Category Archives: News

Sep 27 2011

Redskins vs. Cowboys Game Recap: Romo Rises to the Occasion

Despite all of the injuries that the Dallas Cowboys were faced with, they found a way to win.

Their win may not have been very impressive, but their QB was…for his long-awaited leadership.

Dallas QB Tony Romo has temporarily silenced all of his naysayers (including myself) in regards to his inability to lead his team. His display in week 2 could have been considered a farce, but after a passionate Monday Night performance against the Washington Redskins he has shown that he can be a courageous leader.

Romo had no TDs against the Redskins, but he was able to march his team within field goal range six times with a broken rib to top the Redskins by two points. K Dan Bailey scored each of the Cowboys’ 18 points, but Romo was the hero.

One of the major, although unusual, issues that the Cowboys were forced to overcome were the botched snaps by C Phil Costa. Something was obviously occurring during the second half to cause this problem and Romo’s frustrations was quite clear as he walked to the sideline pointing to his head and saying to Costa, “Think, think.”

The Cowboys were also playing through several injuries. TE Jason Witten (bruised ribs), RB Felix Jones (dislocated shoulder), and WR Dez Bryant (bruised thigh) were among the injured who played. WR Miles Austin (hamstring) was out against the Redskins, making Romo’s job that much more difficult as evidence by his frustration in having to tell WR Kevin Olgeltree where to line up and where he should have been for his route assignment after an incompletion that could have led to only Dallas’ only TD of the game.

Redskins’ CB DeAngelo Hall proved to be rather ineffective against the Cowboys even after his wide spread announcement last week detailing that he would “put his helmet on whatever’s hurt.” Hall had a costly facemask penalty

Despite all of the injuries that the Dallas Cowboys were faced with, they found a way to win.

Their win may not have been very impressive, but their QB was…for his long-awaited leadership.

Dallas QB Tony Romo has temporarily silenced all of his naysayers (including myself) in regards to his inability to lead his team. His display in week 2 could have been considered a farce, but after a passionate Monday Night performance against the Washington Redskins he has shown that he can be a courageous leader.

Romo had no TDs against the Redskins, but he was able to march his team within field goal range six times with a broken rib to top the Redskins by two points. K Dan Bailey scored each of the Cowboys’ 18 points, but Romo was the hero.

One of the major, although unusual, issues that the Cowboys were forced to overcome were the botched snaps by C Phil Costa. Something was obviously occurring during the second half to cause this problem and Romo’s frustrations was quite clear as he walked to the sideline pointing to his head and saying to Costa, “Think, think.”

The Cowboys were also playing through several injuries. TE Jason Witten (bruised ribs), RB Felix Jones (dislocated shoulder), and WR Dez Bryant (bruised thigh) were among the injured who played. WR Miles Austin (hamstring) was out against the Redskins, making Romo’s job that much more difficult as evidence by his frustration in having to tell WR Kevin Olgeltree where to line up and where he should have been for his route assignment after an incompletion that could have led to only Dallas’ only TD of the game.

Redskins’ CB DeAngelo Hall proved to be rather ineffective against the Cowboys even after his wide spread announcement last week detailing that he would “put his helmet on whatever’s hurt.” Hall had a costly facemask penalty that gave the Cowboys 15 extra yards in addition to the 30 yards gained by Bryant.

The Redskins took a major risk when they decided to continuously blitz the ‘Boys. Two straight all out blitzes with nine defenders stacked in the box proved to be the nail in the coffin for the ‘Skins. With a second down, the ‘Skins stacked the box for the all out blitz that forced an incompletion for Romo, but afterwards during third down and another all out blitz with nine in the box yet again and Bryant in one-on-one coverage, Romo completed his longest pass of the season to Bryant.

Outside of the mistakes made by the defense of the Redskins, QB Rex Grossman showed his “true” colors. Everyone has wondered when the Grossman of past would appear and during the fourth quarter he showed up in a major way.

