Dallas Win Means Absolutely Nothing

Some people love to say, “a win is a win” no matter who you beat. That expression definitely works sometimes (not for the Redskins fans after their 9-7 win over the Rams in week 2 of course).

Well, not this time. Dallas squeezed out a victory in overtime against the winless Kansas City Chiefs and Jerry Jones looked like he was ready to break out the champagne with his buddies.

Some writers and analysts have already said that this win will provide the confidence boost that the Cowboys desperately need. I just don’t understand that point of view.

Yes, Tony Romo (the most overrated quarterback in the league) threw for 351 yards and two touchdowns. He also astonishingly did not throw any interceptions. Miles Austin had a field day in Arrowhead Stadium, catching 10 passes for a career-high 250 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

But those aspects of the game were the only bright spots for Dallas.

A game like that for Romo should be expected against a very weak Kansas City secondary. And by the way, Romo made some terrible passes to wide-open receivers that could have put the game away. He also fumbled the ball on Dallas’ own 16-yard line that led to a Mike Vrabel touchdown reception.

Don’t forget about the 13 penalties the Cowboys made that cost them 90 yards. Don’t forget about the two fumbles the Cowboys lost, including a muffed punt, to put the Chiefs in amazing field position. Don’t forget about Nick Folk’s missed field goal from just 40 yards out.

And what happened to Dallas’ scary running game? The Cowboys ran the ball 23 times between Marion Barber and Tashard Choice. Choice actually played well, rushing for 92 yards on just eight carries, but Barber did absolutely nothing.

And it’s not like the Dallas defense completely shut down the Chiefs. The Cowboys defense allowed Matt Cassel to throw for 253 yards and two touchdowns. The Chiefs gained a total of 304 yards and a game-tying touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe with just 24 seconds left in regulation. Even the time of possession was pretty even throughout the game.

The point is that the Chiefs have not won a game for a reason. The several miscues and horribly executed plays by Dallas outweigh the close victory over a winless team. Who really thinks Miles Austin is going to put up numbers like that on a consistent basis? Does anyone honestly believe the Cowboys are going to be good without a healthy Marion Barber? I just don’t see it.

Dallas can certainly play well enough to beat teams like the Chiefs, Buccaneers and Panthers (combined record of 1-13). But the Dallas defense has proven that just about anyone can move the ball down the field on them. Tony Romo has proven he is nowhere close to being one of the better starting quarterbacks in the NFL. And the Cowboys have proven that they are mediocre at best.

So here is my advice to Jerry Jones: It’s only week 5. Stop celebrating. A win over the Chiefs means nothing. - Michael Klopman

Have a Fantasy Football or Baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship.

THE WORST OF THE WORST – NFL WEEK 2

TONY ROMO – There is no better way to completely ruin the opening night of a new billion dollar stadium than throwing three interceptions and basically giving the Giants 21 points. On the night that Jerry Jones’ enormous spectacle finally opened, quarterback Tony Romo showed why he is the most overrated player in the NFL.

Take your time and just try to think of someone more overrated… Did you think of anyone yet? It’s just not possible.

If it wasn’t for running backs Marion Barber and Felix Jones, the Cowboys would have been blown out. Romo made some terrible passes throughout the night, including three picks that looked like they were thrown right to the New York secondary. He might be able to throw all over the Tampa Bay defense, but the NFC East defenses are going to make his life miserable.

JEFF REED – It’s hard to place blame entirely on a kicker, but in this case it is kind of hard not to. In a hard-hitting typical Pittsburgh game, the Steelers had a couple opportunities to get ahead in the fourth quarter. But kicker Jeff Reed missed two (that’s right… two) field goals in the final 15 minutes from 38 and 43 yards out, respectively.

