

Midway through his first season as the primary play caller, Smith appears to finally have the right combination of cornerbacks and safeties, because he has indeed become more aggressive.

What the box score won’t show, was the almost disastrous ending to Sunday’s 10-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Since Hardy has signed with the Cowboys, he has gotten into fights with teammates, write insincere apologizes on twitter, and gotten into arguments with the fans of Tampa Bay.

“Suffice it to say that we have standards here with the Cowboys that if a player were to miss something or be late for something, we address it in house and we address it the right way”, the coach said.

“Obviously to a man, we’re all disappointed”, Cassel said. “We anticipate him being able to practice this week”.

The No. 1 overall draft pick’s solid play has been essential to the Bucs (4-5) rebounding from losing three of their first four games. The Tampa Bay offense had gained less than 4.2 yards per play and had yet to reach the red zone. But he missed from 48 yards to end that streak…

The Bucs are showing improvement defensively.

Cassel was 19 of 31 for 186 yards and one interception in what may be his final start for the Cowboys before Romo returns from a broken left collarbone that’s sidelined him throughout the longest Cowboys slide since they also lost seven straight on the way to a 1-15 finish.

This season, a much different Dallas team will face a Buccaneers team that may have found the face of its franchise.

Once the fifth and sixth corners on the roster, respectively, Moore and Adjei-Barimah were given the chance to start a week ago when Smith benched former starters Johnthan Banks and Mike Jenkins. Before Sunday, Tampa Bay had prevented just two of eight such conversions.

Now, the duo might be hard to supplant. Without running the table, it’s not likely they’ll win the division. Jameis Winston completed 22 of 39 passes for 265 yards. In terms of total yards, the Bucs’ defense is the seventh-best in the National Football League through 10 weeks.

“I’ve been saying this since camp, he’s just a victor”, said defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. “You know, never let them see you sweat”.

It’s not just the corners who are playing better.

“Every week I try my best to get better to try and help the team out, ” said Winston, who also leads the team in rushing touchdowns with four.

Matt Cassel needs to realize that he has the weapons he needs to succeed with in Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Cole Beasley and he will be fine. Hardy has been a force since he has returned from suspension, amounting 4 sacks in 5 games. “We’re not there yet, and there are penalties we need to eliminate, but we’re making progress”. But really no complaints about his play. Unless something clicks, I would expect for both of these teams to be left home once the playoffs begin. “The defense as a whole played that way”.