The Sports Rumors

You Might Not Want to Read This if You’re a Dallas Fan

My intentions were to write this piece yesterday, but I obviously didn’t get around to doing so. I wanted to hit on a few topics and throw my valuable two cents out there, starting with this past weekend’s dvisional round of the playoffs.

The Patriots won’t, can’t, be stopped. The Jaguars put everything they had out there and Tom Brady responded by going a nearly perfect 26-28. I’m not going to harp on this too long and I’ll leave it at this; The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl by double figures.

For all the love Ladanian Tomlinson gets for being a team player and being focused and devoted to the success of the team, he sure didn’t look like he was really interested in what was going on in the third quarter when he was seeing laughing and joking with a buddy on the sideline. I would have much rather seen him hanging around the coaches and watching the game with some interest. His team was losing at that point; it wasn’t like they were up 20.

While I’m on the topic of LT, I wanted to get another thing off my chest. Last year, he whined like a pansy about how the Patriots showed “no class” by dancing on the field after beating the Chargers. He went on to say that it was a reflection of their head coach. Well, LT, your team puts itself out there to be ridiculed and mocked the way they dance and celebrate after every god damned play, including yourself at times. Luis Castillo and Shaun Phillips go out of their way to do ridiculous, and unpleasant to the eye, dances. No one wants to see two fat asses dancing jiggling on the field after stopping a runningback for a one yard gain. And don’t get me started on Philip Rivers and the amount of trash talking he does considering he’s an average, at best, quarterback. If you’re going to go out there and dance and celebrate like idiots after every play, then don’t whine to the media when you get stomped by New England next week and they mock your absurd and unnecessary shows of celebration.

The legend of Brett Favre continues. I can sit here today and admit that I was 100% wrong in the offseason to say that he should have retired. I now have come around to agree that Brett should retire whenever he wants to. He has earned it. The level he has that young team playing at, along with himself, is nothing short of remarkable. I don’t think the game against the Giants next weekend will be close, despite the Giants amazing road record. I have the Packers winning by a landslide, only to go on to lose to the Patriots. But if there is anything I’ve learned this season, it’s that you never know with Brett Favre. I wouldn’t be shocked if he somehow pulled the miraculous upset. I really wouldn’t.

Now to “America’s Team”. For a second straight year, the Dallas Cowboys choked in the playoffs. It would take an entire page to cover all of the subplots associated with this team, so I’ll just hit on the main ones. Tony Romo brought this on himself. Yes, he has the right to do whatever it is that he wants to do in his free time. Yes, he’s a grown man who can choose to spend time with whomever he pleases. But there are times where you have to look at all of the possible outcomes of your actions when you are affecting as many people as he does. You have to realize that fans have invested millions of dollars all season long for tickets, merchandise and other things related to the Cowboys. You have coaches, players, an owner, that have all put years worth of work in to get to this point. Your team is in the best position to get to the Super Bowl. Now, that being said, you know that your team struggled its final month going into the playoffs. You know that there are things that you need to improve on in order to ensure a successful run. A trip to F’ing Mexico can wait! A trip with a celebrity girlfriend who notifies all the tabloid magazines about her whereabouts before she even reaches there, CAN WAIT. Spending time with Joe Simpson and the rest of the strange Simpson family, CAN WAIT. You have an obligation to a team and a city that is paying you millions of dollars to win in the playoffs, not just the regular season. Make a wise decision, especially knowing how last year ended, and spend your free time studying a little harder so that you don’t play as terrible as you did on Sunday in the most important game of your career up to this point. Using your free time to better yourself shows maturity and devotion. Well, Tony Romo dug his own grave and now he can go party the rest of the damn year with whoever he wants. You know what separates the great ones from the fads? Dedication 365 days a year. You can’t convince me that Tony Romo is as dedicated to the Cowboys as he should be in order for them to win a title, even if you cry in a press conference about it.

Which leads me to Terrell Owens. I saw right through that press conference and you should too. I’m not buying this, “that’s my quarterback, that’s my teammate” garbage. If this was Chad Johnson or Reggie Wayne or someone, then yes. But I’m supposed to believe the words of a guy who has publically humiliated every single quarterback that he has played with since becoming a star? I’m supposed to believe the guy who upset Jerry Rice, the best receiver to play the game, because he ran his mouth too much and showed no respect for anyone…not even Rice himself?! Now he’s crying for Tony Romo?! Get the hell out of here. If there is a master of publicity stunts in this world, it’s Terrell Owens. No one even brought up Romo at that point in the press conference. He wasn’t even mentioned! And Owens just goes into this highly emotional state of defending his quarterback?! Please. You should cry about how you had zero second half catches and couldn’t shake single coverage instead of shedding tears and defending your Joe Namath-wannabe quarterback who was partying in Mexico when he should have been partying with his playbook.

