NFL Week 2: Finding Consistency Will Be the Chore for Most Teams This Season
September 21, 2009 by dwil
-New York 33 (2-0), Dallas (1-1) 31. Another important game, another brutal performance by Tony Romo. The New York Giants turned Romo’s three interceptions into 21 points. Dallas ran for 250 yards and still lost. And think they didn’t miss Terrell Owens much? Cowboys receivers caught only four passes for 49 yards. The Dallas defense wasn’t much better. They gave up 427 yards and failed to sack Eli Manning. Last season the Dallas defense led the league with 59 sacks but this years, so far, they have yet to record a sack. The worst part of the Cowboys loss, besides the fact that they opened Jerry Jones’ $1.2 billion sports and entertainment complex with a loss? Romo was 14-29 for 127 yards, one TD and those three INTs, for a QB rating of a whopping 29.5 and got booed late in the fourth quarter after yet another errant pass attempt to a wideout.
-Minnesota 27, Detroit 13. Adrian All Day Peterson had only 15 rushing attempts against the Lions but rushed for 92 yards and a game-sealing touchdown Brett Favre continued in his role As Vikings “game manager with an efficient 23-27, 155 yards and two TDs performance. Then again, it was only Detroit. and to think the Lions were once ahead 10-0.
-Cincinnati 31 (1-1), Green Bay 24 1-1). No one expected Cinci to walk into Lambeau Field and defeat the Packers. Not after the way they played last wekk. And not after the way Green Bay played last week. but the Bengals offense got untracked, despite a spotty 15-23 185 yards 3TD, 2 INT passing performance by Carson Palmer. Palmer accounted for all of the Bengals touchdowns, as he also ran for two TDs (Did anyone see Chad Ochocinco’s Lambeau Leap!). However, the game was made close by a Palmer interception that was returned for a TD. But it was Cedric Benson who saved the day for the Bengals offense as he rushed for 141 yards on 29 carries. Maybe an emphasis on the run might be a new-found priority for Marvin Lewis and his team?
-Arizona (1-1) 31, Jacksonville (0-2) 17. Like the Cinci-Packers game, if you judged the two teams by last week’s performances you would have thought that the Jaguars would win the game in a walk. Instead Arizona racked up 383 yards and dusted the Jags. and the game wasn’t that close. ‘Zona led 31-3 late into the third quarter and two meaningless TD passes by David Garrard made the score as close as it was. In a complete role reversal, Arizona had more rushing attempts – 28-20 and gained more yards on the round 118-92 – than did Jacksonville. We’ll see if Jags head coach Jack Del Rio can rally the troops. Kurt Warner broke the record for percentage of passes completed in a game (over 20 attempts) – 92.3% – with an amazing 24-26, 243 yards, two TD day. Vinny Testerverde, then with Cleveland, held the record with a 21-23 performance against the Los Angeles Rams. Warner also tied Jake Plummer’s team record when he completed is first 15 passes.
-Houston (1-1) 34, Tennessee (0-2) 31. The Titans lost despite getting 281 total yards and three TDs from Chris Johnson. And to think Tennessee didn’t want tp pay Albert Haynesworth.
-Washington (1-1) 9, St. Louis (0-2) 7. Albert Haynesworth does play for the Redskins. With the score 9-7 and 1:45 to play in the game Marc Bulger dropped back to pass in his own end zone. Haynesworth blew up the middle of the Rams offensive line and batted down Bulger’s pass. Bulger’s fourth down heave fell incomplete. Jason Campbell was 23-35 for 242 yards while Bulger was a pitiful 15-28 for 125 yards. All-world running back Stephen Jackson gained 104 yards but 65 of those came on one play. Without Haynesworth who knows how the Redskins defense would have fared against Jackson and company? But we do know how they fared with him.
-Baltimore (2-0) 31, San Diego (1-1) 26. Philip Rivers passing for 436 yards. With 4:35 left in the game Rivers passed to antonio Gates. Baltimore’s Antoine Barnes tipped the pass and it was intercepted. The only problem was that Barnes got to Gates way early and turned him before reaching out and batting the pass into the air. Unfortunately for the Chargers, the obvious pass interference penalty was blown. From there the Ravens converted a field goal to make the score 31-26. San Diego now needed a TD rather than just a field goal to win. And on 4th and two Ray Lewis made a Hall of Fame play by breaking through the line and stoning Darren Sproles – game over. In five red zone trips the Chargers scored zero touchdowns, kicked four field goals, went 0-4 on third downs, and turned the ball over on downs on their final possession. That is a recipe for disaster.
