theogt
Surrealist
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The Cowboys Know How to Run the Two-Minute Offense
Posted Oct 9th 2007 4:14PM by Ryan Wilson
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, AFC East, NFC East
As FanHouse's Michael David Smith wrote this morning, the Cowboys-Bills get-together was the best game in '07, but if Buffalo head coach Dick Jauron had just run the ball midway through a fourth-quarter drive deep in Cowboys' territory, Rian Lindell could've had a straightforward field-goal attempt, and rookie Trent Edwards wouldn't have had an opportunity to throw a pass right to Dallas cornerback Terence Newman.
It's also worth pointing out that with the clock winding down, on the next-to-last play from scrimmage (before the Nick Folk field-goal attempts), the Bills' defense backs were playing off the Cowboys receivers. That's not such a big deal during most any other point in the game, but Dallas a) didn't have any timeouts, and b) were trying to get into field-goal range.
Even if Tony Romo completed a 30-yard pass in the middle of the field, there wouldn't have been enough time to spike the ball and stop the clock. As you can see from the YouTubes, Romo completed a short pass near the sidelines, Nick Freakin' Folk came in and striped two 53-yarders, and Wade Phillips fist-pumped his way back to Dallas (you think Martin Gramatica would've converted?). Shoulda coulda woulda.
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Bills Quarterback Job Far From Settled
Posted Oct 9th 2007 2:48PM by Ryan Wilson
Filed under: Bills, AFC East
Following last week's win against the Jets -- Buffalo's first of the season -- I wrote that the Bills may have found their quarterback of the future. Rookie Trent Edwards, replacing an injured -- and often ineffective -- J.P. Losman finished his debut 22 of 28 for 234 yards and a touchdown.
During last night's Monday Night telecast, Tony Kornheiser mentioned that most of the Buffalo media had piled onto the Edwards bandwagon, leaving Losman for dead. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Canton: the Bills' offense stayed in the locker room during last night's demoralizing loss to the Cowboys.
A few days ago, I pointed out that not everybody thought Losman should be relegated to Rex Grossman status. Buffalo Rumblings, a Bills' blog, made a pretty good case for why Losman should get the rest of the season to prove if he's the club's long-term answer at quarterback.
Admittedly, Losman's had an up and down four-year career, but he's also battled injuries and played on some pretty awful teams. Edwards, on the other hand, looked impressive last week against a sorry Jets team, but facing the Cowboys was another matter entirely.
It's still not clear when Losman will be healthy, but I think we'll hear less of the "Edwards Is Our Starter!" talk ... until he has another solid outing, or Losman pulls a Grossman when he returns.
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Bills Offense Is Nonexistent in Loss
Posted Oct 9th 2007 2:34PM by Ryan Wilson
Filed under: Bills, AFC East
It's too bad NFL games aren't 59 minutes. The Buffalo Bills would now be 2-3, and have been responsible for the biggest upset of the 2007 season. Instead, some dude named Nick Folk twice striped 53-yarders to give the Cowboys the last-second victory.
Rookie quarterback Trent Edwards was making his second NFL start -- he won last week against the Jets -- but the Bills offense was basically nonexistent against the Cowboys last night. (Unless the official stats now consider picks-for-six, and kickoff-returns-for-touchdowns as a subset of "offense.")
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Cowboys Came Back, But Bills Blundered
Posted Oct 9th 2007 8:25AM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
The Cowboys' comeback win over the Bills on Monday night was one of the best games of this young NFL season, and the Cowboys deserve a lot of credit for pulling it off.
Bills coach Dick Jauron also deserves a lot of credit for having his team ready to play. The Bills didn't just roll over for the heavily favored Cowboys; they put up a fierce fight.
But: Jauron and the Bills' coaching staff made a huge blunder late in the game, and without that blunder, the Cowboys couldn't have won. The Bills had a 24-16 lead and the ball with first-and-10 at the Cowboys' 13-yard line with 7:09 remaining. If they had simply run Marshawn Lynch into the line three times, even if Lynch hadn't gained any ground at all, they could have kicked an easy field goal and made it a two-possession game with about five minutes to play.