One more thing I wanted to throw out about TO that I just remembered. He was talking about “losing as a team” after having a bad game himself. Funny that when he had that hell of a performance in the Super Bowl in which he caught 9 catches for 100 plus yards and lost, he didn’t find that the Eagles lost as a team. He found it necessary to call out McNabb for being tired. You think if he had 10 catches for 145 yards and 2 TD’s against New York and the Cowboys lost, he would still say “we lost as a team” with tears streaming down his face? I think not. I know not.

Perfect Pats, Red Hot Redskins, and Slumping Cowboys

What many believed could never happen in a 16 game season…happened. The New England Patriots went undefeated by holding off the pesky Giants in a 38-35 win, giving them their 19^th straight victory (one of their many NFL records) dating back to last season. Tom Brady broke Peyton Manning’s single season touchdown record with a touchdown pass to Randy Moss, who also broke an NFL record held by Jerry Rice for most touchdown catches in a season. The Patriots also broke the NFL record for most points scored in a season.

All the stats and records aside, it’s time for everyone to stop and recognize what the Patriots accomplished. For the next week at the very least, we shouldn’t talk about the “formula” for beating the Patriots. I heard week after week, people talking about how you can beat the Patriots and what works against them and so forth. Yes, Einstein, we know that if you sack Tom Brady and make him throw interceptions, you’re going to win the game. Yes, we understand that if you shut down Randy Moss, run and pass on the Pats effectively, and play well on special teams, you are going to win the game. It’s not a matter of “how” you can beat the Patriots. It’s a matter of IF. The Patriots have had the red bulls eye on their back since game one and nobody has brought them down. Give them their props. Stop with your scheming (unless you’re a playoff team). If you are a Baltimore fan, stop talking about how you almost beat the Pats. Almost doesn’t matter. If you are an Eagles fan, yes you had a great effort but great efforts don’t always translate to victories. Final scores do. So congratulations to New England and their fans. You accomplished a great feat and should be commended for it. I still hate you though and will continue to pray for your demise. Happy New Year.

I don’t want to brag… who am I kidding. I love to brag. Ask anyone that knows me. Back on a wintry December 18^th, I wrote an article. The article was titled “Overrated Vikings and NFC Playoff Predictions”. This was the week before the Redskins had to travel into Minnesota and play the red hot Vikings, who EVERYONE was penciling in for the sixth and final seed in the playoffs. “You definitely do not want to play Minnesota if you’re Seattle or Tampa Bay because this team is playing great right now and Tavaris Jackson is getting it done” said Mike Golic, repeating the sentiments of many others. I scoffed at the notion of Tavaris Jackson being anything better than a third string quarterback. He sucks, is basically what I believed.

Why is everyone suddenly hopping on Minnesota’s bandwagon? Because they’ve won 5 straight games, 4 of which are against teams with losing records? Tavaris Jackson is playing good? Really? 5 touchdown and 5 interceptions is good? Wow. I guess NFL quarterbacks really are that bad if Tavaris Jackson is suddenly considered “good”.

I’m sure there were many people who felt I was just being a Redskins fan and putting down the other team. I wasn’t. Tavaris Jackson really does suck. I also said the Vikings and Saints were overrated, overhyped, and on their way to missing the playoffs. I said the Skins would make it and even my closest friends laughed at my foolish predictions. In case you forgot, here’s what I said:

Here’s what’s going to happen. Minnesota is going to get beat at home by Washington, then go on the road and lose to Denver, putting them at 8-8. The Giants will go into Buffalo and win, then lose to New England, putting them at 10-6 and secure 5^th place in the playoffs. New Orleans is going to lose to Philadelphia, and then win at Chicago, putting them at 8-8. Washington will beat Minnesota and then beat Dallas in Washington, putting them at 9-7 and the final spot of the playoffs.

Okay so I thought New Orleans would beat Chicago. I was wrong on one of my seven predictions. Needless to say, I told you so. I went on to talk about how I thought the Skins would lose to the Seahawks in round one of the playoffs. Well, I definitely don’t feel that way anymore and will go into more detail about that later this week. I’ll leave you with one stat that you need to know. Seattle has beaten only one team all season with a record above .500. One team. And that was in week 1. We’ll talk Washington-Seattle, as well as the other matchups later this week though.

Dallas is in trouble. I’m telling you right now, Dallas is in trouble. You cannot go into the playoffs playing as badly as they are playing. They were supposed to play their starters a quarter against the Skins, with the hope that they’d score a touchdown and maybe a field goal, feel good about themselves and rest up for the playoffs. Well guess what. They got spanked. Their starters played well into the third quarter and got SPANKED. They came away with 1 rushing yard…for the entire game. They converted zero third downs. They had 27 points scored on them. Tony Romo had his third bad game in a row.