-Oakland (1-1) 13, Kansas City (0-2) 10. Maligned Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell led Oakland down the field for the game-winning TD with just 1:05 left in the game with the Chiefs. What the drive showed most was just how Good JaMarcus can be if given some time to throw. In his first start with Kansas City Matt Cassell went 24-39 for 241 yards, one TD and two INTs. The real question is, how do you out gain a team 409 to 166, have the opposing QB go 7-24 for 109 yards and still manage to lose? Oh, and was it really Herm Edwards’ fault the Chiefs were so bad last season?
-New York Jets (2-0) 16, New England (1-1) 9. The Jets made good on their promise of beating the Patriots. New York defenders pounded Tom Brady all day and made the Pats QB look downright average. Still the Jets were the recipient of some late-game home cooking when on a third-and-10 on New England’s final drive, Jets safety Eric Smith got away with an obvious face-guarding penalty against Ben Watson. For consecutive weeks Brady was smacked around by an opposing defense. Though Pats offensive line is still relatively young, they are not athletic enough to deal with teams that blitz consistently. And Brady missed injured slot receiver Wes Welker something awful. New England had better solve its O-line problems or its going to be a rough year in Beantown. Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez ha a solid day, going 14-22 for 163 yards and one TD.
-New Orleans (2-0) 48, Philadelphia (1-1) 22. Drew Brees leads the 21st century version of the Greatest Show on Turf. After a six TD day last week Brees tossed three more touchdown passes against the hapless Eagles defense. In his first start Philly’s Kevin Kolb went 31-51 for 391 yards, but threw three INTs to go along with two TDs.
-San Francisco (2-0) 23, Seattle (1-1) 10. Wow! Mike Singletary has his team playing excellent fundamental football. The Niners, and especially Frank Gore, ran the ball down the Seahawks throat. Gore rushed for 207 yards on only 16 carries as the 49ers rushed for 256 yards total. Though Matt Hasselbeck was injured, backup Seneca Wallace has proven himself to be a very capable backup. But the San Francisco defense came up huge, holding Seattle to only 283 total yards. The young Niners are gaining confidence with each win —- look out for the team from the City by the Bay! BUT. The last time the Niners began a season 2-0 it was 2007 and they finished the season 5-11. BUT. This season they beat their two chief division rivals, Arizona and Seattle, to begin the season.
-Buffalo (1-1) 33, Tampa Bay (0-2) 20. Tampa Bay is just bad. And the Bills offense which was much-maligned during the preseason, isn’t half-bad.
-Chicago (1-1) 17, Pittsburgh (1-1) 14. Without Troy Polamalu and with the Steelers backup safeties getting consistently beaten, it’s a testament to Mike Tomlin’s team defense that the score was this close. And Jay Cutler bounced back nicely from last week’s debacle with a 27-38, 236 and two TD performance.
-Denver (2-0) 27, Cleveland (0-2) 6. Josh McDaniels’ team is 2-0 and leading the AFC West?! As long as they pay teams like the Browns, they’ll be just fine.
-Atlanta (2-0) 28, Carolina (0-2) 20. Don’t pick the Panthers to win diddly-pooh the year after they win big. Matt Ryan was seriously efficient for Atlanta, going 21-27 for 220 yards, three TDs and one INT. Jake Delhomme, on the other hand, was forced to throw too much. Delhomme attempted 41 passes and completed 24 for 308 yards. He threw for one TD but had one pick. Carolina ran only 25 times, though they sere strafing the Falcons defense. But once they got behind 28-13, they lad little choice but to throw on the majority of their offensive plays. If John Fox fails to get the Panthers to the playoffs this season, look for Carolina to make a head coaching change during the offseason.
Monday Night
-Indianapolis at Miami. The Dolphins need to rev it up on offense this week at home. Meantime, Indy needs to run the ball more – and more effectively to make room for Peyton Manning’s receivers. We’ll see which team’s will prevails,
Most of these results I wasn’t too surprised about, except for maybe N.E., Philly, and TN.
