NFL Playoff: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys

The Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys will be a great match. The Eagles are at Dallas right now to play with the winner getting the NFC East title and a first-round playoff bye. The loser is going to get a wild-card berth. Last time these two met, The Cowboys scored 10 straight points in the last quarter to get a 20-16 victory at Lincoln Financial Field on November 8. The Eagles were in the lead 13-10 after three quarters, but because of the 33 yard field goal made by Nick Folks and 49 yard touch down pass to Miles Austin by Tony Romo the Cowboys made a rally.

 

The best-case scenario for the Eagles is to win against the Cowboys to get the NFC East title and gain the No. 2 seed and the additional first-round bye, for the conference playoffs. Nick Cole the new center and a revamped offensive line help Brian Westbrook running back rush for 100 yards for the seasons first time. Donovan McNabb made two touchdown throws passes to tight end Brent Celek. DeSean Jackson made a score on a punt return. The worst-case scenario for the Eagles is if they lose to the Cowboys they will be forced to settle for a wild-card berth in the playoffs. Cowboys DeMarcus Ware linebacker sacks McNabb three times. Romo made three throws for touchdown passes to Austin. Cowboys Marion Barber and Felix Jones both running backs each rushed for 100 yards. Eagles David Akers place-kicker missed two field goals.

The Eagles are coming off a well-brought-up effort against Denver. Cole will start at center replacing Jamaal Jackson, who last week experienced a season-ending knee injury. Max Jean-Gilles will replace Cole to start at right guard. Jackson was given the job to the Pro Bowl as both a wide receiver and kick returner. McNabb has played well over all for the year but also had some inconsistency. Celek is outstanding and Akers is having a great seasons.

For the Cowboys, Romo has been having a very high level of playing for most of the season. Austin and Witten are moving to the Pro Bowl and so are Leonard Davis guard and Andre Gurode center. Jones, Barber and Tashard Choice are all top backs. The Cowboys have not been productive the past games. They have scored only 24 points or less after their last eight games. Shaun Suisham has substituted for Folk as the place-kicker. This Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys match will be a very interesting one.

Clayton: ‘Chiefs Could Be Dangerous’

ESPN’s John Clayton seems fairly analytical and isn’t afraid to go to the opposite field when it comes to voicing the mainstream opinion.  I liked him even further this offseason when he predicted the Denver Broncos would go 3-13.  Even though he’s already wrong on that account, it doesn’t change my mind about his opinions. That said, he’s got an interesting take on this weekend’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. Clayton was critical of Tony Romo for some ill-timed mistakes in the Cowboys two losses this season and argues that his erratic play could spell trouble for Jerry’s kids.  He says that the Chiefs could be facing the perfect storm because of all the pressure Romo is under to perform

Romo is a pretty accurate passer thus far in his career.  However, 2009 hasn’t been as good to him.  He’s only surpassed his career completion percentage (63%) once this season.  He has four interceptions in two games, in which the Cowboys lost both games.  It’s pretty obvious to me what the Chiefs have to do to win this game.

Haley Might Have Help Designing Chiefs’ Offense

Chiefs coach Todd Haley, who has faced scrutiny since firing Chan Gailey as offensive coordinator and appointing himself as the team’s primary play-caller, said Thursday that he’s willing to give someone else a chance at offering suggestions. Haley said he’s open to quarterback Matt Cassel designing some plays, particularly if that means Cassel is paying such close attention during film studies that he has noticed weaknesses in an opponent’s defense. Haley said the suggestion might be something simple, such as a route adjustment, but he said he’s willing to listen. Cassel said he’s willing to try, risky a venture as that might sometimes be.

Cassel said that he’s as ready as anyone to have that breakthrough game and establish himself as a frontline NFL starter.Cassel’s opponent on Sunday, the Cowboys’ Tony Romo, had his breakout games in 2006 and has been a two-time Pro Bowler in the time since. Romo was an undrafted free agent, and Cassel, an ex-seventh-round pick and longtime backup, said he saw similarities in his course compared with the one Romo took.

Seahawks’ Jones Out Into At Least November

Seahawks nine-time Pro Bowl tackle Walter Jones will not come back until at least November, if at all this season. Coach Jim Mora said Wednesday the team has decided Jones will draw back trying to come back from two knee surgeries. The 35-year-old affix to Seattle’s offensive line for the previous decade will now be reassessed after the bye week, before a game at Dallas on Nov. 1. He came out to watch the end of practice whilst walking laboriously next to a team trainer.

