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THIS WEEK'S FOX NFL SUNDAY PANEL
Czar: "The Giants visit the Cowboys. They sure didn't look like the Giants last Sunday. What team shows up in Texas Stadium?"?
The defense has been better with Wade Phillips in charge, but the offense needs Marion Barber back. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
MS: "I think the guys were a little tired of the Plaxico stuff, but I am also sure that Coach Coughlin is preaching to them to get it going and that this is the game in which they put Dallas out of the playoffs. There is a lot at stake. Coughlin always is preaching about building some momentum for the playoffs. Plus, he's going to be preaching about getting the home-field advantage."
HL: "I think mentally they were gone and it was reflected by the Eli passes that they missed."
MS: "Even if Domenik Hixon makes that catch, I don't know if the outcome would have been different. I do think that losing to the Eagles will get them back to being focused."
HL: "They are a different team, too, when they don't have Brandon Jacobs. They got into more long-yardage situations with him out of the game."
TB: "I keep reading that Jacobs may not play in this game, either."
JJ: "I think Dallas is a desperate team. Now that Wade is calling the defenses that unit is playing a lot better. Dallas needs this game more than the Giants, even with Carolina coming on and home-field advantage being so important in the playoffs. I also think that Marion Barber will be back in the offense, hurt toe or not. I think Jerry simply made a mistake on Barber. Sometimes he talks just because he likes to talk."
MS: "I was surprised that he criticized his toughest player in Barber. Like Marv Levy used to say, it's easier to be tough when it's someone else's body."
JJ: "When Barber didn't play, he was surprised. I know Jerry knows Barber is a tough player."
Czar: "We have a big game in Arizona between the Vikings and Cardinals. And Tarvaris Jackson is back at quarterback for the Vikings. What does that mean for the Vikings?"
Jimmy Johnson: "It means they struggled with him earlier in the year. Arizona plays very well at home and the Cards should be able to put some points on the board, but I'm not sure the Vikings can match them."
Curt Menefee: "There was a ruling on Thursday about the StarCaps' suspensions, which will allow both Pat and Kevin Williams to play for at least the next two weeks. The Saints' players were in the game Thursday night in Chicago."
Czar: "Where do you think their heads would be if they found out they were going to be suspended for the rest of the season?"
CM: "I would think they would play harder."
JJ: "They are professionals!"
Michael Strahan: "I think Jackson starting changes this game a lot. I mean, as a team you are rolling with Gus Frerotte. I know Jackson came in and helped win the game last week, but going into this game the players can't help but think this was the guy who was messing up earlier. For Minnesota, this is crunch time and it's do-or-die. I would think they would run Adrian Peterson and control the clock. They don't want Arizona out there throwing the ball around all day."
Terry Bradshaw: "And my Cardinals can throw the ball around. It's amazing. Kurt Warner is already at 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns. They have a chance to have three receivers with 1,000 yards, too. Pretty cool."
MS: "But I am worried about how Arizona is going to play. They've already clinched a playoff spot and taken a victory tour around the stadium. You just don't know if they are going to be focused or just consider games from here on out as just gravy. I don't know if they have that killer instinct. They celebrated last week like they won a Super Bowl."
Czar: "It was kind of funny that Ken Whisenhunt told his players to act like they have been here before. I think Adrian Wilson told him, 'Hey, coach, I haven't been here before.'"
Howie Long: "That's kind of funny, but Wilson is the last player that Whisenhunt has to worry about."
CM: "Frerotte may be out for more than a couple of weeks now."
MS: "If that team knows Frerotte is gone, then they know they aren't going to the Super Bowl with Jackson. They know he's not ready for that."
TB: "He did play well last week. But I agree with Michael that he's probably a year away from leading this team to the playoffs."
Czar: "I was pretty surprised that Carolina rushed for 301 yards against Tampa Bay the other night."
CM: "Warren Sapp wasn't. He said that if a team decides it wants to run on them, they can do that. You can run on them."
MS: "Obviously, they can be run on. They just gave up 301 yards. Tell me something I don't know."
HL: "Right."
Czar: "Are the Bucs in danger of missing the playoffs?"
