For the Dallas Cowboys’ Passing Game ,There Is Life After T.O.!

This Sunday the Dallas Cowboys answered the critical question: How will the passing game survive after the departure of wide receiver Terrell Owens?
 
A 34-21 victory over the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay was a good start for the 2009 season. But the score could have been higher for the Cowboys.
 
Without the drama or the popcorn that we had come to expect from Owens, the Cowboys looked like a team more focused under the leadership of quarterback Tony Romo.

Even Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett looked more in control of the scripting of plays.
 
Romo passed for a career high 353 yards. He completed 16/27 for 59.3% avg. not the completion percentage we are use to seeing from Romo.

Romo didn’t have to rely in “Old Faithful” Jason Witten who had 5 for 71 yds, but was able to find his receivers for three long TD’s.

Miles Austin – 42 yds.

Roy Williams – 66 yds.

Patrick Clayton – 80 yds.

The rest of the passing game 13 catches for 165 yds.

Jason Witten 5 – 71 yds.

Roy Williams 2 – 20 yds. 

Patrick Clayton 3 – 55 yds.

Tashard Choice 2 – 6 yds.

Martellis Bennett 1 – 13 yds.

The first quarter started slow as Romo was having trouble connecting with his receivers, perhaps first game jitters. Romo missed connecting with his wide open receivers numerous times.

Romo’s timing seemed off as he seemed to force plays, end resulting in Romo overthrowing wide open receivers or throwing slightly behind them.

As we are accustomed to seeing, the Cowboys Offensive-line provided Romo with ample time to get rid of the ball, with superb upfront blocking.

It appeared that Romo wasn’t patient with himself, as he seemed to force plays during the first half. But he slowly found his receivers and started to settle down.

The Cowboys have size and speed in their receiving core, they were easily able to outrun the Buccaneers secondary. The yards after the catch had me thinking T.O. who?

One big improvement for Romo was 0 interceptions. Still playing on his luck, Romo came close to turning the ball over more than once when he was flushed out of the pocket.

Luckily for the Cowboys Romo’s improvisation was limited and didn’t cost them in turnovers today. Perhaps Garrett is wielding control over this team after all.

The Cowboys can consider the Buccaneers as a full dress rehearsal, with next weeks opponent being the New York Giants in Dallas.

Romo will need to be more on target against the Giants than he was against the Buccaneers, for the margin for error will be a whole lot smaller.

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Hunter Hillenmeyer Filling Big Shoes For Chicago Bears

The Bears believe we’ll see a different Hunter Hillenmeyer now as Brian Urlacher’s replacement than the one who held the job when their perennial Pro Bowl middle linebacker suffered a series of injuries in 2004.

With Urlacher out for the season due to a dislocated wrist, Hillenmeyer is being counted on to man the middle. The Bears went 0-7 in 2004 without Urlacher. 

“We feel that Hunter has the best grasp of the entire defense, being in that role, and our team is comfortable with him playing, and again he played well last night,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday at Halas Hall after announcing the end of Urlacher’s season.

To be sure, the Bears had options. There was the possibility of moving Lance Briggs from the weak side to the middle.

“I don’t need to move,” Briggs said. “Hunter is capable. Hunter is very capable, more than capable.

“We’ve had good depth at our linebacker position.”

They also had the opportunity to sign former Bucs star Derrick Brooks, who played under Smith with the Bucs and knows the Bears’ system like the back of his hand.

Trouble is, it’s an aging hand, 36 years old, too old even to land him a job with New Orleans or Oakland.

“We’re probably looking more at guys maybe with special teams value but a guy who can play also,” Smith said, which pretty much rules out Brooks. “We’ll keep all of our options open.”

The options closed quickly after Smith said that because it took about five minutes and the Bears signed former Panther and Jaguar linebacker Tim Shaw to help special teams. He was second on the Panthers in special teams tackles in 2007.

The Bears’ defense on Sunday held a Packer offense that hadn’t punted in preseason to 226 yards, including 122 when Hillenmeyer was on the field. Of the 226 yards, 50 came on one play to win the game. The Packers had no sustained touchdown drives beyond the last one and that came on a mistake that Smith on Monday all but admitted was the fault of safety Kevin Payne for not providing deep support for cornerback Nate Vasher.

“I judge our (current) defense based on how we played the time that Brian was hurt or out until the end of that game,” Briggs said. “And that’s the type of defense we have to play, minus that big play at the end of  the game.

“We played shutout defense. When you get an offense that gets 220 total yards and most of it comes on the last play of the game, that’s the type of defense,” he said.

Hillenmeyer played strong side linebacker for the Bears part of 2004 through part of 2008 and had expected to compete for the spot with Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa in training camp.But they never really got the chance.