With less than 12 minutes to play, the Steelers faced a fourth-and-17 on Chicago’s 20 yard line when Jeff Reed went in for the field goal attempt. He could have put Pittsburgh up 17-7, but the ball went wide left. After a Bears touchdown, Reed had another opportunity to put the Steelers ahead, but the 43-yarder went wide left again. It is unacceptable for the defending champions to squander opportunities like that.

JIM ZORN – Zorn’s offense made five trips to the red zone and only came out with three field goals. Yes, Mike Sellers and Devin Thomas dropped easy touchdown passes, but other than that Zorn showed he has no confidence in his quarterback when he is within 20 yards from the end zone.

Zorn’s red zone play calling was horrendous to say the least. On the seven-yard line, Zorn called two running plays to Clinton Portis and gained a total of two yard, and then called a half-back pass to tight end Chris Cooley. Why is he so afraid of Jason Campbell in the red zone? He rarely throws interceptions and if it wasn’t for two dropped balls, Campbell would have two touchdown passes.

And to top that off, Zorn had the offense go for it on fourth-and-inches on the two-yard line. Washington could have just kicked a field goal, making the score 12-7 and forcing the Rams to have to score a touchdown to win with less than two minutes left (the reasonable and just plain smart call), but Zorn was too desperate. And of course, he called a horrible running play to the outside (a play that never worked throughout the game) and Portis lost two yards. Fortunately for Zorn and the Redskins, they were playing the Rams. - Michael Klopman

----------

Have a Fantasy Football or Rotisserie Baseball question? Want to know who to pick up, who to activate and who the hot prospects are? Ask Dr. Roto. Let Dr. Roto guide your team to a league championship!

Jerry Jones is a Joke and Roger Goodell is his punch line

Remember as a kid when you were playing a sports game and something didn’t go right you would yell, "DO OVER!"

Now, do-over’s are coming to the National Football League. That’s right, there will be do-over’s in the NFL.

At the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, hanging 90 feet above the field is a massive 60-yard long video scoreboard that spans from one 20-yard-line to the other. The structure casts a big shadow, has a screen size of 11,393 sq. ft. and has, get this, 30 million light bulbs.

The thing is like the USS Enterprise hovering over the field, with the only difference being, instead of being hit by photon torpedoes shot by Klingons; it'll be pelted with pigskins punted by Lions, Cowboys and Bears. Oh, my.

In a new ruling, headed by new NFL Commissioner Bozo the Clown, if the ball hits the scoreboard (as Tennessee punter A.J. Trepasso did in a preseason game), the play is literally a do-over. Time is reset on the game clock and everyone runs the play again. If it happens again, the same result occurs. It's something that will happen with too much regularity.

As a matter of fact, the way the rule reads, a quarterback with no timeouts could throw the ball off the scoreboard to get a dead ball ruling and stop the clock. He'd have to be out of the pocket so that no intentional grounding could be applied, but such a loophole could be exploited unless the wording is changed.

First of all, the screen is almost a joke. It's so big, one has to wonder why the Cowboys don't just play the game somewhere else and simulcast the game into the world's largest living room. There's almost no reason to watch the actual players when something like that is available.

At the original Texas Stadium, the hole in roof was put there so "God could watch his favorite team play." Now the scoreboard is so big everyone in Texas can watch a game-winning drive while barbequing from their own backyards.

While very Texas-big-like, how inane is putting up a structure that could alter the outcome of the game?

Let's say there's four seconds left and Sav Rocco from the Philadelphia Eagles prepares to punt at his own 45 with a five-point lead. All he has to do is angle one high (coffin corner) and allow coverage to ascend on the punt returner or have it extend out of bounds inside the 15-yard line and a win is likely.

Under a heavy rush, he booms it off the scoreboard right above him. Do over.

The next one he kicks line-drives right to the returner, who proceeds to run it back for the winning score. Or maybe the next one is blocked and returned for six points. In other words, the scoreboard itself can become a factor in the outcome of the game.

How fitting would such a scenario be if that returner is wearing a Redskin uniform? I'd love to see the cameras pan over to the tight-jawed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as he tries to figure out who to blame while Washington players celebrate.

