Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 57 of 62)

      Week 3 NFL Primer

      September 19, 2008 /

      Aaron RodgersSunday’s Best: Cowboys (2-0) at Packers (2-0) 8:15 PM ET NBC
      General NFL fans and fantasy football owners alike are pumped for this Sunday Night Football matchup. The home team generally has the upper hand, with the host going 14-2 in the last 27 years of this underrated rivalry. Before becoming a starter this season, Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers only saw significant playing time one other time in his career – last year in a regular season loss to the Cowboys after Brett Favre was injured following two interceptions. Rodgers did well, too, completing 18 of 26 passes and tossing one touchdown. The Dallas defense will be well prepared for Rodgers this time, although the Cowboys are coming off a short week after beating the Eagles on Monday night.

      Upset Watch: Saints (1-1) at Broncos (2-0) 4:05 PM ET FOX
      If there’s one thing the NFL has taught fans over the years is to expect the unexpected. After two weeks, the Broncos look like world-beaters and after losing last week in Washington, the Saints appear to be vulnerable. But Denver’s defense didn’t play well in the second half last week and even without WR Marques Colston, New Orleans has more than enough offensive weapons to make things interesting this weekend in Denver. The Broncos are coming off an emotionally draining win last Sunday against San Diego, not to mention an emotionally draining week having to answer questions about Ed Hochuli’s blown call. Could the pissed off Saints be catching Denver at the right time?

      Ben RoethlisbergerIntriguing Matchup: Steelers (2-0) at Eagles (1-1), 4:15 PM ET CBS
      If it weren’t for the mega matchup in Green Bay on Sunday night, the Steelers-Eagles game Sunday evening would be the best of the Week 3 schedule. Pittsburgh has looked very good in its two victories, but questions remain about the health status of QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is dealing with a bad shoulder (although head coach Mike Tomlin says Big Ben’s shoulder isn’t separated). Philadelphia will be coming off a short week after playing on Monday night, but the Eagles are always tough to beat at home. Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook will also look to bounce back after fumbling away an opportunity to beat the Cowboys. This should be a physical game between two very good teams.

      Other Notable Games:
      Jaguars at Colts, 4:15 PM ET CBS
      Jacksonville’s offensive line is incredibly beat up, which hasn’t bode well for the usually-explosive Jag running game. But Indy lost its best run-defender in Bob Sanders for 4-6 weeks and the Vikes’ Adrian Peterson ran wild on them last Sunday. Could the Jaguars really start the season 0-3? Could the Colts really start 1-2? Neither team looks like the potential Super Bowl contenders everyone thought they would be entering the season.

      Panthers at Vikings, 1 PM ET FOX
      The Vikings are looking for their first win of the season while the Panthers are looking to gain even more of an edge in the NFC South. Can Carolina keep Adrian Peterson in check? Will Steve Smith take advantage of a weak Minnesota secondary in his first action of the season after serving a two game suspension?

      Cardinals at Redskins, 1 PM ET FOX
      Usually this game would be a bore-fest, but Arizona is 2-0 and Washington might have gotten on track after beating the Saints last Sunday. The Cardinals could open up a decent size lead in the NFC West with a victory.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Did the Cowboys play dirty on Monday night?

      September 18, 2008 /

      Dan Daly of the Washington Times is convinced that the Dallas Cowboys purposely played dirty against the Philadelphia Eagles in their 41-37 win on Monday night. More specifically, Daly talks about the three times Dallas defenders grabbed Eagles’ RB Brian Westbrook’s facemask and it was never called.

      Brian WestbrookWhat a coincidence, too, that he’s the Eagles’ best offensive player, a back who led the league in yards from scrimmage last season (2,104) and gained 299 of those yards in two games against Dallas. It couldn’t possibly be that the Cowboys’ defensive coaches spent the week telling their players, “We have to be physical with this guy if we’re going stop him. [Wink, wink.]” I mean, when has a football coach ever suggested that?

      If you ask me, the Cowboys are taking this “Hard Knocks” business a little too literally. Football is a nasty game, sure, and people are going to get hurt, but there’s never been any place for trying to yank a guy’s head off.

      And make no mistake, there was nothing inadvertent about any of the episodes, nothing incidental; if there had been, the defenders (Jason Hatcher, Pat Watkins, Jay Ratliff) would have released the mask sooner. No, this was just good, old fashioned Street Ball – Oakland Raiders, circa 1976.