Some good games over the weekend.
Romo just proved that once again, he’s not ready for prime time. Jerry Jones hopes that the new stadium will make folks not realize that this team isn’t going to contend once again. At least not with a pass defense that got ate up like they did last night.
Detroit doomed their team to losing from the start. They drafted the wrong qb. Sanchez looks better than Stafford in every way. The other big mistake that they made, was starting Stafford from day one. He may be good one day, but right now, Daunte Culpepper gives them the best chance to win. In my judgement, ending their long losing streak trumps getting their rookie playing time.
Shocker of the week. Houston beats Tennessee in Tennessee. Maybe this is the breakthrough game everyone has been waiting for?
The NY Jets have been impressive. I like Rex Ryan’s defensive philosophy. I really hate listening to the talking heads on Sunday always telling other folks to bow down and kiss Belichick and Brady’s rings. Anyone that has watched the first two games back for Brady can tell that he’s rushing his throws, something common for QB’s coming back from leg injuries when they are pressured. Where Brady would stand in until the last minute before, he’s now throwing early, and with more zip than usual. I expect this to be less of a problem later in the season, but for now, other teams are going to try to follow the Ryan plan as the blueprint for beating the Pats.
Mike Singletary is already my favorite for coach of the year. He’s got San Francisco playing better than I think anyone every imagined. A good running game, protecting the ball, and letting your defense win it. Considering the competition in the NFC West, they might win it this year.
Pittsburgh should have probably tried to run the ball a little more. 22 carries for 105 yards. Almost 5 yards a carry. I understand that Big Ben is a qb that can win games, but with the weather in Chicago yesterday, running the ball should have been more of a priority.
It seems that since the Steelers won the SB last year with a sub par rushing game, they think that they can win it again the same way. The Steelers only held on to the ball for about a minute longer than the Bears. When the Steelers are at their best, they are punishing teams on offense, and holding on to the ball for 33-36 minutes a game. This allows their defense to rest and be ready to attack the other team’s offense almost every play they are out there. I realize that the line has some injuries, and defections, but the offensive line not too long ago took pride in knocking other teams defensive lines back. It’s nice that they are trying to incorporate a fullback (Frank Summers) back into the offense, but they need a fullback that can really blow up linebackers. Right now, he’s just a rookie and doesn’t seem to know how to knock the defense back the way past Steelers fullbacks did.
Regarding the Cowboys:
Roy Williams…..1 catch for 18 yards. That aint gonna get it done. Romo is who we thought he was (I can hear Miranda saying that now….lol).
Regarding the Redskins:
They were fortunate that the defense led by Haynesworth made 4 critical stops near the end. However, i’m still questioning why Jim Zorn would run 4 straight run plays in the redzone? My initial thought is that he doesn’t trust Jason Campbell. Whether he trusts him or not, that was BAD playcalling.
Regarding the Steelers:
The running game looked better and should continue to improve over the course of the season. However, Polamalu’s absence is felt all over Steeler nation. His replacement (Carter) was beaten on two Cutler TD passes. If Polamalu is playing, that doesn’t happen; especially the last TD when Carter should’ve known to jump the route instead of backing up when the blitz came. The Bears only get 2 FGs instead of 2 TDs, which would’ve been enought to win. Also, why would Ben try to hit Holmes in the endzone on 3rd & 2 when Heath Miller was open underneath? Bad decision on his part, I think.
Regarding the Patriots:
Teams are starting to realize that if you constantly pressure Tom Brady, he’s going to get rattled. The Jets played great “D” and were physical all game. I think Sanchez had a solid game but he missed some open WRs, which could’ve led to more points. As i’ve said all along, the Pats lost too much on defense and their offensive line is not as good as it used to be. They could very well be 0-2 (they should be 0-2) if not for a late turnover against the Bills.
Regarding the Panthers:
I don’t understand why John Fox still has a job. I really don’t (lol).
Regarding the 49ers:
I really like this young team. They definitely take on the personality of their head coach. Everyone plays hard, especially on defense. Patrick Willis is always around the ball. He reminds me a lot of Ray Lewis. If Shaun Hill can develop into a good, solid QB, this team will be good for years to come.