Already, punters set to play at the new stadium are revving up to hit the thing. Even Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has mentioned that he'd like to see his punter, Tress Way, hit the massive structure, because if he had, it'd be because he booted it the right way.

While that makes sense from the standpoint of correct technique, the fact that a football coach has to even take questions about a foreign object interfering with the run of play is bizarre in this day and age. It may as well be a telephone wire or a tree limb.

So, this fall, when two kids play football somewhere in the USA and pretend one is the quarterback and the other is the receiver on the last play of the game, just know that the sandlot number of acceptable do-over scenarios has been expanded.

Upon throwing the Hail Mary and see it harmlessly bounce off the grass, instead of the "announcer" screaming "pass interference," allowing for another chance, kids in the future will simply point to the sky and exclaim, "DO-OVER!"

While that's certainly fun stuff in someone's back yard, see how fun it is when your team is defeated because Jones wanted a scoreboard that best reflected his ego.

Things have gone too far for too long. Jerry Jones is a Joke and Roger Goodell is his punch line. - David Fry

David Fry is an independent sports photographer. David can be found in MLB and NFL stadiums across the nation all throughout the year.

How much is enough?

If you were a coach on the field at the Patriots/Redskins game the other day, no matter which sideline you were on, you would’ve asked yourself this questions at least once “Have I’ve seen enough from my starters?” After Albert Haynesworth leveled Tom Brady, and if you were the Redskins Defensive Line coach, the answer must’ve been a resounding YES!

However, if you’re Bill Belichick, you have to be asking yourself today, at what cost do I need to see if Tom can still find the open guy?

And therein lies the dilemma. A head coach is expected to have his team game-ready and prepared opening day. To accomplish that, high priced players are asked to put their bodies in harm’s way in an otherwise meaningless game. And now, for the sake of argument, I present to you the two leading schools of thought on pre-season play.

Position 1: No game is meaningless when people are competing for a job. You see, teams are still completing their roster, and everyone must defend their place on that roster.

Position 2: Are you kidding me?…Tom Brady’s position is not open if Tom is healthy. Period.

Yeah…about that last part “if Tom is healthy”. It seems that there are growing questions about the health of Tom’s shoulder. And the ironic thing is, his place on the roster was not in jeopardy UNTIL he played in Friday’s pre-season game.

So what’s a coach to do? And, how much influence does an owner have on that decision?

Well…that depends. Currently the logic is, they play their professionals regardless of the price tag. Bill Belichick doesn’t have the luxury of depth at the quarterback position, and so one may want to reconsider the loss of value should the starting quarterback go down in an otherwise meaningless game. And let’s not kid ourselves. Owners like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder are renowned for their meddling in personnel decisions. And don’t think they’re the only owners meddling, every owner does it. Jerry and Dan are simply the two most visible examples. And since owners hold the purse strings, their influence has far-reaching effects. Coaches don’t last as long as they once did because owners want to see immediate results. One risk that didn’t pay off, one costly injury that gave you one bad season, could signal a coaching change. That has to have some effect on the coaches decision, regardless of what they say at those orchestrated press conferences. And today’s coaches aren’t merely coaching men and women. Coaches are now the caretakers of today’s athletes. And today’s athletes aren’t the athletes of days gone by. Today’s athletes are now income generating machines. If a star athlete goes down, owners hear the sound of cash registers slamming shut and they envision rows of empty seats in the stands. So now the cost of injury has some measurable value. Men who had entirely too many accounting classes can actually calculate what an injury costs. And because teams can now calculate the real value of an injury, the days of pre-season (meaningless) football are numbered.

But for today, for now, in this game of risk with so much money on the line, players, coaches and owners are all asking themselves “How much is enough?”

For some may have already given too much. - Paul Moyer

Paul Moyer is an independent contributor from Reading, PA covering NCAA and NFL football.