I just realized that New England just might finish 11-5 and be out the playoffs. Also, Miami or Jets may go 10-6 and be out. That sucks.

How bout Arizona, they may be in @ 8-8, same as Denver, and still make the playoffs while 3 or more 10+ winners are out. Could you imagine that.

Also I  wanted to put out something. Say we win next week and ATL and Tampa both win. We know that neither Tampa or ATL are likely gonna lose week 17. So tentatively Dallas and Tampa would be the 2 wildcard teams.  

Yes, we can still ruin it for Dallas. If we beat Dallas, they aint getting in and Atlanta goes. Ironically, we would be putting Atlanta in, when we are out because of them.

Heck, if we aint getting in, its our duty to ruin Dallas's season by beating them. I hate Dallas. I want to see TO cry like a baby on the field. Maybe Kendra can hook him up with one of her friends to help him feel better. So we can expect to see TO blowing kisses after TDs.

I will sleep better at night knowing that we stuck it to Dallas, that is almost as good to me as a playoff.

 

This is a beautiful story, looks like TO is finaly showing his stripes. Beautiful

 

Sources: T.O.'s expressed resentment toward Romo

By Ed Werder
ESPN.com
(Archive)

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According to multiple sources within the Dallas Cowboys, there is an emerging internal conflict involving three of the team's highest-profile stars.

 

As the preseason Super Bowl favorites struggle in the final month of the season to simply make the playoffs, wide receiver Terrell Owens has expressed resentment toward Tony Romo, apparently jealous of the quarterback's relationship with tight end Jason Witten.

 

Owens thinks Romo and Witten -- close friends and road roommates who came to Dallas in the same offseason -- hold private meetings and create plays without including Owens, according to a source who speaks regularly with Owens' teammates. Owens believes these discussions have worked to his detriment and Romo seeks to deliver the ball to Witten regardless of whether Owens is open.

 

 

"I don't know anything about that," Wade Phillips said when asked about a possible rift at his news conference on Thursday.

 

 

"We've thrown for a lot of yards with a lot of players. One receiver is pretty close to 1,000 yards. ... There's no favoritism there, we are going to the guy that is going to be open."

 

 

In a story that was first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Clarence Hill, Cowboys wide receivers Owens, Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton requested and were granted a meeting with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to express their concern Romo was relying too heavily on Witten.

 

 

Owens declined to discuss the situation on Thursday outside the Cowboys' locker room. As he walked toward the players' lounge at Valley Ranch, ESPN asked Owens if he would answer questions and he said, "Nope.''

 

 

But later Thursday, Owens told The Dallas Morning News: "I'm not jealous of Witten. I'm not jealous of nobody. I can take the approach that I got paid, so screw everything, but that's not me.

 

 

"I just want to win. I'm not trying to create a war of words with anybody. I thought we had a productive meeting, and I just talked to Jason about Tony reading the whole play because other people are open besides Witten."

 

 

 

Witten appeared Thursday afternoon on ESPNRadio 1050 in New York.

 

 

 

"Tony and I have been friends for a long time, way before either one of us were playing that much," Witten said. "I don't think we're drawing up many plays together to be completely honest, but I don't think Terrell feels that way. I think he knows he's a play-maker, and we try to go to him, and we have other guys we try to get the ball, too."

 

 

 

Linebacker Bradie James acknowledged to ESPN that his status as one of the team captains has caused him to play a peacemaker role between Romo and Owens.

 

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Cowboys wide receivers Terrell Owens, Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton requested and were granted a meeting with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to express their concern that quarterback Tony Romo was relying too heavily on close friend and Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten. blog.

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"Whenever the fire gets blazing, I know,'' James said. "Sometimes, I don't want to step on anybody's toes, but we all talk.

 

"It just is what it is ... It's just two different guys, two different personalities and they know what's at stake. They know that everybody needs them. And there's no dislike. It's just sometimes, not everybody is going to see eye to eye. That's what makes a football team.''

 

 

 

A current Cowboys player compared Owens' behavior to that which led to problems with his former quarterbacks, Jeff Garcia in San Francisco and Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia. Those failed relationships and problems with the head coaches and other teammates led to Owens' exile from those teams and made him available to Dallas owner Jerry Jones in 2006.