“Okay take it easy Shaun. You’re overplaying the Dallas Cowboys struggles a bit. They won 13 games for a reason. They’ll be fine in the playoffs.”

That might be so, but you can’t be feeling very confident if you have lost 2 out of your last 3 games after losing only one out of the first thirteen. You can’t be feeling very good if you’ve averaged 8 points a game for the past three weeks. You can’t be feeling very good if your superstar quarterback has thrown one touchdown and five interceptions in his last three outings. I’m not saying that the Cowboys are toast; I’m just saying that if the Redskins beat Seattle and come into Dallas riding a 5 game winning streak and the most confidence of anyone in the NFC, watch out. Watch out.

Romo’s Growing Pains

I have to admit, I am a little surprised at the press the TO-Jessica Simpson “feud” is getting. When Owens first made the comments, I laughed and said, “He just summed up what everyone was thinking,” but little did I know that it would be a topic of discussion on every sports and entertainment radio station. It’s also the leading story on television shows. I flipped from Sportscenter to ESPN News and then scrolled down my guide, only to find that this was a story on the E entertainment channel. In the words of my buddy Colin, “Are you… are you freakin kidding me?!?!”

This story, if you want to call it that, has been debated with a lot more emotion than I would have ever imagined. More people have an opinion on this than they do on Clinton-Obama.

How do you feel about the recent comments made by Senator Clinton about Obama’s lack of experience in the public eye?

I…I don’t know.

How do you feel about Terrell Owens recent comments on Tony Romo’s celebrity girlfriend, Jessica Simpson?

That son of a bitch! Let me tell you… First of all…

I have heard people bashing Romo saying that he brought this on himself by making the decision to bring Simpson to the game. I heard people taking the opportunity to bash TO and talk about how he is ruining yet another team. I’ve heard people defend TO and saying he is a leader on that team and speaking for the players. What made the most sense, however, was a comment about the decision Romo faced. Tony Romo should have known that if he brought Jessica Simpson to the game, he was going to have one of two scenarios play out:

Scenario 1: He plays extremely well and Jessica Simpson is the new good luck charm in the eyes of Dallas fans.

Scenario 2: He plays bad and Jessica Simpson is seen and hated for being bad luck.

Well, scenario 2 has definitely played out the way it would have been anticipated, if not worse. Romo should have known this ahead of time and it was a risk he was willing to take. Now he will suffer the media and fan backlash. I don’t feel bad for him. You want to know why he’s beneath Tom Brady both as a ball player and as a celebrity? Because Tom Brady knows how to handle different facets of his life, despite when people try to make him lean one way or the other. You don’t see Brady’s personal life EVER become a distraction, even when the media tries its very hardest to make it so. The lovechild he had was talked about so much, but never by Brady. Situation diffused. The Victoria’s Secret girlfriend was talked about constantly by the media at first. Never by Brady. Situation diffused. Tony Romo comes off as a good guy but he needs to learn how to handle his new celebrity status and make wiser decisions when he’s in the public eye. He could take a cue from the guy in New England.

(Two separate videos showing Tony Romo coverage…)

Owens to Jessica Simpson: Stay Away

Terrell Owens has gone on the record about how he feels about Jessica Simpson, and he didn’t hold back.

“Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite — in this locker room or in Texas Stadium,” Owens said Wednesday.

“With everything that has happened, obviously with the way Tony played and the comparison between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel she has taken his focus away, other than that, she was high on my list until last week.

“Oh, I got a message for her when we make the playoffs. Just stay tuned,” he added. 

Not a Terrell Owens fan myself, but I’m glad he said what was on everyone’s mind.  It’ll be interesting to find out how Romo reacts to these comments, but they are true.  It’s simple…keep people who know nothing about football out of Texas Stadium; or any stadium for that matter.

Weekend Recap

The NFC Playoff Push.  If you stayed up to watch last night, you would have seen the Redskins go into New York in a must win game and give the Giants a beatdown with a 22-10 victory.  It is the second straight for the Redskins, and third straight home loss for the slumping Giants.  The win puts the Skins at 7-7 and drops the Giants to 9-5.  New York, who had a clear path to the 5^th seed in the NFC playoffs, suddenly finds itself in a must win at Buffalo, who also is in a must win situation.  If the Giants lose at Buffalo and drop to 9-6, they will have to beat a Patriots team that will likely be going for a 16-0 mark.  If the Giants manage to drop their last two games, which is very possible, they would potentially miss the playoffs.  The Redskins travel to Minnesota for what is basically a playoff game next week.  They follow that up with a home game against Dallas, who suddenly looks banged up and down.  The status of Tony Romo’s thumb is not known at this time, but that could serve as a serious problem for a team that has hopes of reaching the Super Bowl.  If the Redskins win out, they’d be a lock for the playoffs.  The Saints are also in the mix after winning 3 of their last 4.  They have a home game against the Eagles followed by a road finale at Chicago.  A loss in either game would basically eliminate them from the wild card chase.  The Vikings are most in control of their destiny with two of their final three games at home (the road game being at Denver).  What it comes down to is each team controls its own destiny.  Win and you’re in; lose and the tiebreakers and odds come into factor.  Should be an interesting and entertaining final couple of weeks. 