Instead, Juaron called on Trent Edwards to pass. He threw one clock-stopping incompletion, and then he threw a horrible interception, which Terrence Newman returned 70 yards. Tony Romo bailed Edwards out, sort of, with an interception of his own. But the Bills still threw away a golden opportunity to get an easy field goal in a game they would ultimately lose by a single point.
On the scale of Buffalo coaching blunders, Jauron's wasn't up there with Wade Phillips benching Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson, but it was pretty bad.
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Cowboys 25, Bills 24: Nick Folk Bails Out Tony Romo and Terrell Owens
Posted Oct 8th 2007 11:44PM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
The Dallas Cowboys won a thrilling 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, with Cowboys kicker Nick Folk hitting a 53-yard field goal as time expired to overcome terrible games by Tony Romo and Terrell Owens.
Folk actually nailed two 53-yard field goals, but the first was waved off because the Bills had called a timeout just before the snap.
Romo threw five interceptions and lost a fumble. Owens had some key drops, and he failed to come up with two crucial passes with just seconds remaining: The first was Romo's pass on a two-point conversion attempt after the Cowboys scored to make it 24-22, and the second was a pass from Romo that was originally ruled complete but overturned by replay after the Cowboys recovered an onside kick to get one last chance.
Still, the Cowboys managed an absolutely sensational comeback in a game that looked like it had been quite literally thrown away. Up next: Cowboys-Patriots in perhaps the biggest regular season game of the year.
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Cowboys-Bills: Tony Romo Implodes on MNF
Posted Oct 8th 2007 9:49PM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
Something extraordinary is happening on Monday Night Football. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who is supposed to be one of the league's next big stars, is imploding before our eyes.
The first half isn't even over yet, and Romo has already thrown four interceptions. Romo is the first NFL quarterback to throw four interceptions in the first half since Kyle Orton with the Bears in 2005. He's also the first quarterback to throw interceptions on his first two passes of the game since Tommy Maddox with the Broncos 15 years ago.
Romo's first pass was returned 25 yards for a touchdown by Bills defensive back George Wilson. His second was intended for tight end Jason Witten, and linebacker Angelo Crowell jumped in front of it for a sweet diving pick. He later had a pass batted into the air by defensive end Chris Kelsay, who caught it on the fly in the end zone, and he threw a bad pass that was picked by Bills defensive back Jabari Greer.
Meanwhile, Bills rookie quarterback Trent Edwards is looking solid, and the Bills lead 17-7.
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Bills Not Rolling Over for Cowboys, Brian Moorman Runs for First Down on Fake Punt
Posted Oct 8th 2007 8:45PM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
Everyone knows tonight's Monday Night Football game is supposed to be a blowout: The Cowboys are one of the best teams in the league; the Bills are one of the worst.
So that's why I love what the Bills did on their first offensive possession: After coming up short on a third down, they called a fake punt, and punter Brian Moorman -- who's got serious speed, by the way -- tucked the ball under his arm and ran for a first down.
Moorman, you may recall, ran a fake punt in the Pro Bowl eight months ago, a fake punt that ended with Commanders safety Sean Taylor absolutely destroying him. But he wasn't afraid to put his shoulder down at the end of this run.
It's a small point, and one that maybe doesn't make much of a difference, given that the Bills proceeded to go three-and-out after Moorman's run. But hey, the Bills came to play tonight. And the subsequent punt turned out pretty well: Moorman landed it inside the 2-yard line.
And then things got even better for the Bills: Feeling pressure in his own end zone, Tony Romo launched an ill-conceived pass, and Bills defensive back George Wilson picked it off and returned it for a touchdown. Six minutes into the game, it's 7-0 Bills.
