Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 8 of 62)

2011 NFL Week 1 Odds

September 5, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Oddsmakers have released the point spreads for Week 1 in the NFL. Along with a complete list of odds, here are a couple of games that jump out at me as we head into the opening week in the NFL.

Saints @ Packers, 8:30PM ET, Thursday
The action gets kicked off this season with a matchup between the 2010 Super Bowl champion Packers and the 2009 Super Bowl champion Saints. I envision a rebound year for Drew Brees and the Saints, who added solid depth on both sides of the ball this offseason and drafted a running back in Mark Ingram that could help restore balance to Sean Payton’s offense. The Packers, meanwhile, are coming off a Super Bowl win and will have tight end Jermichael Finley and running back Ryan Grant back from injury. Aaron Rodgers is an absolute stud and should be talked about among the league’s elite. In terms of the odds, the total is set high for a reason but I see this game falling under. In four of the last five season openers the total has fallen under and even though both of these teams can both light up the scoreboard, I don’t think we’ll see either of the Saints or Packers’ best offensive efforts this Thursday. Don’t forget it was a short offseason in terms of season preparation.
ODDS: PACKERS –4 (47)

Colts @ Texans, 1:00PM ET, Sunday
Personally, I think this is the Texans’ year. They went a long way to improve their horrendous defense by hiring Wade Phillips as coordinator and signing free agent corner Jonathan Joseph. Phillips has a knack for turning teams around quickly and I don’t think Houston will be an aberration. Peyton Manning will likely miss Week 1 and that means Kerry Collins will get the nod. If Manning is healthy the Colts are liable to go 12-4 but without him, they could just as easily fall to 4-12. The Texans usually start off the season on fire before fading in the second half. Maybe this year will be different. I see them getting off to a good start and without Manning, this one could be a blowout.
ODDS: TEXANS –9 (45.5)

External Sports, NFL

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Ten Predictions for the 2011 NFL Season

September 1, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Pre-season predictions are rather silly, aren’t they? I mean really, we haven’t seen any of these teams play and yet we’re all ready to predict who will appear in the Super Bowl. Ridiculous. Just ridiculous, I say.

But damn it they’re fun. You can’t deny that. If we as fans don’t partake in a little pre-season shenanigans then I ask you, what are we doing with our lives?

My regular season and Super Bowl predictions won’t be released until next week, but here’s a little something to whet your appetite in the meantime.

Ten Predictions for the 2011 NFL Season:

1. The Eagles won’t win the Super Bowl.
I’m not a big believer in Michael Vick. I used to be. I used to believe that he could walk on water and was going to lead the Falcons to not one, but about 16 Super Bowls when he was in Atlanta. Then I realized the guy was completely fine with not putting in the work to raise his game to the next level. I realize he was complacent and was fine with being an extraordinary athlete but not a championship-caliber quarterback. I don’t know Michael Vick personally so maybe I have him all wrong. And maybe he really has grown as a player and a person in Philadelphia. Hey, Andy Reid is 10-times the coach Jim Mora was, so maybe all Vick needed was better guidance. That said, I don’t think Vick will win a Super Bowl this season with the Eagles. He’s never done well when the expectations were high and if you want proof of that, look at his 2005 and 2006 seasons in Atlanta. (Pundits were more than willing to hitch their wagon to Vick back then, just as they are now.) There were no expectations for him at the start of last season because it was Kevin Kolb’s team. But now it’s his team and I don’t think he’ll see the Eagles through to the end. This prediction may look foolish for most of the regular season, but let’s see what happens come January and February.

External Sports, NFL

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Dez Bryant sued for unpaid debts

March 30, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Maybe there was something to what Deion Sanders had to say last week about Dez Bryant.

A week after Deion stated publicly that the receiver “needs help,” Bryant is now being sued by a landlord in Stillwater, Oklahoma for failing to pay his rent.

“He still has not paid us,” said Bryce Campbell, the manager for Jim Campbell Property Management, the plaintiff in the case. “He will not answer our calls.”
Campbell said Bryant’s lawyers told his company that if they signed a form agreeing to drop the case, the leasing office would receive a check within two weeks.
“We never received anything,” Campbell said, “and that’s been months ago.”
“We were kind of excited he got a contract,” Campbell said. “OK, the guy just didn’t have the money. Now he’s got a contract. Five thousand is nothing to him….He hasn’t even attempted to (pay).”

This isn’t the first time that Bryant has been accused of not settling his debts. A New York jeweler claims that the receiver owes $240,000 for unpaid jewelry ordered sometime between January and May of 2010. A Texas jeweler also claims that Bryant has not paid $588,500 in jewelry, $15,850 in sporting event tickets and $11,000 in loans. Apparently those purchases were made between June 2009 and June 2010 when Bryant was still enrolled at Oklahoma State.

