Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 23 of 62)

      Can the Cowboys get over their playoff hex?

      January 7, 2010 /

      Over the past three weeks, the Cowboys have managed to end the Saints’ perfect season and hold the Redskins and Eagles to a combined zero points of offense. They’re the hottest team in the NFC right now and will play a Philadelphia team on Saturday that they’ve already beaten not once, but twice this season.

      But the postseason has not been kind to the Cowboys over the past decade. In 2003, the Bill Parcells-led Cowboys were shellacked 29-10 by the Panthers in the Wild Card round. In 2006, Tony Romo had, uh, some trouble with a field goal snap and in 2007, the ‘Boys were bounced out of the Divisional Round at home by the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants.

      Yes, the Cowboys have beaten the Eagles twice this season and yes, their defense is playing lights out. But these are the Wade Phillips-led Cowboys were talking about here: Nothing is a guarantee and nothing should be assumed.

      Dallas clearly matches up very well with Philadelphia. Their front seven has been able to shut down the running game and thus, Phillips has been able to amp up the pressure with edge-rusher DeMarcus Ware. Donovan McNabb hasn’t had a lot of time to throw the ball, which limits the Eagles’ ability to strike for big plays like they have all season.

      Playmaker DeSean Jackson has 63 receptions for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns this year. But in two games against the Cowboys, he has just five catches for 76 yards and no touchdowns. That means Dallas has been able to contain Philadelphia’s most dangerous offensive weapon.

      That said, the Cowboys have found ways to lose before, so why should anyone trust them now? They’ve been a team under Phillips that hasn’t been able to get out of its own way, so would anyone be surprised to see Philadelphia walk into Jerry Jones’ brand new stadium and steal a win? Doubtful.

      Dallas needs to rely on its defense to win on Saturday and limit mistakes offensively. If they can do that, then they shouldn’t have issues beating an Eagles team that has fought their own postseason demons in the past.

      Should make for an entertaining Saturday night.

      NFL

      Mark Cuban is mad at the NFL

      January 6, 2010 /

      Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is none too happy with the NFL for scheduling the Cowboys playoff game at the same time as the Mavs’ home game against the Utah Jazz.

      “I know we’re just little pissants compared to the NFL, but seriously, the NFL is turning into the ugly American when it comes to sports leagues. They don’t give a crap about anybody but themselves.”

      — Mark Cuban, via ESPN.com

      Cuban has a good point here. The Cowboys game didn’t have to be scheduled against the Mavs game, so why do it? The NFL easily could have held the ARI/GB game on Saturday and the DAL/PHI game on Sunday. (In case you’re wondering, the Suns don’t have a home game on Saturday.) This smells like a case of the NFL wanting the DAL/PHI game in primetime on the East Coast, so they decided to hold the game in primetime on the East Coast, Mavs be damned. In fact, I doubt the NFL even took the Mavs game into consideration. The NFL’s silence on the matter is telling.

      Mike & Mike tackled this subject on their radio show…

      Should the NFL take the NBA into consideration when scheduling playoff games?
      Total Votes: 20 Started: January 6, 2010 Back to Vote Screen

      NBA, NFL, Television, Video

      NFL Week 16 COY Power Rankings

      January 3, 2010 /

      Upsets galore and crazy outcomes have forced us to look a bit harder at the Coach of the Year rankings, but most of our contenders are hanging tough.

      1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The poor guy is still dodging proverbial rocks being thrown by Colts’ fans, who wanted their team to continue its pursuit of perfection instead of rolling over against the Jets. Being that the Colts were still in position to go to 15-0 when Caldwell did that, we have to cut him some slack and remember that his team is still the top seed in the AFC and would be in the NFC as well.

      2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Payton surely did not want to back into the #1 seed in the NFC, but after losing two games in a row, his team did just that when the Vikings’ loss Monday night let the Saints snag the top position. And once again, we have to consider the entire season’s body of work.

      3. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—When you consider that Turner’s Chargers always play lousy in September, only to win when it really matters, that’s far better than it being the other way around. It’s time we started to give Turner his due.

