Report just coming out via AP that Bill Parcells is retiring, this time probably for good. You can say this about the man, you never really know what he's thinking. Remember how everyone said that the play of Tony Romo energized him this season? Well, didn't play out that way in the end. Romo's bobble in the playoff game against Seattle was probably the cherry on top of a maddeningly inconsistent year for Dallas, fraught with Terrell Owens-led distractions.
The really rotten thing of it all for Dallas is the fact that former Parcells assistant Sean Payton, just coming off a championship game appearance with the Saints, isn't around to fill Parcells' shoes. It'll be interesting to see who they can hire as coach this late in the game. My guess goes to Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.
Showing posts with label tony romo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tony romo. Show all posts
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Who's the Favorite in the NFC?
Another football Sunday has almost come and gone, and the ever-changing perception of who is the best team in the NFC is as muddled as ever. The Bears seemed to have a strangehold on that title through the first half of the season. Then the Tony Romo-led Cowboys took the NFL by storm for a few weeks, being "annonted" (to the dismay of Bill Parcells) best team in the conference. But as soon as you could say, "How bout them Cowboys," the Saints dismantled Dallas last week in a dominating 42-17 win on the road.
So after this week's games, who's in the driver's seat in the NFC? I'll rank the six teams that currently hold playoff positioning in order of worst chance to advance to the Super Bowl to best:
6. New York Giants: They're currently in the sixth slot in the conference after losing to the Eagles moments ago. If Michael Strahan is able to come back from his injury, it'll be huge for this team, but in the end, the fate of the Giants rests with Eli Manning, and he has yet to inspire any confidence in his late-season play over his three-year career.
5. Seattle Seahawks: Though it's a long-shot, the 'Hawks may yet be left out of the playoffs entirely and lose the division title if they lose their final two games and the 49ers win out. Seattle's been hit hard with injuries to key players this year and currently have no momentum on their side. At this point, this looks like a one-and-done team in the playoffs.
4. Philadelphia Eagles: Speaking of momentum, Philly has a lot of it right now, having won three consecutive games with Jeff Garcia at the helm. Their defense, led by their ferocious secondary, is still as aggressive and opportunistic as ever, and offense has gotten into a real groove recently. The Eagles right now look like a darkhorse that could make a run in the playoffs.
3. New Orleans Saints: The Saints have the advantage of having the best QB in the NFC in Drew Brees, and a multitude of weapons on offense including Reggie Bush, but their run defense remains iffy. They're capable of going all the way, but I have a feeling that the Dallas game might have been the best game they'll play all season, and if they play the Cowboys in the playoffs, you can bet Parcells and company will be ready and angry.
2. Chicago Bears: Based on record, (12-2) you can argue that the Bears actually deserve the mantle of favorites. However, it's been much more of a roller coaster ride than the record indicates. Their biggest wins have come against overrated Seahawks and Giants teams, and they've had to sneak out wins against some of the dregs of the league in Arizona and today against Tampa Bay. Homefield advantage throught will help, but is no guarantee of a Super Bowl berth.
1. Dallas Cowboys: I'm hating myself as I type this, but rationally, I still think that the Cowboys are the most dangerous and most balanced team in the conference. They're as explosive as anyone on offense, and have the ability to get it done on defense. But even they are a flawed team. Their last two opponents, the Falcons and Saints, have hung 28 and 42 points on the defense respectively, and the secondary is prone to getting beat deep. On offense, you never know what you're going to get from Terrell Owens, who could drop an easy pass as easily as he could break a long one for a touchdown. Even so, they're less flawed then their competitors in my opinion, and may have re-established themselves as the NFC favorite with their win over Atlanta last night.
So after this week's games, who's in the driver's seat in the NFC? I'll rank the six teams that currently hold playoff positioning in order of worst chance to advance to the Super Bowl to best:
6. New York Giants: They're currently in the sixth slot in the conference after losing to the Eagles moments ago. If Michael Strahan is able to come back from his injury, it'll be huge for this team, but in the end, the fate of the Giants rests with Eli Manning, and he has yet to inspire any confidence in his late-season play over his three-year career.
5. Seattle Seahawks: Though it's a long-shot, the 'Hawks may yet be left out of the playoffs entirely and lose the division title if they lose their final two games and the 49ers win out. Seattle's been hit hard with injuries to key players this year and currently have no momentum on their side. At this point, this looks like a one-and-done team in the playoffs.
4. Philadelphia Eagles: Speaking of momentum, Philly has a lot of it right now, having won three consecutive games with Jeff Garcia at the helm. Their defense, led by their ferocious secondary, is still as aggressive and opportunistic as ever, and offense has gotten into a real groove recently. The Eagles right now look like a darkhorse that could make a run in the playoffs.
3. New Orleans Saints: The Saints have the advantage of having the best QB in the NFC in Drew Brees, and a multitude of weapons on offense including Reggie Bush, but their run defense remains iffy. They're capable of going all the way, but I have a feeling that the Dallas game might have been the best game they'll play all season, and if they play the Cowboys in the playoffs, you can bet Parcells and company will be ready and angry.2. Chicago Bears: Based on record, (12-2) you can argue that the Bears actually deserve the mantle of favorites. However, it's been much more of a roller coaster ride than the record indicates. Their biggest wins have come against overrated Seahawks and Giants teams, and they've had to sneak out wins against some of the dregs of the league in Arizona and today against Tampa Bay. Homefield advantage throught will help, but is no guarantee of a Super Bowl berth.
