SB Nation - Roy Williams

Week 14's Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

Aaron Novinger — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:08:05 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Anybody get the feeling Felix could have a big game tomorrow?

As the Cowboys play host to the Chargers, many of us will be dreaming of playoff scenarios. Obviously, the Cowboys always come first. But, in the world of fantasy football, the playoffs are now!

For leagues that start their playoffs next week, some of us owners face win-and-in situations. Hopefully, those Cowboys we have on our squads can help us out.

Make the jump for the Week 14 Fantasy Focus.

QB Tony Romo - Last week, I said not to expect a huge day from Romo. Boy, was I wrong! After having a career day (41 of 55 for 392 and 3 TDs with 0 INTs), Romo asked the special teams coach if he could be the placekicker's holder. Now, the ball will hit his hands on every offensive play other that Razorback and punt formations.

San Diego will be a challenge for the Dallas passing attack. It currently ranks 8th (204.4 YPG) in pass defense, but the defense ranks averagely in points allowed (15th in NFL, 20.2 PPG). The Chargers have a tendency to force teams into a shootout with them. That, alone, should tell you that Romo is a great start this week.

RBs Marion Barber - The reason the Chargers try to force teams into a shootout is to cover for a weakness: their run defense. It ranks 21st in the league, giving up an average 117.8 YPG. SS Eric Weddle will miss the game and the rotation at NT has done little in clogging up holes.

Barber has looked great in the past few weeks, but did have a rare fumble against the Giants. The problem with the Dallas rushing attack looks to be the offensive line's inability to beat down the opposition (not a Flozell joke). It would make sense for the Cowboys to control the ball and keep Philip Rivers off the field. If they can manage to do so, Barber would get around 20 carries. I'd start him if I had him.

Felix Jones - Rumor has it that the Chargers don't do a very good job at containing RBs on outside runs. Felix excels at outside runs, so does the Dallas O-line. Starting "El Gato" is a gamble every week. You gamble on him having a big game, but more often that not, you are disappointed with the amount of touches he receives.

I'll go out on a limb and bank on him hitting a homerun this week. That doesn't mean he'll have double-digit carries though. Flip a coin.

Tashard Choice - He's buried on the depth chart, so getting 5-10 points out of him is the most you can expect.

WRs Miles Austin - If anyone can benefit from a shootout game, it's Austin. CB Antonio Cromartie can be a gambler at times, and I've heard that the San Diego secondary is not comprised of sure tacklers. OC Jason Garrett will have Austin running all over the field.

He caught 10 for 104 and a TD against the Giants - a week after abusing the Raiders. It's not presumptuous to chalk up another big day for him.

Roy Williams - Okay, RW is finding his niche on offense...and it's catching TDs. He caught two last week and one the week before. Don't expect him to rack up the yardage, but he could score you 10-15 points if he's your best option. Not great, but not bad either.

TEs Jason Witten - Holy career day from JWitt last week! He caught a whopping 14 passes for 156 yards. And get this: he averaged more YAC than Miles Austin, 11.1 to the WR's 10.4.

The end zone is still eluding Witten though. This has got to be the week he scores, right? Right?

Cowboys D/ST - Uh oh. Giving up a 30-burger to the Giants dropped the scoring defense from 2nd down to 5th in the league (now allowing 17.8 PPG). Both the D and the /ST can be blamed for that. Giving up two big plays to cost the team the game had to have humbled these units. They've got to regroup fast because Philip Rivers is spearheading an offense that ranks 3rd overall in scoring, averaging 28.5 PPG. If the Chargers' running game wasn't ranked so low (30th averaging only 88.7 YPG), the total offense could be up there in the top three with that of the Saints, Colts, and our Cowboys.

CBs Terence Newman and Orlando Scandrick will have their work cut out for them. Luckily, Mike Jenkins is back in the secondary both preventing big plays and making a few himself. SS Gerald Sensabaugh gets one of the tougher jobs in the NFL: covering TE Antonio Gates.

The Chargers score TDs, so it may not be wise to start the Dallas D/ST this week. Although they could get some sacks on Rivers, he's only thrown 6 INTs this year.

It's playoff time for the BTB and BTB Part Deux fantasy leagues on FleaFlicker! Below are the playoff brackets for both leagues. If your team is not in either one, then you are playing in the Consolation #1 bracket.

BTB League

Round 1 (14 Tue 12/8-Mon 12/14)	Semis (15 Tue 12/15-Mon 12/21)	Finals (16 Tue 12/22-Mon 12/28)

	#1 The Speed o...

		[TBD]
#4 Flashlights
	[TBD]
#5 Quincyyyyy
			Winner
#3 Doomsday Redux
	[TBD]
#6 Official Sp...
		[TBD]

	#2 Static

BTB Part Deux League

Round 1 (14 Tue 12/8-Mon 12/14)	Semis (15 Tue 12/15-Mon 12/21)	Finals (16 Tue 12/22-Mon 12/28)

	#1 kill everbody

		[TBD]
#4 Paper Cranes
	[TBD]
#5 Reykjavik R...
			Winner
#3 Maui Paniol...
	[TBD]
#6 WheresWare?
		[TBD]

	#2 StarBoys

As always, feel free to use this thread to discuss your FF dilemmas as well as anything Cowboys, anything football.

SBNation's fantasy webpage features injury updates, a Start/Sit section, and even a Flash in the Pan Alert. Check it out!

For your convenience, here's the link: sbnation.com/fantasy.

'Kudos & Wet Willies:' Return of the Giants edition

Ed Valentine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

New York Giants cornerback Kevin Dockery (35) and wide receiver Derek Hagan (80) congratulate wide receiver Domenik Hixon (87), left, after he ran a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009.

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Lots of praise to dole out on the morning after our New York Giants rescued their season Sunday with a 31-24 victory over the arch-rival Dallas Cowboys.

This was an inspiring victory that begged only one real question. Where has this kind of passionate, determined effort been for the past six weeks?

Anyway, I will never figure that one out. So, on with the 'Kudos & Wet Willies.'

'Kudos' to ...

Bill Sheridan: He has been getting killed around these parts for weeks as the defense under-performed. Today, the beleaguered defensive coordinator deserves some praise. We knew going into the game Sheridan was going to make lots of lineup changes. Well, he did and for the most part they worked beautifully. The Giants rotated a lot of people, and guys like Jonathan Goff, Clint Sintim and Mathias Kiwanuka all played well with increased time. Sheridan stacked the line of scrimmage and the Giants allowed Dallas just 45 rushing yards. Only two sacks of Romo on the day, but he was harassed and hit often as the Giants seemed to do a better job than they have all season of dialing up well-designed blitzes at good times. Maybe there is hope for Sheridan yet.
Kevin Gilbride: The other beleaguered coordinator also deserves some praise. Still only 13 carries for Jacobs, but Gilbride stuck with the run enough early on to open up some play-action stuff later on. On, and there were a few minor changes I a couple of run formations and personnel packages that helped the Giants pound out some tough yards when they needed them.
Brandon Jacobs: The longest play of his career -- a 74-yard touchdown -- came Sunday on a simple pass into the flat. Jacobs, incidentally gave a lot of credit to Darcy Johnson for his downfield blocking on the touchdown. Only 39 yards rushing on 13 carries for Jacobs, but he did run hard, dish out some punishment and barrel his way into the end zone in a goal-line situation.
Steve Smith: A typical six catches for Smith. A very un-typical 110 yards (18.3 yards per catch). Smith is a master at getting open and catching the ball, but those catches are usually followed by Smith immediately crumpling to the ground. Not Sunday. He had a 36-yard catch and run, mostly run, and a handful of other plays where he got big chunks or yardage after a catch. Since the Giants won, and we are giving Smith 'Kudos,' we won't talk about that ball he dropped in the end zone.
Aaron Rouse: Twelve tackles and a sack for the Green Bay reject. Rouse is looking more and more like another one of those brilliant in-season pickups by General Manager Jerry Reese. I don't know for sure what went wrong for Rouse in Green Bay, but he seems to be getting better and better as the weeks go by with the Giants. He was tremendous Sunday.
Domenik Hixon: We have been begging for a big special teams play for weeks, and Hixon finally delivered with a game-changing 79-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Terrell Thomas and C.C. Brown: I am putting these two guys together, and I am even amazing myself that I am including Brown. Even though Romo passed for 392 yards, I thought these two guys were fabulous, especially in run support. Thomas had 10 tackles, Brown had nine and there weren't any blown assignments.
Barry Cofield: We have been begging for a push from the middle of the defensive line, and Cofield provided it Sunday. Only three tackles, but a couple of those were for losses and Cofield was a disruptive presence in the middle for the entire game.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: There are several other guys who could be on this list. They include Mathias Kiwanuka (six tackles and a forced fumble), Ahmad Bradshaw (a couple of big runs after his first-half fumble), Goff (who held up just fine in the middle of the defense) and Michael Boley (11 tackles). Give Osi Umenyiora credit, too, for playing hard, coming up with a fumble recovery and not complaining to the press because he didn't start.

Wet Willies to ...

