Monday, October 30, 2006

Beginning of the Romo Era


It appears that the Tony Romo era has officially started in Dallas. Romo replaced quarterback Drew Bledsoe after half time during the thrashing by the New York Giants. Romo's performance during that game was less than stellar, but it was obvious that this kid has something.

In his official debut against the Carolina Panthers last night, Romo lead the Cowboys to a 35-14 victory after initially falling behind 0-14 in the first quarter. The kid is a real leader, and it showed across the board. The team seemed feed off of Tony's confidence and played like a team headed into the playoffs.

Romo's numbers weren't earth shaking. He went 24-36 for 270 yards, 1 TD, 1 2-point conversion, and 1 INT. The most important thing is that he seemed to make some really good decisions. Maybe that was by design, but he also got himself out of some bad situations that Bledsoe would have not been able to avoid.

Speaking of Bledsoe, I feel really badly for him. He came to Dallas with hopes of winning a championship and showing everyone that he is still a leader. Barring a serious injury to Romo, it looks like Drew will end his career sitting on the bench. Not the way you want to see a future hall of fame quarterback leave the game.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Bledsoe Under Too Much Fire

By Phil Simms
Special to NFL.com

(Oct. 24, 2006) -- Now that the Cowboys finally decided to bench quarterback Drew Bledsoe, at least for the second half of the Monday night loss to the Giants, we can all wonder: How did a guy like that ever last this long as a starting NFL quarterback?

Clearly, a quarterback who lacks mobility, who can't get out of the pocket to create plays, must have relied entirely on luck to have passed for 44,000 yards and 251 touchdowns in his career. And Bledsoe must be the only quarterback ever who "doesn't like it when he's under pressure." Because when I played, I always loved having defenders in my face. That's when I performed at my best.

Drew Bledsoe didn't have much of a chance to find success against New York.
Of course, I say all this in jest. It's the same thing I said last year when I was working the Thanksgiving game between Denver and Dallas. I wonder if it will elicit the same reaction it did then, when Dallas fans wrote angry letters to both myself and CBS Sports trying to get me fired.

Seriously, when a player is slapped with a bad reputation of some kind, it's impossible to shake. And perspective is thrown out the window. Bledsoe was scorched for his "lack of mobility" against the Giants on Monday night. Funny, but the most mobile quarterback in the world, Michael Vick, was sacked seven times by the Giants defense one week ago.

When certain players don't play well, it's the fault of the offensive line and the play-calling, but when Bledsoe does something wrong, it's because he's not mobile.

I'm not saying Bledsoe is the best ever, but he's pretty dang good. Does he have drawbacks? Yes, he can hold the ball too long and take unnecessary sacks. He makes mistakes like every other quarterback. But he still makes some plays thanks to his very good throwing arm.

Again, I do understand Bledsoe has some drawbacks. But as a player at that position, I know how easily things can be overblown. Once you get that negative reputation, it keeps growing. It gets bigger. I've noted in this space how Denver quarterback Jake Plummer is in the same boat. A guy like Plummer can go an entire season without throwing an interception, but if he throws a crucial pick in the playoffs, people will say, "Yeah, it was just a matter of time."

The interesting thing about Bledsoe is that his end-zone interception Monday night was shown everywhere. I'm sure many people have already forgotten that Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw an end-zone interception just before that. Of course, reputations being what they are, Bledsoe got more blame for his pick than Manning did for his.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

NFL Week 7 Predictions


The team in BOLD is the predicted winner.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Week 6 Prediction and Fantasy Football Results

I took a beating in my predictions this week, but I'm not the only one. Mr. Schlereth over at ESPN.com, whom had picked the most wins this season until now, had an equally dismal week. Coincidentally, Mark and I picked every game exactly the same.

There were a few crazy games in week 6. Tampa Bay beat Cincinnati, the Saints beat the Eagles, Seattle barely beat the Rams, and Tennessee up ended the Redskins at FedEx.

I went 6-7 for the week, which brings my season total to 58-30. That is still better than three of the eight guys at ESPN.com.

In my Yahoo Fantasy Football league, I am currently riding a five game winning streak which extended my record to 5-1 for the season. I am currently still in first place; however, a couple of guys scored some huge points, so my point lead has dropped from 98 to 66.