 

"He's insecure about it,'' the player said of Owens. "The thing that bothers me more than anything about this problem is that it's always something with him -- San Fran, Philly and here, always something. And he brings other people into it. You know, he talks to Sam Hurd and Roy Williams, who just got here and doesn't really know these guys. T.O. talks to him and so now he probably thinks Witten politics with Tony for the ball.

 

"That's so far from the truth. You think Tony is throwing to him because that's his buddy? His best buddy is Bobby Carpenter, and that's not helping him too much. It's crazy to think that, and I hate that he acts that way.''

 

Witten leads the Cowboys with 64 receptions to 55 for Owens, who has a team-high 848 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. According to one of the sources, Owens cannot fathom how Romo and Garrett justify the tight end having more catches. Owens, after all, ranks among the most accomplished receivers in NFL history.

 

There has so far been no known confrontation between Romo and Owens, who have combined for 33 touchdowns since 2006, the most of any quarterback-receiver tandem in the NFL during that time. Romo has always been careful to make certain Owens felt appreciated so that he would compete hard and not cause the kind of upheaval he did with his previous teams.

 

<!-- INLINE NFL.com Video (BEGIN) -->

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Watch highlights from the Pittsburgh Steelers' 20-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

<!-- INLINE NFL.com Video (END) -->But one teammate suggested Romo is frustrated enough that he might initiate a different approach, although not the confrontational kind that some believe might solve the problem.

 

"To be completely honest, I just think Tony is over it, not like, 'Screw it.' But I think Tony is over the mind games,'' the player said. "It would help if Tony would stand up to him, but he would never do it. He does a great job of ignoring it and not letting it affect him, and that's why it has worked as good as it has. It's just hard. I think right now everybody is to the point where, 'We're going to need him, so let's not piss him off.'"

 

But Owens seems to be finding it increasingly difficult to conceal his irritation. Last week in Pittsburgh, on the first possession of the Cowboys' most important game of the season, a team source who reviewed the game tape said Romo threw an interception when Owens mysteriously failed to complete his route. Troy Polamalu intercepted the ball at the place where Romo expected Owens to be. Later in the half, Romo underthrew a pass for Owens that was intercepted by Ike Taylor and Owens gestured openly in Romo's direction as he walked toward the sideline that the ball should have been thrown further upfield.

 

But what upset Owens' teammates most of all was his response to the interception Romo threw on a pass intended for Witten that Deshea Townsend returned for the game-winning touchdown in a 20-13 defeat. Both the quarterback and tight end publicly accepted blame for the Cowboys' season-high fifth turnover. In contrast, Owens said the offense stunk, that the team can't win with turnovers like those and then suggested his defender was playing off in single coverage and that he was open but Romo decided to throw elsewhere on the fatal play.

 

On the sideline, Owens was seen yelling at a Cowboys assistant coach. In his news conference after the game, Owens implied that Romo's decision to throw to Witten was the wrong one, saying, "It's his job to go out there and assess what the defense is, and he made that decision.''

 

That incensed some Cowboys, one of whom said, "If you only knew all that guy does. It's gonna go down with him before it's all over with. He is unbelievable. Tough loss and he does that?''

 

Until then, Cowboys insiders considered Owens' most damaging behavior the interview he did with former Dallas cornerback Deion Sanders on the NFL Network in which he suggested the offensive system under Garrett was responsible for his worst statistical season since his rookie year with the 49ers. Owens also hinted that Romo and the other Dallas quarterbacks who played when the starter was injured were not making getting him the ball a high enough priority. "I can't throw it and catch it,'' Owens said.

 

At least one prominent Cowboys player was displeased that the coaching staff responded to the criticism by seemingly placating Owens in that Sunday's game against San Francisco, allowing him enough opportunities that he posted his best statistical line as a Cowboy: seven catches for 213 yards, including a 75-yard TD.

 

"Well, T.O. got his way,'' the player said. "It never fails how we operate around here. Drives me crazy, but what can you do?''

 

Phillips justified Owens' argument by agreeing that getting him the ball needed to be the first offensive priority, and then owner Jerry Jones further empowered him by claiming he had no issue with anything Owens said in the interview.

 

Said another source: "What do you think he said after he complained about not getting the ball and then in the San Francisco game he gets 213? He said, 'Look. It works. The more hell I raise, the more I get what I want.'"