Corey Webster: Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes, and Webster was the defender on all three of them. Two of those were to Roy Williams, the type of tall, physical receivers who seems to give Webster trouble.
Chris Canty: Got a start at defensive tackle against his old team, and had no impact. In fact, the $42 million free agent did nothing. He didn't even get his name in the stat sheet.
Eli Manning: I really hate to give this one out, but I feel like I have to. Eli was just 11-for-25 for 241 yards. He threw two touchdown passes, but one was mostly due to Brandon Jacobs' tremendous individual effort and the other was a terrific catch by Hakeem Nicks on a ball Eli threw late. Manning threw a bad pick in the second half when he just tossed a ball up for grabs in the end zone, and badly missed a wide open Steve Smith on a deep ball in the fourth quarter. Not his worst game, especially since he was under duress much of the time, but he can play better.
Flozell Adams: Do I even have to talk about it? This guy is a moron who deserves a suspension. Enough said.

Final - 12.6.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Dallas Cowboys	0	10	7	7	24
New York Giants	0	14	7	10	31

Complete Coverage >

Week Thirteen: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

Aaron Novinger — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:13:29 -0000

More photos » by Erich Schlegel - AP

Anthony Spencer has recently joined the sack-dance club.

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It's Saturday, so it's time to talk some fantasy football! This a huge week for the Cowboys as they travel to Giants Stadium in an effort to bury New York in the standings.

In the next week or two, fantasy playoffs will begin. For many of us, we will be facing a must-win situation this week...or, we're out!

Make the jump for the Week 13 Fantasy Focus.

QB Tony Romo -The Cowboys have yet to lose when Romo is the starting QB at Giants Stadium. In 2006 - his first year as a starter - he hit 20 of 34 passes for 257 yards with 0 TDs and 2 INTs to lead the team to a 23-20 win. The 2007 game there was a much more fantasy-friendly game for him; he lit up the Giants for 247 yards and 4 TDs with 1 INT. Last year, a hand injury forced him to miss the game in New York.

In Week 2 of this season, the Giants' defense seemed to have Romo figured out. His 127 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs scared many fantasy owners. But, that was before the emergence of his number one toy: WR Miles Austin. Last week against the Raiders, Romo and Austin connected for 130 yards in the first half, alone. Austin's ability to gain yards after the catch has helped the Dallas offense tremendously, and helped Romo notch another 300-yard performance. The middle of the field passes clicked last week as TE Jason Witten also had a 100-yard day.

The Cowboys' 10th-ranked passing offense (254.1 YPG) will be going up against the 4th-ranked Giants' passing defense (allows just 182.6 YPG). But, in terms of scoring, the Giants' defense ranks 25th in the NFL, giving up a whopping 23.7 points per game.

I wouldn't expect a huge day for Romo, as this should be a physical NFC East battle. Though, he is definitely worth a start.

RBs Marion Barber, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice - Each one of these backs broke off large gains on Thanksgiving. Felix scored on a 46-yard run, Barber had a 42-yard catch and run to go along with his 61 rushing yards, and Choice ripped off a 66-yarder from the "Razorback" formation. That is the type of production the Cowboys envisioned having from this trio when the season began.

Not since the Week 2 home game against the Giants, has Dallas' three-headed monster looked more healthy. In that game, both Barber and Felix decimated the defense to combine for more than 200 yards rushing. They also each scored a TD. Recently, the Cowboys have continued their use of Choice as a WildCat QB.

With both Barber and Felix healthy, the Cowboys still try to get Choice 3-5 touches a game, which isn't ideal for fantasy owners. For Felix owners, though, his knee brace is off and his quickness and agility looked to be unencumbered against Oakland. Offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, realizes that it's time to get the ball in his hands at least 10 times per game. He's back to being a home run threat whenever he touches the ball. And Barber owners have reason for excitement, as well. The Barbarian has been catching well, which suggests his fractured thumb is healing; and he is running with his usual boost of power and purpose.

WRs Miles Austin - His huge game last week proved several things: 1) he can beat the best of them in man-to-man - just ask Nnamdi Asomugha, 2) he's tough as nails - hard to bring down and has no fear catching the ball in traffic, and 3) Garrett is still finding ways to get him open - slants, screens, comebacks, crossing routes, you name it. He even had Austin sit underneath zone coverage for Romo to check down to.

You're kicking yourself if you didn't start Austin last week. He's returning to play in his home state of New Jersey, so you may not want to kick yourself again by benching him. He'll get his targets; he's worth the start.

Roy Williams - Not flashy, not a PPR guy; though, he could get you a TD grab. The Giants may be starting converted CB, Aaron Ross, at FS. If they wanted to use him to double anybody, it would be Austin. Roy could see alot of single coverage, but he has yet to confirm that he is a reliable pass catcher. Start him at your own risk.

TEs Jason Witten - Hitting the century mark against the Raiders was a step in the right direction. That lone TD on the season is still lurking. JWitt's foot sprain has healed some over the extra days off after the turkey day game. It sure didn't seem to bother him on his 44-yard catch!

This has got to be the week he returns to the end zone. Start him.

Cowboys D/ST -This unit now ranks second in the league in scoring defense. That is music to fantasy owners' ears. What is even better is that SOLB Anthony Spencer is picking up some sacks now. Combine his play, along with the other pass rushers - DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, and Keith Brooking - and Eli Manning could be in for a long day.

In Week 2, Manning's WRs, Steve Smith and Mario Manningham, embarrassed the Dallas secondary by catching 10 passes and a TD a piece. CB Mike Jenkins has come along way since then, growing into the team's best at the position. Veteran Terence Newman often learns from his mistakes made the first time around, as he seems to respond well in payback games. SS Gerald Sensabaugh is playing consistently well. The question in the back four is how much the loss of FS Ken Hamlin (ankle) will effect how the secondary covers NY's corps of young WRs. His replacement, converted CB Alan Ball, has been adequate so far. The only knock on him has been in regards to how his 188-pound frame will hold up in run-support. Nevertheless, the unit has not lost a beat with him in the lineup and ranks 9th in rush defense (102.7 YPG).

If the defense can start forcing more turnovers, this will quickly become a dominating unit. ST coach Joe DeCamillis and punter Mat McBriar have helped tremendously in forcing offenses to earn their yards. With the tough schedule the Cowboys face, fantasy owners can't expect any shutouts, but these guys do enough to earn double-digit points each week.

This is the last regular season week for the BTB and BTB Part Deux fantasy leagues on FleaFlicker. If you are in one of the leagues, check out the standings for where you sit. Some teams have already guaranteed their spots in the playoffs, while others badly need to get this last win. Below are the current standings.

Just ONE Loss...Are You Serious? (11-1)

kill everbody

Where the Cowboys are Headed (9-3)

The Speed of Dark

StarBoys

Doubling Your Losses (8-4)

Paper Cranes
Maui Paniolo Boyz

Seventh Heaven (7-5)

Flashlights

Doomsday Redux

Dallas Destroyers

Reykjavik Roughnecks

Official Spoiler

Static

Holy .500, Batman! (6-6)

WheresWare?

BigRigga31's Team

Dillababies

Quincyyyyy

Felix Jones At Every Position

A Must Win this Week? (5-7)

NameBrandj

Second Chance

BTBfantasyCHAMPS

4 X 2 = (4-8)

Apes

My Team Sucks

The Doomsday Defense Reborn

Three Squared (3-9)

high505
No Doubter
Brady's a b!tch
Damage,Inc.

If you've got a fantasy dilemma, post it here for the BTB community to discuss. As always, feel free to jump in with other Cowboys/football related discourse even if you don't play FF.

Remember, for all your fantasy football needs, SBNation's fantasy webpage is chock full of live updates to help you set up your team from week-to-week.

For your convenience, here's the link: sbnation.com/fantasy.

BTB Game Balls: Raiders @ Cowboys

Aaron Novinger — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:14:47 -0000

More photos » by Erich Schlegel - AP

Thanksgiving night was a good, good night for the Cowboys and Miles Austin.

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It's time to hand out game balls for the Cowboys' home victory against the Raiders! We've got one for a player from each unit: offense, defense, special teams, as well as one for the coaching staff.

Offense

Miles Austin -It all began on the first offensive series, man-on-man against one of the best CBs in the game. Tony Romo stepped up in the pocket and hit Austin crossing the field as he burned Nnamdi Asomugha en route to a 49-yard gain. This was the trend for much of the day as Austin gobbled up the middle of the field and made the most of his opportunities, catching six passes for 130 yards and a TD in the first half.

Often, it's those little plays, those extra efforts that bring out the best in everybody. In the second quarter, the Cowboys faced a 3rd-and-11 deep in their own territory. Austin sat in the middle of the zone to catch just a five-yarder from Romo. He then turned, broke two tackles, and picked up the extra yardage needed for the first down. Two plays later he beat CB Chris Johnson for a 27-yard catch and run across the middle. That gain would not have happened had he not broken those two tackles on the 3rd-and-11. Do you know what else would not have happened? Felix Jones' 46-yard TD run to finish the drive.

Austin's domination of the Raiders' secondary also helped open things up for Jason Witten in the second half.

