COWBOYS TAKE COMMAND OF THE NFC
November 30, 2007
The Dallas Cowboys (11-1) beat the Green Bay Packers (10-2), 37-27, Thursday night and took control of the race for home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the NFC.
Tony Romo led the Cowboys on five straight scoring drives to open the game as they built a 27-10 lead in the second quarter. The Cowboys then held off a valiant effort from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers as they won their sixth consecutive game and clinch a playoff berth in the NFC.
After Romo took a knee on the last play of the game, it sealed a record-setting victory against a team he grow up rooting for and the quarterback he has obviously patterned himself after. So when it was time for hugs and handshakes, the kid from Wisconsin went looking for Brett Favre.
He had to settle for Aaron Rodgers.
Favre was already in the locker room getting treated for a banged-up right elbow and a separated left shoulder. Besides, the graying icon already had seen enough from Romo and the Cowboys.
The win by the Cowboys all but guarantees them of having to travel to Lambeau Field should the two teams meet in the NFC Championship game.
The Packers ended a six-game winning streak and are now essentially two games behind Dallas in the chase for the conference’s top spot with only four games left. Dallas holds the tiebreaker with its win Thursday over the Packers.
The bigger concern is Favre’s health.
Favre was hurt on a hit by cornerback Nate Jones in the second quarter. His run of 249 consecutive starts — a record that’s about six seasons longer than the next-best by a quarterback — might be in jeopardy, although he has 10 days to heal before the Packers play again, Dec. 9 at home against Oakland.
Rodgers, who spent the week pretending he was Romo in Green Bay practices, provided the kind of rally Favre usually specializes in, even throwing the first touchdown pass of his three-year career. But he’s no Brett Favre, so this comeback came up short.
Romo was 19-of-30 for 309 yards. He’s up to 33 TD passes, smashing the club season record. He tied another club mark by throwing a touchdown in his 16th straight game.
Dallas also extended the best start in franchise history. With four games left, the Cowboys already have their most wins in a season since going 12-4 in 1995, their last Super Bowl season, and they’re two wins from matching the franchise record.
The Packers are still in great shape for at least the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye because their next three opponents have losing records. And the idea of starting Rodgers next week may no longer be as dreadful to fans who have wondered if he was a wasted draft pick. In the most extended action of his career, he was 18-of-26 for 201 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.
The Cowboys totally dominated this game in every way, shape, and form but a couple of very questionable calls by the zebras where potential game changing calls.
The Packers took the opening kickoff and march down the field but they had to settle for a 47-yard FG by Mason Crosby. The 3-0 lead would be the Packers only lead of the night.
On the second play of the Cowboys opening drive, Romo threw a pass that was completed to Terrell Owens at the Packers 42-yard line. Before Owens has shoved out of bounds, Packers cornerback Al Harris clearly stripped the ball from Owens.
The officials ruled that Owens’ forward progress had been stopped. It took Harris about a quarter of a second to strip the ball out from TO. The play is not reviewable because the officials blew the whistle and the Packers were left to challenge whether Owens had possession of the ball when he went out of bounds.
I have seen plenty of plays in the NFL where the defenses’ gang-tackle runners or receivers and push them into the parking lot before the referees blow the whistle to signal that forward progress has been stopped. I guess for games in Texas they must have a new set of rules.
The Packers lost the challenge and a timeout. The Packers are screwed by the Zebra’s for the first time.
The second questionable call happened with less than nine minutes remaining and the Cowboys clinching to a 27-24 lead. The Cowboys had a first down at the Green Bay 47-yard line. Romo took a chance downfield as he launched a bomb intended for WR Miles Austin. Packers corner Tramon Williams has Austin covered like a blanket. Williams look back to play the ball which the rules states he has to and in the process Austin and Williams feet tangle and they both go tumbling.
The referee right on top of the play signals incompletion, incidental contact. Out of nowhere, another referee comes flying in, throwing a flag signaling pass interference. The officials apparently disagreed on whether or not it was a penalty or incidental contact.
Of course the call that stood was by the referee who was holding the popcorn for Terrell Owens, not the one that was in the proper position to make the call. Dallas would end up scoring three plays later, essentially ending the game.
The Packers are screwed by the Zebra’s for the second time.