Coaches put him at backup middle linebacker and now it’s looking like a blessing in disguise because he got more practice reps in the middle than any time since 2004.

“Truth be told, at the start of training camp I wanted to be over on the strong side to compete for a starting job there, but it turns out to be a good thing that I got that experience, and it’s not anything new,” he said. “Even though it’s been since my second year in the league that I’ve played middle linebacker, I’ve been the backup nickel middle linebacker for years. So assignment-wise and comfort-wise from a practice standpoint, it’s not anything new. It’s just a little different in game situations.”

Hillenmeyer has had success in the middle, even if it wasn’t in the NFL.

“Honestly, I feel more comfortable in the middle,” he said. “My best year in college was the one year out of four (at Vanderbilt) that I played in the middle. I loved playing middle when I got the chance in my second year, but obviously, you know, with a guy like Brian here, I was never going to get to play in the middle except for something like this happening.”

Hillenmeyer is well aware of the 0-7 record the Bears had in 2004 when he played the middle.

“We were also not the same football team then,” he said.

The Bears were in Smith’s first year as coach and Hillenmeyer’s first real year as a contributor.

“But it’s a team sport,” Hillenmeyer said. “There is no one guy that can have that profound of an impact so as important as (Urlacher) is, we need everybody to step their game up and the difference for me is when I was filling in for him then, those were my first starts as an NFL football player. That was a long time ago. That was six years ago. Hopefully, I have learned and I will have a lot more experience and a lot more comfort factor out there than I would have then.”

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Detroit Lions Notch a Good Loss in New Orleans

Everyone just calm down.

I’ve heard a whole lot of comparisons to the 2008 Detroit Lions after Sunday’s 45-27 trampling at the hands of  the New Orleans Saints.

It’s understandable; they did lose by 18 points, and they are the 2009 Lions. It’s natural to compare them to last year’s version.

As I remember, though, the 2008 Lions lost to roughly the same Saints 42-7, and that was without an injury to their top cornerback against the league’s most prolific passer.

So let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Yes, the Lions lost. Yes, it was an 18-point loss, and their 18th-straight loss. Yes, they became the first modern-era team to have a losing streak spanning three seasons. No, they didn’t even cover a double-digit spread (13).

Yes, Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes and a second-string running back had a career day. Yes, Matthew Stafford had a bad day, showing his inability to finish drives and a propensity to throw interceptions at the worst possible time (two of his picks were caught inside the 20-yard line).

Kevin Smith was shut down and Calvin Johnson had only three catches, though one was for what should have been a long touchdown.

Heard enough? Good. I know the Lions lost big, and in many ways it looked very bad. Now let me follow that up with two very important words:

So what?

That’s right, I don’t care. Anybody who expected to open the season in New Orleans with a big, statement-making win needs to start up a support group with Joey “Blue Skies” Harrington, Jon “10 Wins” Kitna, and Kevin “20 Touchdowns” Smith.

Temper your expectations, people. If you didn’t believe it before, believe it now. We are not looking at a playoff team. Deal with that. The Lions are going to lose a lot of games this season, and the Saints are one of the toughest games on the schedule, so what’s the problem?

Now, having said that, with as bad as it looked, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

See, despite the final score, the game wasn’t a blowout. At no point did the Saints pull their starters and start beating down the Lions with second-string players. In fact, it was still a reasonably winnable game (though a long shot) until Stafford’s third interception.

Though they never led, the Lions never trailed by more than the 18 points they lost by. In fact, after falling behind by 14 points early on, they battled back to within four points early in the second quarter.

At any given point, the Lions were one missed opportunity away from making it a much closer game.

Much of that has to do with Stafford. The interceptions he threw were momentum-killers, and he was unable to get touchdowns instead of turnovers or field goals.

But he’s a rookie quarterback, and he’s making rookie quarterback mistakes. This is his first real game against NFL competition, and therefore the first in which he must realize that his gifted right arm is not enough to carry him to success without  good decision-making.

His problems and mistakes are coachable, and he will learn, but expecting him to know it before he steps foot on the field is unrealistic. These are games Stafford has to have before he learns what throws he can make at this level and how.

For that matter, these are games the entire Lions team has to have.

They fought hard, but at the end of the day, they were outgunned. The Saints are a team thinking playoffs, and the Lions are looking to snap an 18-game skid.

I’m not going to say this is a moral victory, because I don’t believe in moral victories. For a team that hasn’t won a game in almost two years, the only moral victory this season will be the numeral “one” on the left side of a hyphen.

That being said, as losses go, this one could have been worse. The Lions were supposed to lose this game, and they did, but they didn’t perform below any reasonable set of expectations.