Being at the game myself, it was quite evident that Austin has quickly become a fan favorite. Girls were screaming all around me when he kept standing up off the bench and raising his hands after his replay-reversed score just before the half. He pumped up the crowd again after officially grabbing back his TD after an impressive, side-stepping screen play. When he's smiling, all seems right with the Cowboys' offense.

Honorable Mention: Tony Romo, Jason Witten

Make the jump to see who else gets a BTB game ball.

Defense

Keith Brooking - Against a poor Oakland passing team (45 yards in the first half), it was important for the Cowboys to stop the run. Brooking made his presence known from the Raiders' first possession. In successive plays, he tackled Justin Fargas for just a four-yard gain and then pressured Bruce Gradkowski into throwing an incomplete pass. On the next possession, there he was knifing through the line on a run blitz to drop Fargas for a loss (though there was an accepted holding penalty against Oakland on the play).

All day, he and Jay Ratliff terrorized the middle of the field. The Raiders' backs did manage to pop some runs loose to the outside, but Brooking always seemed to be around the ball. If he was not making the tackle himself, he was around the pile - sometimes trying to punch at the ball. He was everywhere. I even saw him cover Darren McFadden, who split out wide and ran a deep route. Not even Robert Gallery's long, sweaty hair could block Brooking from getting to the ball carrier.

He ended up leading the team (again) with nine total tackles, six of which were solos.

It's his face on the videoboard that pumps up the crowd at Cowboys Stadium. "80,000 Fans..." his image points to them when the defense is looking for a key stop..."Remember What I Said".

Honorable Mention: Jay Ratliff, DeMarcus Ware

Special Teams

Mat McBriar - Absolutely amazing day for the Cowboys' punter. While Oakland's punter kicked for more than 400 yards, McBriar responded with deadly accuracy. He averaged only 40.2 yards on six punts, but many of those were pooch kicks from around midfield - four of which landed inside the 20.

In the first quarter, a punt can't get much better than what McB did from the Oakland 41. With a little english, he pooched it to the two. He didn't even give his cover guys a chance to make a play on it because it spun and bounced out of bounds at the six. In other similar situations, he pinned the Raiders at the 11, the 13, and the 5.

When the Cowboys were pinned back, themselves, at around their 10, he blasted a 56-yarder all the way to the Oakland 35. This Aussie can do it all!

Honorable Mention: David Buehler, Pat Watkins

Coaching

Jason Garrett - This game goes down as one of the best I've seen Garrett coach this season. On a shortened work week, he had the Raiders' defense figured out from the tee. That unit had done enough damage against the Bengals' and Eagles' offenses to pull out victories, but Garrett would not let that happen to the Cowboys.

He ignored the fact that Nnamdi Asomugha is one of the best CBs in the game because he knew that his guys (most notably, Austin and Witten) would match up well against man coverage. And did they ever! Then, when it looked like the Raiders would blitz with their DBs locked in man, he made them pay with a 66-yard Razorback run from Tashard Choice. When they had to adjust to that, he hit them up the middle with Witten. With the CBs in man and the LBs in zone, there was Marion Barber wide open for a 42-yard catch and run.

The best thing about Garrett's day is the way he created passing lanes for Romo. Once Austin became the Raiders' focus, they could not stop the bleeding. LB Sam Williams could not cover Witten. And the 2TE-formation that flanked Barber in the backfield on the Roy Williams' TD was just cruel. The Raiders' defenders were utterly confused after much of the offense looked to move left, leaving noone inside to help on the post route.

Garrett did what you need to do when you face a weaker opponent: keep hitting them big to confuse them, then Felix and Barber them down until the clock reads 0:00.

Honorable Mention: Skip Peete, Todd Grantham

This was a game I had the privilege of seeing in person. Unfortunately, I happened to sit in the end zone opposite to all of the touchdowns. Still, they were great seats and it was a such a blast being there. During the TV timeouts, the Jerrytron kept the crowd entertained with fun videos. The funniest was of the offensive linemen racing go-carts.

My favorite was a Dallas Cowboys rendition of the Black Eyed Peas' song "I Gotta Feeling". The video featured every level of the team's employees from the event staff to the players. Each clip portrayed them singing the lyrics, jumping up and down, and bobbin' their heads..."Tonight's gonna be a good night...tonight's gonna be a real goood niiight!" Marion Barber, Sam Hurd...Andre Gurode and Jay Ratliff...they were all feeling it - as was the crowd, especially since the video ran as soon as we got the feeling that the game was in hand. Indeed, it was a good night.

If you have not seen my pictures from the game, you can see them on BTB's Facebook page. Here is the direct link to the album.

Before we focus our full attention on the Giants, who gets your Thanksgiving Day game balls?

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:03:21 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

19 days ago: Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno (27) has his hand examined during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Denver, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009. Denver won 26-6. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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Happy Wednesday, and welcome to a day-late, dollar-short version of ST&NO. First of all, big up TJ for working hard to bring in his outstanding The Dude Abides... Stats That Don't Lie in a day early. I am a bit healthier on Tuesday as I write this, and I am going to see what I can get cranked out in one day, with moderate sneezing, and a heavy Day 1 of close workload in that pesky day job. I didn't take notes, and I didn't remember to record the Broncos game, so I am without a lot of detail this week, and will need to speak more generally than usual. No time to waste, so let's not waste any time. Ready..... BEGIN!!!

1. So I mentioned that I would be in the Constitution State, and that I'd be playing in a football game with my friend Tony, a diehard Giants fan. The morning game was fun, but I ended up pretty sore, for those who asked. It's tough playing once a year at the most.

As for the night game, well, my mom is not what you'd call a high-tech person. Every time I visit, without fail, there's some junk Coby brand DVD player she wants me to plug into some junk/old TV set without RCA inputs. (You have to drop like $40 on an RF modulator to run through coax, which is about 2.5 times the price of the DVD player.) The "how" of plugging in a DVD player is too daunting for my mom to even give it a try for herself. In her main TV-watching area, she has a 21ish-inch Symphonic brand LCD flat screen that I am sure came from Wal-Mart. Her equipment is garbage, but it works for her I guess. Law & Order SVU looks fine on it. (I don't mean to make fun of my mother; she just doesn't share my priorities, or general attitude toward spending a few extra bucks for quality gear.) It turned out to be moot anyway, because NFL Network is on a premium tier she doesn't subscribe to.

So, what to do? Well, Tony was still around. I asked if he wanted to go to a bar for the game, but he ended up inviting me to his parents' house to watch, which was cool. His dad, also Tony, is also a big Giants fan. I usually watch football alone, because I don't consider it to be a social activity. It's really kind of become my job, and I do best when I can take notes, and pause and rewind, and focus on being analytical. I will talk to my brother Chris sometimes during games, but that's annoying, because my DirecTV feed is always 2-3 seconds behind his, so he knows what happened before I do.

Last Thursday, I sat in the living room with Tony and Tony. Tony Version 2.0's mother, and his girlfriend Ana, were there for most of the first half. I like them both very much, but having women around for a Broncos game was a whole other level of different for me. Like, I don't think it has happened since I was married, and that ended Halloween 2007.

But I digest. (I just had a sandwich from Tomayydo Tomahhdo for lunch. It was excellent, as always.) Back to the lecture at hand. I'm watching this game with two Giants fans and their women, and I got it in my mind that I was going to be really respectful of the Giants one way or the other. It turned out I had to do so in the one way, and not the other, which made me happy. For me, it's easier to be gracious in victory than in defeat.

The Broncos dominated the Giants, and in my opinion, played their best all-around game of the season. Kyle Orton threw one bad ball that he'd like to have back. The Giants got one receiver wide open on a well-conceived rub play where Alphonso Smith and Andre' Goodman ran into each other. The line had those 3 stupid scoring-area false starts, and gave up one sack, on the opening play of the game, and it came from the free rusher on a blitz (which puts it on coverage and Orton). Other than those few plays, and a sense that Correll Buckhalter went down a little too easily a couple of times, I wouldn't change much of anything.

McGeorge asked after the San Diego game if I still stood by my 11-5 prediction. I wanted to see how the Broncos did against New York, but after that, I sure do. The Giants game showed the exact formula that the Broncos can use to beat just about anybody. On defense, it was coverage, pressure, and gap control. On offense, it was sharp routes, great catches and good throws, combined with hard running and excellent run blocking. If the Broncos play like that, they will crush the Raiders and Chiefs, and end up with a minimum of 10 wins. They match up pretty well with both the Colts and the Eagles, too, and I think they can win 1 out of those 2 games. Here is my rationale for saying they match up well.

Indianapolis - The Colts are not a complete team, but nobody really is in the salary cap era. What the Colts are is a team which is constructed around the idea that their QB is going to give them leads, and that their defense will therefore need to protect leads. What does that mean? Well, they value zone coverage and pressure from their DEs. If you make them defend both the pass and the run on any given snap, you can score on them without a lot of trouble. Because the Colts can't stop even an average running game with 7 men, their SS Melvin Bullitt runs down into the box very frequently, and the Colts are therefore susceptible to being beaten over the top on play action, if you can run against them. It was no accident how the Texans got out to a big lead Sunday. They ran and threw, and had the Colts defense off balance early. The Colts rookie CBs couldn't handle Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter, and I'm here to tell you, they have nothing for Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal either. The Texans can't handle Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, and the Broncos can, assuming Ryan Harris is fully back by then. The Broncos can block the Colts DEs, beat their CBs, and move their front seven in the running game.