 

Owens in March signed a four-year contract extension worth $34 million, including a $12.9 million signing bonus to bind him to the Cowboys through the 2011 season.

 

When asked if Romo and Owens were all right together as the team prepares to play the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants on Sunday, James said, "Yeah. It's gotta be. It better be.''

 

The latest controversy comes toward the end of a season that began with Owens saying in training camp that he shared a relationship with Romo that he never had with other quarterbacks with whom he played. That, Owens said, was because Romo knew he was the star of the Cowboys and was not threatened by Owens' status as were previous quarterbacks.

 

"I guess sometimes I've just been in situations where the quarterbacks felt like I was bigger than them,'' Owens said in July. "And, you know, that was never the case. I felt like whatever I did complemented the quarterback, whatever he did, vice versa. It's just been a situation where things happen, where things didn't work out.''

 

Romo seemed equally at peace with Owens. "The thing about it is there's a genuine caring about each other. I actually want the guy to succeed. He works hard, he works his butt off. And he cares about the guys, so it's easy to root for a guy like that.

 

"It's important for us to be on the same page. It's important for us to care about the other one, just because our success is directly related. ... The thing you notice mostly about him is that he talks about 'team' a lot. He wants to win. He understands that, at this stage of his career, he's done all the things individually he can do. Now, it's just a matter of winning.''

 

Whether it is like that anymore -- and whether the Cowboys can achieve their own stated goals with the relationship between Owens and Romo and Witten being what it is now -- remains to be determined.

 

Since Romo became Dallas' starter, he has completed more passes to Witten than to Owens, 201-186, although Owens has significantly more yards and three times as many touchdowns.

 

"You really want to address it with him and say, "Are you serious? Let's cut the s---. But we're trying to win our way into the playoffs and, if something like that happened, if you backed him into a corner, he'd be pissed off and try to fight you or something,'' the current Cowboys player said. "So what do you do? Let it go? Then you're just like everybody else. If he's got a problem and he's upset, clear the air. He should know that everything we do on offense goes through him."

 

Ed Werder covers the NFL for ESPN. ESPN.com's NFL reporter Matt Mosley contributed to this report.

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Updated: December 12, 2008, 10:51 AM ET

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I just wanted to pass an interesting scenerio out to everyone.

Lets just supposed that Atlanta lost to Tampy next week and we win out and we make the playoff. Lets look at who are most likely opponents would be (assuming off course that these other teams win out as well.

1. Giants (Bye week, and home field advantage.

2. Panthers (Bye week)

3. Cardinals (play weakest wild card opponent)

4. Vikings (play strongest wild card opponet)

5. Buccaneers (play weakest division winner)

6. Eagles (play strongest division winner)

 

Lets look at the playoff scenarios

Week1

(Lets assume the winners in these playoff games)

5. Buccaneers @ 4. Vikings (Buccaneers win)

6. Eagles @ 3. Cardinals ( Eagles win)

------------------------------

Week 2

5. Buccaneers @ 2. Carolina (Tampa win) (I think Tampa kills Carolina IMO)

6. Eagles @ 1. GIANTS (Eagles win) (lets imagine we are riding a streak @ healthy)

-------------------------------

WEEK 3

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

6. Eagles @ 5. Tampa (WE OWE TAMPA ONE)

Yes, there it is everyone, our path to the superbowl.

If Atlanta loses next week, And all other teams keep their current seeding status. We likely have AZ week 1, we have a nice chance of winning that. We will face those GIANTS in week 2. If we pull off the upset, we have an easier time at the NFC championship vs either Carolina or Tampa. I like the Eagles in either game.

Also remember that the AFC doen't have any dominant team this year.

This is my scenerio, it seems logical to me, but can obviously change. Its just something to think about.

 

Over the years I have come to love and respect Andy Reid. I think that in his day, he was a great coach and a decent GM. Yes, I actually agreed with most of his personel moves (even though the mass majority didn't). However, over the past few weeks, I will have to admit, you must lay these latest losses squarely on the feet of head coach Andy Reid.

Why? Because he is predictable. On WMGK earlier last week, John Debella interviewed Tiki Barker. Tiki said that he was able to call the Eagles plays for the entire forth quarter versus the Bengals. Play by play, he knew what was coming. If Tiki stinking Barber knew what was coming, obviously so did the Bengals.

