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| Sunday, April 26, 2009 |
 After trading away their first for Roy Williams and their second for more picks, this was the Cowboys’ first choice in the draft. If Goose Gosselin’s Top 100 is any indication — and it usually is — it wasn’t a very auspicious start.  He was rated the 84th best player in the draft.
Scout.com only publishes a Top 50 and Williams didn’t make it. Indeed, he was only the 11th ranked outside linebacker on their list.
NFL.com is more enthusiastic:
Pick Analysis: The Cowboys pick up an athletic linebacker with outstanding speed and quickness. Williams has the ability to rush off the edge and is a potential playmaker as an outside linebacker/special teams player.
Overview
One of the most underrated players in the 2009 NFL Draft, Williams was a terror in opposing backfields since shifting to weak-side linebacker from strong safety as a sophomore. In each of his last three seasons, he ranked among the nation’s leaders in forced fumbles and tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
As a sophomore, he tied for 10th in the country with three forced fumbles and ranked second in the Gateway Conference with 10.5 stops for loss. In 2007, he placed fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision with five forced fumbles, tying the school and league record. His 16.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage led the team and conference. He would capture the forced fumble title in the FCS with six in 2008, as he also finished second in the league with 17.0 stops for loss.
Williams’ 14 forced fumbles set the NCAA FSC career-record and is tied with Adam McGurk of Division II Adams State (2002-05), Kenechi Udeze of Southern California (2001-03), Terrell Suggs of Arizona State (2000-02) and Antwan Peek of Cincinnati (2000-02) for the overall collegiate record. His 42.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage rank seventh in school history, fourth in Gateway Conference annals and 21st in the NCAA FCS ranks.
At DuSable High School, Williams was recognized more for his rushing and passing exploits than that as a linebacker. He led his team to an undefeated mark in the Chicago Public League’s Intra-City Central Conference as a senior and was a two-time All-City and All-Section pick. He rushed for 2,988 yards, threw for 3,015 and tallied 71 total touchdowns (35 rushing and 36 passing) in his career.
Williams enrolled as a 200-pound athlete at Western Illinois in 2004, redshirting that season as a scout team strong safety. In 2005, he appeared in 10 games, seeing limited action early in the year while being listed third on the depth chart at strong safety. His special teams play helped earn him a starting position for the team’s final two games, as he posted 23 tackles (14 solos) with a stop for a loss and one blocked kick.
Williams continued to excel on special teams in 2006. The All-Gateway Conference honorable mention shifted to weak-side linebacker. He was the only defender to start all 11 games for WIU. He was the recipient of the team’s Green Beret Award for his significant contributions to the kicking game. He ranked second on the team with 92 tackles (41 solo), including three sacks and 10.5 stops for loss. He also caused three fumbles.
Williams was fourth nationally with a school single-season record tying five forced fumbles in 2007. The All-American and All-Gateway Conference first-team choice finished second in the voting for league Defensive Player of the Year honors. He led the Leathernecks with 107 tackles (42 solo) and eight sacks. His 16.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage led the conference, as he also recovered two fumbles.
As a senior, Williams was named a consensus All-American and unanimous All-Gateway Conference first-team selection. He finished fourth in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in the FCS ranks. He started every game at weak-side linebacker, leading the nation with a school season-record six forced fumbles, the second-best total by a Gateway player. He finished second in the league with a team-high 17.0 stops for loss and had four sacks among his 67 tackles (39 solos).
High School
Attended DuSable (Chicago, Ill.) High School, where he was recognized more for his rushing and passing exploits than that as a linebacker…Led his team to an undefeated mark in the Chicago Public League’s Intra-City Central Conference as a senior and was a two-time All-City and All-Section pick…Rushed for 2,988 yards, threw for 3,015 and tallied 71 total touchdowns (35 rushing and 36 passing) in his career.
Analysis
Positives: Good speed and hustle to chase down plays down the line or from behind. Comes downhill in a hurry, but can change direction if the runner makes a move. Takes on fullback blocks in the hole so others can make plays. Often played as a stand-up rusher. Solid wrap-up tackler in space. Will try to get under the pads of guards to hold his position. Forces turnovers by attacking the ball with his hands after securing the tackle. Active in coverage, with the quickness to stay with tight ends and running backs.
