I was watching a bit of that Bears game last night and something stood out in an interview they ran with Urlacher.  He talked about how they only run a few kinds of blitzes, but they are a good defense because everyone knows their assignments well and knows what to do.  Watching them, that seemed to be true.  Even when they gave up a few yards, there were about 5 guys there to make the tackle.  Contrast with the massacre yesterday and some of the bad defensive performances this year.

It seems like we could use some of that simplification philosophy.  The Cowboys have the talent on D to play a lot better than they do--not Bears good, but better than we've seen.  When big plays or long drives happen against them, it seems that half the guys don't seem to know where they should be (ahem, Roy) or who they are covering.  The blitzes almost never seem to work.

Maybe it's time to simplify and emulate what is by far the most impressive D I've seen since the Ravens a few years ago.

Kansas City Chiefs  28

Dallas Cowboys  31

I tell ya--these games are going to be the end of me.  For the first time in weeks I got to see the game on TV and these Cardiac Cowboys didn't disappoint--playing yet another game down to the wire.  For the tenth time this season, the game was decided by 7 or fewer points.  But for only the fifth time, they won.

From what Phil Simms said in the broadcast, in preparing for the game Parcells didn't think the Cowboys could stop the machine that is the KC offense.  Turns out he was right.  Take out a few key plays from the KC drives and you'd be hard pressed to understand how they didn't win by at least 3 TDs.  The Dallas D has played much better games, but when they had to they got pressure on Green, forced a fumble,  and made some key stops.

The story today, however, was that offensive machine that had been in hibernation lately.  Parcells decided the only way to beat the Chiefs was to get into a shootout.  That meant throwing out the max-protect schemes they had been running on most plays since Flozell went out.  All in all the line did pretty well--especially in the second half.  There were some frustrating holding calls and a few sacks (4) on Bledsoe, but they gave him time to make some big plays and did a decent job run blocking against a quick defensive unit.

Bledsoe and Glenn were at it like old times.  Drew ended up with 332 yards and 3 TDs on 22 of 34 passing.  Glenn caught 6 of those for 138 yards and a TD--and he added another TD on a goaline reverse.  Witten came up big as well with 7 catches for 93 yards and a TD.  Keyshawn also added some big catches that kept drives going.

The running game was okay.  Julius still seems a little indecisive when he hits the hole and its costing him yards.  Barber showed us how it's done today with a huge game, especially in the fourth quarter.  He ended up with 82 yards on 15 carries; Julius had 41 on 12.  

Despite all that firepower, it took a late fourth quarter drive to go ahead and a missed field goal by KC as time expired to seal the deal.  Not a game that will go on Zimmer's highlight reel, but the win keeps Dallas in the hunt.  Unfortunately, the Giants pulled out a win in Philly and Tampa won in Carolina, so the Cowboys are still behind in the divisional race and the #1 Wild Card chase.

There's a lot to like about a game like this one.  The Chiefs were a hot team and needed to win this game, but Dallas pulled it out.  Yet the overall defensive performance has to concern the fans and the coaches.  Like that almost repeat of the Santana Moss debacle on Kennison's TD when Newman and Roy got their coverages screwed up.  I hate to see that's still happening, but given the offensive firepower that KC has, some mistakes are going to happen.  And Larry Johnson got some big yards rushing, but dude was running like a madman and their line was blocking extremely well--there's not a lot you can do about that.

Now Dallas has to take care of business next week in Washington.  And then at Carolina.  And then at home against the Rams.  Time to stay on a roll!

We probably will know more about this tonight, but it seems ever year one or more division leaders about this time fall apart and miss the playoffs.  Who will it be this year?

Right off we can take Indy and Seattle out of the conversation, since they either have or will have shortly their divisions wrapped up.  The Pats and Bengals can clinch today if things go their way.

Who do you think it could be?

I think the Giants, Panthers, and Broncos are all decent possibilities because of other good teams in their divisions and some reasons for worry in their recent play.  However, for my pick, I'm going with the Bears which I know is a bit of a surprise.  I just think eventually the lack of a passing game is going to get them beat.  Their defense is obviously great, but I think they are coming against some tough competition the next few weeks and if they lose 3 of 4 with the Vikings surging, the recipe is right for a collapse.  Unless Grossman can come in and get the ball moving.  I realize the Ravens a few years ago are a good model for how the Bears could win with their style, but Thomas Jones ain't Jamal Lewis and Kyle Orton ain't Trent Dilfer (yet, anyway).

And yes, I actually was going to pick the Bears when I planned on writing this yesterday before seeing what happened against the Steelers. :)