Even though nothing good comes out of a loss, the Packers had to be very encouraged with the play of backup QB Rodgers. If Rodgers can continue to improve and play like he did on Thursday night, the Cheeseheads will be dancing in Wisconsin for a long time.
The Packers main concern now is to get healthy and ready for the playoffs. They showed that they could be competitive despite being banged up. If the Packers are healthy and advance to Dallas for the NFC Championship game, this time hopefully they are only competing against the Cobwoys and not the Zebras as well.
JAGUARS LOOK TO DETHRONE COLTS IN AFC SOUTH
November 29, 2007
The focus of week 13 in the National Football League is Thursday’s game between the Green Bay Packers (10-1) and the Dallas Cowboys (10-1). The winner of tonights game at Texas Stadium will have the inside track to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs in the NFC.
There is another game this weekend with major playoff implications and it takes place in the AFC. The Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3) travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts (9-2) at the RCA Dome with first place in the AFC South on-the-line.
If the Colts – who have won the last four AFC South titles – win Sunday, they will take a two-game lead in the division with four games remaining and hold a significant tiebreaker advantage because of a head-to-head sweep.
The Colts blasted the Jaguars, 29-7, in Jacksonville on Monday Night Football, October 22nd.
If the Jaguars – the division runners-up in 2004 and 2005 – win, they will move into a first-place tie, with the Colts still holding a tiebreaker advantage because of a better division record.
The Jaguars are 2-2 in the AFC South while Colts are perfect at 3-0. All three of the Colts divisional wins have come on the road.
The Colts have won eight of 11 meetings with the Jaguars since the 2002 inception of the AFC South, and since 2003, no division team has played the Colts tougher than the Jaguars. Indianapolis swept the series in 2002 and 2005, but the teams split in 2003, 2004 and last season, with the Jaguars winning, 44-17, in Jacksonville in December of last season.
The Jaguars have won just once in the RCA Dome – a 27-24 victory in October of 2004.
The teams have spent much of this season within a game of one another in the standings. Indianapolis’ victory in October gave the Colts a two-game lead, but the Jaguars again moved to within a game of the lead on November 11 and have been there since.
The Colts dominated every aspect of their showdown earlier against Jacksonville, easily winning 29-7 and once again taking charge in the AFC South.
Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith combined for 141 yards rushing, Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne picked apart Jacksonville’s secondary, and the Colts avenged their most embarrassing loss of their Super Bowl season.
This is the first time since these teams were placed in the AFC South under the NFL’s 2002 realignment that Jacksonville will enter December trailing Indianapolis by fewer than three games.
The Colts have won back-to-back games after losing two in a row, and now they may be the healthiest they’ve been in several weeks thanks to some extra time off after a 31-13 Thanksgiving Day win over Atlanta.
Among the players who returned to practice Wednesday were left tackle Tony Ugoh and linebacker Tyjuan Hagler, neither of whom had played since October due to neck injuries.
The Colts will once again be without All-Pro and future Hall of Famer, Marvin Harrison. Harrison hasn’t played since the last time these two teams meet.
The Colts are starting to get healthy at the right time of the year and that is not good news for the rest of the teams in the AFC, including the New England Patriots.
The Colts, a 7-point favorite in the game, are 10-3 all-time against the Jaguars. Look for another exiting game from the Dome as first place in the AFC South will be decided Sunday.
Adam Vinateri kicks the winning field goals as the Colts rally to beat the Jaguars, 27-24, and move closer to the number 2 seed in the AFC and setup the potential rematch against the Patriots.
COWBOYS AND PACKERS RIVALRY RENEWED
November 28, 2007
The Green Bay Packers travel to Dallas to take on Cowboys Thursday night in a game that will all but decide home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the NFC.
The two teams seem to be approaching the showdown at Texas Stadium in different fashions. The Packers (10-1) are treating the game as if it were any other game on their schedule while the Cowboys (10-1) are treating the game as if it were a playoff game.
With only four game remaining, after what many people are calling Super Bowl XLI 3/4 Thursday night, the stakes are extremely high. While its not guaranteed that the winner will gain home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the loser will essentially be two games behind with four to play. The winner will hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he’ll treat this like any other game, not taking any chances on injured players like cornerback Charles Woodson, who is questionable to play with a toe injury.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, appear to be treating this like a playoff game. The possibility of having to travel to the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay and take on the Packers in the NFC Championship Game is definitely not on the top of Terrell Owens list.