Mike Singletary is COY thus far!!!!
@kos
From what i’ve been hearing, the reason Stafford started over Culpepper is because Daunte is injured.
I forgot to give big ups to Darrelle Revis, CB for the Jets. For the 2nd week in a row, he’s went up against a great WR and kept him in check. Last week Andre Johnson, yesterday Randy Moss.
@kos
A few things on the Steelers:
I’m not sure if they feel they can win the SB again with a sub-par rushing attack. I don’t think they’re thinking in those terms. I think that Mike Tomlin sees the offensive line as a work in progress, especially since it was ‘pieced’ together last year. His attitude is “give them enough time to gel and they should be fine”. They’ve made improvements in pass protection (eventhough Ben holds on to the ball too long at times), so now they must improve on their run blocking.
Also, you have to take into consideration their Offensive Coordinator (Bruce Arians). His offenses are built on singleback, 2 TEs or 3, 4 or 5 Wrs. He rarely uses a FB in his offense (if at all). He has even went on record in saying that he won’t start using a FB in his system. In short, this offense is not the same as it was when Ron Erhart, Mike Mularkey or Ken Whisenhunt was calling the plays. Arians has changed the Steeler offense from “smash-mouth”, run oriented to more of a spread type offense.
GN -
I didn’t know that Culpepper was injured. I just found it online, though. His foot. Still though, I trust an injured Culpepper to get me a win more than a healthy Stafford.
I also get the feeling that Zorn doesn’t trust Campbell. What does a brother have to do to get the coach to trust him?!?! I realize that Campbell isn’t Zorn’s ideal QB to run his offense, but that’s why he gets paid the big bucks. Sometimes, you have to adjust to what you have.
One thing that I’ve thought the Redskins could use for the past couple of years, is taller receivers. I realize that in the past two years they’ve drafted three receivers over six feet tall, but they are going to take time to develop. In today’s NFL, it’s too hard to get the ball to receivers effectively if the corners can just reach up and swat the ball away because they are 3-4 inches taller, unless the QB can put it where no one else can get to it, almost every time.
On the Cowboys
It’s obvious that their strength on offense is running the ball downhill with Barber and Jones, but they want Romo to be the face of the franchise and make the big plays, it’s going to kill them. Until he gets a coach that can reign in his bad tendencies (like Holmgren with Favre) “Favre, Jr” will continue to make the back-breaking mistake
On the Panthers
It’s obvious that their strength on offense is running the ball downhill with Double Trouble, but they want Delhomme to be the face of the franchise and make the big plays (and Bojangles commericials), it’s already killed them
On a side note, went to the Florida/Tennessee game on Saturday. Eric Berry is the truth. He dominated that game from start to finish. Tebow didn’t have 100 yards passing until the middle of the fourth quarter, everywhere he went, Berry was already there. You better hope your favorite NFL team trades up to get this kid, he is the next Ed Reed/Polamalu.
The ‘Skins are winning despite Zorn in my opinion. I was just about to say that his QB needs taller receivers but I see Kos beat me too it. But he does. He needs a new jack receiver: 6’2″+, 220lbs and can run like the wind. I guarantee you he goes to the pro bowl with someone like that.
Collins is killing me with his late game lameness. His inability to get just one or two 1st downs late in the game, directly led to too many Houston possesions at the end. And then he fumbled. Haynesworth wasn’t really the difference in TN as the Titans still had no problem stopping the run as always. You might argue that he would have made a difference in the passing game, but Houston did the same thing last year. The difference was Cortland Finnegan having all types of trouble with Andre Johnson. Actually, the entire secondary was getting blasted. Houston couldn’t stop the run and TN couldn’t stop the pass. It was embarrassing. Chris Johnson is the sh*t though.
So you guy’s are telling me that Owens was not the problem in Dallas? I thought when he was gone Romo wouldn’t have anymore distractions and would start playing like the pro bowl QB he is? Man, I gave Romo the benefit of the doubt when the Giants stomped Dallas on their way to the championship but soon after that he proved that he really isn’t that good. It is apparent that Owens was hiding even more deficiencies than we knew. Which is always the case when the receiver is far
superior at his job than the qb. However, the receiver ain’t allowed to say it.
