Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 30 of 62)

Top 10 active NFL field goal percentage leaders

It’s almost fantasy football time, and many of you, like me, have already been doing your research. So let’s take a look at a category that you may not pay much attention to, and many experts will tell you not to anyway. That’s field goal percentage. I realize choosing a kicker is like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks, but good references are to pick those on good offensive teams, or those that can’t score TDs and create more field goal attempts. But it’s also good to pick an accurate kicker, whether that kicker plays in a dome or not. I mean, why take your chances on someone who kicks 25 field goals but misses another 25? So here is a list of the active Top 10 in field goal percentage. You can thank me later.

1. Nick Folk, Dallas Cowboys (86.79%)—For as good as Folk’s rookie season was in 2007, he had less attempts but was even more accurate in 2008, kicking 20 of 22 field goals (90.9%). Which reminds me, what the hell ever happened to Mike Vanderjagt?

2. Nate Kaeding, San Diego Chargers (86.13%)—Sure, he kicks mostly in warm weather, but Kaeding is about as automatic as they come.

3. Robbie Gould, Chicago Bears (85.94%)—If you’re hitting better than 17 out of 20 times when your home field is in the WINDY city, you’re damn good.

4. Shayne Graham, Cincinnati Bengals (85.64%)—One of the lone bright spots on a team that is perpetually going nowhere.

5. Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots (85.56%)—No Adam Vinatieri? No problem. This kid stepped in as a rookie in 2006 and has improved each year, hitting 36 of 40 field goal attempts last season (90%) and leading the NFL in total points (148).

6. Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans (84.50%)—Bironas is extremely dependable, but nothing topped his 2007 All-Pro campaign, when dude kicked an NFL record 8 field goals against Houston.

7. Matt Stover, free agent (83.70%)—The amazing thing about Stover is that he’s been doing it for so long. He broke in with the Browns in 1991 and moved with the team to Baltimore in 1996, where he played until last season.

8. Phil Dawson, Cleveland Browns (82.81%)—One of the original “expansion” Browns, Dawson, like his counterpart Graham in southern Ohio, has been a bright spot on a bad team for years.

9. Jeff Reed, Pittsburgh Steelers (82.65%)—Every year they seem to talk about how hard it is to kick in Heinz Field, so the fact that Jeff Reed is even on this list says a lot about his ability. I’d love to know what the guy could do playing in Minnesota for a year.

10. John Carney, free agent (82.59%)—Carney stepped in for Lawrence Tynes last season and all he did was hit 35 of 38 field goal attempts, an amazing 92.1% clip. It’s even more amazing because Carney played half his games in windy Giants Stadium, and because he did it at the age of 44.

Source: Pro Football Reference

Brandon Jacobs slams Tony Romo

Brandon Jacobs…not a fan of Tony Romo.

Brandon Jacobs, the Giants’ bruising running back, ranks among the NFL’s best trash talkers. The Cowboys, particularly Patrick Crayton, are his favorite target.

And Jacobs took aim at Tony Romo today on ESPN 1050 in New York, per Pro Football Talk.
“I don’t think he’s that good a passer, to be honest with you,” Jacobs said.

We could put together a pretty impressive statistical argument in Romo’s favor. But why ruin the fun?

“I’m not a fan of Tony Romo, no. Keep him in the pocket, he’s not that good. . . . His luck will be gone sooner or later. If you were to keep Tony Romo in the pocket he’s not that effective.”
We’ll be sure to revisit this subject in September, when the Giants come to town for the first regular-season game at JerryWorld.

Damn I miss football…

Ellis: ‘Ware took himself out of games so I could play.’

Appearing on Michael Irvin’s radio show, former Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis said that DeMarcus Ware used to hide from coaches in order to help get Ellis onto the field last season.

According to Ellis, one of his prominent former teammates was so frustrated by the veteran’s diminished role that he’d hide from coaches during games to force them to put Ellis on the field.

“It’s a disgrace when DeMarcus Ware comes off the field just so I can get in the game and when the coaches tell him to come on the field, he tries to hide so I can play,” Ellis said during an appearance on ESPN 103.3’s Michael Irvin Show. “And you’re telling me we’re trying to win the Super Bowl?”