MS: "I think the Bucs are a better team, obviously, than the one we beat in the playoffs last season. We always knew they had a tough defense. But last week, I must admit, that performance surprised me. I don't care how bad you are, you are not supposed to give up that many yards. If anything, that was a shot of reality for them. Confidence-wise I don't know how where they are right now because this is a team that has always counted on its defense."
HL: "That's the worst kind of beating to take; when a team runs on you like that. That puts everything they have accomplished up to this point into question. And it probably isn't going to help if Monte Kiffin is leaving to coach with his son, Lane, at Tennessee."
JJ: "I didn't know that was definite."
Czar: "I heard Lane would not have gotten the job without Monte."
JJ: "Well, then that's good for Tennessee. He will do a great job up there."
MS: "I think it's tough on a defense when they know their coordinator is leaving."
HL: "That defense has been built always to attack. But what it doesn't have is a big, dominant defensive tackle in the middle. Their guy is Chris Hovan and he's really undersized. Carolina's offensive line was very good. The kid (Jeff Otah) they drafted from Pitt is a classic road-grader at right tackle."
MS: "The two Carolina backs were magnificent, too. They were running people over. They were keeping their balance, stiff-arming people, breaking more tackles. They earned a lot of those yards on their own, too."
HL: "I love when teams say afterwards like 'We had some technique issues.'"
MS: "Instead of saying they got mauled out there. But I don't think Atlanta has the same offensive line that Carolina does."
HL: "Michael Turner earns a lot more of his yards. He already has 300 carries. A lot of his yards are physical yards. He's not a shifty back."
CM: "Howie, you mentioned before that the only bad game Matt Ryan had before was against Tampa Bay. So, is this a measuring stick for him?"
HL: "I don't think there's any doubt about it. He takes everything as a personal challenge and that's why he's good. His clock was rushed a lot in that game by the Bucs. That was the first time he had played against a Cover Two defense and I remember him making some nice adjustments the next time he played a similar defense. And who knows where Tampa Bay is going to be? But I'm sure they are going to be angry."
TB: "He's one of the most impressive young quarterbacks I have ever seen. He's gotten better and better as the season as gone on."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8928690/FOX-NFL-Sunday-Roundtable:-Purple-reign?
Czar: "The Giants visit the Cowboys. They sure didn't look like the Giants last Sunday. What team shows up in Texas Stadium?"?
The defense has been better with Wade Phillips in charge, but the offense needs Marion Barber back. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
MS: "I think the guys were a little tired of the Plaxico stuff, but I am also sure that Coach Coughlin is preaching to them to get it going and that this is the game in which they put Dallas out of the playoffs. There is a lot at stake. Coughlin always is preaching about building some momentum for the playoffs. Plus, he's going to be preaching about getting the home-field advantage."
HL: "I think mentally they were gone and it was reflected by the Eli passes that they missed."
MS: "Even if Domenik Hixon makes that catch, I don't know if the outcome would have been different. I do think that losing to the Eagles will get them back to being focused."
HL: "They are a different team, too, when they don't have Brandon Jacobs. They got into more long-yardage situations with him out of the game."
TB: "I keep reading that Jacobs may not play in this game, either."
JJ: "I think Dallas is a desperate team. Now that Wade is calling the defenses that unit is playing a lot better. Dallas needs this game more than the Giants, even with Carolina coming on and home-field advantage being so important in the playoffs. I also think that Marion Barber will be back in the offense, hurt toe or not. I think Jerry simply made a mistake on Barber. Sometimes he talks just because he likes to talk."
MS: "I was surprised that he criticized his toughest player in Barber. Like Marv Levy used to say, it's easier to be tough when it's someone else's body."
JJ: "When Barber didn't play, he was surprised. I know Jerry knows Barber is a tough player."
Czar: "We have a big game in Arizona between the Vikings and Cardinals. And Tarvaris Jackson is back at quarterback for the Vikings. What does that mean for the Vikings?"
Jimmy Johnson: "It means they struggled with him earlier in the year. Arizona plays very well at home and the Cards should be able to put some points on the board, but I'm not sure the Vikings can match them."
Curt Menefee: "There was a ruling on Thursday about the StarCaps' suspensions, which will allow both Pat and Kevin Williams to play for at least the next two weeks. The Saints' players were in the game Thursday night in Chicago."