“Eric Berry is the truth.”-spaceghost
Being in the TN area, Berry is pretty much the face of that team as far as I can tell.
Awb & kos – redskins terrible o-line holds them back more than anything. Zorn definitely is not helping. It’s also hard for me to believe all the wide outs they have drafted stink. Time to give Cowher a call.
Space – berry definitely is the truth and him and the Vols might have knocked Tebow down a round or two in the draft.
Grand – Brady needs time to get back in a rhythm. I agree with Dwil and think that welker will help him out a lot. but I definitely agree about their defense. I also wonder how much their handling of Seymour impacts the rest of those guys mentally. To trade a guy like that with no advance warning to the Raiders of all places has to impact the rest of the guys on and off the field.
When you don’t have that game breaking wide receiver anymore but you have 2 stud RBs and an all-Pro TE it’s time to change the game plan. With TO drawing a double team it opens up the field for everybody else in the passing game. Without him you run the ball down their throat and use the running game to set up play action passes. Dallas’ offense given their personnel should look more like the Titans offense and less like the Patriots.
@Esquire–
I don’t disagree w/ Brady needing time to find rhythm but the way his line is blocking for him, by the time he does finds it, their season could be over. They need to run the ball more to take some pressure off of Brady while he tries to re-establish his rhythm. Fred Taylor only had 8 caries yesterday.
@spaceghost–
I agree w/ you regarding Dallas. They should be pounding the rock down their opponents’ throats. They have arguably the best core of RBs in the league. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of this? Jason Garrett is still an Offensive Coordinator in training. Their REAL Offensive Coordinator is coaching the Miami Dolphins.
The Panthers owner has Bill Cowher on speed dial.
Love the 49ers! (but they still need a QB)
I thought T.O. was the distraction causing Romo not to progress? Looks like those free safeties were a helluva distraction last night.
I’m a Cowboy fan, but I’m growing tired of the media’s incessant ball-sack riding of Romo. He’s not that good. And last night? He didn’t have T.O. to blame for the three INTs that the Giants turned into the lion’s share of their 33 points. 24 points given up off of 4 turnovers, 3 of which were all on Romo, by the way.
Romo can eat a fat dick.
I had some harsh words for Matt Schaub last week, but trust me: he’ll have at least five or six more games like he did in week one. That’s how he rolls.
Frank Gore? Give him a game ball. OK. Half a game ball due to the competition. LOL. Just kidding. Heck of a game.
If it wasn’t for that botched punt return last week, Buffalo would be a nice 2-0 right now. It’s a shame though that Trent Edwards settles for check downs and shorter gains rather than going for Evans or Owens who were evading coverage for most of the game. When Lynch comes back that offense should be much better even though Fred Jackson has been amazing thus far.
Phil-
Romo can do whaaaaat?!
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More NFL Thoughts:
I don’t know that NE is going to make the playoffs this season unless Belichick does something w/ the offensive line. They just are not talented enough to run consistently or protect Brady. And if they don’t make the playoffs it be directly due to the lack of athletic ability on the O-line.
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If Kerry Collins was the answer, it was a stupid question…
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Is it possible that neither the Pat not the Colts make the playoffs this season?…. If Miami wins tonight……….
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Where is the fire Jim Zorn website???
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Dan Snyder has Cowher on speed dial, too – believe it!
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I swear Cinci is going to win 10 games.
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Where is Chris Simms?
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If the Steelers O-line is a work in progress, so is New England’s…. But since the Steelers sucked rushing last season (I know about the RB injuries) and they are sucking this season, and they have a bull’s eye on their chests every week, and Roethisberger is holds the ball too much, much like his MAC counterpart Byron Leftwich does, it’s going to be a long, hard season for the usual AFC suspects, like Pitt. NE, Indy, Tennessee.
Remember, the NFL is a copy-cat league and the New York Giants set something off last season that other teams are beginning to incorporate. And the Giants took really athletic D-linemen, most of whom were originally defensive ends and made them also play tackle. BUT. What they figured out is this: the most intelligent players, on average on every NFL team are the O-linemen. So, to have a great D-Line, you must match not only their athletic ability, but their smarts. And all the Giants D-linemen are intelligent peeps.
Then the giants took a bite out of Belichick’s linebacking corps philosophy: multi-purpose linebackers who can get in a 3-point, can drop back 30 yards, and plug holes.