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, AFC East, NFC East
As FanHouse's Michael David Smith wrote this morning, the Cowboys-Bills get-together was the best game in '07, but if Buffalo head coach Dick Jauron had just run the ball midway through a fourth-quarter drive deep in Cowboys' territory, Rian Lindell could've had a straightforward field-goal attempt, and rookie Trent Edwards wouldn't have had an opportunity to throw a pass right to Dallas cornerback Terence Newman.
It's also worth pointing out that with the clock winding down, on the next-to-last play from scrimmage (before the Nick Folk field-goal attempts), the Bills' defense backs were playing off the Cowboys receivers. That's not such a big deal during most any other point in the game, but Dallas a) didn't have any timeouts, and b) were trying to get into field-goal range.
Even if Tony Romo completed a 30-yard pass in the middle of the field, there wouldn't have been enough time to spike the ball and stop the clock. As you can see from the YouTubes, Romo completed a short pass near the sidelines, Nick Freakin' Folk came in and striped two 53-yarders, and Wade Phillips fist-pumped his way back to Dallas (you think Martin Gramatica would've converted?). Shoulda coulda woulda.
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Bills Quarterback Job Far From Settled
Filed under: Bills, AFC East
Following last week's win against the Jets -- Buffalo's first of the season -- I wrote that the Bills may have found their quarterback of the future. Rookie Trent Edwards, replacing an injured -- and often ineffective -- J.P. Losman finished his debut 22 of 28 for 234 yards and a touchdown.
During last night's Monday Night telecast, Tony Kornheiser mentioned that most of the Buffalo media had piled onto the Edwards bandwagon, leaving Losman for dead. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Canton: the Bills' offense stayed in the locker room during last night's demoralizing loss to the Cowboys.
A few days ago, I pointed out that not everybody thought Losman should be relegated to Rex Grossman status. Buffalo Rumblings, a Bills' blog, made a pretty good case for why Losman should get the rest of the season to prove if he's the club's long-term answer at quarterback.
Admittedly, Losman's had an up and down four-year career, but he's also battled injuries and played on some pretty awful teams. Edwards, on the other hand, looked impressive last week against a sorry Jets team, but facing the Cowboys was another matter entirely.
It's still not clear when Losman will be healthy, but I think we'll hear less of the "Edwards Is Our Starter!" talk ... until he has another solid outing, or Losman pulls a Grossman when he returns.
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Bills Offense Is Nonexistent in Loss
Filed under: Bills, AFC East
It's too bad NFL games aren't 59 minutes. The Buffalo Bills would now be 2-3, and have been responsible for the biggest upset of the 2007 season. Instead, some dude named Nick Folk twice striped 53-yarders to give the Cowboys the last-second victory.
Rookie quarterback Trent Edwards was making his second NFL start -- he won last week against the Jets -- but the Bills offense was basically nonexistent against the Cowboys last night. (Unless the official stats now consider picks-for-six, and kickoff-returns-for-touchdowns as a subset of "offense.")
Lost in the shuffle was the fact that the Bills failed to score an offensive TD. They finished with 229 yards and were only 3 of 13 on third down. "They are a very talented football team," Jauron said of the Dallas defense. "They have a lot of No. 1 [draft picks] over there playing football."
Buffalo wideout Lee Evans (also a first-round draft pick, by the way) was a little more succinct: "It was just offensively embarrassing, period." And offensively offensive (sorry). During the post-game, ESPN's Emmitt Smith mentioned something about how the Bills might not recover from this loss for the rest of the season, which seems like an odd thing to say since they entered the game with half the roster on the IR, and a 1-3 record. But hey, who am I to question Emmitt. He clearly knows what he's talking about.---------------------------
Cowboys Came Back, But Bills Blundered
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
The Cowboys' comeback win over the Bills on Monday night was one of the best games of this young NFL season, and the Cowboys deserve a lot of credit for pulling it off.
Bills coach Dick Jauron also deserves a lot of credit for having his team ready to play. The Bills didn't just roll over for the heavily favored Cowboys; they put up a fierce fight.
