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NFL: Week 2 – a few thoughts

Dallas ~~is trying to lose~~ lost to the Seattle Seahawks. As good as Dallas looked last week, they were/are that bad this week. Seattle created turnovers and then wore down the Dallas defense. Tony Romo and the offense were pretty bad. The special teams for the Cowboys were very special. They gave up a fumble which led to a field, and then they allowed a blocked punt, leading to a touchdown… all in the opening quarter. I would like to tell you that the Cowboys hung tough and fought their way back into the game, but I would be lying. The defense played well for 2 1/2 quarters and then got man-handled. It got very ugly as Seattle and Marshawn Lynch were able to do anything they wanted in the second half. He only had 122 yards on the ground, but it seemed more like 175. For the Cowboys, nobody looked good on offense. Romo graced us with another ugly interception. Just when you thought that he has learned to take care of the ball, true ugliness showed its ugly head. A simple cover sink type of defense and Romo threw late back across his body for an ugly interception. The Seahawks crushed the Dallas offense. They were simply faster and stronger. There were no holes for DeMarco Murray. Tony Romo had very little time to find receivers. Between Jason Witten and Dez Bryant, they were targeted 17 times but only came up with seven receptions. It looked like Jason Witten was lost. Everyone thought that the Cowboys were going to walk away with a W. NOT. The NFL is a crazy place. Read on if you don’t believe me.

The NY Giants have the ability to look awful for three quarters and then put everything together in the fourth quarter. Josh Freeman is not getting it done for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers should have won this game by at least two touchdowns. Eli Manning throws for over 500 yards. Did I mention that the NFL is a crazy place?

Cam Newton played well. Got bounce back from last week. (more…)

By ecthompsonmd|2013-11-03T18:14:18-04:00September 16th, 2012|NFL|Comments Off

NFL week 14: Dallas Cowboys

Some things in the NFL are head scratchers. Other things are pretty clear. For the last two weeks, the Dallas Cowboys have lost in the closing minutes of the game because they were unable to perform a relatively long field goal. Many people who hate Tony Romo and are still longing for Troy Aikman will point to his performance once again as evidence that he cannot get it done “in the clutch.” Those haters will look at his 21-31 performance for 321 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions as nothing special. Instead, they will point to a third-down play late in the fourth quarter in which the New York Giants went to a zero coverage (all-out blitz). Miles Austin had a perfect release from the line of scrimmage. He was wide open. Tony Romo saw the coverage. He saw Miles Austin. Instead of throwing the lasers that he usually throws, Tony Romo put a little air under of the ball. Unfortunately, the ball was a yard or two too far. The Cowboys were leading at the time 34-29. There were two minutes twenty seconds to go in the ball game.

I will point to something different. I will point to the Dallas Cowboys’ abysmal secondary as the reason that they have lost to the Arizona Cardinals and to the New York Giants. The Dallas Cowboys’ secondary is average, at best. If the Dallas Cowboys can generate a ferocious pass rush, then the secondary is slightly better. Just like against the Arizona Cardinals (the pass rush generated five sacks in the first half, but none in the second half,) the Dallas Cowboys pass rush looked good for two or three quarters. They were nonexistent in the fourth quarter. This exposed a mediocre secondary to the skills of Eli Manning and his receivers. They carved up the Dallas defense in play after play. Mike Jenkins has been hurt all year. To be honest, he hasn’t played well in two years. I don’t know if it’s because of his health or what. Terence Newman is a shadow of his former self. Four or five years ago, he had a swagger to him. He can get into the hip pocket of a receiver and stay there. He could lay out and bat away potential completions. Now that’s nothing but a distant memory. The Dallas Cowboys are 24th in the NFL in passing defense. Anytime you score 34 points in a game, you should win. The Dallas Cowboys shouldn’t go to the playoffs until they figure out how to tighten this up.

By ecthompsonmd|2011-12-12T16:53:06-04:00December 12th, 2011|NFL|Comments Off

The NFL — Thanksgiving Day edition

I’ve been up all night, so I’m not to be able to watch all the games today. Briefly, here are my thoughts on today’s games —

The Green Bay Packers versus the Detroit Lions. In spite of Detroit’s miraculous win last week, they’re still an awful team. The Green Bay Packers have their problems, but it’s mostly on defense. Aaron Rodgers will have a good day as the Packers run away from (I guess would be more correctly to say “throw the ball down the throats of”) the Detroit Lions. It is possible for Detroit to win but Green Bay would have to completely self-destruct. Look for Green Bay to win by more than two touchdowns.

The Dallas Cowboys versus the Oakland Raiders. The Oakland Raiders have a stiff defense. Strong defenses have absolutely crushed the high-powered Dallas Cowboys offense. Tony Romo has not been very accurate over the last two weeks. I don’t know whether he’s afraid of throwing an interception or if he’s having withdrawal symptoms from being dumped by Jessica Simpson or what. All I know is he’s not playing that well. The NFL, these days, is driven by quarterbacks. The better your quarterback, the better your team does. The worse your quarterback is — welcome to the cellar. The Raiders have excellent cornerbacks who will pressure Miles Austin, who has disappeared over the last two weeks, and Roy Williams, who continues to be extremely mediocre. In order for the Cowboys to win, they’re going to have to run the ball and throw the ball to the running backs. I’m not sure how much Jason Witten is going to play. He’s been nursing a sore ankle. The Dallas defense is going to have to force some turnovers. In order for the Cowboys to win this game, they’re going to have to get out to an early lead. They need to give the Raiders a reason to give up. If this game is close in the third quarter, look for another extremely close game. I think the Dallas Cowboys will win this game, but it will be from an incredible rushing performance from the running backs. I sure hope Felix Jones is up to the task.

The New York Giants versus the Denver Broncos. This is probably the best game of the day. Both teams are in an almost must-win situation. The Denver Broncos started off so hot. Unfortunately for them, that was more than three weeks ago. They have now lost three in a row. They’ve looked awful and are going to be losing a couple of these games. The New York Giants, on the other hand, lost their mojo, but seem to have tried to right the ship last week with an extremely important when over the Atlanta Falcons. I just don’t know if Denver’s defense can hold up. In order for Denver to win, they have to put pressure on Eli Manning early in the game. Denver must stop the run if they’re going to have any chance of winning this game. Look for Brandon Jacobs to have a big day. I think the New York Giants are going to win this game in Denver. No matter who wins, this should be an excellent game.

By ecthompsonmd|2009-11-26T08:13:05-04:00November 26th, 2009|Sports|Comments Off