Finally, if you’re going to have a front seven that challenges the line of scrimmage, you must have shut down corners and a safety who can cover great areas of space, hit, and make correct decisions – and that’s as old as the hills.
New York has it, Pittsburgh has it, the Jets are almost there (still unsure of their linemen), Indy had it when Bob Sanders was healthy, NE is refreshing it, Chicago had it when Mike Brown was healthy, Jacksonville was always a player or two away from having it. Let’s see, oh the Chargers are almost there – correct decisions in the secondary and health keep them from making the leap into the big time.
Any other teams out there that are close to fitting this description of theearly 21st century, new-fangled/old-style defense combo?
Romo was quickk to tell Costas about how “different” things were in Dallas with T.O. being gone. But honestly? A three INT game in a big situation doesn’t sound like addition by subtraction to me.
And now some members of the Cowboys Ring of Fame are starting to go after Romo a little bit, and they’ve got rings and he don’t. Being the QB of a Cowboy team that doesn’t win play-off games? Having a hamper full of Jessica Simpson’s lace panties? None of that impresses those guys. Titles impress me.
Well, sniffing Jessica’s dainty undergarments can’t be all that bad, can it? LOL.
If I were Romo, after last night’s performance on national TV where he looked like doo-doo? I’d stop giving interviews until I figure out how not to self-destruct on national TV. No one else to blame anymore. And the truth hurts.
I love NFL Red-Zone! You can follow all of the games without hearing all of that mind-numbing talk that passes for commentary and analysis.
As for the Cowboys, you guys know that they didn’t want T.O. to steal Romo’s shine! Can’t have a brother stealing the show on opening night for a new stadium. Thats supposed to be Romo’s gig! I love the fact that the Giants got in that ass on a Sunday night game and christened the new stadium with a loss.
Jason Campbell has to be one of the most miserable cats in the NFL. Nobody to throw to and a coach that is reluctant to let him throw the ball. Jim Zorn STINKS!!! Also, what was up with that call to go for it on 4th down rather than take the field goal. If they are playing any team other than the Rams they probably get an L.
Carolina’s coach is dumb as hell too! On fourth down with a little less than 3:00 minutes to go in the game. Why didn’t he go for the field goal and on-side kick or just kick away and try to hold the Falcons. As it was they came awfully close to getting a touchdown anyway on the hail-mary pass. Also, how much worst does Jake Delhomme have to be before he gets run out of town?
Pittsburgh should have just put all kinds of foot in that field goal kickers ass!! Tenn. and N.E. have played themselves. Its obvious that they miss Haynesworth and Seymour. I think Tennessee is gonna ride with Kerry Collins and they will be lucky to win 10 games. This cat is smoke and mirrors, I just love that Sage Rosenfels act that he pulled yesterday. He snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Oakland needs to go no-huddle for an entire game. Jamarcus seems to be more comfortable when he just gets in the shot-gun and plays.
I looked at S.I. today (why I don’t know) and Peter King is the biggest knob polisher of White QB’s that I have ever seen. He is worst that Jaworski!! He goes out of his way to diss Jason Campbell, Michael Vick and Jamarcus Russell. He is a big fat ass good ole’ boy!!!
dwil,
Got anything on the situation between michael crabtree and the 49ers? Good for singletary for his excellent coaching and remaining cool about the whole thing
I forgot where it exactly was, but someone on tv (might have been ESPN tonight) tried to blame Roy Williams and not Romo for the fact that Roy only had one catch. It was because “Roy wasn’t on the same page” yet didn’t address any of that to Romo.
This MNF crew is really painful to listen to. I try to like Tirico but something about his one-liners gets me real annoyed. Fack Indy didn’t deserve to win this one! and Peyton didn’t get enough to help my fantasy team win
Monsoon do what I do with any sporting event on ESPN. Turn the volume down. Its ESPN at its best.
Watching Hard Knocks the Cowboys took part – doesn’t feel like much has been sorted out since one season later and a pre-season…
I think Romo can get his game together I felt last year he had put in some hard graft pre-season and took a leap but this year the Cowboys feel flat and the Head Coach/Co-ordinator situation is jive Garret has a lot of power and Wade needs some wins soon.