Remember this point. Just because the Colts are 3^rd in scoring defense (just behind Cincinnati and Dallas, and just ahead of Denver) doesn't mean they have a good defense. They really don't. They have a defense which is equipped to take care of leads by making teams gain yards in smallish chunks, and by sacking QBs with edge pressure. That, combined with Peyton Manning's constant use of the whole play clock leads to low-scoring days by opposing offenses

The trick, of course, is defending the Colts, and that's where the Broncos have historically struggled. This Broncos team, however, is better equipped than any in recent memory to have some success. The Colts do best when they can run the ball, and I like the Broncos' chances to stop their running game with 7 ½ men (meaning Brian Dawkins is starting in a cover-2 shell, but keying run first). By stopping the Colts run, you take away their play action stuff, which makes Peyton Manning beat you with perfect throws, and his receivers beat you with perfect routes. Which, of course, they can do, but it's a harder go than the other way. I like the secondary matchups pretty well for the Broncos, from Champ Bailey against Reggie Wayne, Andre' Goodman against Pierre Garcon, Ty Law or Alphonso Smith against Austin Collie, and either Law or Josh Barrett against Dallas Clark. The Clark matchup is key against the Colts, and I like Law and Barrett, depending on down and distance, better than anybody else's sub-package guys in the NFL for covering a big-time TE.

I'm not saying the game will be a runaway Broncos win, just that I can easily make a case for them TO win, and that I think they CAN win. What do you think?

Philadelphia - This is a game the Broncos SHOULD win. The Eagles are a lot like the Giants, from both schematic and personnel perspectives. From the angle of attacking Philly's defense, you can outside zone them to death, like the Broncos did so well against the Giants. That's because their LBs tend to be bigger, slower guys who struggle a bit to cover the lateral width of the field. Will Witherspoon is an exception to that archetype, but Chris Gocong, Joe Mays, and Moise Fokou are vertical players.

You have to block the Eagles' blitz packages, and it really helps to stay on schedule against them. That's a bit easier than it is against a Baltimore or Pittsburgh, because you can run the ball. (They're currently ranked 8^th against the run, but trust me, you can gash them if you try a little.) In the passing game, you'd like to exploit Asante Samuel, who bites on a ton of double moves. Yes, he's a ball-hawk, but he doesn't shut anybody down. He can catch extremely well, and he's an excellent tackler, but he's just an okay coverage player. Sheldon Brown is kind of the opposite; better in coverage, but lesser as a ball-hawk and tackler. Where you can kill the Eagles is from the slot, and with TEs, especially if you block their blitz packages.

Offensively, the Eagles are a big-play offense, and the Broncos have been as good as anybody in the NFL at limiting big plays. Brent Celek got paid Tuesday, and he deserved it. He's a very good receiving TE. The Eagles don't have a big, physical #1 type WR, but they have two speedsters outside with DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. The guy I think is dangerous is Jason Avant, who is much stronger and more physical than the average slot receiver, and he's a tough matchup for the average thin/quick nickel CB. Of course, Alphonso Smith and Ty Law are both thicker/stronger players, so it's less of an issue. I don't fear the Eagles running game, because if you stop it early, they quit going to it.

This game can go either way, obviously, but the Broncos are well-equipped to get a good road win in Philadelphia. I feel pretty good about both games, actually. So, yeah. I still like the 11-5 prediction.

2. Information From My Eyes - Other Games:

a. Richard Seymour is still playing at a high level in Oakland, despite his fairly modest statistics this season. I watched him defeat the left side of the Cowboys offensive line several times on Thanksgiving Day. Seymour's contract is up after this season, and you have to think he'd rather not re-up with the Raiders. Of course, given the price Al Davis paid, he probably gets franchised. If he somehow isn't, I'd sure like to see him in Denver. Forget all this nonsense about building exclusively through the draft; as we've all hopefully realized this season, a team should take any approach available to it, in order to acquire the most good players possible.

b. Anthony Spencer had the best game I have ever seen him have for the Cowboys. Some Dallas fans took exception with my calling Spencer "just a guy" in Week 3, and if he keeps playing like he did last Thursday, I'll have to rethink my evaluation.

c. I have been a fan of the Cowboys' passing scheme for several years now, going back to the end of the Parcells regime. In 2007, when I started to make it my business to watch teams other than the Broncos closely, Jason Garrett was the young, hot name as the Offensive Coordinator, and Jerry Jones paid him a lot of money not to leave for jobs in Baltimore and Atlanta after the 2007 season.

When Tony Sparano left to become the Dolphins Head Coach last season, it came to light that Garrett hadn't been the primary playcaller in 2007, and that he'd be doing it for the first time in 2008 with Sparano's departure. The Cowboys took a noticeable step back last season, and some of the bloom came off the Garrett rose, even as he interviewed for Head Coaching jobs with the Broncos, Lions, and Rams, and seemed to initially be the favorite for the Rams job. There was speculation that Jones would love to be out from under Garrett's $3-million contract.

Well, the point of the history lesson is that the scheme and execution look much better in Dallas lately than they have since Sparano left. I don't know if this makes Garrett a Head Coach, but it makes him a guy who appears to have grown into his job. The Cowboys' passing scheme is very vertical, and it does a good job of getting the ball in the hands of its playmakers. Some will say they don't get Roy Williams involved enough, but those people believe more in Williams than I do. I think he is what he looks like; a lazy player, who has below average hands, lacks quickness out of his breaks, and rounds off his routes. If there's no salary cap for the Cowboys to take a prorated hit against, I guarantee that he gets released in the offseason, and has to beg for a 1 year, $1-million contract to compete for a backup role somewhere.

d. Charles Woodson is playing the best football of his career right now, which I have mentioned several times this season. He had a big stat game Thursday on national TV, and now everybody is on the bandwagon with me. I actually thought it may have only been the 3rd- or 4th-best game I have seen him play this season. To me, he's the no-question Defensive Player of the Year so far.

e. The Packers defense has really gotten their act together lately, and are a big key to the push they seem to be making. I am pretty comfortable projecting that the Packers will be in the postseason as a Wild Card at this point.

f. Jim Leonhard of the Jets is a tremendously underrated player, and I left him out of my Good AFC Safeties list last week, kind of by accident. He is always around the football, and I've been a big fan of his game going all the way back to his days at Wisconsin. The Broncos offered him more money than the Jets this offseason, but he chose to follow Rex Ryan. It seems like it was a good decision for him, anyway.

g. I watched the Short Cut of the Jets-Panthers game, and I agree with Doug Lee that Mark Sanchez's 13-of-17 stat line was very misleading. He had happy feet, and he looked really confused a lot of the time.

h. I've seen a few people starting to use the line which goes "If Alex Smith plays like he did Sunday, the Niners might not replace him in the draft." Really, he has played pretty well for six games, better than ever before in his career. I think the decision would already be made, if it was up to me. You have a guy who is proving he can play, and he's improving even as teams get some film on him. That rollout and throw to Frank Gore for the second TD was a thing of beauty, as Smith waited till the last possible second, and threw the ball to the only spot he could put it. I'd be looking to improve the offensive line, and counting on having a Top-10 offense next season, with Smith, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, and Vernon Davis. Joe Staley is a solid LT when he's healthy, but General Manager Scot McCloughan really would do well to replace the other 4 starters up front. Sunday's game was the first time in 18 games that the 49ers didn't give up a single sack.

i. I tend to like a lot of University of Florida guys, but Ray McDonald is really coming into his own in a specialist role for the 49ers. He looked unblockable at times Sunday. McDonald usually plays in passing situations at DE. According to ESPN, he didn't record a tackle, but he did recover a fumble. I'm telling you, though, he was defeating some blocks Sunday, and bringing a lot of pressure.

3. There are two kinds of name-droppers, and I am the second kind. It's not like I am extremely famous (yet) with my writing for this site, but when you think about it, I'm known by more people than probably 98% of the population. I'm definitely more famous than any of my friends and family, and in the course of telling my stories, I find it adds rhetorical flourish to mention them sometimes, and it's also fun to share my little bit of light with them. I tell people, if they want to make ST&NO, they should do something interesting with me.

The first kind of name-dropper is the one who tries to stand in other people's light. Our dear friend Jay Glazer is the quintessential example of this kind. Check this douchebaggery, from Tuesday night:

First of all, it's Too $hort, not two-short. And, you know what? That's all I have on that topic. I like making fun of Glazer, but whatever, you know? Fish in a barrel.

I am now going to name-drop a person who is as famous as I am. I met Doug Lee for lunch in Manhattan on Saturday. Yes, THE Doug Lee. Friggin Horse Tracks Doug Lee, people! Doug is a cool guy, and he suggested a great burger spot on the Upper East Side.