No more celeb girlfriends in Dallas!  Dallas fans are pretty upset this Monday morning; and they’re upset at Jessica Simpson.  She is the second celebrity girlfriend that Tony Romo has brought to a game and for the second time, he’s had a terrible game and the Cowboys subsequently lost.  Last year, he brought Carrie Underwood to the playoff game against Seattle.  I think we all remember how that turned out.  Yesterday, Jessica Simpson was sporting a pink Romo jersey in the press box.  Romo had his worst game of the season, and in some statistical categories, the worst of his career.  The Cowboys lost to a sub .500 Eagles team and failed to score a touchdown for the first time since 2004.  “Leave your girls at home” is the common sentiment in the big D this morning.

Another College Football coach peaces out.  Extension through 2013 huh?  Yeah, we all know the way this story goes.  College football coach flirts with a different university.  Comes back to his own university and signs a big extension.  And the following year?  Gone.  Rich Rodriguez was raised in West Virginia, attended WVU, put WVU football on the map as a perennial top 15 program; and has now left it for the lures of Michigan.  Rodriguez signed with Michigan faster than Lindsay Lohan would sign a movie contract these days.  Rumors are that the Athletic Director and Rodriguez didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.  Who knows.  All I know is that another college coach sold out on his team by going to a more attractive school.  Now that the WVU job is open, I wonder which football coach will be the next to slip his way out of his current contract and come to Morgantown. 

Terrell Owens… So Annoying

I used to like Terrell Owens.  I really did.  Ask people I know.  I would defend him for no reason; even when I knew he was wrong.  When the McNabb-TO thing went down, I was the guy saying, “Well McNabb wasn’t helping the situation either.  He should stop being such a kiss up to management and stick to being a quarterback.”  When the TO “suicide” thing happened, I was the guy saying “Leave Owens alone… It’s wrong to constantly rip him in the media.  He’s losing his mind.”  But enough is enough.  What is his deal?  What is his problem?  First, he called out Randy Moss for no apparent reason.  Randy Moss doesn’t talk trash about anybody, ever.  Say what you want about him, but the guy doesn’t mouth of about other players for as long as I’ve followed him.  TO went out of his way to call him “The Other 81”.  Well, Terrell, “The Other 81” has 82 catches for 1264 yards and 19 touchdowns to your 74 catches for 1270 yards and 14 touchdowns.  It also should be pointed out that “The Other 81” doesn’t even play the entire game because his team is winning by 45.  So if anything, YOU are the other 81.  But that’s not what ticked me off about Owens. 

Keyshawn Johnson made a point that Bill Parcells should deserve some credit for the Cowboys being 12-1.  After all, it was Parcells who brought in a lot of the players who are on the team now.  It was Parcells who got the Cowboys to their first playoff game in years, nearly pulling off a road upset in the first round had it not been for Tony Romo’s butterfingers.  It was Parcells who had the Cowboys on the right track, whether you liked his style or not.  I didn’t like some of Parcells ways, and I definitely was never a fan of his.  But you can’t argue good coaching when you see it.  The guy was a winner.  What is Wade Phillips signature stamp on this team?  You tell me.  What has Phillips done or who has he brought in of significance that makes you say “Hey, that is Wade’s team.”  He was supposed to be a defensive guy right?  Well, what’s Dallas’ biggest weakness?  The defense.  “But Shaun, look at the Cowboys offense.. look how explosive it is.” Yeah, that’s the work of future NFL head coach Jason Garrett, not Phillips.  Everytime I see Phillips on the sideline, it’s after a touchdown and he looks like the Pillsbury Doughboy getting poked.  When there is a critical offensive play, they show Garrett or Romo; not Phillips.  And name a player that is making an impact on Dallas that was brought in by Phillips.  I dare you.  Can’t think of anyone can you?  My point exactly.  Bill Parcells, love him or hate him, put together this team.  I’m not saying go give the guy a championship ring if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl.  I’m just agreeing with Keyshawn’s very rational statement that Parcells deserves some credit. 

Now Owens took this chance to destroy Keyshawn and ran with it. 

