Monte51Coleman Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-flspbricknfl12sbjan12,0,7154204.column South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com Cowboys look like worst of favorites Charles Bricker, Sports Columnist January 12, 2008 If things had gone more smoothly for the Cowboys down the stretch of this historic season, no one would have cared if quarterback Tony Romo sits to pee had spent a few days off in Cabo San Lucas last weekend with celebrity girlfriend Jessica Simpson. But Romo sits to pee was less than brilliant in a 10-6 loss to Philadelphia in Week 15 and nearly as bad in a 27-6 defeat to Washington two weeks later, retiring early in the third quarter after completing 7 of 16 passes for 86 yards and an interception. For his past three appearances, he's 48 for 94 (51.1 percent) with one touchdown and five interceptions. Combine that with Terrell Owens' gimpy left ankle and Romo sits to pee's bobbled hold in last season's 21-20 wild-card playoff loss to Seattle, and you've got the ingredients for a nervous bunch of Texans. Let's not even bother mentioning that coach Wade Phillips is 0-3 in playoff games. That's ancient history, and this is, beyond comparison, the best team Phillips has had under his various commands at New Orleans, Buffalo, Denver and Atlanta. Still, this is the slightly staggered Cowboys and on the other sideline will be the supremely confident New York Giants, who took undefeated New England to the brink a couple weeks ago and who last Sunday turned Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia into one of those inflatable punch dolls. The Giants are 8-1 on the road and, though that loss was in Week 1 to the Cowboys, they've shown they travel well. Publicly, Phillips expresses no concern about Romo sits to pee's staggering finish to the regular season, choosing instead to highlight his 36 touchdown passes. Certainly his teammates, who understand that everyone relaxed when the NFC East was clinched, don't seem concerned. "I don't care if he goes to the moon as long as at 3:30 [4:30 Eastern] Sunday he's here throwing touchdown passes," linebacker Greg Ellis said to reporters. The NFL is down to eight playoff teams, and there's something intriguing about all four games this weekend, beginning with Seattle at Green Bay at 4:30 today. For the second time in the playoffs, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren faces the team that in the 1996 season gave him a Super Bowl ring. Meanwhile, quarterback Brett Favre at 38 is running a club that might be better than the team that beat New England in that Super Bowl 11 years ago. It's been a warm week between Holmgren and Favre and will continue to be, regardless of who advances to the NFC Championship. "Mike and I have a tremendous amount of respect for each other. That will never change," Favre said at a news conference. "I think the world of him, and I wouldn't be here today without him. We've gone our separate ways, but there's a lot of him still within the way I play today." Immediately after that game, Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio takes his tough-guy offensive and defensive lines and his double-barreled running attack (Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew) against the 16-0 Patriots in Foxborough, Mass. If New England wins, it matches the 1972 Dolphins 17-0 season, but leaves the Pats two more games to make it perfect. On Sunday at 1 p.m., San Diego, which defeated the Colts 23-21 at home on Nov. 11, plays only its second indoor game of the season, having lost to Minnesota 35-17 on Nov. 4. With seven consecutive victories, the Chargers have the second longest winning streak of the eight playoff clubs. They'll face a defense comparable to the Tennessee team they beat last weekend, but these Colts have infinitely more offense. Are there some upsets out there this weekend? Certainly the prospects are better than two or three weeks ago when it appeared New England and Dallas were going to lock step to Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3. But the Jaguars have shown late-season toughness, the Giants got consecutive fine performances from usually erratic quarterback Eli Manning, and San Diego, 1-3 after four weeks, has looked like a complete team in the second half of the season. Still, this is the playoffs. There are a lot of mirages out there and the Cowboys' late-season meanderings might be among them. The pretenders look stronger and some of the favorites not as strong. But when the weekend if over, the strong likelihood is that Dallas, Green Bay, New England and Indianapolis will be marching on to conference championship games. Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLJ Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-flspbricknfl12sbjan12,0,7154204.columnSouth Florida Sun-Sentinel.com Cowboys look like worst of favorites Charles Bricker, Sports Columnist January 12, 2008 ....the strong likelihood is that Dallas, Green Bay, New England and Indianapolis will be marching on to conference championship games. that's where the article could have started and ended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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