Czar: "Where do you think their heads would be if they found out they were going to be suspended for the rest of the season?"
CM: "I would think they would play harder."
JJ: "They are professionals!"
Michael Strahan: "I think Jackson starting changes this game a lot. I mean, as a team you are rolling with Gus Frerotte. I know Jackson came in and helped win the game last week, but going into this game the players can't help but think this was the guy who was messing up earlier. For Minnesota, this is crunch time and it's do-or-die. I would think they would run Adrian Peterson and control the clock. They don't want Arizona out there throwing the ball around all day."
Terry Bradshaw: "And my Cardinals can throw the ball around. It's amazing. Kurt Warner is already at 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns. They have a chance to have three receivers with 1,000 yards, too. Pretty cool."
MS: "But I am worried about how Arizona is going to play. They've already clinched a playoff spot and taken a victory tour around the stadium. You just don't know if they are going to be focused or just consider games from here on out as just gravy. I don't know if they have that killer instinct. They celebrated last week like they won a Super Bowl."
Czar: "It was kind of funny that Ken Whisenhunt told his players to act like they have been here before. I think Adrian Wilson told him, 'Hey, coach, I haven't been here before.'"
Howie Long: "That's kind of funny, but Wilson is the last player that Whisenhunt has to worry about."
CM: "Frerotte may be out for more than a couple of weeks now."
MS: "If that team knows Frerotte is gone, then they know they aren't going to the Super Bowl with Jackson. They know he's not ready for that."
TB: "He did play well last week. But I agree with Michael that he's probably a year away from leading this team to the playoffs."
Czar: "I was pretty surprised that Carolina rushed for 301 yards against Tampa Bay the other night."
CM: "Warren Sapp wasn't. He said that if a team decides it wants to run on them, they can do that. You can run on them."
MS: "Obviously, they can be run on. They just gave up 301 yards. Tell me something I don't know."
HL: "Right."
Czar: "Are the Bucs in danger of missing the playoffs?"
MS: "I think the Bucs are a better team, obviously, than the one we beat in the playoffs last season. We always knew they had a tough defense. But last week, I must admit, that performance surprised me. I don't care how bad you are, you are not supposed to give up that many yards. If anything, that was a shot of reality for them. Confidence-wise I don't know how where they are right now because this is a team that has always counted on its defense."
HL: "That's the worst kind of beating to take; when a team runs on you like that. That puts everything they have accomplished up to this point into question. And it probably isn't going to help if Monte Kiffin is leaving to coach with his son, Lane, at Tennessee."
JJ: "I didn't know that was definite."
Czar: "I heard Lane would not have gotten the job without Monte."
JJ: "Well, then that's good for Tennessee. He will do a great job up there."
MS: "I think it's tough on a defense when they know their coordinator is leaving."
HL: "That defense has been built always to attack. But what it doesn't have is a big, dominant defensive tackle in the middle. Their guy is Chris Hovan and he's really undersized. Carolina's offensive line was very good. The kid (Jeff Otah) they drafted from Pitt is a classic road-grader at right tackle."
MS: "The two Carolina backs were magnificent, too. They were running people over. They were keeping their balance, stiff-arming people, breaking more tackles. They earned a lot of those yards on their own, too."
HL: "I love when teams say afterwards like 'We had some technique issues.'"
MS: "Instead of saying they got mauled out there. But I don't think Atlanta has the same offensive line that Carolina does."
HL: "Michael Turner earns a lot more of his yards. He already has 300 carries. A lot of his yards are physical yards. He's not a shifty back."
CM: "Howie, you mentioned before that the only bad game Matt Ryan had before was against Tampa Bay. So, is this a measuring stick for him?"
HL: "I don't think there's any doubt about it. He takes everything as a personal challenge and that's why he's good. His clock was rushed a lot in that game by the Bucs. That was the first time he had played against a Cover Two defense and I remember him making some nice adjustments the next time he played a similar defense. And who knows where Tampa Bay is going to be? But I'm sure they are going to be angry."
TB: "He's one of the most impressive young quarterbacks I have ever seen. He's gotten better and better as the season as gone on."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8928690/FOX-NFL-Sunday-Roundtable:-Purple-reign?