Negatives: Has a strong safety build, thin in the legs and only adequate upper-body strength. May be a classic inside-outside linebacker “tweener.” Played inside quite a bit for but is better on the edge because he lacks the strength to hold up versus NFL interior lineman. Has tight hips. Could get off blocks better to make plays. Inconsistent getting through trash inside. Must learn not to overrun plays.
Compares To: JAMES HARRISON, Pittsburgh — This is high praise for an unknown player, but the more film scouts watch on Williams, the more they will notice he has the “it” factor. With patient coaching and in the right system, he could turn into one of the better finds in this draft. He plays with excellent field vision and awareness. Williams demonstrates the instincts to quickly track down the ball. He has the change-of-direction agility and lateral movement to string plays wide and hits ballcarriers with force, driving with his legs to push the opponent back through the rush lane.
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| Sunday, April 26, 2009 |
 The Cowboys traded their 2009 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks to the Detroit Lions for WR Roy Williams and a 2010 7th rounder. Thus far, it has been an awful trade but Williams was hurt and didn’t have the benefit of an offseason working with Tony Romo and the Cowboys’ system. Those excuses will be gone this season.
The trade meant that the Cowboys’ first chance to pick came at the #51 spot but they traded that pick to the Buffalo Bills for their 3rd and 4th round picks. Indeed, those of us watching on television thought the Cowboys had “passed” on the pick entirely!  Apparently, they had their sights set on Oregon center Max Unger but the Seattle Seahawks traded up and grabbed him two spots earlier. Thinking there were no players left worth spending a 2nd rounder on, they pulled the trigger on the trade.
So, Day 1 of the draft was a complete bust for Cowboys fans. With a whopping twelve picks on day 2, though, Jean Jacques Taylor says there are no excuses for not dominating today.
There will be no acceptable excuses today for the Cowboys failing to obtain every single player they covet because they will control the draft. That’s what having two picks in the third round and three picks in the fourth and fifth rounds does for them.
They can target specific players and, with the bevy of picks they’ve accumulated, easily move up and down the board to scoop them up.
The Cowboys entered this draft needing to shore up their secondary since Roy Williams and Adam Jones have been released, backup Keith Davis is a free agent and so many teams use formations with three and four receivers. The Cowboys also need to improve their depth at receiver since Miles Austin and Sam Hurd have combined to catch 42 NFL passes. While the Cowboys love Austin and they like Hurd, neither has proved anything yet.
The Cowboys entered the second round with several potential candidates, but five of the 21 players they brought in for predraft visits were selected with the first 17 picks of the round.
But he also makes a good point:
Jerry [Jones] didn’t seem to think there were many players in the draft who could help this team right away aside from contributing on special teams or third downs.
Well, this team didn’t make the playoffs. It has holes. It’s not flawless.
It’s just hard to believe none of the draft’s top 64 players can have an impact on this team. It almost sounds like the philosophy the Cowboys espoused during the 1995 draft. The Cowboys drafted backup players that year because they were so talented, they didn’t believe anyone could break the starting lineup and didn’t want to pay players to sit on the bench.
It’s too early to evaluate this draft, obviously. But every single other team in the division — the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Washington Redskins — got significantly better yesterday. The Cowboys didn’t.  They’ve got some serious catching up to do today.
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| Saturday, April 25, 2009 |
 The last couple of years, I’ve live-blogged the NFL draft. With the draft starting three hours later and the Dallas Cowboys not having a pick until the 52nd spot owing to the Roy Williams trade, I just don’t have a pick-by-pick play-by-play in me this year.
Bill Jempty’s stepped in to do it for us this year.
I will blog on significant moves and post on Dallas’ picks. Additionally, I’ll be doing commentary via Twitter @drjjoyner. I’ll cut-and-paste my tweets into this post at some point for the sake of posterity.
UPDATE: Day 1′s Tweets below. I probably won’t do much today, just concentrating on Dallas Cowboys picks.
