Philadelphia Recap Wk 15

PHI Recap Wk 15

Offense makes up for Defense

Sunday night's game was a huge one for Dallas, pretty much a make or break for this season. If they win, they improve their chances of getting in to the big dance, and if they lose, they need a lot of other stuff to happen to have a chance at all.

Luckily, it turned out in Dallas's favor 38-27, but the score nowhere nearly represents how stressful the game was for the second and third quarters. Dallas started off by putting up 21 unanswered points against Philly. After that, Dallas clicked into December mode. The two defensive three-and-outs they had against Philly's O faded away as (and this seemed to be the case for practically the rest of the game) any first down the Eagles got ensured a scoring drive thereafter. Philly stampeded back 24-21, and both teams traded blows.

What changed the game late in the third quarter was Brent Celek's immaculate timing on a fumble that Jason Garrett had to throw the challenge flag on to get it looked at. Dallas took over in plus territory and found Dez Bryant where he was all night- the lower right section of the endzone.

Personally, I don't feel like Dallas will make it very far in the playoffs if they do make it- their defense is swiss cheese, both up front on the run and downfield on the pass. Mark Sanchez found receivers way too easily downfield, and even when they weren't passing, McCoy was well able to gash them up front. Playoff caliber teams are decent on BOTH sides of the ball, not just one, and we can't rely on Romo and the offense, especially this late in the season, to do it for us.

Boys/Jags Precap 11/9

Cowboys/Jaguars 11/9

Most likely another win, but they'll make it interesting first.

If this past weekend proved anything, it's that Dallas cannot survive without Romo. Although Weeden came in the week before and did an okay job relatively speaking, he came out this weekend and looked like a deer in headlights. Coaching wasn't on point either. Whenever Demarco Murray gets 20 or more carries in a game, Dallas has an overwhelming winning record. He had a season low number of carries on Sunday, showing that Dallas broke away from their gameplan- something that was noticeable about halfway through the game. The Cardinals also picked up Washington's strategy of blitzing the hell out of the offense, and being relatively successful at doing so. 

This week, Dallas has a London game against Jacksonville, and once again, the team owner has to put Romo on the spot two days after he suffered an injury in the same area he had to have surgery on before the season. Jerry Jones essentially called Romo out, saying that he expected Romo to play this upcoming week, although whether or not he did was dependent on the QB's level of "pain tolerance"

What I'm forecasting is that the Cowboys will win this one, but Romo will get re-injured because of the pressure being placed on him to play. 

The first quarter will be a dominant, run-heavy one for Dallas as Romo comes out and gets comfortable with the run/pass balance. Dallas will put up two TD's, and Jacksonville may put up a field goal. 

In the second quarter, the Dallas D will improve as they settle in to Jacksonville's looks, but the offense will slow down and get sluggish as Jacksonville begins to get more frustrated and blitz-happy. The only TD Dallas MAY see in the second quarter will come on the ground. 

In the third, if Romo is still in by this point, Dallas comes out sluggish and cocky by the lead they have acquired. They let up a TD and a field goal in the third quarter, so I'm predicting the 3Q score to be in the vicinity of 21/24-13/17.

In the 4th, I'm hedging my bets on Weeden being in. Although he did a bad job last week, he'll be a good set of fresh legs on the field who can pick apart an already tired defense. If he can't do it, Dallas will fall back on their running game to move up the field and it will most likely be successful. I'm predicting the final score to be 31/34-16/20.

Cheers,

J

Week 9 Around the NFL

This post will be updated until Saturday night.

Monday- Jets circus continues.

Rex Ryan announced Monday that Michael Vick will start next game against the Chiefs. I don't care how die-hard of a fan you may be of the Jets, but this team needs to clean house. Ryan and Idzik don't have a positive relationship, New York is in the middle of yet ANOTHER QB controversy, and their defense is terrible. They have no shot of doing anything in the playoffs. If anybody wants to bet on it, I'll match you.

Wednesday- RGIII to start against Vikings, Romo is "Game Day Decision"

This weekend, Cowboy karma will indeed strike back against the Skins, and they'll only have their coaching staff to blame. I know it is commonly said that a starter should never lose his spot to injury, but that doesn't mean a backup can't take a spot from a starter for outperforming him. Colt McCoy is the QB the Skins need right now, and RGIII is a walking injury waiting to happen. He relies too much on his legs and pays for it dearly. McCoy had the perfect balance this past week, running when it made sense and sitting in the pocket at the right times. His play style alone justifies starting him this week, but hey, Skins coaching staff must know something I don't. 

I don't trust a word that comes out of Dallas's front office when it comes to Romo's injury. Dallas will be at home, and fans aren't paying to see Weeden. Jerry Jones is all about filling seats and generating media hype. He'll be pushing strong for Romo to play this week, and with Garrett being the complacent coach he is, we can probably expect Romo to play barring something serious being discovered about his back issue.