      4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are another team not playing well, but they have dealt with two tragedies this season—the death of player Chris Henry, and the passing of the wife of D-coordinator Mike Zimmer. And still, the Bengals are 10-5 with an AFC North title. Raise your hand if you expected that.

      5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Yes, the Vikings are floundering and in danger of losing the #2 seed to Philly or Dallas, but I’ll keep mentioning two players who Childress sought in the off-season that made this a championship caliber team—Brett Favre and Percy Harvin.

      Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Rex Ryan, Jets; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos

      NFL

      NFL Week 16 MVP Power Rankings

      January 3, 2010 /

      It’s been two weeks since we last did these rankings, and while not much has changed at the top, the teams our top two guys play for have been very shaky. In fact, Philip Rivers’ Chargers are the only one on a roll heading into the postseason.

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—If Jim Caldwell benching his starting quarterback in the third quarter against the Jets proved anything, it’s that Manning is clearly and unequivocally valuable. His numbers (4405 yards, 33 TDs) don’t suck either.

      2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—There is no question that Brees hasn’t been the same since DeMarcus Ware terrorized him two weeks ago in the Superdome. But the MVP race is not based on a few games and Brees still has a league-high 109.6 QB rating, and leads the NFL with 34 touchdown passes.

      3. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans—This guy was racking up yards even before the Titans started winning games this season. And he’s so far ahead of the pack right now, with his sights on 2000 yards and even Eric Dickerson’s record of 2105 yards for a single season. That’s saying something.

      4. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—Yes, he has numbers — 4155 yards, 27 TDs to 9 picks, second to Brees in QB rating with 104.5. But here is why Rivers belongs on here—because all he does is win games.

      5. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Favre brought his Vikings back from a 17-point deficit in chilly Chicago before losing in OT. His season has been and continues to be bordering on magical.

      Honorable Mention— DeSean Jackson, Eagles; Aaron Rodgers, Packers; Cedric Benson, Bengals; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Jared Allen, Vikings; Vince Young, Titans; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Darren Sharper, Saints; Wes Welker, Patriots; Darrelle Revis, Jets; Andre Johnson, Texans; Dallas Clark, Colts; DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys

      NFL

      Taylor: Jones doesn’t want to fire Phillips

      December 30, 2009 /

      Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News made several good points about Jerry Jones and Wade Phillips (more specifically, Phillips’ job status) in one of his recent articles.

      No one is rooting for Wade Phillips to succeed more than Jerry Jones.

      If Phillips succeeds, then it justifies Jerry’s decision to hire Phillips instead of Norv Turner, and it justifies his decision to go with a players’ coach after Bill Parcells left.

      Besides, Jerry loves working with Phillips because the coach allows him to be himself. He can be part of the process instead of feeling like an intruder when he wants to address the team after a game.

      Jerry doesn’t want to fire Phillips.

      Frankly, he’s looking for reasons to keep Phillips around. His 32-15 is a good start, but Jerry wants some playoff success. You can’t blame him, considering the Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game since 1996.

      That’s why Jerry hasn’t been shy about saying what needs to happen for Phillips to keep his job.

      It’s also why he hasn’t yet signed the club option that will guarantee Phillips another year.

      This was a very simple way of looking at the situation and I thought Taylor hit on several key points, none bigger than the fact that Jones wants Phillips to succeed. If Phillips fails, then Jones looks bad for hiring him, so why wouldn’t he want the head coach to succeed?

      It’s easy to get caught up in how Jones wants to make flashy decisions. Many people (myself included) somewhat expect him to go after Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan in the offseason because that just seems like a Jerry Jones thing to do. But the fact of the matter is that Jones is in Phillips’ corner – he just wants to see his team win or else he’ll have to make a change because in his mind, the Cowboys have a Super Bowl roster.

      This Sunday will tell a lot about Phillips’ future in Dallas. If the Eagles crush the Cowboys and Dallas gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs next week, Jones will likely make a change. But if the ‘Boys can muster a win against Philly and make a run deep into the playoffs, then there’s no guarantee that Jones will cut Phillips loose in the offseason.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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