They will get better, visibly, as the season goes on. More than half of this year’s 53-man roster was not on last year’s 53-man roster, so chemistry is a major issue.

And hey, the Lions have all kinds of issues, all over the field. We know this, but don’t throw them under the bus yet.

The only question right now is whether the Lions are playing better than last year, and if they’re headed in the right direction.

After one game, the answers to both questions are yes. It’s unusual to say that after a 18-point loss, but this is a team under unusual circumstances, who lost to the same team by 35 points last season.

So everyone calm down and enjoy the show. Start a pool at the office for the Lions’ first win. Smile politely at the guy who picks “2010.”  But don’t be that guy, don’t throw your hands up in September.

This ride is only beginning, and it will get better soon.

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Meet The New Browns; Same As The Old Browns

We just got fooled again.

For 30 minutes of football, the Browns, in the words of former head coach Butch Davis, played their guts out.

While the offense continued to lack the competency it has not consistently shown since the days of Lindy Infante, the D was actually (gasp) pressuring the quarterback, keeping All-Pro Adrian Peterson in check, and thanks to Browns MVP Josh Cribbs (no one can or will come close this year), they actually led at halftime.

It’s one thing to forget college calculus over a decade later. I’ve done that.

But, the Browns forgot how to tackle in the span of a 15-minute intermission.

Call the EPA and the CDC to inspect the locker room for whatever causes this amnesia. My tongue in cheek prediction of 52-9 was not far off in reality, as Peterson shredded the D in the second half.

When was the last time the Browns could stop the run? 1994?

Deposed offensive coordinator Bruce Arians must have come back to the lakefront. The Wildcat formation twice in a row in a goal-to-go situation?

Jamal Lewis was running more like age 25 than 30 at that point, and we have a couple of big dudes named Thomas and Steinbach on the OL. WTF?

Brady Frye was sacked five times, and although he finished with a completion percentage over 60 percent, that was only possible thanks to a garbage-time touchdown going up against a second-string Vikings defense that was in a deep prevent .

Brady Dorsey’s/Pederson’s/Detmer’s fumble was a thing of beauty. Passes should go forward in the NFL. Just saying.

In the first quarter, there was actual crowd noise at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Lew Merletti, former head of the Secret Service and currently in charge of security at Mistake on The Lake v. 2.0, must have been going nuts.

One more quarter of that, and the National Guard may have been deployed.

Not to worry, by the time the fourth quarter came, the familiar sea of empty seats watched the action. Fifty-yard-line seats still remain for the December 27 game against Oakland.

Now, back to the quarterback.

Earlier this decade, there was a bowl game that quarterback played against Ohio State. He was punished by the Buckeye defense, and the outcome was never in doubt.

Instead of airing it out when behind, that quarterback dinked and dunked his way downfield to a garbage time touchdown to make the final score 34-20 in a game that wasn’t that close.

What was the final score again Sunday? Was the game even that close?

In that Fiesta Bowl, that quarterback’s numbers didn’t look that bad, but he was completely ineffective. The line from Sunday didn’t look abysmal, but one play in particular stands out.

That QB had an eternity to throw, and another QB on the roster would have fired a deep laser to a receiver.

Given all day to throw, where did that QB throw it? About three yards forward when he had open receivers downfield. OK, pad the QB rating, scoreboard be damned.

NFL defensive backs tend to come from places like Ohio State, LSU and Florida; not Army, Navy and Air Force.

Even for Randy Lerner, money’s tighter these days than it has been since the Great Depression.

If a certain QB does not take 70% of the snaps this year, the Browns either save $6.23 million or $11 million in performance incentives.

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the number is $11 million.

From the looks of this, Lerner will save his money.

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Offense To Blame For Bengals’ Stunning Loss

It’s been over 24 hours since the Cincinnati Bengals’ stunning last-second loss to the Denver Broncos and the focus has been placed squarely on the Bengals’ secondary.

Never mind that the defense had limited Denver to just over 200 yards total up until that point or that Brandon Stokley and Brandon Marshal had combined for exactly four catches, all by Marshall. Every pundit, every fan and every “expert” has taken their shots at the team’s defensive backs.

Leon Hall should have knocked the ball down, they said. The safeties should have been playing back, they said. Somebody should have been shadowing Stokley, they said.

What’s lost in the conversation is not only is the criticism of the secondary flat-out wrong, but it also takes the blame away from the real culprit for the Bengals’ loss: The offense.

The play in question, for those who somehow missed it, involved Denver quarterback Kyle Orton forcing a pass into triple-coverage, Hall batting the ball away and Stokley somehow coming up with the ball and racing 87 yards for the winning score.