Monday, October 16, 2006

OT: The Arizona Cardinals Ultimate Choke

The Cardinals owned a 20-0 lead and managed to lose to the Bears 24-23 live on Monday Night Football. Are you kidding me? The Cardinals had the chance to win in the final minute but missed a "gimme" field goal. This could have been the upset of the season.

Matt Leinart played as great of a game as could be expected from a guy in his second NFL start. Leinart was 24-42, 232 yards, and 2 TD's, but it just wasn't enough. I can't believe I stayed up to see the Cards lose as I thought they would, but I continued to hold hope that they would pull this one out only to be let down in the final seconds. This was the game of the year so far.

The Bears scored zero points on offense, other than a FG from a turnover. Unreal.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

I Love Me Some Me

TO had 5 catches for 45 yards. Not great, but three of those catches were for TD's. Dallas wins 34-6. On TO's third TD of the game, he ran to the middle of the little star in the Cowboys helmet at the end of the end zone and stood with his arms outstretched just as he had done two times earlier in Texas Stadium. The first time was in 2000 in the big star in the middle of the field as a member of the 49ers, and the second time was in the same small star in 2004 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. It was much nicer seeing him stand there donning the Silver and White and the same star on his helmet.

Eagles lose to the Saints 27-24. Good times.

NFL Week 6 Predictions

The team in BOLD font is the predicted winner.

GAME
Buffalo at Detroit
Carolina at Baltimore
Cincinnati at Tampa Bay
Houston at Dallas
N.Y. Giants at Atlanta
Philadelphia at New Orleans
Seattle at St. Louis
Tennessee at Washington
Kansas City at Pittsburgh
Miami at N.Y. Jets
San Diego at San Francisco
Oakland at Denver
Chicago at Arizona

Friday, October 13, 2006

Don't be a Yo-Yo

Bill Parcells is known for sending messages to his team. Sometimes, the messages are somewhat subliminal. Last year he hung a bunch of mouse traps around the locker room before the Cowboys played Detroit. He was telling the team to not get trapped into overlooking the Loins just because all of the experts had the game down as an easy Cowboy victory. During training camp, in a not so subliminal message, he had "Winning is our business" printed on enough shirts for him to wear every day of training camp.

Earlier this week, Bill continued his method of sending a message to the team by placing a yo-yo near the media area of the locker room. The message? "Guess he was encouraging us not to be an up and down team," one player said.

I hope the team gets the message.

Dallas is facing the Texans on Sunday for the second time ever and the first time in Texas Stadium, and everyone expects the Cowboys to handle the Texans with ease. The Cowboys were also supposed to handle the Texans with ease on the opening game of the 2002 season, the first game the expansion Houston Texans ever played. Didn't happen. Instead, the very first game in Houston Texans history is a victory over the Dallas Cowboys. What an embarrassment.

The Texans went on to have a losing season in 2002 and every season since, but the Houston QB, David Carr, is having a great year despite the fact the Texans are winless this season. Carr has one of the highest QB ratings in the league, and the Texans are just waiting for the right game to pick up that unexpected win. Dallas needs to step up and put the Texans down with authority. Otherwise, another loss this Sunday will put the Cowboys in the "forget about this season" column with the likes of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dance the Night Away

To be perfectly honest, I have never seen Emmitt on Dancing With The Stars, but I heard on ESPN that he is doing very well and is likely headed for a showdown with Jerry Springer. I watch a few reality programs here and there, but I don't normally watch the ones where someone gets voted off once a week. If Emmitt makes it to the finals of DWTS, which he probably will, then I will probably make an exception. I watched every game that Emmitt ever played in while he was with the Cowboys, so I've already seen his best moves, but a dance-off with Springer would be worth sitting down for.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Week 5 Prediction Results

I had another great week and went 12-2 for my week 5 NFL predictions. That brings my season record to a whopping 52-23. Of the eight "experts" at ESPN.com, only Mark Schlereth has predicted more games right than I have so far this season. The major difference is that Mark picked the Eagles to defeat the Cowboys. ESPN NFL Expert Picks

I have decided that it is impossible for me to be objective about the Cowboys, but I do know when there is a good chance they could lose a game like this past weekend. From this point forward, I will only pick Dallas games that I am 100% certain that the Cowboys should win. If I am uncertain, I will not include Dallas in my picks for that week.