“I’ve played up there when it’s really cold,” Owens said, “and it’s not a place you really want to play.”
Brett Favre will be trying to add one more thing to his Hall of Fame resume if the Packers can win - a victory over the Cowboys in Texas Stadium. Favre is 0-8 lifetime in the state of Texas against the Cowboys. It’s one of nine stadiums Favre has played in without a win, though it’s the one in which he’s suffered the most losses (five reg. season, three postseason) without a victory.
The last time the Packers won in Dallas was on Christmas Eve in 1989 when the Magic Man, Don Majkowski, was the leader of the Pack. Green Bay, then coached by Linde Infante, won 20-10.
Favre’s past history at Texas Stadium should have no bearing on the youngest team in the NFL. Most of these players were still in grade school when most of those games were played.
The so-called experts are expecting a shootout between Favre and Tony Romo. Dallas is the 2nd highest scoring team in the league averaging 32.5 points per game while the Packers check in 5th at 26.5 points per game.
Green Bay has been rolling on offense in the month of November averaging 33.5 points in their last four games. The Cowboys aren’t far behind the Pack as they have averaged 32.75 points their past four November games.
Look for Thursday night’s game to be a dominated by the defenses. The Packers give up 16.5 points per game, while the Cowboys give up 20.1. When healthy, the Packers have a far superior defense than the Cowboys.
If this game was being played on a neutral site and both teams were at full strength, I would take Favre and the Packers to roll the Cowboys just like the Patriots did earlier this year.
With several Green Bay players being listed as game time decisions (as of Wednesday morning), I like the Cowboys to win a low scoring affair, 27-17.
Take the Cowboys and give the 6 1/2 points. The over/under is 52 and that should be easy money for people taking the under in this game.
5 Star Pick of the Week (7-3): Dallas (-6 1/2) vs Green Bay.
Overall Record: 60-51-3.
The rest of the weeks games will be posted later this week.
WASHINGTON REDSKINS SAFETY TAYLOR DEAD AT 24
November 27, 2007
Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor died Tuesday after he was shot in his home by an apparent intruder, leaving the Washington Redskins in mourning for a teammate who seemed to have reordered his life since becoming a father.
The 24-year-old player died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday.
“It is with deep regret that a young man had to come to his end so soon,” father Pedro Taylor said in a statement on behalf of the family. “Many of his fans loved him because the way he played football. Many of his opponents feared him the way he approached the game. Others misunderstood him, many appreciated him and his family loved him.”
A string of mourners, including Taylor’s father, visited the player’s home and embraced outside. Authorities entered the home, but it was unclear what they were doing.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will honor Taylor’s memory at all games this weekend.
“This is a terrible tragedy involving the loss of a young man who leaves behind many people struggling to understand it,” he said in a statement.
Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said what he would remember most about Taylor was his excitement about playing football.
“God made him to play football,” Gibbs said Tuesday during a news conference. “To me, he just loved and thrived on the competition part of it. … Sean, he loved football. He loved these guys here.”
Gibbs acknowledged it will be hard to concentrate on football this week.
“I don’t know how we’ll deal with it, except we’ll all do it together,” he said.
Fans already had begun a makeshift memorial by laying flowers on a field near the front entrance to the Redskins’ practice facility in Ashburn, Va.
“This is a terrible, terrible tragedy,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said.
He added the team would honor Taylor with a patch on the jersey and the No. 21 on the helmet.
Once again the sports world was struck by a tragedy and it is a grim reminder that the world of professional sports is just a game. Life is the most sacred thing in this world and something needs to be done in this nation to stop all these senseless killings.
It shouldn’t take the death of a star athlete to open peoples eyes across this wonderful country to see that we need to crack down immediately on violent crimes.
America is the best and most powerful country in the world. The freedom Americans have to do whatever they want is the reason their is no better place to live in the world than the United States of America.
America should not be a place where you are killed in your own home with your girlfriend and child by your side. Its time for the government to start worrying more about the problems of this country and let the other countries around the world take care of their own problems.
The AP contributed to this story.
NFL POWER RANKINGS - WEEK 12
November 27, 2007
While the usual suspects remain at the top of this week’s Hookscenter Power Poll, its time to start talking about who is at the bottom of the poll.
The Miami Dolphins lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 3-0, at the Big Ketchup Bottle in the lowest scoring game in the history of Monday Night Football.