Should Hall have knocked the ball to the ground? Sure, but the third-year corner also made a remarkable play to get the ball, leaping nearly three feet in the air. From the angle that the ball hit Hall’s outstretched fingers, it is physically impossible for the ball to go anywhere but up.

No, what Hall attempted to do was make a play for his team. If the ball falls harmlessly out of bounds or to the turf, he’s the hero. As it turns out, he’s the goat.

But the bottom line is that the game should not have come down to one fluke play. At the end of the day, the Bengals’ defense allowed a grand total of 12 points. If you hold an NFL team to less than 17 points, 99 times out of 100 you’re going to win.

No, the blame for the loss falls on an offense that has been in a free fall since the 2005 season. That year, quarterback Carson Palmer led one of the league’s most explosive units and the Bengals seemed to score at will.

Over the next two years, the offense steadily declined. Sure, the team racked up a ton of yards (the barometer for NFL rankings), but the team couldn’t score any points (what you actually play for). It all came to a head last year when Palmer was injured and the offense fell apart.

This year was supposed to be different. The team upgraded itself at every offensive position and got a healthy Palmer back under center. Chad OchoCinco was happy, there were new running backs and the offensive line was rebuilt.

Yet, there they were on Sunday making the same mistakes. The O-line kept Palmer relatively upright, but was unable to open holes for running back Cedric Benson. OchoCinco caught some passes, but the rest of the Bengals receivers were non-existent.

Denver took away Cincinnati’s best weapon, its wide outs, and gave the team the middle of the field. With T.J. Houshmandzadeh now in Seattle and no NFL caliber tight end on the roster, the Bengals were powerless to exploit the weakness.

Maybe the game was a fluke. Maybe Palmer was still knocking off a bit of rust from playing only one quarter in the preseason. Maybe the O-line just needs a few more quarters to get its act together.

Whatever the reason, the Bengals scored seven points on one of the league’s worst defenses from a year ago and needed 59 minutes and 22 seconds to do just that. They’ll need to score a lot more in the coming weeks if they want to knock off the Packers and Steelers, their next two opponents.

The Bengals need to get a lot better on offense. Just don’t blame the defense for a fluke play at the end of the game.

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No-T.O. Show Silences Host Of Preseason Doubts About Dallas Passing Game

Due to the departure of, as Bill Parcells would say, “The Player,” this offseason, the passing game has unequivocally been the most intriguing question mark out of the many that surrounded this new-look, new-attitude Dallas Cowboys squad coming into the 2009 season.

However, even my ever present optimism couldn’t have seen a performance like Tony Romo and crew put on this past Sunday.

Before I get into the analysis, I would like to provide a little “this is only week one” disclaimer.

While a team’s performance in week one serves to answer a whole host of questions, by no means does it provide any 100 percent, Miss-Cleo-level guarantees about how a team will perform for the entire season.

Week one can provides answers like, “Wow, Carolina should have invested in a viable backup QB,” “Looks like Brad Childress can have the discipline to give AP the carries he needs despite Brett Favre’s presence,” and “10 out of 10 people wish HBO was running a few extra weeks of Hard Knocks to cover the practices after the Broncos game.”

Week one cannot give definitive answers like, “The Eagles have the most dominant defense in the league because they forced seven turnovers,” or “Drew Brees and Tony Romo will each throw for 5,000 yards this season.”

You see, with such a small sample size of work from each team, one cannot tell the flukes from the real deals, the impressive wins from the non-impressive ones, the “upsets” from the “that team actually was that much better than the other team” judgements we can make after, say, week 12.

That is my feeble attempt to address the elephant in the room surrounding the Cowboys’ week one domination: that this offensive explosion was against the “powerhouse” that is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the Bucs do have a very strong cornerback tandem in Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib, common sense would seem to suggest that this was a superior team playing against an inferior team (albeit on the road).

I will therefore try to avoid focusing on the simple eye-popping aggregate stats (353 yards passing for Romo, 135 receiving for Crayton, etc.) and try more to focus on the effectiveness of the strategy behind the passing attack game plan, which should be a topic far less skewed by talent differentials between teams than would a simple comparison of aggregate stats.

 

Three Things to Love About Week One in the Passing Game

Obviously, one would be hard pressed to write a negative article about a game in which Tony Romo sets a career high in single-game passing yardage (353), completes the longest pass of his career (80 yards to Patrick Crayton), extends his career 300 yard passing games to a franchise-record 17, and completes three touchdown passes over 40 yards in one game (hasn’t been done by a Cowboys’ signal caller since 1962).

For the sake of brevity, here are the three most exciting aspects of the passing that manifested themselves on the field in Tampa on Sunday:

1. “Favoritism” on Romo’s Part? Non-Existent

Many critics wondered how Tony Romo would respond without T.O.’s game breaking ability. 