# @SI_PeterKing Any clue what the Cowboys are up to? How many 2nd day picks does one team need, anyway?
# Turns out Dallas TRADED the pick to Buffalo Bills, they didn’t pass.
# Dallas Cowboys PASS with the 51st pick!! WTF?!
# Well, Seattle just took Unger so I hereby predict Cowboys won’t #NFL #NFLDRAFT
# Dallas Cowboys finally going to pick in #NFL draft. DMN’s McMahon projects C Max Unger.
# OTB NFL Draft Live Blogging http://tinyurl.com/dgxs4m
# Browns are gonna pick! They take Alex Mack, C Cal with 21st pick. #NFL #NFLDRAFT
# Detroit Lions take Brandon Pedigrew, OKST TE, with pick they got from Dallas Cowboys in Roy Williams trade.
# ESPN wonders why not just rrade for Anquan Boldin
# Eagles taking Missouri WR Jeremy Macklin. #NFL #NFLDRAFT
# Eagles taking Missouri WR Jeremy Macklin. #NFL #NFLDRAFT
# Browns trade their pick — for the THIRD TIME . This time to Eagles. Hmm.
# @CTRaider I prefer to know ASAP, so fine by me. #nfl #nfldraft #espn
# Denver takes DE Robert Ayers of Tennessee with 18th pick.
# Bucs take QB Josh Freeman. They gave up a 6th to Cleveland to move up 2.
# Browns have traded AGAIN , sending pick to Bucs #NFLDRAFT
# Is it just me or is #NFLDRAFT much slower this year? Seems like it zipped along last year. Now, everyone’s taking full time.
# Chargers take Larry English LB Northern Illinois with 16th pick #NFLDRAFT #NFL
# Texans take USC LB Brian Cushing. Nice ponytail.
# Saints pick Malcolm Jenkins DB Ohio State #NFLDRAFT
# Redskins get Brian Oarkpo, DE Texas, who some picked to go as high as 2nd. Ironic, considering how desperate they were to be dumb.
# @owillis Yep. They got lucky — saved from making a dumb trade they got one of the best players in the draft by accident
# @yahoo_sports Nice of the Rams to buy him a ticket to Detroit!
# Knowshon Moreno RB Georgia to Denver Broncos with 12th pick.
# Broncos are on the phone with Knowshawn Moreno, the Georgia RB. I only saw him against Bama last year but wasn’t impressed.
# @steveclouthier Yup. Always some odd picks in the draft. Raiders tend to be repeat offenders.
# Bills take Penn State DE Aaron Maybin with 11th pick. Odd with Brian Orakpo still on the board.
# @steveclouthier I think it’s just his foot? But, yeah, injuries are something people worry about with a small guy at a speed position.
# 49ers pull trigger on Crabtree in 10th spot.
# @McGloogly #NFL Pretty much everyone’s confused by Raiders pick. But that’s Al Davis for you.
# 49ers appear about to draft Crabtree. Great value at this spot.
# BJ Raji goes to Green Bay Packers with 9th pick
# Bill Jempty is live blogging the #NFLDRAFT at sports.outsidethebeltway.com
# Rumors Jags were going to trade pick but they grabbed OT Eugene Monroe of UVA. Hmm.
# @Steve_Schippert Yep. Davis should retire along with Madden
# @jryanlaw Yeah, not sharpest knife in the drawer. But OL can be knuckleheads and still dominate ala Larry Allen.
# Raiders take WR Darrius Heyward-Bey WTF? He’s apparently a speedster but considered a huge reach.
# Bengals take OT Andre Smith of Alabama. #NFL. I’m a Bama guy and Smith was a stud. Team fell apart in postseason with him.
# Trade deets: Jets send three players and 1st and 2nd picks for Browns pick/Sanchez. DE Kenyon Coleman, QB Brett Ratliff, S Abram Elam
# JETS trade up to get Sanchez.
# Rich Eisen also thinks trade going on
# Mort thinks Browns trade #5 pick and someone takes Sanchez
# Aaron Curry credits own hard work for success, dissing God.
# @technosailor First four teams have picked – no trades
# Seahawks take LB Aaron Curry. Can’t believe QB Matt Sanchez keeps falling — rumored trade haul must have been BS.
# NFL Draft Live Blogging: The last couple of years, I’ve live-blogged the NFL draft over at OTB Sports. Wi.. http://tinyurl.com/dgxs4m