The lunch conversation was very interesting, the food was terrific, and it was great to meet Doug, but the hijinks ensued when I left to get back on the road back to Cleveland. I had parked on E 71st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue (for 14 bucks for 2 1/2 hours.) I came out heading south on 2nd Ave, thinking my GPS would send me back to the FDR, and the Triboro bridge, back up to catch the George Washington Bridge.

Well, it took about 2 minutes for my boy Tom Tom to reacquire a signal, and by then I had gone south 10-15 blocks on 2nd. Tom Tom then wanted me to go to the Lincoln Tunnel, the entrance for which is in the 30s, off 9th Avenue, so significantly south and west of where I started out. It's an unquestionably stupid way to go, driving over the river and through the woods in Manhattan, even on a Saturday afternoon, especially considering the Lincoln Tunnel spits you out on the New Jersey Turnpike, heading toward the world-renowned hell-hole of Newark.. (Home of wred-mann.)

Where's the payoff pitch? Here it goes. I was sitting at a traffic light at E 43rd St and 2nd Avenue, and this Puerto Rican guy (with a flag on his shirt, incidentally), knocked on my window. I looked at him like, WTF? But I lowered the window, and he told my right rear tire area looked like it was on fire, and was smoking like crazy. A woman walking behind him told me the same thing, so I pulled over on 43rd and troubleshot it with my dad on the phone for awhile, before deducing that the emergency brake had probably stayed clamped to the rotor, and was causing sparks and smoke. I watched it, with my mirror pointed down, but eventually I was comfortable enough to go through the tunnel, and eventually through Newark, and back to I-80. The moral of the story is if somebody knocks on your window, he may be trying to be helpful, so you shouldn't look cross-eyed at him, as a matter of instinct. Also, sometimes, Tom Tom messing up is a blessing in disguise. If I had gone FDR to the Triboro, to the GW, It would have been all highway, with nobody walking down the sidewalk to knock.

4. One of the hazards of relying on "insiders" for information is that it comes with agendas and spin. Pro Football Weekly is a (Bill Williamson Memorial) decent site, but they rely tremendously on anonymous insider commentary. They've been talking to somebody who seems incentivized to cast Raheem Morris as woefully inept. Check this out:

Talk of the Buccaneers giving head coach Raheem Morris another offseason to turn the team around is fading fast, as his latest bold decision was another admission of failure in a season marked with disappointment. Morris seized defensive coordinator duties from Jim Bates on Nov. 24 and demoted Bates to what is being described as an advisory role, although it's not clear just what kind of involvement or authority, if any, Bates will have for the rest of his time with the organization.

Morris made a couple of mistakes in hiring his staff, but they were the kind of mistakes a first-timer can make, especially one who gets a Head Coaching job a month after most of the movement was over. There's this persistent meme that relieving Jeff Jagodzinski and Jim Bates of their duties somehow shows Morris to be weak. I say it's the other way around. He realized that he had made mistakes, and he let sunk costs be sunk costs, and made the moves that he felt gave his team the best chance to win.

Morris's team is 1-10, but the Bucs have improved as the season has gone on, and it would be asinine to fire him after a season which was a declared rebuilding year, where a coach who they knew was probably hired a year too early learned the ropes.

There are a lot of haters in the world, and I relate pretty closely to Morris. I have always been an overachiever, who has consistently beaten out older, more experienced professional competition for promotions and recognition. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have a pretty good deal of talent, and a strong work ethic. The majority of my critics have only been moderately talented people, with medium work ethics. Let's face it, there are a lot of people in the center of the bell curve. I am in the center of the bell curve in certain ways, and so is everybody. I am not, though, as an accountant, and Raheem Morris is not as a football coach.

So, some 25-year career assistant who has been hired and fired 15 times is jealous of Morris and his early success. He spouts off to Dan Parr at PFW, and Parr writes that article above. The same thing was going on with Josh McDaniels, with the questioning of his ability, and Josh only got clear of it by winning. Morris will, too.

Even a guy like Marshall Faulk was hating on Morris on Sunday morning, intimating that all the young coach knew how to call was Tampa-2. Well, for 7 end-of-game goal-to-go plays, he called press man-to-man, and his guys covered well. On 4th down, Roddy White made a great play, and won the game for the Falcons. Really, if Connor Barth had hit the 51-yard field goal he attempted, they would have only been playing for a tie. I saw somewhere Morris was criticized for kicking the field goal rather than punting. Really? The point is don't listen to these idiots. I'd be very surprised if the Glazer family is.

5. I have a couple of quick college thoughts.

a. The Head Coaching job at Notre Dame is not a good one. I could usually take or leave SI.com's Stewart Mandel, but he has it exactly right. The expectations there are entirely unreasonable, given the constraints they face. If I were Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, there is no way in hell I'd take that job. At Cincinnati, he has a program whose credibility is on the rise, and who will soon be taken more seriously in the National Championship picture. At Notre Dame, there's just faded mystique.

b. I am a Florida fan, and I think it is unlikely that Tim Tebow wins the Heisman Trophy. I am actually pretty excited for the prospect of the lesser Colt McCoy winning, because history will be repeating itself. I am projecting a win against Alabama, and a Texas win against Nebraska, neither of which is a foregone conclusion, but let's say it happens like that. Tebow will lead Florida into a National Championship game against a guy he lost the Heisman to. I would be really bullish for Florida's 3rd title in 4 years, even more than I already am.

c. Speaking of the Heisman, I think it's ridiculous how it's turned into nothing more than a tool for media conjecture. Frankly, it follows along the same line of thinking that dominates professional football writing, that all of the best players are QBs and RBs, joined by the occasional WR. It's a total farce.

That's all I have this week. I will be back next Tuesday for more of a full-figured ST&NO. Have a great week, and Go Broncos!

The Linc - Injured Redskins, NFC East catfight, Runyan returns

JasonB — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:24:34 -0000

More photos » by Sharon Ellman - AP

23 days ago: Washington Redskins running back Ladell Betts (46) sits on the trainers table after having his left knee wrapped following an injury during an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys won 7-6. (AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)

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Redskins Sign Guard Paul Fanaika from Eagles' Practice Squad - Hogs Haven
Next stop... Superbowl.

Jon Runyan Signs Contract With Chargers
The San Diego Chargers have placed right tackle Jeromey Clary on injured reserve and signed free agent Jon Runyan.

Cowboys' Williams gives Landry free pass - NFC East Blog - ESPN
Redskins safety LaRon Landry accused Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams of playing "scared" Sunday. Landry said he could tell it by the way Williams was running his routes. In fact, the Skins safety even said he told Williams that he was playing scared and he said that Williams didn't respond.

Gonzo: For Vick, Southern hospitality | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/24/2009
On Dec. 4, two days before the Eagles play the Falcons in Georgia, an outfit called New Order - which bills itself as a national human-rights organization - plans to hold a "welcome home" rally for Vick in Atlanta. According to a team spokesman, Vick didn't know about the rally and won't attend since the Birds don't fly South until Dec. 5.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: NFL/Football
Washington Redskins running back Ladell Betts will likely miss the remainder of the season due to a left knee injury, head coach Jim Zorn said during Monday's press conference.

Man Up: Veterans step up for Eagles | Philly | 11/24/2009
A player-by-player look at the Eagles' defensive performance against the Bears Sunday night

The VRR: Cowboys Must Get Back in Saddle after Pulling off Squeaker over 'Skins

Aaron Novinger — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:48:58 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Tony Romo has to take his bumps and bruises from Redskins to Raiders in just a few days.

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The 7-6 victory over the rival Redskins did little to boost fans' confidence in the Cowboys' struggling offense. Running the ball 33 times - including six straight called in the first quarter - may have made the playcalling seem more "balanced", yet it produced no points.

However intriguing it is to see Felix Jones break the double-digit carry barrier for the first time in his career, or to see Marion Barber come up a yard shy from hitting the century mark, the scoreboard is still dependent on Tony Romo to pull that big, fat "0" down.

Heck, even Nick Folk failed (again) to get the team on the scoreboard prior to the end of the fourth quarter. Fortunately, the defense again refused to let that other side of the scoreboard be lit up.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys will be a bit more banged up heading into the shortened Thanksgiving week. Nothing major, but there are some bumps and bruises that must be played through as the team hosts the Raiders on Thursday. Making it through this week unscathed can be a real asset, as the team will get a few extra days to rest up before the Week 13 road game against the Giants.

More VRR after the jump.

Here's the latest on who's hurting:

QB Tony Romo - back (11/22) The quarterback injured his back in the first quarter when he was kneed in the backside while making a tackle. Romo never missed a snap against Washington, but he was limited in practice on Monday. Romo received a pain-relieving shot after the game Sunday, but told reporters he expects to play. Wade Phillips told the media Monday the quarterback was feeling better, but hinted that backup Jon Kitna might have to take some precautionary reps in practice.

TE Jason Witten - foot (11/22) Despite playing the entire game Sunday, Witten didn't practice Monday because of a foot injury. The All-Pro tight end caught two passes on the Cowboys' game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

LB Keith Brooking - ankle (11/22) The veteran linebacker was limited in Monday's light practice with an ankle injury he suffered near the end of Sunday's win over the Redskins. Brooking said on Monday he expects to play this week.