Would T.O.’s departure free Romo up to read the field objectively and allow him to more fully utilize the weapons he had at his disposal, or would it lead to Romo developing Witten Tunnel Vision on every play, thereby exposing him as a product of T.O.’s ability?

Thankfully for Cowboys fans everywhere, the answer after week one overwhelmingly seems to be the former.

Romo was extremely democratic with his 16 completions, completing a pass to six different receivers at all three positions on the field (wide outs, tight ends, and running backs). 

On top of that, no single player had more than five receptions, and the top three receivers on Sunday were only separated by a single reception (Witten with five, Crayton with four, and Roy Williams with three).

One of the largest things I was looking for on Sunday was Romo’s pass distribution among the many weapons he has at his disposal. My biggest fear going into this game was a box score where Witten had 10 catches to Williams’ and Crayton’s three apiece.

Romo ended up spreading the ball effectively and simply taking what the Bucs gave him on defense. That is something something Romo arguably was not able to do every play in 2008, where, in order to keep the mercurial receiver happy, Romo often felt compelled to force the ball to T.O. regardless of if he was covered or not.

While Romo won’t throw for 353 yards every week, as long as he remains willing to take what the defense gives him like he did on Sunday instead of forcing balls into coverage, look for many more huge performances out of the Cowboys passing attack.

2. Jason Garrett’s Successful, and, More Importantly, Adaptable Game Plan

Anybody who was reading my work after the 2008 season knew I was more than underwhelmed with the performance of the Cowboys’ offense last year.

A lot of that blame I put on Jason Garrett’s shoulders for being too proud and inflexible to adapt his game plan to opposing defenses due to the overwhelming success he had in 2007.

If week one is any indication, that was soooo 2008.

By all accounts Tampa Bay’s game plan was to bring extra men into the box to prevent the Cowboys from running the ball, forcing the Cowboys to beat them with their passing attack. 

In conjunction with the departure of T.O., after an entire off season of “the Cowboys need to run the ball more” stories coming out of Valley Ranch, that would seem like the most obvious strategy.

For much of the first half, the Cowboys tried to run out of a non-shotgun, multiple running back and tight end formation while passing out of the spread shotgun offense.  Many of the run plays were stuffed when Tampa brought an extra man into the box when the Cowboys weren’t in the spread.

However, towards the end of the second half, the Cowboys realized that Tampa was going to keep stacking against the run, and ran a majority of their second half plays, regardless of whether they were running or passing, out of the spread shotgun formation.

This forced Tampa to do one of two things: 1) keep stacking the box against the run and opening it up to the big play through the air, or 2) play a pass defense and leave itself vulnerable to the draw up the middle. 

As the box score shows (353 yards passing, 118 yards rushing), Tampa wasn’t able to figure out when to do what and consequently was blown off the field in the second half.

The Cowboys went from using the run to set up the pass to doing the exact opposite based on what the defense was giving them, something I was dying to see out of Jason Garrett’s offense last year. 

If Garrett can become more and more effective at these in game adjustments, expect many more huge passing days out of the offense this year.

3. I Thought T.O. Was The Only Game Breaker in Dallas

While it is still hard to tell whether the plethora of big plays was due to Dallas’ talent or Tampa Bay’s lack thereof, it is safe to conclude that the Cowboys have a lot more people capable of breaking open a game that do not have their own reality show on VH-1.

(By all accounts Brett Michaels is an awesome punt returner…his limbo game needs work though).

While it will be hard to imagine all three wide outs having long touchdown catches in the same game again, I guarantee you Patrick Crayton, Roy Williams, and Miles Austin had defensive coordinators across the league that ended up in neck braces from the strength of the double-take the Cowboys’ box score induced this Sunday.

The timing displayed between Romo’s back-shoulder throw to Miles Austin, and Austin’s subsequent electrifying run after the catch was a sight Cowboys fans have been waiting to see from the promising burner for the last two-plus seasons.

Patrick Crayton serves to benefit from the departure of T.O. more than any receiver on the roster, as the move meant Crayton was starting back at the second WR position instead of being relegated to the slot.

Crayton needed to demonstrate he was able to put up numbers worthy of a No. 2 wide receiver in the National Football League. One 80-yard touchdown and another 44-yard reception later, Crayton showed what he can do to defenses that don’t give him the respect a No. 2 wide receiver deserves.

And suffice it to say, despite all the ridiculous critics who tried to postulate otherwise, 27-year-old Roy Williams can still play wide receiver in the NFL. 

I don’t care who you are playing against, complete slouches don’t catch 66-yard touchdowns in the NFL unless the pass ricochets off a member of the Cincinnatti Bengals first.

