Doomsday101
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Howie Long / FOXSports.com
That was a great win for the Cowboys. Tony Romo won his first home game, and he does seem to have whatever "it" is. He could have gone into the tank earlier in this game when nothing was going right for him, but he didn't. He hung in there and played a huge role in knocking off the Indianapolis Colts.
We've talked all year about how Bill Parcells has built this team. He's changed the defensive front. He's brought in fast and very quick defensive linemen. Peyton Manning and the Colts have had trouble in the past with 3-4 defenses employed by New England and Pittsburgh, and that's what the Cowboys played.
The Cowboys were giving up big plays on defense all season, but not in this game. They have such physical safeties. I mean, Roy Williams plays and hits like a linebacker. He brings quite a bit to this team.
But getting back to what Parcells has built here, he has stabilized the offensive line and Julius Jones and Marion Barber are very good young backs. I played with Barber's father in the Blue-Gray All-Star game coming out of college, and all I can say about the kid is that he's as tough as his father was. He's the kind of back that Parcells loves. He may lack the explosion and breakaway ability of Jones, but he can hit a hole and run you over or move a defender off the ball.
It was important getting receiver Terry Glenn back for Dallas and having everyone on the same page offensively. I have to admit that the Cowboys under-performed in the first month or so of the season. They had some bad breaks, and I'm still trying to figure out how they lost that Washington game a couple Sundays ago.
Romo has given this team a spark. Now, I don't know whether it was the quarterback situation before or the T.O. distraction that contributed to the problems that hurt the Cowboys and had them at 3-3. But the bottom line is whether Parcells leaves after this season or the following season, he has left this franchise with a future. Most of the pieces are in place for the Cowboys to be successful.
I have to think that Dallas now has a real shot at winning the NFC East given the injury problems facing the New York Giants. The Giants are in a must-win game tonight against Jacksonville. It's huge for them to keep pace with this Dallas win. But, first, the Giants have to make some major adjustments on the offensive line with Luke Petitgout out for the season. They may have to move David Diehl out to tackle and plug in Rich Seubert at guard.
Dallas is a very good team and they could win this by attrition with Donovan McNabb going down in Philadelphia, and with the Giants really hurting along the defensive line, especially at end.
We all liked Philadelphia and figured they would make a playoff run, but that's going to awfully tough without McNabb. This is a devastating loss for that football team and fans there are going to find out how truly valuable he was now that he's gone for the season. I mean, he's one of the league's very best players. It's just going to be totally different with Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley as their quarterback.
NFC South a toss-up
Back in the preseason, I liked the Cowboys and the Panthers. Well, it looks like those teams are back in the spotlight and Carolina has stepped back into a first-place tie with New Orleans. I know that Jake Delhomme has been spotty, but the Panthers got rookie DeAngelo Williams back and he'll help DeShaun Foster in the running game. You have to understand that Carolina has had a lot of offensive line injuries.
I've always liked how Carolina coach John Fox lines up his defense, and they had seven sacks of the Rams' Marc Bulger. It's tough when the Rams lose Orlando Pace. Bulger really didn't have much of a chance half the time in this game.
For the second week in a row, New Orleans had more than 500 yards of offense and lost. Drew Brees and Sean Payton have done a heckuva job with that offense, but the schedule is starting to come into play for them. It's going to be difficult for them to be successful, but it's hard to count them out because they have played so well all season.
Atlanta has now lost three straight to fall to 5-5 and I want to say I don't agree with all this "fire Jim Mora" talk we had on the pre-game show Sunday. Atlanta has had too many injuries on defense and they've also lost both offensive guards, and the new guys are young and seem to be better pass blockers than run blockers. I don't really like the Falcons when they get behind in a game.
Atlanta's defense was built for speed and without John Abraham and Patrick Kerney rushing on the ends, they can't do a lot of things they wanted to do when they put this team together. I don't want to make excuses for Mora, but he's had more than his share of injuries and Michael Vick can't seem to win a game all by himself.
I think we all thought Vick had turned the corner on his passing career a few weeks back. But I think he has to learn that he can't simply run around, scrambling all the time, without protecting the football. I realize he gives so much effort to make plays, but he's also got to be smart about it.
The way things are going, I'm thinking the Panthers have a great chance of coming out on top, just like I thought in August.
Seattle defense disappoints
I didn't see this happening to that Seattle team, the way Frank Gore ran all over them. I didn't think the Seahawks would have any trouble with the 49ers. I thought they were holding the fort down pretty good without Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander and everything would be all right.
But this was a big setback for Seattle. There's no excuse for that defense to be gouged for 212 yards rushing by Gore. I thought with all their acquisitions on defense and what they had returning that Seattle would win this game and hide atop the NFC West.