# Thought Chiefs would trade down to someone in the Sanchez derby.
# #NFL #CHIEFS select Tyson Jackson, DE #LSU
# Smith credits God with his good fortune. Wonder why God hates all the other players so much?
# ESPN panel not happy
# #Rams draft T Jason Smith #Baylor #NFL
# Jason Smith is smiling. The Rams’ pick? #nfl
# Marshall Faulk is on par with Emmitt Smith as a broadcaster.
# #nfl draft underway. I’m guessing Lions pick Stafford.
# @technosailor I’ll try to Tweet trades. I’ve live blogged at OTB Sports last couple years but not up for it this year.
# @technosailor #nfldraft I’ll do what I can. Cowboys don’t pick until like 9 pm because of Roy Williams trade.
# RT @RedskinsInsider: RT KevinTerminella @RedskinsInsider What are the rules around trading an owner for a punter? #Skins #NFL #NFL draft
# RT @RyanGrotz: If you’re watching the #NFL Draft you gotta watch it on NFL Network. They don’t have enough sponsors so there not commerc …
# @radleybalko Heh. I don’t know what he’d be doing if not for ESPN and the draft.
# @radleybalko It’s great marketing. Also supply and demand — just not enough NFL to go around with 16 games and playoffs.
# Interestingly, James T. Kirk was a much better actor in his youth than later….
# On NFL Network, Brian Baldinger informs me that 49ers are hoping to improve team with draft. It’s insights like that that make me tune in.
# Is is just me or is waiting for an NBA playoff game to end so they can show the NFL draft rather odd?
# @SI_PeterKing: Love Goose’s top 100. Love his work, generally.
# @SI_PeterKing But doesn’t NFLPA rep existing players, not wannabes? Don’t vets outnumber rooks? Why aren’t the vets running the show?
# @jaycaruso : Peyton, Aikman, Elway, most of the greats started without other pieces. And you can’t give $40M to an OT.
# @technosailor More time for blather from Mel Kiper!
# @jaycaruso If they really think Stafford’s the guy, they have to go QB. It would seem like a smarter play to trade #22 for Brady Quinn.
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| Wednesday, April 15, 2009 |
 According to a song popular in my youth, it is inadvisable to tug on Superman’s cape, spit into the wind, pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and mess around with Jim. We might need to expand that list:
A man who grabbed a Dallas Cowboys flag from a car in downtown Washington [D.C.] was punched in the face yesterday, startling passersby in an area that is home to lawyers, lobbyists and expensive shops and restaurants.
[...]
One witness said she saw a “big tall man walk up to this guy and hit him across the head.” Then, she said, the tall man “got back in his car and drove off.” She said that the motorist “just hit the man and walked off” and that he picked up an object from the ground, which might have been the flag.
The man who was hit fell and struck his head on the sidewalk, she said. Ringed by the concerned and the curious, the man lay facedown on the pavement.” He was out cold for a good five minutes or so,” the witness said. Police said a man was taken from the scene for treatment of a bruised forehead.
Thus endeth the lesson.
via Tim MacMahon. Crossposted from OTB.
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| Wednesday, March 4, 2009 |
 Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets took a free throw against the San Antonio Spurs in 2008. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) I’m at best a casual fan of basketball but this is an interesting fact: Whereas just about every aspect of athletic performance in just about every sport has improved over the years, “one thing has remained remarkably constant: the rate at which players make free throws.”
Since the mid-1960s, college men’s players have made about 69 percent of free throws, the unguarded 15-foot, 1-point shot awarded after a foul. In 1965, the rate was 69 percent. This season, as teams scramble for bids to the N.C.A.A. tournament, it was 68.8. It has dropped as low as 67.1 but never topped 70.
In the National Basketball Association, the average has been roughly 75 percent for more than 50 years. Players in college women’s basketball and the W.N.B.A. reached similar plateaus — about equal to the men — and stuck there.
The explantion for why it hasn’t changed? Well, nothing has changed:
Ray Stefani, a professor emeritus at California State University, Long Beach, is an expert in the statistical analysis of sports. Widespread improvement over time in any sport, he said, depends on a combination of four factors: physiology (the size and fitness of athletes, perhaps aided by performance-enhancing drugs), technology or innovation (things like the advent of rowing machines to train rowers, and the Fosbury Flop in high jumping), coaching (changes in strategy) and equipment (like the clap skate in speedskating or fiberglass poles in pole vaulting).