CB Mike Jenkins - elbow/head (11/22) Jenkins got "banged up" in the Redskins game, according to head coach Wade Phillips. The cornerback was already battling the elbow injury from the Packers game but suffered the head injury late in the game when making a tackle. He did not practice with the team on Monday in the light workout.

Despite the blow to the back, Romo impressed in the end and sounds good-to-go for Thursday's game.

"That's Romo being Romo," Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said. "We had guys wrapped around him, and he still escaped. He's a tough sack."

And a tough guy. Romo bruised his back in the first quarter tackling cornerback DeAngelo Hall after he picked up a Marion Barber fumble in the red zone.

"I must have asked Tony 10 times, ‘Are you OK?'" Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking said. "You could tell he was hurting, but he kept grinding."

Romo said he never considered leaving the game.

"I've always felt you can play as long as it's not something like a broken bone," Romo said. "With the adrenaline of the game, you can always do it. It only hurts right before the snap and right after."

The Redskins' injuries were much more severe. RB Ladell Betts and OL Chad Rinehart will be placed on IR and miss the rest of the season.

Along with Coach Phillips' aggressive blitzes, Keith Brooking credits DeMarcus Ware for his career-high four sacks.

Brooking has taken advantage of all the attention opponents pay the NFL’s reigning sacks leader in pass protection. He said his sacks often come on "hug blitzes," when he’s in man coverage against a running back and rushes when the back stays into block. When the back goes to chip Ware, that often leaves a lane for Brooking.

"The majority of my sacks, just to be dead honest with you, come from I'm just running scot-free and a lot of times the backs are sliding toward No. 94," Brooking said. "As I said yesterday, I'd do the same thing if I was in the backfield trying to block that guy. I'm just taking advantage."

Anthony Spencer was almost credited with a sack, but getting the game-winning INT proved much more rewarding.

It was Spencer's first career interception. The theft made up for a review taking away what he thought was his first sack of the season.

Late in the first half, Spencer chased Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell out of bounds for an apparent 5-yard loss. But a replay showed Campbell had released the ball just before stepping out.

"I gave the ref a little mouth about it," Spencer said. "But I'd much rather have the interception. It's a relief for the simple fact I've been around so many opportunities to make plays. It's good to see it come to fruition."

Bradie James on winning ugly:

"We have been sexy," linebacker Bradie James said. "We have been trying to be glamorous. And teams have come in and beat us. They have us ugly. What’s wrong with ugly? We won. That’s all that matters. Now we’ve got Oakland. We are concentrating on winning and getting ready for the stretch drive in December."

Coach Phillips squashed the media's attempt to get more info on the Campo-Newman argument.

If you haven't read it by now, LaRon Landry called Roy Williams "scared". Landry didn't get all Xs-andOs about it, but did imply that Williams' play was "scared".

"Certain pass concepts they had," Landry continued, by way of explaining how he knew Williams was scared. "Certain routes he ran, you could tell he didn't want any part of it."

A good area of focus on both offense and defense will be third-down conversions.

With the short week, Cowboys coach Wade Phillips might not have an opportunity to address the team's struggles with their third-down offense and defense.

"We just haven't played well enough on third downs, and we need to take a look at it."

Nick Folk knows he's in a "funk", and will stay patient.

"A little funk," Folk said Monday. "I got to work my way out of it right now."

Folk said he's not too concerned because he's hitting the ball well. On the 46-yarder he missed on Sunday, Folk said he hit it well, but it just stayed right. The last kick he missed, a 38-yarder in Green Bay the previous week, Folk said he just missed it.

"I feel good, I hit the ball really well, it stayed a little to the right," Folk said. "I dont know I got to go look at it. it felt good coming off my foot had a good week of practice."

Patrick Crayton has worn many hats in his football career. Did you know he can kick? Well, sort of.

Patrick Crayton was once the emergency kicker on his college team.

"Make that the emergency-emergency kicker," he said, smiling. "If it had ever come down to me, we probably would have gone for two."

Even then, at Northwestern Oklahoma State, Crayton had a strong leg. Once, on a bet, Crayton surprised himself.

"I made a 50-yarder," he said, again smiling. "You never know when it comes to kicking."

After waiving KR/PR Allen Rossum, the Cowboys re-signed CB Cletis Gordon to the active roster.

The Buccaneers sure like the Cowboys' practice squad players. They've already plucked rookie CB Mike Mickens off there, now they've signed QB Rudy Carpenter as well.

Matt Mosely is shopping Shanahan. If the Cowboys were to part ways with Wade Phillips after this season, he thinks Mike Shanahan could be a good fit.

I think Jones would do just about anything to win another Super Bowl but you have to question his decision to stick with Wade Phillips after a disastrous ending to the '08 season. The fact that it was partly a financial decision makes you wonder if Jones would be willing to outbid his little buddy Snyder.

Week Eleven: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

Aaron Novinger — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:45:09 -0000

It's Saturday, so it's time to talk some fantasy football! Not only is this a huge week for the Cowboys as they host the rival Redskins, but it is also an enormously important week for fantasy football.

Bye weeks are over, many of us may be smelling fantasy playoffs, and next week is the trade deadline for many leagues.

Make the jump for the Week 11 Fantasy Focus.

QB Tony Romo - Romo owners found some relief last week when the Dallas quarterback refused to let the team be shut out. His garbage-time TD pass to Roy Williams helped to ease the pain of having the Packers' defense completely dictate the day. It was just one of those games for the Cowboys' offense. If a receiver was open, Romo just barely missed him. If he was on target, the ball would be dropped or a Packers' defender would make a better play on it. Nevertheless, offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, stuck with his QB and his aggressive style of play-calling. That should show you that the Cowboys have a ton of faith in their signal caller.

This week, Romo and company are up against the NFL's number one pass defense in the Redskins. The argument can be made that the 162.7 YPG they are giving up in that department is a result of playing a weak schedule. Against the Broncos last week, some huge plays were given up to Kyle Orton and Brandon Marshall. Romo and his WRs will look to exploit the same weaknesses, although it is unclear whether CB Carlos Rodgers will be benched in favor of Fred Smoot.

After being dominated by the Packers' blitzers, look for the Cowboys' offense to regroup and get back to basics. Romo and Garrett should then be able to find gaps and create mismatches in the overrated Redskins' secondary.

RBs Marion Barber, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice - 5 carries for 26 yards for Barber last week. Nobody is happy with those numbers. When he did have the ball, he looked strong running it. He should have at least double the amount of carries this week. The Cowboys can still pull him out for pass-protection because of his thumb, but the fracture only looks to bother him there.

Felix Jones looks a mere shadow of his explosive-self since injuring his knee in Week 3. It's a bit of a mystery each week on how much the team will use him. He did see a good amount of action against the Packers, but the game was such that the RBs totalled only 11 carries with Felix getting 3 of those. It would be best to take a wait-and-see approach with him.

Tashard Choice is being integrated more into the offense through the "Razorback" formation, as well as his 3rd-down duties. His fantasy success depends so greatly on Barber and Jones that it's tough to predict how much of an impact he will have. Until the Cowboys get their running game back on track, sit him if you have a better option.

WRs Miles Austin - Austin owners now have a tough decision. He's been exposed to the league, so defenses focus on taking him out of the Dallas gameplan. It worked in Philly, until he busted out for a 49-yard TD catch and run. He was held in check last week, catching 4 for just 20. The targets are there and will continue to be since Romo is so comfortable with him. And, if you look at what Marshall did against the 'Skins last week, Austin should be able to have a big game.

Roy Williams - When defenses take away Austin, that leaves Romo to go to Williams. Although RW did have some boo-boos last week, he had a solid fantasy game, catching 5 for 105 with a score. Couple that with the 5 for 75 he caught the prior week, and he's beginning to look like a decent WR again. If he could get rid of the dropsies, he could have some huge games for owners. By doing so, he would also receive more targets from Romo.

This week, he will be going up against DeAngelo Hall. The Cowboys have picked on him in the past with success; expect them to continue to do so.

TEs Jason Witten - It feels like every week I write, "Witten is still looking for the end zone, and this should be the game he finds it." He almost had a TD late last week, but the pass was behind him. 5 catches for 47 yards is nothing to get excited about for Witten owners. Considering Romo rarely had time to pass, Witten still snagged roughly 20% of his passing yards.

You know he's gonna get his targets, and you know he's not going to get you zero points. Stick with him unless you have a better option. He's gotta come up big soon, right?

Cowboys D/ST - Steady as they go...this unit continues to improve week-to-week. By sacking Aaron Rodgers four times last week and holding him to under 200 yards passing, the Dallas defense jumped from ranking 20th in the league to 16th. It is in the top-10 in points allowed (18.8 PPG) and rushing yards allowed (103.1 YPG).