But: Jauron and the Bills' coaching staff made a huge blunder late in the game, and without that blunder, the Cowboys couldn't have won. The Bills had a 24-16 lead and the ball with first-and-10 at the Cowboys' 13-yard line with 7:09 remaining. If they had simply run Marshawn Lynch into the line three times, even if Lynch hadn't gained any ground at all, they could have kicked an easy field goal and made it a two-possession game with about five minutes to play.
Instead, Juaron called on Trent Edwards to pass. He threw one clock-stopping incompletion, and then he threw a horrible interception, which Terrence Newman returned 70 yards. Tony Romo bailed Edwards out, sort of, with an interception of his own. But the Bills still threw away a golden opportunity to get an easy field goal in a game they would ultimately lose by a single point.
On the scale of Buffalo coaching blunders, Jauron's wasn't up there with Wade Phillips benching Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson, but it was pretty bad.
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Cowboys 25, Bills 24: Nick Folk Bails Out Tony Romo and Terrell Owens
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
The Dallas Cowboys won a thrilling 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football, with Cowboys kicker Nick Folk hitting a 53-yard field goal as time expired to overcome terrible games by Tony Romo and Terrell Owens.
Folk actually nailed two 53-yard field goals, but the first was waved off because the Bills had called a timeout just before the snap.
Romo threw five interceptions and lost a fumble. Owens had some key drops, and he failed to come up with two crucial passes with just seconds remaining: The first was Romo's pass on a two-point conversion attempt after the Cowboys scored to make it 24-22, and the second was a pass from Romo that was originally ruled complete but overturned by replay after the Cowboys recovered an onside kick to get one last chance.
Still, the Cowboys managed an absolutely sensational comeback in a game that looked like it had been quite literally thrown away. Up next: Cowboys-Patriots in perhaps the biggest regular season game of the year.
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Cowboys-Bills: Tony Romo Implodes on MNF
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
Something extraordinary is happening on Monday Night Football. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who is supposed to be one of the league's next big stars, is imploding before our eyes.
The first half isn't even over yet, and Romo has already thrown four interceptions. Romo is the first NFL quarterback to throw four interceptions in the first half since Kyle Orton with the Bears in 2005. He's also the first quarterback to throw interceptions on his first two passes of the game since Tommy Maddox with the Broncos 15 years ago.
Romo's first pass was returned 25 yards for a touchdown by Bills defensive back George Wilson. His second was intended for tight end Jason Witten, and linebacker Angelo Crowell jumped in front of it for a sweet diving pick. He later had a pass batted into the air by defensive end Chris Kelsay, who caught it on the fly in the end zone, and he threw a bad pass that was picked by Bills defensive back Jabari Greer.
Meanwhile, Bills rookie quarterback Trent Edwards is looking solid, and the Bills lead 17-7.
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Bills Not Rolling Over for Cowboys, Brian Moorman Runs for First Down on Fake Punt
Filed under: Bills, Cowboys, Dallas, Buffalo
Everyone knows tonight's Monday Night Football game is supposed to be a blowout: The Cowboys are one of the best teams in the league; the Bills are one of the worst.
So that's why I love what the Bills did on their first offensive possession: After coming up short on a third down, they called a fake punt, and punter Brian Moorman -- who's got serious speed, by the way -- tucked the ball under his arm and ran for a first down.
Moorman, you may recall, ran a fake punt in the Pro Bowl eight months ago, a fake punt that ended with Commanders safety Sean Taylor absolutely destroying him. But he wasn't afraid to put his shoulder down at the end of this run.
It's a small point, and one that maybe doesn't make much of a difference, given that the Bills proceeded to go three-and-out after Moorman's run. But hey, the Bills came to play tonight. And the subsequent punt turned out pretty well: Moorman landed it inside the 2-yard line.
And then things got even better for the Bills: Feeling pressure in his own end zone, Tony Romo launched an ill-conceived pass, and Bills defensive back George Wilson picked it off and returned it for a touchdown. Six minutes into the game, it's 7-0 Bills.