 

Three Things That Need To Change After Week 1

Nobody plays a perfect game, no matter what the final score is.  Here are three things the Dallas Cowboys can look to improve upon despite their dominant performance:

1. Roy Williams-Tony Romo Timing

One of the biggest reasons I was excited to see what Roy E. could do this season was because he and Romo had an entire summer to work together and work out the timing so vital to creating a successful QB-WR duo.

While Romo and Williams did connect on some nice plays and a long touchdown, there was a near interception on a third-and-long and a dropped slant on third-and-short that suggests the tandem still has a little work to do.

In the second quarter, Romo launched a pass to the right towards Williams, who was running a comeback route, a route that is often thrown before the receiver has made his break.

In the pairs’ defense, pressure could have forced Romo to throw the ball earlier than Williams expected, but the defender had turned and seen the ball before Williams and almost made a pick on the sideline because the ball arrived just as Roy was turning around.

On the dropped slant, the ball was thrown high and seemed to ricochet off of Williams’ hands and then helmet before bouncing to the ground. That was either a ball thrown in a place Williams didn’t like/didn’t see in time, or a flat out drop by Williams. 

Either way, neither is a possibility you want to consider with your No. 1 wide receiver.

I still look for Romo and Williams to put up impressive numbers this season. However these two plays suggest the pair is still feeling each other out in their first full season on the field together.

2. Lack of Sustained Drives

This might not be something the Cowboys need to improve upon from last week and more something that will need to happen in the coming weeks, but there is another side to the “all three Cowboys’ touchdowns were over 40 yards” coin.

Whether Tampa Bay turns out to be a contender or not this season (all signs point to the latter), one thing is certain: the New York Giants are better, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

One can’t expect a veteran and disciplined defense coming off a dominant performance against Washington to surrender three scoring plays over 40 yards in a single game to ANY opponent. 

I’m not saying the Cowboys shouldn’t keep taking shots down field.

However, much like a basketball team who’s first offensive option is the three-point shot every time down the court (I’m talking to you, Duke fan), a football team that relies exclusively on the big play to score will be more feast-or-famine than Nicole Ritchie.

Against the disciplined and talented defenses of the NFC East, the Cowboys will have to augment their big plays with sustained and well-balanced drives that synergistically combine the short passing and running game to actually set up big plays that might arise organically against less talented teams.

3. Marty B Quiet for the First Time Since Camp Started

I have been predicting great things for Martellus Bennett, easily the most colorful Cowboy and my favorite newcomer to the squad, since the beginning of training camp. Many Twitter updates and YouTube rap video releases later, Bennett finally got to take the field opposite Jason Witten, or, “Rice,” for the first time in a meaningful game.

However, outside of a very nice 13-yard first down grab on an out to the left side of the field, Martellus Bennett was largely absent from the passing game, and seemed to be lost and/or confused in the three-play debacle that stalled the Cowboys’ first drive of the game.

One thing to note is that big plays eliminate red zone possessions, which is the section of the field Martellus Bennett will be most valuable this year.  After all, he did catch four touchdowns in only 20 receptions last year.

However, he was only targeted twice all game (the other being on the only Cowboys’ red zone possession of the game). Bennett has game breaking ability for a tight end, and should be an integral part of the passing game from here on out.

If the Cowboys have any hope in creating the aforementioned sustained drives that will be so integral when playing playoff teams, Martellus Bennett will need to play a much larger role in the passing attack as a whole.

 

FINAL GRADE: A-

The Cowboys shattered personal records and put on an offensive performance only outdone by Drew Brees’ performance against The University of Michigan’s JV Women’s Field Hockey Team that for some reason took the field in Lions jerseys on Sunday.

However, as impressive as the big plays are, long, sustainable drives are what wins tough close games, which the Cowboys will have a lot of playing in the NFC East. 

Big plays lead to highlights. Consistency leads to playoff victories. 

The Cowboys will face a true litmus test in the New York Giants next week during Sunday Night Football.

Let’s hope Tony Romo and Jason Garrett can keep the “No-T.O. Show” going against a bitter division rival.  All signs seem to be pointing in the right direction.

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Believe It: The Jets Are Playoff Contenders

It’s gut-check time for Buffalo, Miami, and New England. Sort of.

After Monday night is over, two of those teams will be walking into next week’s slate of games at 0-1, and staring at the Jets and their seemingly unshakable rookie quarterback with a 1-0 record.

“Broadway” Joe ain’t got nothin’ on this kid Sanchez.

Except a Super Bowl ring, years of experience, and an alcohol addiction that could kill a Rhino.

But still, all the Sanchez haters out there can give it up. The dude was flawless in a 277-yard, one touchdown effort.

Oh, and Rex Ryan has it all figured out. Think about it.