This week, Big D's defense will face an improved Redskins' ground game that now features RB Ladell Betts. The matchup should bode well for Dallas as SOLB Anthony Spencer is coming off one of his best games and the defensive line has continued to limit running opportunities. The secondary is a bit banged-up and will be missing starting FS Ken Hamlin. Converted CB, Alan Ball, will take his place and is considered to be a good cover safety. With the pass rush always a threat, the DBs should be able to take advantage by luring QB Jason Campbell into throwing a pick or two.

K Nick Folk - Holder Mat McBriar took the blame for Folk's miss last week. He's just 14 for 18 on the year, which is uncharacteristic of him.

After ten weeks of fantasy footballing on FleaFlicker, the BTB and BTB Part Deux fantasy leagues are racing to the finish line. In the BTB league, The Speed of Dark has taken the lead with a 7-3 record (some major parity in that league). Here's how both leagues are shaping up:

The Mighty is Back to Winning (9-1)

kill everbody

Where the Cowboys are Headed (7-3)

Maui Paniolo Boyz

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The VRR: Redskins (3-6) @ Cowboys (6-3)

Aaron Novinger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:29:58 -0000

More photos » by Gerald Herbert - AP

Dallas defenders must try to limit Ladell Betts and the Washington offense.

Browse more photos »

The Cowboys can accomplish quite alot in beating the Redskins. Most importantly, they can regain the momentum they lost up in Lambeau. They can also increase their division record to 2-1 and their conference record to 6-2, which could come in handly for tie-breaking purposes down the road.

And, by handing the Redskins their seventh loss on the season, they could pretty much force them to begin waving bye-bye to their playoff chances.

Much of the talk this week at Valley Ranch has centered on Big D's offensive lack of production last week. On the flip side, Washington's offense seemed to show some signs of life for one of the first times this season. At home against Denver, RB Ladell Betts and QB Jason Campbell each scored, WR Devin Thomas showed some play-making potential, and the special teams found success on a fake field goal.

More VRR after the jump.

Perhaps it's the Cowboys' defenders that need to come up big. Beating the Broncos 27-17 last week boosted the Redskins' confidence. Deflating it early could be key.

"Coming off last week's victory, we've definitely got confidence. It was a big confidence-builder for us," Rock Cartwright said.

"You've got to keep it rolling. That's the whole objective," receiver Devin Thomas said. "You can never give up on a season just because things have gone bad. We knew we were just one click away from hitting on all cylinders."

With a win in Dallas, the Redskins would be only two games out of the NFC East lead with six games to play, three against the other division teams - including the Cowboys at home two nights after Christmas. Dallas, whose 57 wins against Washington are more than against any other team, doesn't want things to get that close. The dismal day in Green Bay likely got the Cowboys' attention.

The Cowboys should expect to see a heavy dose of RB Ladell Betts with Clinton Portis (concussion) out.

Betts rushed for a season-high 114 yards on 26 carries in last Sunday’s 27-17 win over the Denver Broncos.

Asked how Portis's status impacts him, Betts replied: "You get to be the man on first, second and third down, because before that, it was pretty much only on third down. Now I know that I get to play a full game, so it’s a little bit different mindset."

And it won't change the offensive game plan vs. Dallas, Zorn added. "We didn't change the run game necessarily to accommodate Ladell," Zorn said. "We ran our stuff, and what he did was push up into the hole and fight for yardage."

The Dallas secondary may be a bit banged up, but Mike Jenkins and Alan Ball sound ready to go. Ball should also receive help from Gerald Sensabaugh.

Cowboys CB Mike Jenkins injured his bicep in the Packers contest. Coach Wade Phillips said Jenkins has looked well and even had a couple of interceptions off QB Jon Kitna in scout team practice.

With S Ken Hamlin (ankle) out of the lineup for the Cowboys the next several weeks, look for safeties Alan Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh to split the duties of lining up the defense. Coach Wade Phillips had high praise for the smarts of Sensabaugh and his ability to handle the job.

Ball talks about the difference between playing free safety and cornerback. Also, it looks as if rookie SS Mike Hamlin will see his first action this week since the preseason.

"At cornerback, you don’t have to talk a lot," Ball said. "At safety, you have to know a lot. You have to make a lot of adjustments, a lot of checks. So you have to know a lot more going in. That’s about what it is."

Ball has five tackles and a pass breakup on defense this season. He has 12 special teams tackles, but is expected to have his special-teams workload lightened this week.

Phillips said rookie safety Mike Hamlin and cornerback Orlando Scandrick will fill in on special teams. Mike Hamlin has not been active this season.

Ball and Doug Free will be replaced on special teams.

With Alan Ball starting at free safety, reserve cornerback Orlando Scandrick will likely become the ``gunner,'' with outside coverage on punt-coverage teams. In addition, offensive tackle Pat McQuistan is scheduled to be active for the first time this season and replace Doug Free as a wall blocker on kickoff returns.

DeMarcus Ware talks about how Washington's blocking schemes and Jason Campbell's mobility in the pocket make it difficult to get to him.

"To be honest, it’s really hard to get to him because they keep in extra guys," Ware said. "They might have some guys on the front line so they do a lot of split backs and a lot of protection schemes to keep the guys off Campbell to make sure he’s effective in the pass."

[snip]

"He’s a great pocket passer," said Ware, who has seven sacks, tied for 10th in the NFL. "He makes sure he has confidence in his line and the guys around him so he can step up in the pocket to make plays."

"When he extends, when he moves around, when he flinches the ball, it causes the secondary, the linebackers, to hesitate, to go, to move," Zorn said. "And then if he can pull it down and have time to hit somebody else, it is very hard. It is the most difficult thing in football because you got the coverage, and if you throw on rhythm, you think you can handle it. When that rhythm's broke and you have to cover long through the coverage that you had, it's hard. It's what makes those quarterbacks very difficult to defend and he's been good at it for a few years."

Brian Orakpo thinks the Packers mapped out a way to get to Romo.

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah," Orakpo told ESPN 103.3’s Galloway and Co. "They gave us a lot of good tips the way Green Bay was able to get after it with a lot of different looks. Best believe we’re going to go out there and try to perform some of those things and try to change it up a little bit and give Dallas a little different look."

[snip]

"It seemed like they didn’t know who to block," Orakpo said. "You see guys flying out of nowhere and hitting Romo from behind and forcing fumbles. I mean, they were all over the place. I guess what we’ve got to do is switch it up ourselves. We’ll see how the game plan is and what the calls will be called, but obviously, we got a lot of tips from that game."

Yes, they have Albert Haynesworth and London Fletcher, but the Redskins' run defense isn't all that.

The Redskins continue to struggle in run defense this season. The unit has yielded 100+ rushing yards in eight of nine games this season, including 120 yards in last Sunday’s win over Denver. Overall, the Redskins have allowed an average of 125.7 rushing yards per game, ranked 24th in the league. They have allowed 4.3 yards per carry, which is ranked 17th in the league.

Felix Jones pre-strained knee ligament, and Felix Jones post-strained knee ligament.

Before the injury, Jones had 21 carries for 212 yards (10.1 yards a carry). Since coming back after the bye week and wearing a knee brace, he has 23 carries for 92 yards.

The DallasNews guys talk to Bradie James and Roy Williams about the game.

The Redskins are looking forward to playing in Cowboys Stadium for the first time.

"That’s the first thing I thought about going to Dallas, ‘Man, I get a chance to play in the new stadium,’ Santana Moss said. "Just to see it--I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s all about. It looks nice on TV. You get mesmerized. "I remember seeing the first game there [on TV]--you had cheerleaders dancing on platforms. I was like, ‘Wow.’"

Rock Cartwright admits he plans to check out the video screen, hopefully after he makes a big play. "I’m really looking forward to seeing that screen," Rock Cartwright said. "I guess every seat in the house is a good seat. I’m sure I’ll take a look at it after I make a nice run, or so. But I won’t be focused on it too much. I’ll be focused on what’s happening on the field."

The series history between the two teams:

The Cowboys lead the all-time regular season series with Washington, 57-37-2, including an unconventional split of last year's home-and-home. The Redskins were 26-24 winners in their trip to Texas Stadium in Week 4, but dropped a 14-10 decision when the clubs met at FedEx Field in Week 11. The teams engaged in conventional home-and-home splits in both 2006 and 2007. Washington is 2-0 against Dallas in the postseason, winning in the 1972 and 1982 NFC Championship games.

Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips is 3-2 all-time against Washington, with one of those wins coming for his Bills team in 1999 at FedEx Field. The Redskins' Jim Zorn is 1-1 against both Phillips and the Cowboys as a head man.

Here is the NFL Game Center for the Redskins at Cowboys.

DeMarcus Ware had the privelege of meeting President Obama as they worked together on a PSA to promote the NFL's Play 60 campaign.

"I was like ‘Ohhhh my God,"’ when Obama came out in a Bears pullover, Ware said in a telephone interview. "It was me, Polamalu and Drew Brees there, so you know how we feel about the Chicago Bears. But he’s a big Chicago Bears fan. He greeted each one of us, and he knew everything about our teams."

Ware is Dallas’ representative for the Play 60 program, which began in 2007. The NFL estimates it has committed $200 million worth of programming, grants, and time for PSAs to the initiative.