1. Dallas Cowboys: I'm hating myself as I type this, but rationally, I still think that the Cowboys are the most dangerous and most balanced team in the conference. They're as explosive as anyone on offense, and have the ability to get it done on defense. But even they are a flawed team. Their last two opponents, the Falcons and Saints, have hung 28 and 42 points on the defense respectively, and the secondary is prone to getting beat deep. On offense, you never know what you're going to get from Terrell Owens, who could drop an easy pass as easily as he could break a long one for a touchdown. Even so, they're less flawed then their competitors in my opinion, and may have re-established themselves as the NFC favorite with their win over Atlanta last night.Friday, November 24, 2006
Year of the Second-String QB
Job security of NFL quarterbacks has always been a fragile thing, but has the revolving door of starting QBs ever been this active in one season? Yesterday on Thanksgiving, we were treated to three games, and in each, the winning quarterbacks had started only 7, 5, and 3 games respectively.
Detroit Lions reject Joey Harrington came back to his former home and led the Dolphins to a convincing 27-10 victory over his old team. It was Harrington's fourth straight win as starter, something he never did as Lions QB, improving his record to 4-3 as starter after taking over for the ineffective Daunte Culpepper.
After his near-flawless 5 TD effort against the hapless Buccaneers, Cowboy QB Tony Romo is now officially the hottest quantity in the NFL, and has ascended to rock star status in Dallas, much to the dismay of Bill Parcells. He is now 4-1 as starter, and his insertion into the starting lineup has given the Cowboys a new identity, as an exciting offensive team that is a threat to score on any given play.
And finally, Trent Green, who was projected to be the Chiefs starter going into the season, got his his second win since coming back from a horrific concussion in the opening game against the Bengals. And while he looks to be Kansas City's starter the rest of the way, backup QB Damon Huard was integral in keeping the Chiefs season alive after an 0-2 start, by going an impressive 5-3 in his time at the helm.
This season, 11 teams have turned to quarterbacks who were not projected to be their starters to start a game for them. The erstwhile second-string QBs have gone 28-31 for a winning percentage of .474. That may not sound impressive, but the quarterbacks who were replaced have gone 20-37, a percentage of only .350. And not to rag on Andrew Walter too much, but 6 of the 31 losses by the "backups" were by the Raiders' Walter, who has been hamstrung by an outdated offensive system and a subpar offensive line.
Several of the QB moves have very possibly signaled the end of the road as a starter for the benched signal caller. Drew Bledsoe of the Cowboys, Mark Brunell of the Redskins, Kurt Warner of the Cardinals, and Kerry Collins of the Titans may now be relegated to sideline status for the rest of their careers. This means of course, that most of the QB changes have been successes - Romo, Vince Young of the Titans, and Arizona's Matt Leinart are now entrenched as starters, while Washington's Jason Campbell will likely get to that point soon.
Then there are the quarterbacks who have stepped in at least in part because of injury. Bruce Gradkowski of the Bucs has been OK as starter, but he has played well enough to at least merit a debate as to whether he should be the #1 QB again next year. Harrington and David Garrard of the Jags were inserted partly because of injuries to the opening-day QBs, but are likely to stick in the lineup for the long-term because they've just been plain better than Culpepper and Byron Leftwich respectively.
Now, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady shouldn't be looking over their shoulders, but this season has shown that the level of talent in the NFL, in this case at the quarterback position is so evenly matched, that no starter should take his job for granted, regardless of past accomplishment and/or contract status.
Detroit Lions reject Joey Harrington came back to his former home and led the Dolphins to a convincing 27-10 victory over his old team. It was Harrington's fourth straight win as starter, something he never did as Lions QB, improving his record to 4-3 as starter after taking over for the ineffective Daunte Culpepper.
After his near-flawless 5 TD effort against the hapless Buccaneers, Cowboy QB Tony Romo is now officially the hottest quantity in the NFL, and has ascended to rock star status in Dallas, much to the dismay of Bill Parcells. He is now 4-1 as starter, and his insertion into the starting lineup has given the Cowboys a new identity, as an exciting offensive team that is a threat to score on any given play.And finally, Trent Green, who was projected to be the Chiefs starter going into the season, got his his second win since coming back from a horrific concussion in the opening game against the Bengals. And while he looks to be Kansas City's starter the rest of the way, backup QB Damon Huard was integral in keeping the Chiefs season alive after an 0-2 start, by going an impressive 5-3 in his time at the helm.
This season, 11 teams have turned to quarterbacks who were not projected to be their starters to start a game for them. The erstwhile second-string QBs have gone 28-31 for a winning percentage of .474. That may not sound impressive, but the quarterbacks who were replaced have gone 20-37, a percentage of only .350. And not to rag on Andrew Walter too much, but 6 of the 31 losses by the "backups" were by the Raiders' Walter, who has been hamstrung by an outdated offensive system and a subpar offensive line.
Several of the QB moves have very possibly signaled the end of the road as a starter for the benched signal caller. Drew Bledsoe of the Cowboys, Mark Brunell of the Redskins, Kurt Warner of the Cardinals, and Kerry Collins of the Titans may now be relegated to sideline status for the rest of their careers. This means of course, that most of the QB changes have been successes - Romo, Vince Young of the Titans, and Arizona's Matt Leinart are now entrenched as starters, while Washington's Jason Campbell will likely get to that point soon.
Then there are the quarterbacks who have stepped in at least in part because of injury. Bruce Gradkowski of the Bucs has been OK as starter, but he has played well enough to at least merit a debate as to whether he should be the #1 QB again next year. Harrington and David Garrard of the Jags were inserted partly because of injuries to the opening-day QBs, but are likely to stick in the lineup for the long-term because they've just been plain better than Culpepper and Byron Leftwich respectively.
Now, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady shouldn't be looking over their shoulders, but this season has shown that the level of talent in the NFL, in this case at the quarterback position is so evenly matched, that no starter should take his job for granted, regardless of past accomplishment and/or contract status.
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