Ware, the weak side outside linebacker who threatened the NFL’s season sacks record during his third consecutive Pro Bowl campaign, could not immediately be reached for comment. Ware rarely sat out a defensive snap with the exception of late in the Thanksgiving win over the Seahawks, when he suffered a knee injury.

Irvin, the Hall of Fame former Cowboys receiver, asked for clarification that Ware would take himself out of games to force the coaches to play Ellis.

“On his own,” Ellis said. “He would say, ‘G, come on.’ And I would tell him, ‘No, DeMarcus, go ahead, man. You’re coming up on your contract year. Don’t mess that stuff up. Go ahead and do you, and we’re just going to do what the coaches, or whoever the powers that be, what they want to do.'”

Riiiight. I’m not saying this didn’t happen because it’s a little too bizarre for Ellis to make up, but he’s his comments are rather unclear. Did this happen several times throughout the course of the season? Did it happen once a game? Twice a game? Or did this just happen once throughout the entire 16-game schedule? Because if it was only once, then this isn’t a big deal at all.

Either way, Ellis isn’t helping his buddy score a new contract here. Ware is the midst of trying to get a new contract from the Cowboys and Ellis doesn’t really help him out by saying that Ware used to hide from coaches on the sidelines when they wanted him to go in.

What a weird story.

T.O.: ‘I’ll be the scapegoat for what happened in Dallas.’

Even though he’s moved on to other pastures, Terrell Owens continues to be asked about what happened that led to his release in Dallas, to which the wide receiver still doesn’t understand.

“(Romo) was the quarterback of the team,” T.O. said during his camp for kids today at Duncanville High School. “I think everybody realized that. It was upon him to adopt that leadership role and carry that out. Obviously, they saw that didn’t happen.

“So, for whatever reason, I’ll be the scapegoat. I’m not here. Now, it’s his team. You know, and I wish him well.”

T.O., who famously cried while defending Romo after the top-seeded Cowboys’ playoff loss to the Giants two years ago, claimed to be confused when asked how the relationship between the quarterback and receiver changed last season.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” T.O. said. “I don’t know what happened. Obviously, somebody is lying somewhere. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that I’m not here. I’m with the Buffalo Bills, and I’ll leave it at that.”

T.O. is right about one thing – he is playing the scapegoat. The Cowboys obviously felt that Romo could lead the team with Owens still on the roster and decided that the best thing to do was to cut bait and move on. But what Owens fails to understand is how big of a negative effect he had in Dallas.

What T.O. sees when he looks back on his days in Dallas (and San Francisco, and Philadelphia for that matter) was all the touchdowns, the stats and the receptions. He blocks out the times where he’s humiliated quarterbacks, offensive coordinators and everyone else when things weren’t going his way. He doesn’t see himself as a malcontent, yet he’s been run out of three cities already and fails to see what everyone else sees.

So yes, he was the scapegoat in Dallas but for good reason – reasons he’ll never fathom.

Ten NFL players facing make or break seasons

Training camp is still a month away but you don’t need daily reports from the grueling two-a-day sessions to see what players are going to have the heat turned up on them this season. I’ve complied a list of 10 players (in no particular order) who, not necessarily the same reasons, face make or break seasons in ’09.

1. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys
If Romo doesn’t get the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2009 will Jerry Jones look for other options at quarterback in 2010? No. But if you read between the lines, the Cowboys jettisoned Terrell Owens this offseason so that Romo will have every opportunity to be the team’s most influential leader and hopefully go from being a great quarterback to one of the elite. While it might not technically be a make or break season for Romo, his career is certainly at a crossroads. Romo’s numbers last year were solid – 3,448 yards, 26 TDs, 91.4 QB Rating – but his play faded over the last month of the season and the Cowboys imploded. Since then, Romo’s work ethic, offseason dedication and leadership skills have been questioned and it appears as though the QB’s career has come to a fork in the road. If he continues on the path his currently on, he might put up decent numbers and lead the Cowboys to the playoffs a couple more times before his days are done. That’s certainly not bad, but Jones and the rest of the Cowboy faithful want Romo to be extraordinary and if he completely dedicates himself to the game, maybe he can take this talented team to the next level. One thing’s for sure – with T.O. out of the way, this is now Romo’s team and it’s up to him where he and the Cowboys go from here.

Continue reading »

« Older posts Newer posts »