“I challenge him to come down here and take my job. ESPN producers, let him go.”

Asked in the locker room why Johnson would take the position he did Sunday, Owens said: “I’m probably the reason he’s in the booth now. He’s going to be a hater and throw me under the bus because he has to defend Bill. He won a Super Bowl and all, but you’d have to check the roster to know he was even on the team.

“We came out in the same year. He was a first-rounder and I was a third. Go compare our stats. He couldn’t come down here now and be a third or fourth receiver on this team. Just compare our stats.”

“It’s not a matter of me giving or not giving Bill credit,” Owens said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “Everybody wants to make a big deal, that this is the team he built. It doesn’t matter. … My thing is give credit to Wade [Phillips]. The difference between Wade and Parcells is this: Parcells, he didn’t use me as a playmaker; Wade, he got the staff, and that’s what I’m being used as.

“Plain and simple, without trying to be negative or anything. I’m being used as a playmaker, and as I said, the proof is in the pudding.”

And then back to delivering a verbal barrage at Johnson:

“Those guys are probably talking about me, chopping it up, drinking coffee,” Owens said. “They can have their little pity party and talk about me all day long. It doesn’t bother me. There’s a lot of people on the ESPN panel and across the country that has observed what has happened this year versus last year. And there’s a lot of people that just don’t want to give credit for what Wade has done and what wasn’t done last year. That’s it. I’m not trying to be negative.”

Seriously?  Was that all necessary?  And you want to talk about being used as a playmaker?  Dude, you dropped the most balls in the NFL last year!  Maybe if you caught them like you are this year, your stats would’ve been better.  I would love to continue this story folks but I just got word that Roger Clemens is going to be one of those named in the Mitchell Investigation.  That’s of more importance at this point.  As for Terrell Owens, screw you you selfish team wrecking prick. 

Thursday Night Football Preview

For the first time since 1990, two NFC teams with a record of 10-1 will be going up against each other in the regular season. Last time, it was the Giants vs. the Niners, a game which was an ugly slugfest to the finish. San Francisco managed to win 7-3, but it was New York who had the last laugh as they became Super Bowl Champions that season. Tonight’s game brings a clash of America’s team versus America’s quarterback. Brett Favre brings his young team, whose only loss was a week five touchdown defeat to division rival Chicago. The Packers have won their last 4 games by scoring at least 31 points in each contest and have given up only 15 points a game on average during a stretch of their last 5 games. An even more impressive stat is that they are 14-1 since last Thanksgiving. People, understand that they have had the best record in the past 365 days; that includes the Patriots and Colts. Point being; they’re hot right now. Dallas hasn’t been quiet either. They’ve put together incredible second halves in which they absolutely demolish their opponents. Tony Romo is playing at an elite level, one that Dallas fans have not seen since Troy Aikman in his prime. Terrell Owens is being the beast of a wideout that we all know he can be, when he’s not busy destroying a locker room of course. Marion Barber requires a minimum of three defenders to bring him down. And oh, don’t forget that their only loss has been to undefeated New England. Okay so we all know the big stats and hoopla about this game, like it hasn’t been hyped up enough. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, see who has what advantages, and see what’s what.

Quarterbacks

Brett Favre: 3,356 yards, 22 TDs, 8 INTS, 68.5% Completion Percentage, 101.5 QB Rating

Tony Romo: 3,043 yards, 29 TDs, 13 INTS, 66.2% Completion Percentage, 105.3 QB Rating

This looks to be an epic battle that deserves every bit of hype it has received so far. You’re talking about a battle between two generations. You’re looking at, arguably, one of the three best quarterbacks in the history of the game going against the young stud who’s playing better than everyone except Tom Brady this year. On the field, neither one of these two has any physical advantage. They both see everything, make the right reads, throw the ball into tight spots and make plays with their feet when needed. However, I give a slight, SLIGHT, edge to Favre on this one based on his experience in big games and the fact that Dallas’ secondary isn’t all that good.

Advantage: Green Bay

Runningbacks

Ryan Grant: 4.6 YPC, 494 Yards, 2 TDs, 0 Fumbles

Marion Barber: 4.9 YPC, 715 Yards, 7 TDs, 1 Fumble

The stats on this one may be deceiving and show that the comparision between the two is closer than it really is. But make no mistake about it, Marion Barber is the superior runningback and the Cowboys have the far superior run game. Not to mention, Barber splits carries with Julius Jones. The Packers lack of a running game was reason to doubt them early on, but to be fair, they have picked it up with the emergence of Grant as of late.