Thanksgiving Day was Jones’ last game. He played with painkilling injections in his left knee then had micro fracture surgery to regenerate cartilage. After a few practices in camp, he had arthroscopic surgery on the knee and it still pains him. Brandon Frye, who was released last month by the Dolphins, will start once more for Jones on Sunday against Jacksonville. The team is hoping the subsequently three weeks of rest will be adequate for Jones to be ready for the final 10 games of the season. If he isn’t, Jones may go on the injured reserve list and that would probably end his season and perhaps his career, given his age and the brutality of his knee injury.

Cowboys Can Beat Bad Teams, Can’t Beat Good Ones

A month into this season, the Dallas Cowboys have mastered settling. They’re 2-0 against teams that haven’t had a victory, 0-2 against teams that haven’t had a defeat. They’re 2-0 when Tony Romo holds on to the ball, 0-2 when he turns it over. Cowboys have won once by throwing and once by running. Their defense keeps improving, but isn’t good enough to carry them, especially not with DeMarcus Ware still seeking his first sack.

Being stuck in mediocrity is nothing new for Dallas. Since starting 11-1 in Phillips’ foremost season replacing Bill Parcells, the Cowboys are 12-12, or 12-13 if you count a playoff defeat. After not making the playoffs last season, things were supposed to be special this time. With three-fourths of the season to go, which could still happen, but something’s going to have to change. Phillips keyed that Dallas beat Tampa Bay and Carolina by at least 10 points and went down to the wire in defeats to New York and Denver. That’s either encouraging or agonizing, depending on your perspective.

Once Dismal Broncos Defense Thriving Under Nolan

The Denver Broncos’ defense was the butt of all the jokes of the league over the last few years, giving up a profusion of points and forcing precious few turnovers – this is no longer that defense. The Broncos are now in fact relying on the defense to save them, like it did in a 17-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday that kept Denver unbeaten through the first month of the season. That defense disenchanted a possible tying drive when Champ Bailey swatted away a pass in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play with 1 second left.

The recovery project began abruptly after rookie coach Josh McDaniels took over. One of his first hires was defensive brain Mike Nolan. And while Nolan has brought solidity, the Broncos’ fast start on defense was dismissed by many a critic as nothing more than a product of a weak premature schedule. Elvis Dumervil has been thriving in Nolan’s system, using his long arms and low center of gravity off the edge of the line as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker. Dumervil sacked Romo twice on Sunday, giving him eight this season and is leading the league in that catergory.

Bailey Saves Potential Game-Tying Touchdown Pass

Champ Bailey thought to himself that last play was his to make. Why not? Tony Romo had been trying him all afternoon, even though he kept succeeding. His amazing play came with a second left when he knocked the ball away from the probable tying touchdown pass from Romo to Sam Hurdon 4th-and-goal from the 2. With the blitz quickly approaching, Romo swiftly fired toward Hurd cutting towards the middle. Bailey reached just about and swatted the pass away with his left hand at the last second, giving the Broncos their first 4-0 start since the 2003 season, a 17-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Bailey, who intercepted a pass from Romo at his 6 in the third quarter, wasn’t taken aback that Romo would test him one last time because the blitz was designed to force a quick pass to his man. Denver limited the league’s best rushing attack to just 74 yards on 25 carries, a 3-yard clip. In the last half, Romo only completed 11 of 24 for 201 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Broncos Vs. Cowboys

Denver may be lucky to be the unbeaten team (they needed an 87 yard tipped pass to beat Cincy in week 1), but the Broncos surely deserve a bit more credit for their 3-0 start. Even with no 87 yard fluke pass play, which I took out of my stats, Denver is still averaging 5.4 yards per play with a nice balance between the run (160 yards per game at 4.8 ypr) as well as the same pass (187 yards at 6.2 yards for every pass play). Denver has faced the individual teams that would allow 5.6 yppl to an average team, but an offense that is 0.2 yppl worse than average is good enough when you have a defense that has yielded just 3.9 yppl. That quantity is considerably very good even when you adjust for the fact that Denver has faced a mediocre Cincy offense and the bad attacks of Cleveland and Oakland. Those three teams would probably combine to average just 4.9 yppl against an average defensive team, so the Broncos’ defense has been 1.0 yppl better than average under the guidance of brilliant defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Denver’s defense is actually rated at 0.7 yppl better than average and an explosive Dallas offense that rates at 1.4 yppl better than average will be tough to stop. However, Denver’s offense should be able to keep up by moving the ball against a Dallas defense that’s allowed 6.1 yppl to a schedule of teams that would average only 5.2 yppl against an average defensive team.