      The no-calls Daly is talking about definitely should have been penalties. The first time Westbrook got his facemask tugged, his helmet almost spun around to where he would be looking out his ear hole.

      I think part of the problem is that the league did away with the 5-yard incidental facemask penalty. Now they’re all 15-yard penalties, so refs are gun shy to blow their whistle because they want to make absolutely sure that the guy had malice while grabbing the facemask. Thus, more facemask penalties are being missed this year than in previous seasons. (And the calls haven’t just missed in the Dallas-Philadelphia game; missed facemask calls are happening all around the league.)

      Or maybe Daly is right and the Cowboys are just plain ol’ dirty.

      General Sports, NFL

      Cowboys’ S Roy Williams out four weeks

      September 16, 2008 /

      Dallas Cowboys’ safety Roy Williams will miss roughly four weeks after fracturing his forearm during Monday night’s 42-37 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

      Jerry Jones said Roy Williams suffered a spiral fracture in his forearm and will miss about four weeks. That means Pat Watkins, who was playing in the nickel and dime packages, will start at strong safety for the next month.

      While he’ll be missed in run defense, Williams has never been a factor against the pass. In fact, the Cowboys usually take Williams off the field in obvious passing downs and use three cornerbacks. Still, Dallas will certainly miss him in run defense seeing as how he was basically an extra linebacker.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Bad McNabb-Westbrook exchange costs Eagles in wild MNF shootout

      September 15, 2008 /

      Tony RomoWhen Brian Westbrook and Donovan McNabb combine for four touchdowns in one game, usually the Eagles come away with a win. But that wasn’t the case Monday night as Dallas defeated Philadelphia 41-37 in the wildest NFL game of the season.

      Westbrook gave the Eagles a 37-31 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run (his third TD of the game). But after a Cowboys’ field goal cut the lead to 37-34, a botched exchange between Westbrook and McNabb gave Dallas the ball back with just under eight minutes to play. The Cowboys turned the miscue into a Marion Barber 1-yard score, which proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

      Outside of an interception and a fumble that the Eagles recovered for a touchdown, Dallas QB Tony Romo was outstanding again. Romo threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, including a 72-yard bomb to Terrell Owens (3 catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs) in the first quarter. On top of scoring the game-winning TD, Barber also finished with 69 yards on 18 carries.

      Both defenses played like garbage, but this was the most exciting game of the young season. I hate to use a tired sports analogy, but this was like two heavyweight boxers going at it for 60 minutes. Neither team backed down and the game was littered with big plays. (And boneheaded ones, too.) Some of the throws that McNabb and Romo made were absolutely incredible.

      McNabb, Romo, Barber, Westbrook, T.O. and Witten had to help folks win some fantasy games tonight.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Fantasy Fallout, Week 2: Eagles @ Cowboys

      September 15, 2008 /

      Eagles 37 @ Cowboys 41
      The Dallas offense is a juggernaut. Tony Romo shrugged off an awful play early in the game that gave the Eagles defense a touchdown to finish with 312 yards, three TD and a pick. He looks cool, calm and collected in the pocket and with Brady out, he has as good of a chance as anyone to finish as QB1…Terrell Owens (3-89-2) had a big day against his old team, but Romo went to Jason Witten (7-110) when he needed to move the chains. Patrick Crayton (2-23) had a quiet game…Marion Barber is a stud. He racked up 114 total yards on 22 touches and scored twice, once on the ground and once through the air. With LT2 struggling, Barber is a contender to finish as the top fantasy RB…Felix Jones (3-10) was a non-factor in the rushing game, but scored a TD on a kickoff return…The Eagles looked great except for the missed exchange between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. That turnover was so out of character for McNabb. He finished with 281 yards and a TD, but would have had another score had DeSean Jackson (6-110) not made a boneheaded, showboat play by tossing the ball back before crossing the goal line on his 60-yard almost-TD catch…Jackson’s dumb move gave Westy and extra rushing touchdown. He finished with 24 touches for 102 yards and three TD (2 rush, 1 rec). He’s probably the frontrunner to finish as RB1 with LT2’s gimpy toe…Other than Jackson and Westbrook, no other Philly receiver had more than three receptions, so it looks like Jackson is WR1 for now…L.J. Smith (1-10) had a quiet day.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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