Fantasy football also went well. I continue to lead my league with a 4-1 record and a 4 game winning streak. I also have 98 points more than my next closest opponent. This is my third season to play fantasy football, and I think I finally have the hang of it. I have never used the same starting line-up in any two games this season, and I only have three players on my roster that I picked up in the draft. My record and points are even more impressive when the fact I am carrying dead weight, Hines Ward, because he is on the Yahoo "Can not cut" list.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

That Hurt

I was not one of the guys that wanted Hogeboom to replace Danny White, and I did not boo Aikman at the end of his career, but I have seen enough. Bledsoe has some great stats in his career, but I am starting to understand why New England and Buffalo were so happy to rid themselves of him. For a split second, I thought that was Testaverde out there.

On top of the Cowboy loss, Favre managed to blow the Packer game without throwing an interception. He decided to fumble at the last minute instead. Why couldn't it have been a interception? It is the first time the Packers have ever lost at home with Favre at QB when he did not throw an interception. They were 41-0 in that regard before today.

I am kicking major ass on fantasy football for the first time since I started playing four years ago, but I'd give it all up for the Cowboys to do well. They didn't play a bad game overall, but Drew blew the game like he did against Seattle last year. I was worried that Vanderjagt was going to mess up, but he nailed his one and only kick from 39 yards.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

NFL Week 5 Predictions

The team in BOLD font is the predicted winner.



I'm still hanging with the best of ESPN "experts" with a 39-21 record for predictions this season. Due to moving this weekend, I am only posting game predictions without scores. I will still find time to update the Favre Interception Countdown, but it may not be until Monday night. I think Brett is good for two more this weekend.

Yes, I'm going with my Cowboys again, but I honestly believe that they are better than the Eagles. The Eagles have not faced a defense ranked higher than 24th in the league all season, and the Cowboys are currently 5th.

What is TO going to do if he scores a TD? My prediction is that he will imitate Donovan McNabb's goofy ass moonwalk from last season. TO has showed a knack for being able to imitate others when he recreated the Baltimore Raven's Ray Lewis' dance, so I believe TO's moonlwalk will be every bit as crappy as Donovan's was with the hernia last season. Cowboys by 4.

I'm sorry to my Steeler fan friends that read my blog (all three of you), but I'm seeing the Gold (which is actually yellow, San Francisco wears gold) and Black being 1-3 after Ladainian Tomlinson puts up 150 yards and 2 TD's tomorrow night. The Charger's defense is too solid.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Donovan's Mama

Not What People Expect

Saying there has been a lot of hype leading up to the game against the Eagles this weekend would be a severe understatement. The reunion of TO and Donovan McNabb. Will they speak? McNabb said he wouldn't mind shaking hands or bumping chests with TO before the game (yeah, right). Will Dawkins try to kill TO on the field? Will the Philthy fans be the typical drunken A-holes that they always are?

Who cares?

None of it matters. I hope that TO gets on the field and makes some big plays, but there is another player that is going to be more important to this game. If Terry Glenn has a good game, it will be difficult for the Eagles to beat the Cowboys, and Glenn has owned the Eagles in the last three games, including 118 yards and 2 TD's in the first meeting last season.

Should the Eagles decide to double cover Glenn, then TO will be waiting on the opposite side of the field, and Jason Witten will be open in the post. If the Eagles throw some extra help at one of them, then Julius Jones will have open running lanes. Quite a dilemma for the little birds.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Here Comes the Boom!

A beautiful still photo taken during the same play in my previous post. This earned Donovan the nickname "McSlab," because shortly after the play he resembled a slab of concrete.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Fired up for the Eagles

Okay, I have put the events of the past week behind me, and I'm ready for the game in Philly. McNabb is having a stellar season, but the Iggles haven't faced a defense ranked higher than 24th in the league this season. The Iggles own defense is ranked 21st, and the Cowboys have the 5th best offense in the league. It looks to be a tough match-up.