Using this year’s games only would actually favor Denver by 7 1/2 points in this game, but I believe that Dallas is better defensively than they’ve shown (although still probably worse than average) and Denver is not quite as good on defense as they’ve been so far this year. Even with those assumptions my ratings still favor Denver by 1 point and 3-0 teams are 21-4 ATS in game 4 if they’re at home and not favored by more than 4 points. Nonetheless, teams that have permitted less than 10 points in 3 consecutive games are just 14-31 ATS the next game, including 8-25 ATS if the opponent has a win percentage of greater than .333.

For Carolina Panthers, It’s Game Over Man, Game Over

This game against the Cowboys proved that the Panthers are unable of whipping good teams. The defense, mainly due to Dallas penalties, held the Cowboys in the first half. They were able to get pressure leading to sacks. The Panthers finished the half on a high note with a wonderful two minute drive offense capped off by a 25 yard TD pass to Dante Rosario. But for the third time in the last four significant games, the Panthers fell apart after scoring first. The Panthers offense was three and out in the 1st 4 drives of the second half, while the Cowboys ran up the scoreboard slowly. Drive after drive the Panthers D unsuccessfully made a big play. Despite all of this the Panthers were only down 13-7 but of course like the 0-3 team we are we made a mistake, a miscommunication on a passing route that led to an interception.

The Panthers are now 0-3, they’ve been incoherent at best, and absolutely awful at their worst. Their cruising to a 4-12 season, and except for some astonishing season changing experience where we somehow make the playoffs, there will be gigantic changes in Carolina.

Cowboys’ D Leads the Way in Victory

The Cowboys’ D doesn’t have to give themselves all the praises, they have to save some for Jake Delhomme by making costly turnovers, thus, giving the Cowboys the victory. With 5:07 left, Terence Newman returned an interception for 27 yards to stretch the Dallas lead, then rookie linebacker Victor Butler got two sacks and forced a fumble on the next series, sending Dallas to a 21-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Monday night.

With Dallas trailing 7-0 at halftime, the fans have booed them off the field. Although the defense was playing sound and running backs Felix Jones and Tashard Choicewere lessening the load on Romo, the quarterback was being so cautious to stay away from the mistakes that condemned the Cowboys the previous week that the offense struggled to turn long drives into scores. When Romo threw a pair of incompletion from the 1-yard line halfway through the fourth, Dallas was up by only six. Then Newman stepped in front of a pass to Steve Smith, darted to the right corner of the end zone and dived for the touchdown. Butler capped the night with his pair of sacks and the turnover, giving the Cowboys three of each after going without the two weeks prior. Maybe the Cowboys need the D to lead the way to victories and not Romo.

The Dallas Cowboys Ups and Downs

Still reeling from the sudden collapse of their practice facility may be a portent of things to come this season for the Dallas Cowboys. The loss of outside linebacker Greg Ellis to free agency may be too large to fill for Anthony Spencer. With a defense specializing on sacking the quarterback, leading the league in sacks with 59, they left the field open for long toms giving up over 22 points per game.

This big play defense style is not part of Anthony Spencer’s game, having only career numbers in sacks of 4.5 and only 1.5 in all of 2008. The pressure now is on Anthony Spencer, a former first round pick to live up to what made the Dallas Cowboy defense is most known for. Without a major contribution from him, the Dallas Cowboys defense would eventually not have the explosiveness that it needs off the line of scrimmage.

The NFL Draft Results

 Matthew Stafford was picked first as expected but there were some surprises in the draft itself.  The Ravens picked tackle Michael Oher and Paul Kruger, two individuals that would serve to bolster their defense. The Bengals chose tackle Andre Smith and linebacker Rey Maualaga that would fit their needs up front. The Eagles on their part got the best wideouts in the draft in Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy. The Packers got the best defensive tackle in the lot by choosing BJ Raji who can play nose guard and tackle on the offensive line.

On the other end, Dallas drafted down but got players that may not even break into the team. The Buccaneers traded up to get Josh Freeman, but is the gamble worth on an unproven player still to mature. Some of the other teams made conservative moves of the draft and the fruits may still be seen when the regular season comes rolling in.

 

TO Out or In

That is the question that Dallas Cowboys owner pondered on as to whether to keep the mercurial wide receiver or cut him from the team. This changing posture of Jerry Jones is but a peek into how bad the situation is with America’s team.

The question was posed upon Jones when he had a news conference to announce that George Strait will open the new $1.1 billion facility. His immediate response to the TO question was that there was an ongoing evaluation of the roster and that includes the ones in the current roster as well as prospects from college and other teams. He continued by saying that any speculations on the decision on the roster are changes that are but normal to a football team.

TO has been reported to have caused locker room dissension and that is one of the reasons that he is being shipped out. Jones retorted that he is not a man to meddle in such petty personality issues but the whole roster is being evaluated, not only Terrell but to other positions as well.

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