The loss dropped the Dolphins to 0-11 on the season and they are in jeopardy of becoming the second team since the NFL merger to go winless in a season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 in their inaugural season in 1976.
A terrible field and horrendous weather caused the Steelers and Dolphins to rewind to an era in the NFL, a time when points came at a premium and the first team to score usually came out victorious.
They slopped through what only could be described as a bog at best at Heinz Field, nearly going the entire night without any team scoring.
Jeff Reed’s 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds left gave the Steelers a 3-0 victory against the Dolphins, the first time in 64 years an NFL game went that long without any points.
It was the league’s lowest-scoring game since Dec. 11, 1993, when the New York Jets beat Washington 3-0. The Detroit Lions and New York Giants played the NFL’s last scoreless tie on Nov. 7, 1943.
Miami’s start is the worst for any team since the Lions began 0-12 in 2001. They finished 2-14.
The Dolphins best chance to win a game is this weekend as they host the struggling New York Jets (2-9) Sunday in South Florida.
The Dolphins remaining four games include road games at Buffalo (5-6) and New England (11-0) while they host Baltimore (4-7) and Cincinnati (4-7).
At least if the New England Patriots do go undefeated and tie the 1972 Dolphins as the only teams to go unbeaten in the regular season since the merger, at least the 1972 Phins can still get the champagne each season. Only this time they will be toasting the winless team each year instead of the undefeated team.
1. New England (11-0), 2. Green Bay (10-1), 3. Dallas (10-1), 4. Indianapolis (9-2), 5. Pittsburgh (8-3), 6. Jacksonville (8-3), 7. Cleveland (7-4), 8. Seattle (7-4), 9. Tampa Bay (7-4), 10. New York Giants (7-4), 11. Tennessee (6-5), 12. San Diego (6-5), 13. Detroit (6-5), 14. Arizona (5-6), 15. Washington (5-6), 16. Philadelphia (5-6), 17. Buffalo (5-6), 18. Denver (5-6), 19. New Orleans (5-6), 20. Houston (5-6), 21. Chicago (5-6), 22. Minnesota (5-6), 23. Carolina (4-7), 24. Baltimore (4-7), 25. Kansas City (4-7), 26. Cincinnati (4-7), 27. Atlanta (3-8), 28. Oakland (3-8), 29. San Francisco (3-8), 30. St. Louis (2-9), 31. New York Jets (2-9), 32. Miami (0-11).
PATRIOTS REMAIN UNBEATEN WITH WIN OVER PHILLY
November 26, 2007
The only thing standing between the New England Patriots and an undefeated season is road games against Baltimore and the New York Giants and home dates with Pittsburgh, Miami, and the New York Jets.
We might not be having this conversation today however if it weren’t for some questionable play calling late in the Patriots, 31-28, win over the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night in Foxborough.
The Eagles, a 24 1/2 point underdog, moved the ball downfield on the Patriots defense at will and were well within David Akers field goal range when the Eagles made the blunder of the game.
A.J. Feeley had completed four straight and five of six passing attempts as the Eagles moved the ball to the Patriots 35-yard line. The Eagles then ran Westbrook for six yards setting up a second down and four yards from the Pats 29. A great spot for an offensive coordinator to take a shot at the endzone but with 3:58 left in the game, it was time to run the ball and milk the clock.
The Eagles tried for the dagger but Feeley threw a horrendous pass that easily intercepted by Asante Samuel in the endzone. The Patriots took over and were forced to punt but with only 18 seconds left the Eagles valiant effort would not be rewarded this night.
The effort and effective game plan the Eagles used against the Patriots has to give the rest of the teams fighting for the playoffs a glimmer of hope because the Patriots showed Sunday night that they can be vulnerable.
Shortly after Tom Brady took the final kneel down and sealed the Patriots win, head coach Bill Belichick walked to mifield to shake hands with Eagles head coach Andy Reid before turning his attention to the game’s most important figure.
That would be Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, whom Belichick patted on the back.
Belichick was the first to congratulate him but I guarantee you he wasn’t the last. Johnson’s game plan came this close to shutting down the game’s most explosive and most productive offense - THREE POINTS.
The credit goes to the coaches for their game plans and the players who executed them the way they did,” Reid said.
The credit goes especially to Johnson, who had his defense playing so well it blanked New England on five of its six second-half drives. One problem: The one that it didn’t check was the one that decided this game — a 69-yard march punctuated by a Laurence Maroney touchdown run.