Andre Johnson had 35 yards receiving, Matt Schaub is currently screaming in his bed with a nightmare of the Jets chasing him down, and Steve Slaton is still trying to figure out how he only had 17 yards rushing.

The answer to all of Houston’s issues on Sunday? The Jets are the 2008 Baltimore Ravens, the 2.0 version.

And this is without Calvin Pace. And they’re running their offense through a rookie quarterback.

But that’s just it. This kid isn’t anymore a rookie than Brett Favre isn’t eligible for the senior citizen deal at your local Taco Bell.

Give that man, and hell, Sanchez too, a free soda. Throw in a damn taco.

While Sanchez may have been solely responsible for Houston’s only points (a pick six), he made very few mistakes, completed 18-of-31 passes, and looked in complete control.

But why is this still a shock?

Rex Ryan, who many argue was “basically” Baltimore’a head coach in 2008 (sorry, John Harbaugh), has been here before.

He had solid holdovers on defense from last season.

All he had to do was lure some solid prospects and veterans (Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard) from Baltimore, and Bam!, he has a stud-driven defense.

Oh, and a solid draft on both ends didn’t hurt, either.

Still, so many doubters, not nearly enough time to list them off. And I know it’s only one week. I know it’s just the first of 16 tests the rookie quarterback will endure. But he passed it.

He passed it big time.

Sorry, Clark Judge. This kid’s got it.

And as long as Thomas Jones and company can keep up this whole “supportive offense” thing, we could see some progress on last year’s 9-7 finish.

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Giants Passing Game Off To Good Start

Coming into the season, many experts questioned whether the Giants receivers would be effective enough to give the Giants a chance to win.

Well that question was answered on Sunday.

The Giants passing game was just fine in their 23-17 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Eli Manning routinely had an open receiver to throw to.

Whether it was veterans Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith or rookie Hakeem Nicks or tight end Kevin Boss, there seemed to always be someone open downfield.

And on the rare occasion that there wasn’t, Manning was able to dump the ball off to Brandon Jacobs or Ahmad Bradshaw.

As expected, Steve Smith was the Giants most targeted receiver, catching six passes for 80 yards. Smith was able to shake coverage seemingly every play, despite lining up on the edge most of the day. Smith has shown throughout his career he is more comfortable as a slot receiver.

But Manningham caught Eli’s only touchdown pass of the day, a 30-yard reception on a wide receiver screen. Manningham finished with three catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.

If Manningham can be the receiver he was while at Michigan and become a reliable pass catcher, it will help the team tremendously—not just because of what he would do, but also because it would allow Smith to move back to the slot.

Rookie Hakeem Nicks also added two catches for 18 yards before leaving his NFL regular season debut with an ankle injury.

Eli Manning was very efficient, completing 69 percent of his passes for 256 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

At this point in his career, no one is expecting Eli to be Peyton. Eli isn’t a quarterback who is going to put up record breaking numbers.

Eli has become more of a game manager, which is perfectly fine. As long as he controls the ball and the clock, the Giants passing game will be more of a strength than a weakness.

They key to the passing game was the offensive line though. They have been playing together for a long time now and work very well as a unit.

Manning rarely had to deal with pressure from the defense, even with newly signed Albert Haynesworth on the line.

Without any pressure, Eli was able to take his time to find the open man.

If the Giants are able to repeat Sunday’s performance throughout the season, they will be a very tough team to beat.

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Cleveland Browns: The Same Old Joke

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Things were supposed to be different this year for the Browns with the addition of Eric Mangini. The former Jet coach instilled a strict philosophy of discipline and accountability, a far cry from the sheltered summer camp feel of ousted Romeo Crennel. Fluff practices and special player treatment were replaced with tough-hitting scrimmages that included lap punishments for any miscues. A team-oriented philosophy was forced upon the players, with the quick trades of me-first players like Kellen Winslow and Shaun Smith. Things would be different indeed.

Well folks, if game one is any indication of the upcoming season, then be prepared for dejavu. The Browns managed to neatly package a myriad of penalties, turnovers, and miscommunication all in a second-half meltdown against Minnesota. While I understand that the talent level was heavily weighed towards the Vikes, the whole philosophy of Mangini is built upon error-free play that will keep games close enough to win.

More than any other professional game, football is a team sport where the sum of the parts can overcome individual performance. Any given Sunday, right? Not if you are a Browns fan.

The optimists will argue that the team played inspired, disciplined football in the first half, holding a Pro-Bowl RB and hall of Fame QB under wraps. However, how does that same attitude totally disappear so quickly in the second half under this new regime?

By the middle of the fourth quarter, when the game started becoming out of reach, the team was playing lackadaisical football, merely going through the motions. That defeatist attitude is exactly what Mangini was brought in to change. Where was the fire? Where was the fight? I certainly did not see any.