The ball’s the same, the rim’s the same, the distance is the same. The athletes are stronger but it has little bearing on this aspect of the game. And coaching? Well, coaches spend about as much time on it as they always did. Why?
There is little correlation between free-throw percentages and winning percentages. Only one of the 25 best shooting teams, No. 2 North Carolina, is also in the latest Associated Press top 25 rankings. Southern Utah [ranked No. 1 at 80.5 percent] has a losing record.
Perhaps that’s because it’s one aspect of your game that the opponent can control. If you’re a good free throw shooting team, they’ll foul less.
Moreover, there would seem to be diminishing returns. If the best team is at 80.5 percent and the average is 70 percent, how much practice time do you want to devote at the expense of other skills?
via Tyler Cowen
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| Monday, January 12, 2009 |
 Tony Dungy is calling it quits, ESPN reports.
The Indianapolis Colts have scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon, presumably to announce the retirement of coach Tony Dungy.Foxsports.com reported Monday that Dungy will step down after seven seasons in Indianapolis. The news conference is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET at the team’s practice facility, although the Colts did not given a reason early Monday for their announcement.
A source told Foxsports.com that Dungy has talked his decision over with family members and they decided it was the best time for him to step aside. Dungy, the source said, was at the team’s complex in Indianapolis on Monday morning saying goodbyes to players and team employees.
The Colts have designated associate coach Jim Caldwell as Dungy’s eventual replacement.
Since winning the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, Dungy has thought long and hard each offseason about how much longer he really wants to work in the NFL. He said after the Colts’ overtime playoff loss to the San Diego Chargers in the AFC wild-card game nine days ago that he would spend about a week deciding whether to return for an eighth season as coach.
He spent much of that time in Tampa, Fla., where his wife Lauren and children moved full-time about a year ago. The Dungys had the week to contemplate his future with the Colts, but a trip to New York for son Jordan’s surgery on a broken leg occupied their time. Jordan Dungy is back home in Florida and doing well after surgery.
In Dungy’s 13 seasons as a head coach, including six with Tampa Bay, he’s put together a sparkling resume. He has 148 career wins, including playoffs, and ranks 19th all-time in victories. He’s the only black coach to win a Super Bowl, the first coach in league history to reach the postseason in 10 consecutive seasons and the only coach to preside over six straight seasons of 12 wins or more.
This isn’t shocking. Dungy’s been hinting at retirement for the last couple of years and, certainly, being an NFL head coach is a grueling job.  My guess is that work with prison ministry and so forth won’t provide the same level of challenge and satisfaction that he gets from coaching and that he’ll be back in two or three years.
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| Thursday, January 8, 2009 |
 Longtime Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz has snubbed the team and signed with the Red Sox. ESPN:
John Smoltz has pitched his entire major league career with the Atlanta Braves, but he is on the verge of a deal with the Boston Red Sox, according to sources.
Smoltz, 41, has pitched in 708 games for the Braves, winning 210 games and earning 154 saves. He has been been rehabilitating his shoulder since having surgery last season, and there have been reports that the has made excellent progress.
Smoltz’s departure from Atlanta would come in a winter in which the Braves have struggled to fill holes in their rotation; Atlanta was unable to land Jake Peavy, after extensive trade talks, and was unable to sign free agent A.J. Burnett.
Despite the qualifiers, AJC is reporting it as a done deal. The Braves are shocked.
John Smoltz’s career with the Braves is ending. The iconic Atlanta pitcher, who’s recovering from June shoulder surgery, has agreed to a contract to pitch for the Boston Red Sox and will likely inform the Braves of his decision today, a person familiar with the situation confirmed.
[...]
Smoltz, who contacted Braves players Wednesday night to inform them of his decision, has said many times in the past year that he wanted to finish his career with the Braves. However, the team had not offered a major league contract to Smoltz that was anywhere near the amount that the Red Sox have reportedly guaranteed him. The Braves were expected to go no higher than $3 million guaranteed, regardless of other offers he got.