For the first time this year, Tom Brady didn’t throw at least three touchdown passes in a game. He had one TD pass. Randy Moss was a non-factor; he had no second-half receptions. For the first time this year, the Patriots were both shaken and stirred at home and that is good news for remaining opponents of the Patriots.
Sunday night’s game film will be broken down like no other tape has ever been before and even though I don’t see the Patriots losing in the regular season, I see a team, after disecting this film, that will find a way to win in Foxborough come January.
The Patriots are still the clear-cut favorite to win Super Bowl XLII in Phoenix later on this season, but after Sunday nights game, eleven other teams now have a ray of hope that the almighty Patriots can be beaten with the right game plan if it is executed to or near perfection.
The rest of the league and non-Patriots fans would like to say thank you to the Philadelphia coaching staff for uncovering a kink in the armor of Hoodie and his Boys.
THE CURSE OF THE CARDINALS STRIKES AGAIN
November 25, 2007
The Arizona Cardinals once again Sunday let a certain victory slip through their hands as they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 37-31, in overtime.
This game turned out to be one of the better games of the day as the two teams combined for 926 yards of total offense but it was a defensive play that ended the game.
With a little over five minutes left in overtime, Warner was hit by Ronald Fields and fumbled in the Arizona end zone, and Tully Banta-Cain recovered for a touchdown. The win over the Cardinals ended the 49ers’ eight-game losing streak. The 49ers are 2-0 this year against the Cardinals and 1-8 against the rest of the league.
The Cardinals wasted a phenomenal performance by Warner as he completed 34 of 48 passes for 484 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted twice early. His completions included a desperation 47-yarder to Larry Fitzgerald to put the Cardinals (5-6) ahead 21-17 as the half ended.
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to win the game in overtime as Warner hit Sean Morey with a 62 yard pass as Morey raced deep into 49ers territory. Three straight rushes by Edgerrin James left the Cardinals at the 12 yard-line of the 49ers.
Game over - Drive home safely please.
Not so fast - remember this is the Arizona Cardinals we are talking about. I mean, come on, all the Cardinals had to due was hit a 27-yard field goal to win the game and position themselves nicely for a run at the playoffs.
Nice snap, good hold, kick straight through the uprights. Cardinals win and take over the last wild card spot in the NFC heading into week 13. Sounds great except for one thing. The Cardinals were flagged for delay of game (Arizona had two timeouts left) and the ball was moved back five yards.
Let’s try it again. Nice snap, good hold, and the kick is wide left. No good. Rackers and the Cardinals are bitten by the curse once again.
The game should’ve never went into overtime. Poor clock management by the Cardinals and the worst timeout I have ever seen taken in an NFL game cost the Cardinals a chance to win the game in regulation.
Trailing 31-28 with a little over a minute left, Warner completed five straight passes for 84 yards in the final 1:11. His last went 30 yards to Bryant Johnson, who slid out of bounds inside the San Francisco 1 with 6 seconds left.
The Cardinals had one timeout left and were literally inches away from the goal line. The clock was stopped on Johnson’s reception. A perfect place to run a quarterback sneak.
Game over - Drive home safely please.
Not so fast - remember this is the Arizona Cardinals we are talking about. The Cardinals for some reason take a timeout, their last one, with the clock already stopped. Being left without a timeout, the Cardinals were forced to throw the ball and Warner’s pass to Johnson fell incomplete.
Rackers kicked a 19-yard field goal as time expired to sent the game into overtime.
To date, with the overtime loss, that Cardinals record stands at 460 wins and 674 losses since the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association in 1920.
In pro football, your record is there for everyone to see. And the Cardinals have had the worst record out there since the very beginning of the game.
The curse lives on in Phoenix.
NFL PREVIEW - WEEK 12
November 24, 2007
If your talking about parity in sports, all you have to do is look at this weekend’s games in the National Football League. There are 13 games slated for this weekend in the NFL and not one of those games match teams with winning records.
If you include the three games played on Thanksgiving Day, there is only one game during week 12 of the NFL that matches winning teams against each other.
The Green Bay Packers (9-1) traveled to Detroit (6-4) to take on the Lions at Ford Field on Turkey Day. The Packers recorded their 10th win of the season as they crushed the Lions, 37-26, in a game where Brett Favre threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns.
