The bowl of despair was between two teams projected to make deep playoff runs trying to avoid 1-4 and fading further into the basement. The Cowboys lost in typical Dallas Cowboy fashion. Expensive penalties, turnovers, questionable plays, a special team breakdown, and a lack of big plays on defense. I’ll start with the now weekly excessive celebration penalty. Roy Williams’ Miles Austin Leap Frog was a joke. Seriously the NFL? I wouldn’t consider it excessive, in any case Austin should have received a couple of points for the effort. Miles Austin’s pass interference was the right call, Austin pushed, but that penalty is rarely called. Michael Irvin did much worse in his day. Tony Romo’s two interceptions weren’t his fault, but they still hurt the team. The first interception was brought up by Jared Allen, who somehow earned a no pun intended free run for Romo. Doug Free never looked in Allen’s direction. If anyone should be blocked on every play, it’s Jared Allen. He has been to a few professional bowls. He is not a street guy. Romo’s second interception occurred when linebacker EJ Henderson plowed up the middle, stopped, then went back into coverage and intercepted the ball intended for Romo’s BFF Jason Witten. That was a great designed or instinctive play by Henderson. Either way, it was crucial.
The breakdown of the not-so-special special team.
Percy Harvin’s second half touchdown got the Vikings started in the second half. Isn’t the cowboy kicker’s strength supposed to be kickoff touchbacks? Questionable game call. Romo threw too many control passes to Felix Jones. Those checks on Jones can turn into big plays because he has the speed to turn them into long wins. But not when the Vikings had two or three defenders waiting for him. Lack of big plays on defense. The Cowboys are the only team that is more than happy to take tackles. They don’t even try to force fumbles by sliding or hitting the ball. With the score tied in the fourth quarter, Michael Jenkins dropped another easy interception and a possible pick six. That could have shifted the momentum of the game in the Cowboys’ favor. It was a good read from him, but Jenkins can’t catch a cold. Coach Wade Phillips will eventually be the scapegoat unless the Cowboys can turn their season around. If I were him, I’d start updating his resume.
The Vikings weren’t that impressive in their win. In fact, they were much more impressive in the fourth quarter of the Jet game than they were in this game. If the Cowboys hadn’t self-destructed, they would have lost this game as well. But the old NFL axiom is that a win is a win. Brett Farve was hit. He was winning on several occasions after getting hit. The offense was held to less than two hundred yards. Part of it was the Cowboys’ defensive schemes. Their safeties were playing at Eden Prairie at times that prevented big passing plays, but that should have allowed Anthony Peterson room to run. They held him down to less than three yards per carry. His defense forced well-timed turnovers, and Percy Harvin’s kickoff return for a touchdown was key. The fact is that the Vikings have a good chance of winning the division because the other teams aren’t very good like Detroit and Chicago (how are they 4-2?) or they are plagued by injuries from Green Bay.
The rest.
New England over Baltimore. The Patriots won playing small ball. Short passes from Tom Brady to Deion Branch. I can’t believe Raven’s defense didn’t know that Randy Moss was traded two weeks ago. Is it me or have the Ravens played every game on the road?
Philadelphia over Atlanta. Kevin Kolb played like Peyton Manning replacing Michael Vic. If he had played like that when the season started, he wouldn’t be back on the bench when Vic is healthy. However, Eagle fans will still blame Kolb for hanging out with DeSean Jackson and letting him blow up. Atlanta forgot to set her alarm clocks. They were down 21-0 before breakfast.
Pittsburgh over Cleveland. Ben Roethlisberger played well in his return. He showed good feeling in the pocket and still has great feet. Who knew that working out with high school kids is better than boot camp. Colt McCoy survived and played better than expected in his first start. Many predicted that he would not make it to halftime.
New York Giants over Detroit. The Giants did what they had to do, just win the game. The Lions did what many thought they would do, they won the point spread.
Seattle over Chicago. Matt Hasselbeck outpointed Jay Cutler. Of course, that was easy to do because Cutler spent most of the game on his back. “The Bears are who they thought they were. And they won’t win a game the rest of the season.”
Miami over Green Bay. Miami played well enough to beat a team without half its starters. Green Bay will vote against the eighteen-game season and will vote for the return of the twelve-game season.
New Orleans over Tampa Bay. The Saints ran the ball like the Steelers of the ’70s. Who is Chris Ivory? Tampa Bay camera crashing into the ground. Too bad they are no longer in the old NFC north.
St. Louis over San Diego. The Chargers are the second most disappointing team in the league behind Dallas. It must be the training camps in southern California. (Dallas spent part of his camp in Oxnard.) The Rams have a good chance to win the division. Is Kurt Warner back?
New York Jets over Denver. Mark Sanchez threw his first two interceptions of the year, but his improvisation on the long pass to Santonio Holmes, which was called pass interference, was huge. Joe Namath couldn’t have done that.
San Francisco over Oakland. The 49ers won a game now Mike Singletary will let his players eat. Oakland hasn’t won two games in a row since the days of the Los Angeles Raider.
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