I hope I am wrong, but the aura emanating out of this first game was that the Browns are a second-rate team that is going nowhere. I was hopeful that Mangini would echo his opponents namesake by being the great and mighty viking Eric “the Red”. Instead I saw him mirror another famous Eric, the lazy ass loser from South Park—Cartman.

 

 

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Whooley’s Weekly Words: Steelers, Tight Ends and Thomas Jones

Could you really have asked for more from a week 1 of NFL action? An overtime game to start the season off, a tipped ball leading to a miracle reception for the win, a six-TD effort by perhaps the league’s best quarterback, a Sunday Night affair that went down to the wire, and, to top it all off, we still have two games to look forward to this Monday night! Yes, it’s great to have football back in full force.

As with the start of every NFL season, so, too, comes the start of Whooley’s Weekly Words, an article in which I’ll break down those things of interest to me from the week’s worth of action. This week, I delve into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense, the strong showing by the tight end position, Thomas Jones’ stellar start to the season, and more!

Pittsburgh – Philosophy Change?

Six time Super Bowl Champions Pittsburgh Steelers have always been known for being a smashmouth football team. Defense and a strong rushing attack has been their M.O, but based on week one it looks like that may be about to change.

Granted the Steelers faced a difficult task on the ground against a Tennessee Titans defense that ranked sixth in rush defense in 2008, allowing just 93.9 rush yards per game. Still, the Steelers’ ground game looked uninspired. Amassing a mere 36 yards on 24 carries, the Steelers averaged 1.6 yards per carry. Not a good start to the season for a team that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry last season.

The talent for the Steelers’ offense resides in the team’s passing game, so look for the Steelers to change their philosophy going forward. Defense will still play a large part in their winning equation, but the ground game will be replaced by the team’s aerial assault. In 2009, look for Pittsburgh to ride the arm of Ben Roethlisberger and the hands of Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward in their quest for No. 7.

Tight Ends Come Up Big in Week One

Following a year in which only four tight ends surpassed the century mark for fantasy points, the group as a whole made a statement in week one action. Shedding their anemic ways from 2008, nine tight ends totaled nine fantasy points or more.

Yes, a few of the usual suspects were included in the nine with Tony Gonzalez putting up 13 points, Chris Cooley going for 12, and Kellen Winslow finding paydirt on his way to 9 fantasy points. But the group also included some rejuvenated tight ends making a splash in Jeremy Shockey (15 points), Todd Heap (13) and Robert Royal (12), not to mention young guys on the rise like John Carlson (21), Dustin Keller (9), and Brent Celek (9).

If tight ends can keep putting points on the board like this, the position will add a whole dimension to fantasy games that was absent during their dismal 2008 season.

Thomas Jones Proves Doubters Wrong

Despite finishing among the top four fantasy running backs in 2008, Thomas Jones was avoided like the plague in fantasy drafts heading into 2009. From the departure of Brett Favre to the emergence of Leon Washington to Jones’ age of 31 years, fantasy owners justified their staying away from Jones in many ways. If this week is any indication, though, staying away from Jones may have been a mistake.

Picking up where he left off last season, Jones came out against the Houston Texans and posted a strong performance of 107 rush yards and two scoring TDs, good for 22 fantasy points.

So, what about those excuses that had fantasy owners doubting Jones? For one, yes, Favre has gone, but rookie Mark Sanchez, looked more than capable in week one’s action, completing 18 of 31 passes for 272 yards, one TD, and an INT in his NFL debut. If Sanchez continues to play at that level, those eight-man fronts owners were afraid Jones would face will be few and far between.

Then there was the presence of Washington, amassed 15 carries in the Jets’ win over the Texans. But Jones surpassed that with 20 of his own. Finally, Jones’ age didn’t seem to be a factor as the back was as explosive as ever, even breaking off a 38-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Granted, this was just one outing in what will be a long season, and against a team that ranked 23rd against the rush in 2008. Nevertheless, Jones’ performance has to have many fantasy owners kicking themselves for passing on the back.

No. 1 for a Reason

Sure, both Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson had soft matchups in their respective openings to the NFL season—with Brees facing a Detroit Lions defense that ranked 27th against the pass in 2008 and Peterson battling a Cleveland Browns defense that finished last season ranked 28th against the run—but both got the job done in big ways on Sunday.

Brees torched Detroit for 358 passing yards, six TDs, and just one INT, while Peterson rushed for 180 yards and three TDs. The matchups may have been easy, but both Brees and Peterson had to be sure to take advantage. Both did, to their fantasy owners’ delight, showing why they were No. 1 at QB and RB going into the season.

 

 

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