The National Football League is the biggest sports business entity in the world and they can put whatever product they want out on the field and people will come to the games and watch them on TV because their product is so good.
Maybe the other major sports in America should take a look at how the NFL operates and model their sports against the way the NFL is run. I don’t agree with everything the NFL does, including some of the rules of the game, but it is the only league that can put losing teams on a field and still sellout the stadiums.
Take a look at South Florida where the Florida Marlins and Miami Dolphins play their home games in Dolphin Stadium (capacity: 75,625 football/47,662 baseball).
The Marlins have won two World Series titles in just a little over 10 years of being in existence. The Marlins, once considered a team to be eliminated by MLB, was last in attendance in baseball last year. The last place Marlins drew an average of 16,919 fans per game to Dolphin Stadium.
The Dolphins are the only winless team in the NFL at 0-10 this season. The Dolphins are averaging 73,196 fans per home game this season. That number includes a home game they played in London were they drew 81,176 fans for a game against the New York Giants. The average attendance at Dolphin Stadium for their other four home games is 71,200.
Attendance isn’t just a problem is South Florida between MLB and the NFL. The bottom 12 teams in attendance in MLB play in NFL cities that sellout their stadiums for every home game of the season.
While the cry from MLB and other major sports is that they play a longer schedule than the NFL, it is plain to see that the NFL is a superior product and always will be until the other sports change their ways.
Parity sucks in most sports but the one that it can survive in is the National Football League. Their is nothing better in the world of sports than watching professional football from the opening of training camp through the Super Bowl.
It usually isn’t good when you marquee matchup for the weekend is either the San Diego Chargers (5-5) hosting the Baltimore Ravens (4-6) or the Denver Broncos (5-5) traveling to Chicago to take on the 4-6 Bears.
Only in the National Football League does PARITY work.
DUEL IN DALLAS - PART II
November 23, 2007
The National Football League has been very entertaining so far this year. The league through next week will have already featured Duel In Dallas - Part I, Duel in Dallas - Part II, Duel In the Dome, Super Bowl XLI 1/2, and Super Bowl XLI 3/4.
The Duel in Dallas - Part I took placed in week 6 at Texas Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys hosted the New England Patriots. In a rare battle of 5-0 teams, the Patriots stomped the Cowboys as badly as everyone else they’ve faced so far, winning 48-27 Sunday behind a career-best five touchdown passes from Tom Brady.
The Duel in the Dome, also known as Super Bowl XLI 1/2, took place in week 9 as the Indianapolis Colts hosted the New England Patriots.
No running up the score that week. Against the Colts, the Patriots had to struggle just to survive.
Survive they did, staying on course for an unbeaten season as Tom Brady threw two of his three touchdown passes in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis, 24-20.
The win, in perhaps the NFL’s biggest regular-season game ever, kept the Patriots (9-0) on course for the NFL’s first unbeaten season since Miami did it in 1972 and gives them the first tiebreaker over Indianapolis (7-1) in the AFC playoffs.
The Duel in Dallas - Part II, also being referred to as Super Bowl XLI 3/4, takes place next Thursday night as the Dallas Cowboys (10-1) host the Green Bay Packers (10-1) in a game that should decide home field advantage in the NFC throughout the playoffs.
Next week’s showdown with the Cowboys isn’t the Packers only concern.
The Packers are reeling from injuries suffered in their 37-26 win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field.
Receiver Donald Driver, defensive backs Charles Woodson and Aaron Rouse, right tackle Mark Tauscher and defensive linemen Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Ryan Pickett and Colin Cole were among the players hurt in the game.
Cole broke his forearm and will be out for at least one game, but McCarthy said the status of the other players for Thursday night at Dallas won’t be known until early next week.
The Packers, winners of six straight, and Dallas share the best record in the NFC at 10-1.
While the questions began in earnest about the significance of the game and its implications for the playoffs, McCarthy is placing a higher priority on getting his team well again for the long term.
“I just think you need to be smart with injuries at this time of year,” he said. “We have five games left, and I understand the importance and the excitement of the upcoming game at Dallas, but we just need to be smart as we go through these individual injuries and keep in mind there’s a lot of football left.”