Advantage: Dallas

Wide Receivers

Donald Driver: 832 Yards, 13.2 Per Catch, 2 TDs

Greg Jennings: 625 Yards, 16.0 Per Catch, 9 TDs

James Jones: 594 Yards, 14.9 Per Catch, 2 TDs

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Terrell Owens: 1093 Yards, 17.1 Per Catch, 13 TDs

Patrick Crayton: 482 Yards, 14.6 Per Catch, 5 TDs

Sam Hurd: 177 Yards, 16.1 Per Catch, 1 TD

When people think about the receiver matchup, first thing that will come to mind is “Dallas has TO. They have the better wideouts.” But before you jump to that conclusion, realize that Donald Driver is only 261 yards off of TO’s pace and one less catch. Also, Greg Jennings is a much better deep threat and overall receiver than Patrick Crayton is. Jennings stretches the field much like Owens does for Dallas. James Jones is also a solid young wideout who makes big catches in big moments. Sam Hurd hasn’t made any impact thus far. So if you’re looking at the best wide receiver in the game, of course Dallas has the advantage. But as far as wide receivers as a group, Green Bay has more diversity and depth.

Advantage: Green Bay

Offensive Line:

Chad Clifton, Daryn Colledge, Scott Wells, Jason Spitz, Mark Tauscher

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Flozell Adams, Kyle Kosier, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis, Marc Columbo

Green Bay is currently ranked number one as far as pass protection in the entire NFL. Their adjusted sack rate is 3.3% (this rate is composed of sacks per pass attempt adjusted for opponent, down, and distance). Considering how everyone KNOWS the Packers love to pass, this is very impressive. Their run protection is not very good; ranked 26^th overall but that comes as no surprise considering how rarely they ran the first 6 games of the season. More importantly, the run protection stat is irrelevant because the Packers run in nickel situations. They set up three wideouts and spread defenses out, leading to nice draw plays or pitches. The Cowboys pass protection is ranked 8^th in the league with an adjusted sack rate of 4.4%. They are amongst the top in run protection with a ranking of 7, gaining an average of 4.56 yards per carry. You have to figure that if you can pick up almost 5 yards per carry, on AVERAGE, things are going to be flowing pretty smoothly on offense.

Considering the styles of offense for both teams, I still give the advantage to Dallas. It’s a lot harder to stop a team with balanced running and passing than it is to stop a one dimensional team.

Advantage: Dallas

Tight Ends

Donald Lee: 39 Catches, 468 Yards, 12.0 Per Catch, 4 TDs

Jason Witten: 59 Catches, 750 Yards, 12.7 Per Catch, 6 TDs

There is no question here that Jason Witten is the better tight end. However, in the Green Bay passing system, Donald Lee is pretty darn good. Still, the Cowboys have the clear advantage here as tight ends usually have field days against the Packers linebackers.

Advantage: Dallas

Defensive Line

Dallas has the much better run defense as they give up less than 4 yards a carry to opposing runningbacks. Green Bay gives up slightly more than 4 (4.18 to be exact). The Cowboys have piled up 30 sacks thus far and the Packers 32. DeMarcus Ware has been a beast coming off the end but Aaron Kampman is no joke either. Ware plays in a 3-4 style defense which gives him the freedom to move around more like a linebacker than an end. Kampman plays a base 4-3, so he’s always going to be coming off the end. Still, Kampman has more sacks (11 to Ware’s 9) as well as only 6 less solo tackles than Ware. As great as Ware is, Kampman gets overlooked far too much because of who he plays for. (Okay damnit. I got busy at work and now it’s 4:30 so I’m running out of time to detail each position. Here is the summarized portion of the rest of the defense..) However, the secondary of the Cowboys gets scorched early and often. Roy Williams may be a solid hitter, but he has not matured into a consistent cover safety. If you watch him on every play, you’ll see that he takes an unnecessary number of risks. He bites on play action very hard and that’s why he gets burned at least once a game. Terrence Newman is a hard hitting, shut down corner but he can’t handle all three wide outs on his own. Green Bay brings Al Harris, a rough and tough physical corner who will put his fist in the grill of TO all night. I am really eager to watch that matchup and see if TO can stay composed and use his speed to shake Harris. Charles Woodson (game time decision) would be a huge help if he plays this game. I’d give the advantage, slightly, to the Packers when it comes to linebacking corps. They’re a solid young group of guys who bring hard hits and pressure on the quarterback, led by AJ Hawk.

D-Line Advantage: Dallas

Linebacker Advantage: Green Bay

Secondary Advantage: Green Bay

Special Teams: Green Bay

Prediction:

Dallas will get off to a slow start and Green Bay will jump ahead early. Dallas should catch up by halftime with the score being Green Bay 17-13. Green Bay will end up winning the game though in a high scoring affair, as their wide receivers and some guy named Brett Favre will be just too much.