“John is a great guy. He follows his own head, and I just don’t know what’s going on with him right now,†Braves Chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk said today. “We’ve offered less of a guarantee, but we’ve offered a substantial guarantee. Coming off an injury like this, we feel like it’s the right thing that we should be doing (in regards to our offer).
“We’ve offered him a package that would get him in the $10 million range, if he were to pitch a full season and pitch well. For him to walk away from that and to go to another place, I’m just shocked and surprised.
“I read today in something that his agent said the other set of incentives (from the Red Sox) were “more attainable.†If John Smoltz pitches like John Smoltz pitches, I think (what we offered) is attainable. If he’s not healthy, it’s not going to happen.â€
According to a person familiar with the situation, Smoltz would have been required to pitch 200 innings next season to reach the maximum incentives in the Braves’ offer. Incentives in the Red Sox proposal are more easily attainable.
One can’t blame the Braves, who have a much more limited payroll than the Sox, for hedging their bets on a player who has been constantly injured in recent years. Nor, really, can fans blame Smoltz for preferring $5.5 million to $3 million as his career winds down. Still, it’s a shame to see him play in another uniform.
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| Thursday, January 8, 2009 |
The Pacman Jones experiment is over in Dallas.
After just one season with the team, the Cowboys are cutting ties with Adam “Pacman” Jones, releasing the cornerback late Wednesday afternoon.
Jones, who joined the Cowboys last spring through a trade with the Titans, seemed to make as many off-the-field headlines as he did with his play. Even with three years remaining on Jones’ contract, the Cowboys apparently felt the need to move on from the often-troubled cornerback, who served a six-game NFL suspension this season for his involvement in a scuffle with his own personal bodyguard at a Dallas hotel back in early October.
Although the Cowboys inherited Jones’ original contract with the Titans, which expires after the 2011 season, they will not take a salary cap hit, considering his bonus hit Tennessee’s books last season when he was dealt to the Cowboys for a fourth-round pick in 2008. The trade also included the Cowboys giving Tennessee a sixth-round pick in 2009. However, because of Jones’ suspension, it not only nullified that pick, which goes back to Dallas, but the Titans then had to give the Cowboys an additional fifth-round pick next season.
This guy’s a tremendous athlete and some other team will almost surely sign him. But the Cowboys have too many knuckleheads and not enough discipline. Pacman had to go.
DMN’s Jean-Jacques Taylor agrees.
[T]he Cowboys are a better team without him. Sometimes, subtraction – not addition – is the key to improvement.
But let’s not act like Jones was this team’s biggest problem, because he wasn’t. We should consider getting rid of Jones the start of an off-season of change.
So is letting a guy like Tank Johnson, as overrated as they come, seek his fortune in free agency. Few things are worse than an average player who thinks he’s an All-Pro.
If we’re honest, ridding the team of [former special teams coach Bruce] Read and Jones required no sacrifice. Or sleepless nights. Or any angst. They were easy decisions.
For the Cowboys to become an elite team again, they will have to make much tougher decisions.
Like whether to release Terrell Owens, because there’s not a player or coach on this team with a strong enough personality to bring out the best in him while limiting his charismatic influence in the locker room. And whether it’s better to release Greg Ellis if he can’t handle Anthony Spencer’s increased role without griping.
And whether Jerry should fire Phillips now and hire Mike Shanahan instead of wasting a year hoping against hope that the 61-year-old coach with a reputation for being a softie can become a drill sergeant.
Agreed all around. T.O. is the wildcard, in that he’s not only a productive player but would represent a major cap hit if he were cut. Certainly, though, it’s something that needs to be strongly considered.
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| Sunday, December 21, 2008 |
The Dallas Cowboys played one of the most embarrassing games in franchise history tonight, in a game that was supposed to honor the legacy of a franchise that has won five Super Bowls and been to two more since Texas Stadium opened its doors in 1971. Â Never has a team with so much talent achieved so little. Thankfully, the game was on the NFL Network, which most fans don’t get.
To be sure, the Baltimore Ravens are a good team. And the blowout loss against the hapless St. Louis Rams earlier this season was more pathetic on paper. But the season wasn’t on the line and we had the excuse of Tony Romo being out with an injury. There was no excusing the complete collapse of the offense, defense, and special teams tonight at home in a must-win game.