Never mind that the winner of the impending matchup will have the inside track to home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
“I don’t think it would be smart to treat this as a playoff game, where there’s so much that rides on the outcome of this game,” McCarthy said. “We plan on winning the football game. We’ll do everything in our power from our preparation to win this football game. But, we’re going to be smart with the football team because there’s a lot of football left to be played.”
Brett Favre is 2-8 all-time against the Cowboys. Favre has never won in Texas Stadium were he is 0-8 in his career. The closest the Packers have come to beating the Cowboys at Texas Stadium during the Favre Era is a pair of 10-points losses. The Packers lost to the Cowboys 27-17 in 1994 and 34-24 in 1995.
Green Bay has won two of the last three matchups with Dallas. The Packers pounded the Cowboys 41-20 in 2004 at Lambeau Field in front of a then record crowd of 70,679.
The Cowboys are currently a 5 point favorite in the Duel in Dallas - Part II. The game will only be broadcasted in the local markets of the Cowboys and Packers otherwise if you want to watch Super Bowl XLI 3/4 you need to have the NFL Network.
NFL PREDICTIONS WEEK 12 AGAINST THE SPREAD
November 22, 2007
Three of the top four teams in the current Hookscenter Power Poll were in action on Thanksgiving Day. All three showed why their currently ranked that high as none of the games on Turkey Day were even close.
Indianapolis righted the ship somewhat with a convincing, 31-13, win over the Falcons in the Thursday night game from Atlanta. Peyton Manning threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns as the Colts improved to 9-2 on the season.
Atlanta raced off to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but any thoughts the Falcons (3-8) had of pulling off a huge upset were quickly wiped out by Manning. He threw all three of his TD passes in the second quarter, going 23 yards to Reggie Wayne, 8 yards to Dallas Clark and 5 yards to Ben Utecht.
Anthony Gonzalez returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with a broken thumb. Gonzalez was Manning’s favorite target as he caught six balls for a 105 yards. He hauled in a 35-yard pass that set up Wayne’s TD and a 32-yarder that led to Clark’s score.
Gonzalez’s returned was a boost to the Colts offense still plagued by injures. Perennial Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison missed his fifth consecutive game with an ailing left knee. Indy also was missing two starting linemen, Tony Ugoh and Ryan Diem.
The Colts (9-2) have a 1 1/2-game lead on Jacksonville (7-3) in the AFC South and the weekend off. They will return Monday to begin preparations for the Jaguars’ visit to the RCA Dome next Sunday.
Buffalo (5-5) plays at Jacksonville on Sunday.
Green Bay beat Detroit, 37-26, at Ford Field and Dallas destroyed the New York Jets at home, 34-3, in the other two games played on Thanksgiving Day.
The wins by the Packers (10-1) and Cowboys (10-1) set up next Thursday’s showdown between the two teams at Texas Stadium. The game will be televised on the NFL Network.
If the Indianapolis-New England game earlier this month was hyped as Super Bowl 41 1/2, the Cowboys-Packers clash might as well get billed as Super Bowl 41 3/4. It has all the elements: Famous franchises and marquee quarterbacks, with the chance to force or avoid a late-January trip to Lambeau Field possibly on the line. There’s also the juicy subplot of Romo having grown up in Wisconsin, back when Favre was winning MVPs and leading the Packers to Super Bowls.
“I still root them on, although slowly I’m starting to root against them,” Romo said, adding that he caught a little of Favre’s season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-26 victory over Detroit on television before this game kicked off.
“He was good — a little bit too good,” Romo said, laughing. “Hopefully he had his best game of the year today.”
5 Star Pick of the Week (4-3): Green Bay (-3) @ Detroit, Dallas (-14 1/2) vs NY Jets, and Indianapolis (-12) @ Atlanta.
4 Star Picks of the Week (7-13-1): Cleveland (-4 1/2) vs Houston, Seattle (-3) vs St. Louis, and New Orleans (-1) @ Carolina.
Rest of the Week (37-31-2): Chicago (-2 1/2) vs Denver, Cincinnati (+1) vs Tennessee, Jacksonville (-9 1/2) vs Buffalo, Kansas City (-6) vs Oakland, NY Giants (-7 1/2) vs Minnesota, Tampa Bay (-3 1/2) vs Washington, Arizona (-10) vs San Francisco, San Diego (-9 1/2) vs Baltimore, Philadelphia (+23 1/2) vs New England, and Pittsburgh (-14 1/2) vs Miami.
Overall record: 48-47-3.