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

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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!

Ray Rice is your guy...

Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Marion Barber, Frank Gore…. I’m certain that these were all players off the board early in your football fantasy drafts this year. The obvious ones are easy. How hard is it to know that if you ended up with Adrian Peterson and Drew Breese in your backfield that you did well? But it’s those second level picks that will win you a league championship.

It’s great that you got Peterson, but the other guy has Jones-Drew. It’s great that you have Breese, but the other guy has Brady. Who else do you have? Who’s your second running back? What kind of depth do you have?

I’m here to tell you that Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens is your guy. If you live in the NY Metropolitan area I’m sure you know all about Ray Rice. This 5-8, 210-pound 2nd year NFL player had an All-American career for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights – setting every school rushing record along the way.

In his rookie year Rice had 33 catches for 273 yards (8.3 per reception) and 107 carries for 454 yards (4.2 per carry). He played sparingly learning his craft behind veteran Willis McGahee. Now in his 2nd year Rice is listed number 1 on the depth chart at tail back and is ready to let loose.

Rice no longer has to be taken off the field on crucial passing downs because of complicated NFL blitz protection schemes that almost all rookie backs struggle with and the Ravens can now take advantage of his superior skills as a receiver out of the back field as well as his runs from the line of scrimmage.

In week # 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Rice had 19 carries for 108 yards and 2 catches for 12 yards. Assuming he stays healthy I would expect Ray Rice’s year end numbers to be well in excess of 2,000 yards from the line of scrimmage.

That’s what you need from your second level running back to win a league title. - Mike Cardano

Mike Cardano is the founder of the Around The Horn (Baseball Blogs) and Extra Point (Football Blogs). Mike is also the founder of the fantasy sports games Ultimate Franchise Baseball™ and Ultimate Franchise Football™.

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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!