FINAL SCORE:

GREEN BAY: 36

DALLAS: 27

NFL Power Rankings Week 7

I think it is safe to say that we learned quite a few things this past NFL weekend, starting with the Patriots.

Rule #1: Do not talk trash, direct or indirect, to Bill Belichick. He will bring you down, bring you down to Chinatown.

Just ask Dallas head coach Wade Phillips. Phillips thought it’d be a good idea and mouth off, saying that he feels the Patriots championships are tainted because of Spygate. Come Sunday, what did Belichick do with less than 30 seconds left in a 14 point game, 4^th and goal from the Dallas one yard line?

a) Kneel and end the game

b) Throw the ball out of the endzone to get a turnover on downs, and end the game

c) Send in a different package of players, call a running play, score another touchdown and make it a 48-27 game instead of 41-27 and teach Wade Phillips not to talk about your superiors.

The correct answer is “C”

Rule #2: Do not try to be funny and put up a sign referring to one of the most talented wide receivers ever as the “Other 81”.

You know that Tom Brady is his quarterback. You know that Tom Brady makes the big plays in big games. You know that Randy Moss has always SCORCHED the Cowboys. Why would you try to light any unnecessary fire under an already dominant team? Don’t tell me Terrell Owens was trying to add hype to the game like a boxer does. No. He wasn’t. Terrell Owens has an inferiority complex and thinks that Moss is better than him, which he is. He was trying to upstage him while the spotlight was on, and guess what. He got shut up. It was funny how Owens took a cue from his agent Drew Rosenhaus in the postgame interview by answering any Moss questions with “No Comment”. Wasn’t this supposed to be the time where he DID answer the “Other 81” questions?

Here’s a question for you Terrell Owens. What’s 6’4”, 210lbs, doesn’t drop balls that hits him in the hands, and has twice as many touchdowns as you? What.. what’s that? That’s right. It’s the best receiver in the game and his name is RANDY MOSS.

Rule #3: If you cannot win more than one out of your first five games with Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Rudi Johnson, and Carson Palmer, you should be fired immediately and sent to Tajikistan to herd sheep and goats with a broken ruler.

Rule #4: If you lose to a 43 year old quarterback who was sitting on his couch until Tuesday evening, and practiced for the first time on Wednesday, you should be penalized a first round draft pick, one game, and part of your equipment (preferably your cup, because you obviously don’t need one)

Rule #5: Don’t disrespect the defending Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts by dismissing them while prematurely crowning the Patriots as the best team ever. We’re not even half way there yet and last I checked, the Colts haven’t lost a game either.

Never get tired of this pic.

Today’s Rundown 9/10

*Roger Federer has closed the gap in Grand Slam Final victories to two behind Pete Sampras, who has 14. Federer won the U.S. Open for the fourth straight time, becoming the first to do so. Details on the match as well as perspective can be read on the new page titled “Colin’s Corner“. He was at the U.S. Open Sunday.

*More fallout from the Florida Pharmacy-Rick Ankiel mess. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons has been linked to the pharmacy and allegedly purchased steroids and HGH, both of which are banned by the MLB. According to SI.com,

“Between October 2003 and July 2005, Gibbons got six shipments of Genotropin (a brand name for synthetic human growth hormone), two shipments of testosterone and two shipments of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), SI.com said, citing a source in Florida with knowledge of a Signature Pharmacy client list.”

*Chien-Ming Wang got his 18^th win of the season as the Yankees completed their sweep of the Kansas City Royals, extending their wild card lead to 4 games over Detroit and 5 games over Seattle. Oh, some guy named Alex Rodriguez belted his 51^st and 52^nd homers of the season also.

*Michigan senior runningback Mike Hart has guaranteed a victory against rival Notre Dame next week. Both teams will square off for what has to be the most hyped 0-2 vs. 0-2 matchup in college football history. When Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr was told about the comments and the guarantee Hart made, he had this to say:

“I’m not surprised by anything Mike Hart says,” Carr said, according to the Free Press. “Do I like it? He said it, and he’s got to back it up. We’ve got to back him up right now, I guess. What do you want him to say? We’re not gonna win?

Way to sound confident coach.

*Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn will get a second opinion on his leg injury before deciding to opt for season ending surgery. Losing Glenn for the season would be a major blow to the Cowboys, as Glenn was the most productive receiver they had last season.

*I will have a full recap of week one of the NFL season at the conclusion of tonight’s two games. Look for the power rankings and the recap tomorrow. I will have my preview of the Ravens-Bengals game up shortly, with my pick vs. the spread. I’m 3/4 so far this week vs. the spread; trying to make it 4/5. Check back soon for that.

*On a serious and sad note, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett will spend another day or two in sedation as doctors try to learn the severity and the extent of his spinal cord injury. Everett was injured and fell limp at the start of the second half during a collision with a Denver player. It is not known whether Everett will be able to walk again, so keep him and his family in your prayers.