I knew the Eagles were gonna lose yesterday. I knew that Harbaugh was gonna have Andy's number. Harbaugh know that if you set certain defenses on the field, Andy will make the same adjustments and the QB will make the same predictable audibles.

For Example, if the Defense did not know what the Eagles were running, they only had to wait to see a specific formation, Once that formation has been identified, they would counter by dialing up (Play-specific) defensive adjustments, such as a certain blitz look. The Eagles would in turn audible out to a specific preset play. The defensive coordinator know what the audible would be, so the defense sits on that play.

Even if you don't cause the Eagles to audible, you can force the Eagles to play a specific offense, just by showing a certain defense. And thats exactly what happened yesterday.

The bottom line is, the Eagels are predictable. You can't blame Kevin Kolb (how I still love) or even Donovan McNabb. There were dropped passes all game, zero seperation from the receivers and the defense all but knew the play.

You must lay the blame on the coach. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Eagles fire Reid at the end of the year and just promote Pat Shurmur to head coach. You can't be sucessfull in this league if you refuse to be inovative and adapt. Unfortunately, Andy hasn't.

Here is another attack at our Philly fans. In a time that our team and city is in the national spotlight, garbage like this is reported. I am sick of the sterio type already.

 

On the Mark: Philly fans will be singing the boos

by Mark Kriegel

Mark Kriegel is the national columnist for FOXSports.com. He is the author of two New York Times best sellers, Namath: A Biography and Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich, which Sports Illustrated called "the best sports biography of the year."

 

 

Updated: October 21, 2008, 10:59 AM EST 377 comments

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Sarah Palin, billed as "America's best known hockey mom," was roundly booed upon her introduction at the Wachovia Center, where she recently dropped the ceremonial first puck for the Philadelphia Flyers.

 

At long last, then: legitimate cause to believe in the media's liberal bias. The real wonder (and here goes a shout out to our boys in the Secret Service) is that she wasn't hit with a double-A battery. But booing? That's not a story. Everybody gets booed in Philadelphia. Even Santa.

Actually, Santa was more than booed. He was pelted with snowballs. You will no doubt be reminded of this fact as the World Series heads to the unsuitably monikered City of Brotherly Love.

 

2008 MLB playoffs

Philadelphians have been dealing with the Santa stigma for years. Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano (a dear friend, I'm obliged to add), authors of The Great Philadelphia Fan Book argue that "no event has been used to tar-and-feather Philadelphia fans as much."

It was December 15, 1968. The Eagles, on their way to a 2-12 season, were playing the Vikings. The halftime show, advertised as a Christmas pageant, was scrapped due to inclement weather. Instead, fans got a hastily conscripted Santa. Their reaction, the authors argue, owed not to Philadelphians' odium of St. Nick, but to their frustration with Eagles management.

This argument does not constitute a denial. Fact: Santa was booed and pelted. Actually, Gargano once went so far as to tell me (scream at me, really) that "that was a raggedy Santa."

As if raggedy-ness were justification to abuse a 19-year-old kid in a red, velvet fat suit.

But that's Philly. It's not like the other cities. Philadelphians don't have a chip on their collective shoulder. It's more like a case of Schmidt's. That may not be an entirely bad thing; pelters and booers might actually provide a counterbalance in the era of luxury boxes.

But to pretend that the fans are, well, normal, is folly. It doesn't help that a city with four major sports hasn't won a championship in a quarter of a century. The Phillies aren't likely to buck the trend, either.

The fans' belligerence is documented across generations. In 1983, they set upon Chief Zee, the Washington Redskins unofficial mascot, sending him to the hospital with a broken leg. In 1997, a municipal court judge had to be assigned to Veterans Stadium for football Sundays.

I had read about this malignant phylum — the indigenous strain of Crazy White Guy — in the work of Pete Dexter, who himself was almost killed by a bat and crowbar-wielding mob in the aptly-named neighborhood of Devil's Pocket. The reader is well-advised to procure Dexter's novels of course (especially Brotherly Love), but also his collection of columns, Paper Trails. On page 56 of the hardcover you will find his famous account of Mummers Day and its aftermath. It begins with a chorus of young girls examining the fallen body of a man in a pink dress pulled up around his neck. Before losing consciousness, he had painted himself green.

"That's Mark's brother," one of the girls says nonchalantly. "I think he's dead."