Now, San Francisco is only a game back and who knows what will happen
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6189748
That was a great win for the Cowboys. Tony Romo won his first home game, and he does seem to have whatever "it" is. He could have gone into the tank earlier in this game when nothing was going right for him, but he didn't. He hung in there and played a huge role in knocking off the Indianapolis Colts.
We've talked all year about how Bill Parcells has built this team. He's changed the defensive front. He's brought in fast and very quick defensive linemen. Peyton Manning and the Colts have had trouble in the past with 3-4 defenses employed by New England and Pittsburgh, and that's what the Cowboys played.
The Cowboys were giving up big plays on defense all season, but not in this game. They have such physical safeties. I mean, Roy Williams plays and hits like a linebacker. He brings quite a bit to this team.
But getting back to what Parcells has built here, he has stabilized the offensive line and Julius Jones and Marion Barber are very good young backs. I played with Barber's father in the Blue-Gray All-Star game coming out of college, and all I can say about the kid is that he's as tough as his father was. He's the kind of back that Parcells loves. He may lack the explosion and breakaway ability of Jones, but he can hit a hole and run you over or move a defender off the ball.
It was important getting receiver Terry Glenn back for Dallas and having everyone on the same page offensively. I have to admit that the Cowboys under-performed in the first month or so of the season. They had some bad breaks, and I'm still trying to figure out how they lost that Washington game a couple Sundays ago.
Romo has given this team a spark. Now, I don't know whether it was the quarterback situation before or the T.O. distraction that contributed to the problems that hurt the Cowboys and had them at 3-3. But the bottom line is whether Parcells leaves after this season or the following season, he has left this franchise with a future. Most of the pieces are in place for the Cowboys to be successful.
I have to think that Dallas now has a real shot at winning the NFC East given the injury problems facing the New York Giants. The Giants are in a must-win game tonight against Jacksonville. It's huge for them to keep pace with this Dallas win. But, first, the Giants have to make some major adjustments on the offensive line with Luke Petitgout out for the season. They may have to move David Diehl out to tackle and plug in Rich Seubert at guard.
Dallas is a very good team and they could win this by attrition with Donovan McNabb going down in Philadelphia, and with the Giants really hurting along the defensive line, especially at end.
We all liked Philadelphia and figured they would make a playoff run, but that's going to awfully tough without McNabb. This is a devastating loss for that football team and fans there are going to find out how truly valuable he was now that he's gone for the season. I mean, he's one of the league's very best players. It's just going to be totally different with Jeff Garcia or A.J. Feeley as their quarterback.
NFC South a toss-up
Back in the preseason, I liked the Cowboys and the Panthers. Well, it looks like those teams are back in the spotlight and Carolina has stepped back into a first-place tie with New Orleans. I know that Jake Delhomme has been spotty, but the Panthers got rookie DeAngelo Williams back and he'll help DeShaun Foster in the running game. You have to understand that Carolina has had a lot of offensive line injuries.
I've always liked how Carolina coach John Fox lines up his defense, and they had seven sacks of the Rams' Marc Bulger. It's tough when the Rams lose Orlando Pace. Bulger really didn't have much of a chance half the time in this game.
For the second week in a row, New Orleans had more than 500 yards of offense and lost. Drew Brees and Sean Payton have done a heckuva job with that offense, but the schedule is starting to come into play for them. It's going to be difficult for them to be successful, but it's hard to count them out because they have played so well all season.
Atlanta has now lost three straight to fall to 5-5 and I want to say I don't agree with all this "fire Jim Mora" talk we had on the pre-game show Sunday. Atlanta has had too many injuries on defense and they've also lost both offensive guards, and the new guys are young and seem to be better pass blockers than run blockers. I don't really like the Falcons when they get behind in a game.
Atlanta's defense was built for speed and without John Abraham and Patrick Kerney rushing on the ends, they can't do a lot of things they wanted to do when they put this team together. I don't want to make excuses for Mora, but he's had more than his share of injuries and Michael Vick can't seem to win a game all by himself.
I think we all thought Vick had turned the corner on his passing career a few weeks back. But I think he has to learn that he can't simply run around, scrambling all the time, without protecting the football. I realize he gives so much effort to make plays, but he's also got to be smart about it.
The way things are going, I'm thinking the Panthers have a great chance of coming out on top, just like I thought in August.
Seattle defense disappoints
I didn't see this happening to that Seattle team, the way Frank Gore ran all over them. I didn't think the Seahawks would have any trouble with the 49ers. I thought they were holding the fort down pretty good without Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander and everything would be all right.
But this was a big setback for Seattle. There's no excuse for that defense to be gouged for 212 yards rushing by Gore. I thought with all their acquisitions on defense and what they had returning that Seattle would win this game and hide atop the NFC West.
Now, San Francisco is only a game back and who knows what will happen
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6189748