Today’s Rundown 9/7

*The Colts absolutely smashed the Saints last night with a 41-10 whipping.  The game was tied at halftime with a score of 10-10 but the Colts came out with a 74 yard drive in the third quarter, en route to scoring 34 unanswered points.  Peyton Manning looked a little off in the first half but lit it up in the second.  He finished the game with 288 yards passing and three touchdowns.  Drew Brees meanwhile, struggled and threw for less than 200 yards along with 2 interceptions.  The Reggie Bush-Deuce Mccalister duo teamed up for less than 100 yards rushing.  The Saints offense didn’t even reach the endzone.  The only touchdown came on a Jason David interception runback.  That was the lone highlight for the ex-Colt as he was abused by Wayne and Harrison.  It’s only the first game so you can’t read too much into it, but the Colts defense looked great.  They were fast, energetic, and hard hitting.  The Saints offense looked lethargic and confused.  The wide receivers couldn’t get open and Brees was hurried more often than not.  I predicted the Colts to cover the 6.5 spread, which they did, and for them to be a 30 point per game team, which it looks like they are.  Just wanted to throw that out there for my critics.

*Louisville played Middle Tennessee State last night and won 58-42.  I think it’s more noteworthy to point out that they allowed a team like Middle Tennessee State to score 42 points on them.  The game was actually close for most of the duration before Louisville pulled away towards the end of the fourth quarter.  The Louisville offense looked great once again and Brian Brohm clearly looks like the best quarterback in college football through two games.  And yes, I do know that he has played two cupcake teams but 9 total touchdowns in two games is impressive no matter who it’s against.  To put that in perspective, #9 Virginia Tech’s quarterback Sean Glennon threw 11 touchdowns all year last season.  I don’t have a good feel for how good Louisville really is yet as a team, given that the defense had such differing games in two weeks.  The offense is clicking but the defense is a question mark as of now.  I’ll tell you one thing for sure; West Virginia will eat Louisville alive if they play even remotely close to the way they did last night…whether the Cardinals’ offense is on point or not. 

*Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn’s health is in great jeopardy right now.  There were some reports last week that Glenn might be out for the season with a leg injury and now reports have surfaced that he’s out for two weeks, although the Cowboys have only officially ruled him out against the Giants.  I think the Cowboys have a chance to make a real run this year but that is IF they have a healthy Glenn.  People forget, because he’s a quiet guy, that Glenn was the more productive receiver last year than Terrell Owens.  I don’t like Dallas’ odds long term without Glenn.  They’ll still crush the Giants though.

*Speaking of the Giants, a lot is being made of this Tiki Barber-Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning nonsense.  If you haven’t heard, Barber has stated in his book and publicly that one of the reason’s he retired was Tom Coughlin.  He goes on to also knock Eli Manning, calling his leadership in the huddle abilities “comical”.  Okay, I understand it’s his job to analyze teams and what not.  But don’t be a complete asshat and call out a coach who is already under enough scrutiny as it is in the media capital of the world, and say he’s the reason you retired.  That’s garbage.  If you didn’t want to play for Coughlin, you could have asked the Giants to move you.  You could have sat out.  There are a number of things you could have done.  No one retires because they’re having a hissy fit about the coach being too mean or tough.  Secondly, calling out third year quarterback Eli Manning like that is such a sellout move.  I’m not an Eli fan and I do think he’s overrated, but he has a team to lead; the team you just left after playing 10 seasons with them.  You’re going to throw him under the bus like that when you know everyone on the Giants will read what you’ve said?  That’s petty.  What’s comical is the way Tiki Barber was the biggest distraction and loudmouth last season by constantly talking about how he wanted to retire and be Matt Lauer’s sidekick on the Today Show.  I don’t mind ex players being analysts on TV.  In fact, I enjoy their insights.  But Tiki Barber comes across as an arrogant know-it-all.  Maybe Barber has forgotten how he couldn’t carry the ball more than three times without fumbling until Tom Coughlin came along.  Maybe Barber has forgotten that he fumbled 4.8 times a season on AVERAGE from the years 2000-2004.  Of the 24 fumbles, he lost 16 of them.  Maybe he’s forgotten that Coughlin came along and helped develop a better technique for him to carry and took his fumbles down from 5 in 2004 to 1 in 2005 and 3 in 2006; the same Tom Coughlin he’s throwing under the bus today.    

***Update for my sports betting junkies:  The remaining 4 games that I am picking versus the spread will be up later tonight.  So far so good; 1-0 start with the Colts game.  I’m going for a 5-0 week.  Check back tonight. 

 (Seriously?)