I recall a comparable moment — the worst thing I've ever seen at a ballgame — right after Game 3 of the 2001 NBA Finals. I had just begun a column about the Lakers' beat-down of Allen Iverson when authentic violence broke out a few feet from the press section. It was a horrific, old-school stomping, just several rows off the floor. This poor guy kept getting kicked in the head. You didn't see this kind of carnage in the money seats at high-end events in other cities.

He fell, as I recall, near retractable aluminum steps. An actual pool of blood formed an uneven circumference around his head. He just lay there, motionless. I remember calling for a cop. And I remember the cop couldn't do anything.

I was sure the guy was dead.

Eventually, though, he got up. Under his own power, I might add. His face was a ghastly crimson mask. But he brushed himself off, and went on his way.

If I didn't see it myself, I'd sooner believe in Santa Claus.

 

I just wanted to anounce to everyone my temporary change of name to

yourphilliesbro

I thought long and hard about the decision, but in leiu of the Phillies run, I have decided to take the plunge.

Also, notice my new Avitar...

I cant wait to the world series, I think we are gonna finally take it. Would you trade 10 years of Eagles stinking up he joint for 1 world series? I am desperate for a championship. I can't say I would trade it, but I sure would enjoy winning something other than the AFL championship. Go Phillies and Birds.

 

The rumors of a possible Tony Gonzalez deal have begun to swirl. This weekend, the future hall of famer has confirmed his desire to be traded

"The Chiefs have a three-year plan to make this team good," Gonzalez said late last night. "They are going young and at this point in my career, I want to play for a known contender — a team that has a chance to get to win the Super Bowl before my career ends. If it doesn't happen, of course I'll play my butt off at the same level I always have. But by the time their plan comes to fruition I'll be finishing up my career."

After the jump yophillybro has several sources discussing the subject from an Eagles perspective.

Continue reading this post »

I noticed that Lito has been quite lately. And yesterday, immediately after going out due to a hamstring pull I said to my self. "Thats why we signed Asante". I think its clear that both Sheldon and Asante are better than Lito. I noticed that Lito hasn't been playing as much as I expected.

 What is Litos value now, I think he still only demands a 3rd rounder. Do we just redo his deal w/ incentives now. He really can't complain, I don't think anyone wants him now. I can honestly say that his stock has fallen tremendously, I wouldn't trade him, maybe he will just shut up and play. Or we redo his deal to include incentive on top of his same pay.

 

Was it me, of did anyone notice the amount of times that the Eagles went Jacks formation against he Cowboys. It seemed like almost 1/3 of the plays were from that tight formation.

Jacks formation is very interesting, you do not line a WR out, instead you keep them compressed bunch at the line. The advantage to Jacks is that you should be able to run to the side line with this. This is because the Defense will have to compress as well, making it easy for Westbrook to hit the outside. It also sets you up for short quick out patterns to your WR, kinda like a quick WR screen.

But I didn't see the Eagles run out of Jacks! So I was confused as to why they would use that unless you were looking to exploit Dallas with speed. I didn't see them do that much.

I also noticed that at the end of the game, the Eagles were running some simple hook patterns. Whats up with that, Dallas was sitting on that. I would have like to see them hit some quick out stuff. I would have like to have seen some more 4 WR spread formation, and hit Jackson or Avant quick on a quick 10 and out. You would have had man coverage on that.

Basically, I didn't understand totally the concept of the game calling. But, whatever they were calling was effective till the end of the game. I guess they know more than me:)

Sorry Eagles fan, I have to make a totally degrade myself as an Eagles fan to pay my bet to Blogging the Boys.

Well, Well, Well, I have no fingernails left. I dont' think we lost that game on the fumble, I think that Dallas was gonna work those TEs at the end regardless. Our defense did not hold when they needed to.

I am a man of my word, I will put my money where my mouth is. I promised everyone that I will come in the next morning and say how GREAT the Cowboys are. And they are Great.

I still hate the stinking Cowboys, but I will have to RESPECT the Cowboys Authority. Here it goes: (clearing my throte)

The Cowboys are the Greatest team in the History of the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles Suck, and should be ashamed of them selves. Dallas is a true Champion and we are just posers

OK there is goes, I hope you are happy now. I didn't mean a single word of it, but I had to pay up my end of the bet....