Here is a play from MNF last season when the Cowboys and Iggles played in Philly. This game was all but over until Roy Williams intercepted a pass from McNabb and ran it in for the game winning touchdown. The Cowboys Bradie James knocked the crap out of McNabb blocking for Roy on the interception return. McNabb was playing with a hernia, and Bradie James just finished it off for him. McNabb is walking a little funny after the play.

Monday, October 02, 2006

NFL Week 4 Prediction Results and Fantasy Football

In my week 4 predictions, I went a respectible 9-5 which takes my season record to 39-21. Games that threw me off were the Redskins over Jacksonville and New England stomping the crap out of Cincinnati. Cleveland pulling one out against the lowly Raiders wasn't shocking, but I had picked the Raiders at home. Also, Baltimore proved that they are a team to be reckoned with by taking down a solid Chargers team.

In fantasy football, I am now King of the Roost. I sit on top of the Yahoo Public Fantasy League number 308497 with a 3-1 record. There are two other players with 3-1 records, but I have scored a commanding 329 points through three games, and the next closest point total is 77 points behind me with 252. My main running back, Ladainian Tomlinson had an off game today, or I would be dominating even more thoroughly.

Of course, the Cowboys blew the Tennesse Titans out 45-14, and Alberta Haynesworth will be getting a five week suspension, the longest in league history for on-the-field conduct. The second longest was a two week suspension back in 1986 when Chris Martin body slammed Jim McMahon on the field. Everyone knew that McMahon would get body slammed at some point in his career, so it was a much less shocking incident. The suspension will also cost Miss Alberta around 1/4 million dollars in salary. A good start, but she may also face legal problems if Andre Gurode decides to press charges for the incidnent. Gurode had to have thirty stitches in his face, and very could have easily lost his left eye over the incident.

Miss Alberta said she was sorry after she had time to sit in the locker room and realized her children were watching the game. Too bad she didn't think of that while she was ripping Andre's helmet off.

In summary, a good football week for me again. Go Cowboys.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Terrell Owens Offensive Player of the Week

I would like to nominate Terrell Owens for offensive player of the week for being the first person to ever attempt suicide on a Tuesday night and catch five passes for 88 yards, including a nice 46 yard reception, the following Sunday and ranking tenth in the NFL in receiving yardage. That means there are 160+ other receivers that did not attempt suicide that have played this week and have fewer yards that TO. Even Terry Glenn who caught two touchdowns for the Cowboys this afternoon had several yards less than Owens.

For all of the Terrell Owens haters out there, please check your head and take a deep look into what the Titans' Alberta Haynesworth did this afternoon. If you consider anything TO has done to be as deplorable as Alberta's, then you are a disfunctional human being that should be locked in the psyche ward of your local hospital. TO is controversial, but nothing he has ever done seems to be as crazy as Hayensworthless putting his cleats in Gurode's face after Gurode, just because Gurode blew Hayensworthless off of the line. To my best recollection, TO never did anything that required an opponent to have 30 stitches to the face.

Piece of $#!%


Appendage: Yes, I know that the prick now wears #92. Please forgive me for using a picture from his rookie year.

During the game between Dallas and Tennessee this afternoon, Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth got blown off of the line and gave up a TD to Dallas running back Julius Jones. Did Albert suck it up like a man and use his frustration to get a sack on Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe on the next series? No. Albert decides to kick Dallas' center's, Andre Gurode, helmet off of his head while Gurode was lying flat on the turf. Once the helmet was dislodged, Albert decided to stomp on Gurode's bare face with his steel cleats. What a complete loser. He cost his own team 30 yards in penalties in one play, got ejected, and inspired the Cowboys to shove it down Tennessee's throat to the tune of a 45-14 ass kicking.

I have confidence that the league will fine Alberta, but I believe the Tennessee Titans should impose their own fines and suspensions on top of what the NFL does. I know that Tennessee is on a billion game losing streak, but the team needs to do the right thing.

Alberta, you get the Biggest Shithead Award for the 2006 NFL Season. Yes, there are many games left to play, but I am certain that no other player is as stupid as you ,Alberta, or that any player will do anything dumb enough to deserve the award more than you. Congratulations! Put on your best dress and step up to accept your award. I hope you have NFL Sunday ticket, so you can watch the Titans on your big screen TV at home while you are suspended.