Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 20 of 62)

After his team ran up the score in yesterday’s 34-3 win over the Cowboys, I found it comical what Vikings head coach Brad Childress said in his post game presser:

“As Lou Holtz used to say, ‘It’s our job to score points. It’s their job to stop us from scoring points.’ That happens. It wasn’t rubbing it in. It’s just taking care of business and being aggressive at the end of the game.”

After spending some time reading people’s opinions on this topic, it appears that many Minnesota fans are taking Childress’ stance. Hey, the Cowboys’ defenders are paid to stop opponents’ offenses. So if they didn’t want to be scored on, then they shouldn’t have quit on that final play. Also, Keith Brooking is a crybaby whiner that should go back to his crybaby whiner mother and have her feed him out of a bottle labeled: My Little Crybaby.

The other stance that Minnesota fans seem to be taking is that Brett Favre should now be treated like a baby bird and protected at all cost. With the way they’re backing Favre’s every move right now, I wouldn’t be shocked if a group of Viking fans attempted to eat some food and regurgitate it back into Brett’s mouth.

Of course, there are a great deal of people that think the Vikings are classless for what they did, or at the very least displayed poor sportsmanship.

But regardless of what stance you’ve taken on this topic, it’s hard to deny that it was an unnecessary move for the Vikings. The Cowboys were out of timeouts, they couldn’t stop the clock following the two-minute warning and therefore it was virtually impossible that they were going to erase a 24-point deficit at that point. It’s not like this is the BCS and the Vikings needed style points – the game was over and therefore there was no need for a pass in that situation.

I wonder how Minnesota fans that have fully endorsed what the Vikings did would have acted if Favre snapped his femur while dropping back to pass. Think about the outrage that would have ensued had the Vikings’ Super Bowl hopes been dashed on a meaningless play late in a game that they already had locked up. Fans would have been calling for Childress’ head instead of wanting a picture of him and Favre re-painted to resemble “The Creation of Adam” on the Metrodome’s ceiling.

Forget the fact that Brooking and the Cowboys should have stopped the Vikings if they didn’t want to be embarrassed. It was a flat out stupid decision and an unnecessary risk by Childress and Favre to throw in that situation and they’re fortunate that something disastrous didn’t happen.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

There is an unwritten rule in sports about not running up the score when you have an opponent beaten. About the only exception to this rule is if said opponent had run up the score in a previous meeting.

On Sunday, the Vikings had their foot firmly placed on the Cowboys’ neck late in the fourth quarter. Up 27-3 with only two minutes remaining and the ball inside Dallas’ red zone, Minnesota could have ran a play on fourth down and not add any further embarrassment for the Cowboys. Instead, Brad Childress decided that one more score was in order and Brett Favre hit Visanthe Shiancoe on an 11-yard touchdown pass to put the cap on a 34-3 Vikings’ victory.

After the play, Dallas linebacker Keith Brooking went to Minnesota’s sidelines and started screaming at Favre, presumably because the Vikings decided to run up the score. Following the game, the FOX NFL Sunday broadcast pair of Jimmy Johnson and Terry Bradshaw debated whether or not Brooking and the Cowboys had a right to be upset. Johnson said Dallas should have stopped the Vikings if they didn’t want to be embarrassed, while Bradshaw claimed that it was a classless move by Minnesota.

Personally, I side with Johnson on this debate. If you don’t want a team to run up the score, then stop them. If you don’t want an opponent to embarrass you, then don’t embarrass yourself by getting into that position. After all, this isn’t a 7-year-old Pop Warner league – it’s the NFL. And don’t whine about it Cowboys – send a message that you’re not going to take that.

That said, I fully believe in karma and think Favre and Childress will get what’s coming to them. There was no reason to throw the ball in that spot and even though I agree that the Cowboys should have stopped them, it was still a classless move by the Vikings.

I’m sure I’ll catch some heat from Brett backers, but Favre’s act is getting tired. As a NFL fan, I loved watching him play this season and have always appreciated his enthusiasm for the game. But he pranced around the field today like a freaking ballerina on a mixture of coke and caffeine.

I won’t necessarily be cheering for this outcome, but I wouldn’t hesitate to crack a smile if the Saints rout the Vikings next Sunday.

Photo from fOTOGLIF