The issue involving Sanders was reportedly because Bryant backed out of an endorsement deal with Under Armour only to keep the sporting good company’s money. Considering he signed a five-year, $11.8 million contract that included $8.63 million in guaranteed money, Bryant could probably settle his debts in an hour.

But the problem obviously isn’t money. The problem is that this 22-year-old kid has no concept of responsibility. From the moment he walked onto campus at OSU, he’s had everything handed to him and now he’s like an adult child with millions of dollars to play with instead of toys. And because of the lockout, the Cowboys can’t offer him any structure or guidance, which is a shame.

In some ways I feel bad for Bryant because clearly nobody taught him about responsibility. But come on: a 7-year-old knows that if they want something, they have to pay for it. Did Bryant not think that he had to pay rent? Did he not think that he had to pay for the jewelry that he purchased?

Speaking of which, how did Bryant come into all of this jewelry? Did OSU give it to him? Did he receive it from a booster or an agent? How does someone accrue thousands of dollars in debt for jewelry, tickets and loans without having to pay for it up front? Did someone lead him to believe that all of this was free? (Not that that gives Bryant a free pass in the matter.)

I smell an NCAA investigation.

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DeMarcus Ware chats with The Scores Report

February 5, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Even the most feared pass-rushers in the NFL can learn a thing or two about their performance from a scientific standpoint. DeMarcus Ware (pictured above with NFL prospect Cameron Heyward) has made a living feasting on quarterbacks but that doesn’t mean he stops learning off the field. At the Super Bowl this year in Dallas, DeMarcus paired with Gatorade in order to work with their scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI). He was given the opportunity to learn about his specific sports’ nutrition routine, so that he can fuel maximum performance on the field. The Scores Report was fortunate enough to catch up with DeMarcus while he was at the GSSI, so he could fill us in on what the process was like and what he learned from his testing. We also asked him for his take on Wade Phillips, on what the Cowboys need to do to reach the Super Bowl next year and on the rising success of the 3-4 defense. Of course, we couldn’t let him go without getting his Super Bowl pick as well.

DeMarcus Ware: Hello?

The Scores Report: Hey DeMarcus! How are you, man?

DW: Good! How are you?

TSR: Doing well. So you’re in Dallas?

DW: Yes sir.

TSR: You having fun or what?

DW: Yeah, I’m having a great time at radio row.

TSR: Good stuff. Talk to me about Gatorade and what you’re doing with them for the Super Bowl.

DW: You know, everybody always thinks about sports drinks as something that just quenches your thirst. But they’ve taken it to the next level and they’ve gotten this lab to where it’s built for nutrition, fitness and really helping you with your performance. Gatorade has pre-drinks, post-drinks and you know, drinks in between workouts that helps you with peek performance.

TSR: I had the opportunity to speak with Maurice Jones-Drew last year about the Gatorade science lab and he loved his experience. Have you been able to jump on the treadmill or done anything like that yet?

External Sports, Interviews, NFL

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It’s official: Cowboys remove interim tag from Jason Garrett

January 6, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

ESPN.com is reporting that the Cowboys will officially hire Jason Garrett to be their next head coach.

Terms of the deal were not available, but Garrett had one year remaining on his contract as the assistant head coach that paid him $3.5 million annually.
Considered the favorite all along, Garrett is the eighth coach in franchise history and owner/general manager Jerry Jones did not feel the need for an exhaustive search. He interviewed wide receivers coach Ray Sherman to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which states a team must talk with at least one minority coach during the process.
Jones wanted to finalize the deal quickly because he didn’t want other teams with vacancies getting their hands on Garrett.

It’s a matter of opinion as to whether or not this was the right hire for the Cowboys. But there’s no doubt that this was the right hire for Jerry Jones. He handpicked Garrett himself when he made him offensive coordinator in 2007. Making Garrett the full-time head coach was Jones’ plan all along and now it’s come to fruition.

The fact that he went 5-3 with Jon Kitna as his quarterback proved that Garrett’s offense can succeed. But he and Jones better pick a decent defensive coordinator because the Cowboys took a major step backwards on that side of the ball this year.

It’ll also be interesting to see if this group of players will work hard for Garrett now that he’s the full-time guy. One would think they will, seeing as how they finished 5-3 under his guidance. But these were the same players who openly said how much they loved Wade Phillips only to mail it in when his job was on the line.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

External Sports, NFL

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Tag: Dallas Cowboys (Page 8 of 62)

2011 NFL Week 1 Odds

Ten Predictions for the 2011 NFL Season

Dez Bryant sued for unpaid debts

DeMarcus Ware chats with The Scores Report

It’s official: Cowboys remove interim tag from Jason Garrett

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