The Cowboys need better insurance and more observations for Week 10

I'll have some of whatever Whitney Mercilus has been having lately. I don't know if it's because No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney was close to coming back and perhaps retaking his position or not, but for whatever reason, Mercilus has been playing balls out these last couple of games. Let's face it, the Texans did draft Clowney at least partially because they weren't happy with Mercilus' play so far. All I know is he has four sacks in the last three games, including two this past Sunday against the Eagles. If he keeps playing like this, I'm not sure Clowney will be able to reclaim his starting spot this year, but the truth is that's just better for the team overall. Those two guys pushing each other should bring out the best in both. It certainly looks like it's starting to with Mercilus, that's for damn sure.

Texans rookie Andre Hal had himself a game to forget on Sunday against the Eagles. First he got torched by receiver Jeremy Maclin for a 59-yard touchdown on a skinny post in the first quarter. He might have been expecting help over the top but he damn sure didn't get any.

Then in the second quarter, rookie Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews got in the act, catching an 11-yard touchdown up the seam out of the slot over Hal, who had him man-to-man. To add to the ugliness, in the second half he had not one, but two opportunities to be a hero and get an interception, and both times he dropped the ball. The second one in particular was egregious because quarterback Mark Sanchez hit him right in the chest with the ball as if he was the intended target. Hopefully he has the kind of short-term memory that cornerbacks are notorious for having, because otherwise that game is going to sting for awhile.

Please don't say Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson "held" Dez Bryant to two catches for 15 yards and a touchdown. The guy most responsible for Bryant's paltry numbers was his quarterback for the day, Brandon Weeden. Bryant did have a couple of drops, but mostly Weeden was just the same old Weeden, the guy who would have hard time hitting a bear in the ass with a two-by-four. As good as the Cowboys have been to start the season, not getting a better quality backup quarterback when they knew starter Tony Romo might be a little fragile after offseason back surgery might just sink their visions of a playoff berth if Romo is out for an extended period of time. That was just an inexcusable mistake by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and people should rightly call him out about it.

I'm sure Saints fans have a lot of blame to pass around when it comes to their defense so far this season. One guy who is still carrying his share of the load this year, however, is defensive end Junior Galette. He now has six sacks on the season after notching two last Thursday night against the Panthers.

On one of those sacks in the second quarter, Galette made Panthers quarterback Cam Newton fumble backed up near his own goal line, which the Saints then recovered. Two plays later, the Saints scored a touchdown en route to a 28-10 victory, which put them back in first place in the shitty NFC South. Now if only Galette could get some help on defense, the Saints might actually get things rolling again in the second half of the season.

Maybe it's just me, but I believe I am starting to see some flashes of dominance from Vikings second-year defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. I liked Floyd coming out of college; however, I wasn't sure he could develop into a good inside pass rusher at the next level. Well, this season he has 3.5 sacks in nine games, including 2.5 in the last three weeks. If he keeps coming on strong as an interior rusher in tandem with fellow defensive tackle Linval Joseph and with the likes of Brian Robison, Everson Griffen and Anthony Barr wrecking shop from the outside, the Vikings are going to give teams fits in pass protection the rest of this season and beyond!

Well this week a guy who flashed to me was Raiders rookie defensive tackle Justin Ellis. Now that is a big boy and he moves like a man half (OK, OK) three quarters his size. It was easy to notice Ellis against the Seahawks because he had a pair of tackles for a loss on running back Marshawn Lynch.

That made me recall that I had seen him flash a few other times in previous weeks, so I went back and watched him against the Chargers and also the Texans. As a matter of fact, he would probably be a perfect fit as a 3-4 nose tackle if, ya know, the Raiders went back to that full time.

I honestly hadn't heard of Ellis until now (bad draft analyst, I know), but I'd say he is definitely making a positive impression so far as a rookie. Raiders first-rounder Khalil Mack might get all the hype, but keep an eye out on this Ellis cat in the future because I think he has a chance to be special as a nose tackle.