Not only was Grossman sacked three times during this game, but he fumbled (forced by LB Anthony Spencer) with 28 seconds remaining. LB Spencer Lee proved to be a defensive presence all night against the Redskins and he recovered the fumble to secure the victory over the Redskins.

While Romo found a way in which to rise to the occasion, while Grossman found a way to flop. Romo has statistically been an elite QB, but has left far too many doubts in the minds of all watching. After his gutsy performance in week 2 and his passionate execution in week 3, Romo may be on the verge of ushering in a new era.

that gave the Cowboys 15 extra yards in addition to the 30 yards gained by Bryant.

The Redskins took a major risk when they decided to continuously blitz the ‘Boys. Two straight all out blitzes with nine defenders stacked in the box proved to be the nail in the coffin for the ‘Skins. With a second down, the ‘Skins stacked the box for the all out blitz that forced an incompletion for Romo, but afterwards during third down and another all out blitz with nine in the box yet again and Bryant in one-on-one coverage, Romo completed his longest pass of the season to Bryant.

Outside of the mistakes made by the defense of the Redskins, QB Rex Grossman showed his “true” colors. Everyone has wondered when the Grossman of past would appear and during the fourth quarter he showed up in a major way.

Not only was Grossman sacked three times during this game, but he fumbled (forced by LB Anthony Spencer) with 28 seconds remaining. LB Spencer Lee proved to be a defensive presence all night against the Redskins and he recovered the fumble to secure the victory over the Redskins.

While Romo found a way in which to rise to the occasion, while Grossman found a way to flop. Romo has statistically been an elite QB, but has left far too many doubts in the minds of all watching. After his gutsy performance in week 2 and his passionate execution in week 3, Romo may be on the verge of ushering in a new era.

Sep 21 2011

Jaguars Still In Search of Their Guy: Blaine Gabbert Will Start

After years of searching for a franchise QB, it appears as if the Jacksonville Jaguars are going with their 10th overall pick, Blaine Gabbert.

The Jaguars named QB Luke McCown as the starter after releasing David Garrard. McCown threw 4 interceptions in a loss to the New York Jets.

On Wednesday morning, Del Rio reportedly called both McCown and Gabbert into his office in order to notify both players of the change.

Gabbert struggled during the preseason, but played well (although briefly) during the fourth quarter against the Jets.

Del Rio likely realizes that his time as the head coach of the organization is limited and has been making some aggressive moves in order to improve the team and retain his job.

The Jaguars originally noted that they wanted to give Gabbert more time to become acclimated to their system because of the lack of mini camps, OTAs, etc. Apparently Del Rio’s time has almost run out and Gabbert will have to step in for the organization in their week 3 appearance against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers which should be an interesting game of rookie QBs.

Sep 21 2011

Are Players FAKING Injuries? The Rams Seem To Believe So

The St. Louis Rams are making the claim that the New York Giants were faking injuries during Monday night’s game.

According to ESPN.com, the Rams believe that the Giants were faking injuries in order to disrupt their no-huddle offense.

Rams’ QB Sam Bradford noted that, “Someone said, ‘Someone go down, someone go down,’ so someone just went down and grabbed a cramp.”

The NFL will not punish players for “faking” injuries unless a player admits that he faked an injury; which is unrealistic. The official rule book makes mention that the Competition Committee doesn’t approve of the feigning of injuries and that coaches are “urged to cooperate is discouraging this practice.”

The Rams are bringing the issue to the attention of the league, but the question is brought up as to whether or not the faking of injuries is a regular occurrence.

During Sunday’s game of the San Diego Chargers vs. the New England Patriots, Patriots QB Tom Brady was noticeably upset about the Chargers’ defense appearing to slow their no-huddle offense because of injury timeouts.

With more and more teams utilizing hurry up or no-huddle offenses, the NFL may be forced to find a way to ensure that the integrity of the game does not boil down to an injury timeout.

This can seem impossible, but the NFL has made such attempts years ago by taking away timeouts due to injuries in the final two minutes of either half. This has been the only way in which to truly make the game fair.

While the league is concerned with the safety of players, the fairness and integrity of the game is just as important.