"I think it’s really important," Ware said. "If the players are getting involved in it, Obama, a lot of important people getting involved in it, sometimes it encourages kids to get out and do those type of activities and show them just how important it is."

The VRR: Can the Cowboys Regain their Balance Against the Redskins?

Aaron Novinger — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:04:37 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

When the Cowboys host the Redskins this Sunday, many eyes will be watching how Jason Garrett divvies up his runs and passes.

Browse more photos »

The first time the Cowboys hosted an NFC East rival in their new stadium, the offense featured a devastating rushing attack that mixed both power and speed. Marion Barber ran 18 times for 124 yards and a score. Felix Jones averaged 13.7 yards on seven carries and picked up a score of his own. Tashard Choice didn't have a big game, but you could tell the coaches were trying to get him involved. Typically, that's how many of us imagined the Dallas ground game producing for the rest of the year.

Much has changed since that Week Two game against the Giants. It all began with a strained quad, and then a sprained knee, a fractured thumb. But it was okay. Miles Austin saved the day, and then Tony Romo got hot. Their success has helped make up for the fact that the Cowboys no longer lead the league in rushing.

Choice has maintained his injury bug repellent, and the team is still ranked 8th in rushing - averaging 130 YPG. That's great, but the worry is that the rushing YPG is slipping every week. The worry is that the Dallas offense is growing unbalanced. The worry is that too many passing plays draw more hits on the quarterback, and can effectively lose the time of possession battle. Losing that can wear out a defense.

Shouldn't it be the Cowboys' offense doing that to opposing defenses this back half of the season?

More VRR after the jump.

Last season, in a loss to the Redskins, the Cowboys' RBs had 8 carries. Last week, in a loss against the Packers, they had 11. What does offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, have to say about this?

Garrett said it was because of "game circumstance," mentioning that the Cowboys trailed by three scores with 10 minutes remaining in the game. But the Cowboys abandoned the run after the first quarter, when Marion Barber had four carries for 27 yards.

Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers told reporters after the game that Green Bay, which sacked Tony Romo five times, could blitz aggressively because the Cowboys were so one-dimensional.

"You don’t want to be one-dimensional in anything you do," said Garrett, whose offense has run pass plays 62.7 percent of the time this season, including sacks and Romo scrambles.

"You don’t want to just be an inside running team. You don’t just want to be an outside running team. You don’t just want to be a dropback team. You want to be able to move the quarterback, you want to be able to run the ball, play-action, drop back. "The more you can do, the harder it is on the defense. At the same time, you need to have an identity. Identity is important, too. You don’t want to be all things to all people, but you want to be good at a lot of different things."

Clarence Hill takes the opposite approach to the Cowboys' lack of rushing attempts: the running game has simply been ineffective.

Their running attempts and yards have a diminished dramatically since the start of the season. That is a more of a product of Marion Barber and Felix Jones being injured. Neither has had the same burst since returning to the lineup. Barber missed one game. Jones missed two. Barber has started to look more like his old self of late.

But Jones looks uncomfortable and tentative. He has not been a game-breaking threat. Consider that he has had only two runs longer than 10 yards the last four games since returning from the sprained knee and they were just 12 and 11 yards each. He has not had a run longer than four yards against the Eagles and Packers the past two weeks.

Jones needs to be game-breaking good for the Cowboys to be truly special on offense. He hasn’t been that lately.

Barber didn't get much of a chance to perform...apparently because of his thumb.

Running back Marion Barber saw his time limited against the Packers because of problems with a fractured left thumb that was causing him trouble on pass protection at Green Bay. Barber had four carries in the first half for 26 yards, but he carried it just one time for minus-1 yard in the second half. The Cowboys went with Tashard Choice because he could handle the blitz pickups.

"We use Marion because he's such a dominant blocker," coach Wade Phillips said, "but he was having problems so we took him out."

If Barber can't get the job done in pass protection, the coaches are more apt to go with Choice rather than Felix.

When Barber's broken left thumb prevented him from blocking effectively in the second half Sunday, the Cowboys turned to Choice to protect Romo.

"He is a better pass protector than Felix, and he picks up the blitzes better," Phillips said of Choice. Hamstring and toe injuries forced Jones to miss 10 games last season, time he could have used honing his blocking skills.

"He's just not as adept at it yet," Phillips said. "(Choice) knows his assignments well and does a good job of blocking."

We may have seen a decrease in handoffs, but we have seen an increase in the "Razorback" lately.

According to Stats & Information, the Cowboys are fifth in the league in terms of Wildcat plays with seven. Tashard Choice had a touchdown run out of the Wildcat against the Eagles in Week 8.

The Cowboys will need to run the ball against the Redskins. They are first in the league in pass defense, giving up an average of just 162.7 YPG.

Romo will be facing the top-ranked passing defense in the league as well as one of the NFL's most improved pass rushes. The Redskins had 24 sacks last season to tie for the third-worst mark in the league, and have already matched that total. Linebacker Brian Orakpo, the No. 13 overall draft pick, leads all rookies with seven sacks and veteran Andre Carter has eight. Last season, the Redskins failed to sack Romo.

"Last year I felt we had some QBs feel very comfortable in the pocket," coach Jim Zorn said. "And this year we are making quarterbacks uncomfortable in the pocket."

That pass rush could be even more potent with Doug Free expected to make his first career start Sunday at right tackle for Dallas in place of Mark Colombo, who had started 57 consecutive games. Colombo had surgery after he broke his left leg and suffered ligament damage in his ankle against Green Bay.

Look for DE Andre Carter and rookie Brian Orakpo to again spearhead the Redskins' pass rush.

Orakpo already set a club record for sacks in a season by a rookie with seven, three more than any other rookie in the league.

With 15 sacks between them, Carter and Orakpo rank as the No. 3 tandem in the league behind the Colts' Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis (17.5) and the Vikings' Jared Allen and Kevin Williams (17).

"That's what they drafted me for, to make big plays," Orakpo said. "[Andre's] a guy I've looked up to and admired. That's what keeps great pass rushers hungry and able to improve - it's competing. You don't ever want one guy doing all the workload."

Andre Gurode has no ill-feelings about the 2006 game when Albert Haynesworth stomped on his face. The violent injury necessitated 30 stitches along with plastic surgery.

"It's good that he moved passed it. I moved passed it," said Gurode, a Pro Bowl pick the past three seasons. "He is a great player."

Haynesworth calls Gurode "one of the best centers in the game. ... He has good movement. He is big. He is strong."

Gurode opted against filing criminal charges against Haynesworth, who publicly and privately apologized to Gurode in the days after the October 2006 game in Nashville. Now that they will be on the field together again, Gurode knows there will be plenty of reminders of what happened, from the questions being asked to the video replays sure to be on TV.

"I expected when he signed with the Redskins and we played them that it was going to be brought up," Gurode said. "It's something in the past and you can't let what happened in the past define who you are today."

Haynesworth (ankle) may be questionable for Sunday's game. RB Clinton Portis (concussion) will not play.

Bob Cohn asks if Portis' best football is behind him.

But a decline would not be unprecedented or unexpected because Portis' durability and ruggedness might be catching up to him. Going into the season, only four active runners had more career carries. All of them - Edgerrin James, LaDainian Tomlinson, Fred Taylor and Jamal Lewis - have seen better days.

You may have read earlier that Doug Free will get the start at RT for Marc Colombo. The new face on the first-team defense was also announced today. Alan Ball has been named the starter at FS for the injured Ken Hamlin.

Coach Phillips makes it sound like Ball can "ball".

"He's so aggressive," Phillips said. "I mean we've seen him on special teams and he's very aggressive. And he tackles well. He's not a big guy but he tackles well. It's a concern. Their running game is a concern because they have a strong running game. They had 174 yards last week against Denver, who we know can play the run pretty well."

Special teams dynamo, David Buehler, did not practice today because of a pinky toe injury. Todd Archer said that Buehler was "limping noticeably".

Some of the Cowboys have begun the holiday season by helping to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Dallas Salvation Army homeless center.

SB Nation's power rankings dropped the Cowboys just two spots - from 7 to 9.

Where has Jason Witten gone this year? While Romo still targets him plenty, Witten's yards per catch are at a career low, and he's been a non-factor at the goal-line. With teams keying in on Miles Austin and Roy Williams generally hit-or-miss, the Cowboys will need more from Witten if they're going to develop some offensive consistency. (And losing RT Marc Colombo to injury won't help either)

SB Nation - Roy Williams

Week 14's Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

Round 1

Semis

Finals

Round 1

Semis

Finals

'Kudos & Wet Willies:' Return of the Giants edition

'Kudos' to ...

Wet Willies to ...

Week Thirteen: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

BTB Game Balls: Raiders @ Cowboys

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

The Linc - Injured Redskins, NFC East catfight, Runyan returns

The VRR: Cowboys Must Get Back in Saddle after Pulling off Squeaker over 'Skins

Week Eleven: Fantasy Focus on the Cowboys

The VRR: Redskins (3-6) @ Cowboys (6-3)

The VRR: Can the Cowboys Regain their Balance Against the Redskins?