Romo was awful, giving up two picks, taking unnecessary sacks, and overthrowing receivers all night long. The play calling was worse. Even though Rashard Choice was running surprisingly well and Romo was off — yet again — Jason Garrett continued to call for long bombs and passes into traffic that his QB clearly didn’t have in his bag tonight. So much for the Head Coach in Waiting.  It appears that the real genius behind last year’s offense was Tony Sparano, who’s helped engineer an amazing turnaround of the Miami Dolphins.
The vaunted Wade Phillips Defense was a joke. Sure, they held the Ravens to field goals most of the night and got a bunch of sacks on rookie Joe Flacco. But they gave the game away with not one but two long touchdown runs in the closing minutes. They should be ashamed.
The special teams have been a joke all season, with the exception of Nick Folk’s field goals. (And Folk has been less than mediocre on kickoffs.) The coverage is embarrassingly bad and the return teams are awful. Why Bruce Read still has a job, I’ll never know.
Phillips should never have been hired. He’s a solid defensive coordinator but the Staypuff Marshmallow Man simply doesn’t have what it takes to be a head coach. And everybody but Jerry Jones has known that for years. He’d won precisely zero playoff games in four previous stops as a head coach. The fifth time wasn’t the charm.
One hopes he’s embarrassed the star for the last time.
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| Monday, October 13, 2008 |
The underperforming Dallas Cowboys’ prospects of quickly fixing their problems just took a dramatic downward turn with news that two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Tony Romo has a broken finger in his throwing hand and will miss up to four weeks.
Romo, who had started 30 straight games since replacing Drew Bledsoe in 2006, broke his right pinkie on the first play of overtime in a 30-24 loss at Arizona on Sunday, according to a posting on the team’s official Web site. The injury will not require surgery, a member of the Cowboys’ medical staff told ESPN.com’s Matt Mosley.
Veteran quarterback Brad Johnson, the Cowboys’ holder on kicks, is Romo’s backup. The 40-year-old Johnson, who won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay, hasn’t started a game since 2006 in Minnesota.
Romo missed on three straight passes to start the overtime. He passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns despite heavy pressure. He was sacked three times and hit several other times.
Frankly, given Romo’s dismal performance the last two weeks — and, especially, yesterday — it was hard to tell the difference. But there’s simply no question that Romo’s leaps and bounds the best QB on the Cowboys’ roster.
Through Sunday’s games, Romo ranks second in NFC passing with a 103.5 rating. He has thrown for 14 touchdowns and been intercepted five times.
The Cowboys.com report is aptly titled “Bad Gets Worse.”
For now, the Cowboys will go as is at the quarterback position, turning the 4-2 Cowboys over to veteran backup Brad Johnson, with third quarterback Brooks Bollinger serving as the No. 2 guy in Romo’s absence. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips will update the situation at his 1:30 (CDT) Monday press conference carried live on DallasCowboys.com.
The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, and certainly the Cowboys will canvass the league for any available candidates, but sensed desperation certainly would drive up the price if the Cowboys are even thinking about bringing in another quarterback for the time being.
And with Johnson and Bollinger having to spend their time preparing to run the Cowboys’ offense, the Cowboys might be forced to sign a practice squad quarterback to run the scout team. Richard Bartel, last year’s practice squad quarterback, has worked out for several teams since being released when the club signed Bollinger to the 53-man roster but hasn’t been signed and would be available for emergency practice squad duty.
The silver lining is that the team has three games, and only one divisional game, during the four weeks, followed with a bye.
Sun, Oct 19 @ St. Louis (FOX) NOON
Sun, Oct 26 TAMPA BAY (FOX) NOON
Sun, Nov 2 @ New York Giants (FOX) 3:15 PM
Sun, Nov 9 BYE
The Rams just beat the Redskins, so it’s not a gimme, but even a Johnson-led Cowboys team ought to be able to win it. Tampa will be the favorite but, again, it’s a winnable game. Presuming the Giants stay healthy, though, they’ll be heavy favorites at home on November 2 and have a chance to all but wrap up the division title very early.
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