The Dallas Cowboys are on a roll and seem to be gaining confidence each and every week. The Boys are winners of four in a row including last weeks domination of their fierce division rival the Eagles. This streak started with a signature victory over previously unbeaten New Orleans. This is the kind of victory that makes teams look back and say that this was the win the catapulted them to a Super Bowl win.
Tony Romo has the Cowboys on a roll.
The Cowboys are lead by their quarterback Tony Romo. Romo has been playing great during this streak with a 100% passer rating. Romo got the monkey off his back last week and has tasted what a playoff wins feels like. Romo and Dallas fans expect to go all the way and anything other than that would be a disappointment.Romo has a bunch of viable options at his disposal. It is these weapons in combination that make his job easier and defensive jobs a lot harder.
Dallas has three running backs that are capable of beating you on any play. Marion Barber has been hampered in recent weeks. Dallas just plugged in Felix Jones and Tashard Choice and did not miss a beat. They also have three receivers in the stable. Their main threat is Miles Austin, but when he is double covered Patrick Crayton or Tight End Jason Witten can come up big with a reception. During this four game win steak, Dallas has scored 12 touchdowns, five by receivers and three by runningbacks. This is the type of offensive sharing that is the definition of team work. Oh ya, don’t just rest your hat on the offense, the defense has been coming up big as well. Dallas has outscored their opponents 99-31 during this streak. Dallas is a complete football team right know.
Dallas will face Brett Favre and the Vikings on Sunday. This could be Favre’s las shot at a Super Bowl ,and he will play motivated football. But I think the hungrier quarterback, Romo, will play with more incentive and drive to get the victory in this NFC Divisional Playoff and move on. From there, Dallas would meet the winner of the Cardinals and Saints. The Boys match up well with both of these teams and have already knocked off the Saints. I think Dallas is just a more complete team of the four left in the NFC. If Dallas is fortunate to get the Bowl, they will be a tough team to beat. It has been a while since they won one, and if they get there watch out.
As a Eagle fan this hurts me to say, but I have to be objective. Dallas rates a pretty good shot to win the Super Bowl.
Jay Cutler to Devin Aromashodu. Doesn’t really have the same ring to it as Joe Montana to Jerry Rice, but they performed like it as the Chicago Bears took a heartbreaker from the Minnesota Vikings with a 36-30 OT victory. The Chicago victory ensured home field advantage for the New Orleans Saints and the Vikings are now fighting with their backs up against the wall to secure a first round bye.
Vikings Fumble Away First Round Bye
Coming into the game, Aromashodu had just 12 catches for 102 yards for the entire season and just 19 over the course of his 4 year career. Aromashodu lit up the Minnesota defense for big plays with 7 catches for 150 yards, including the game-winning 39 yard catch in overtime.
The game winning drive was setup by another critical fumble by Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Chicago linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer punched the ball out from behind, leading to the turnover. Peterson’s fumble was his sixth of the season, which leads all NFL running backs.
The overtime loss squandered a solid comeback by the Vikings offense after being down 23-6 in the third quarter. The Viking offense was flat once again, unable to put points on the board and looking listless once again. They exploded once Chicago went into a prevent defense allowing Favre to dump balls in under the coverage.
Despite the offensive comeback, the Vikings looked awful on the field again. The offensive line didn’t block, they didn’t convert third downs, the defensive line didn’t get pressure on the QB, the defensive backfield missed assignments and the special teams were awful. Very little positive to walk away and build upon.
With the loss, the Philadelphia Eagles now control their destiny for a first round bye. With a victory over Dallas, the Eagles clinch the bye. This is bad news for the Vikings who are undefeated at home, but just 4-4 on road. And that road record was aided by victories over Cleveland, St. Louis and Detroit…the three worst teams in the NFL.
If the Eagles win on Sunday, Brett Favre’s chances get slimmer and slimmer in getting back to the big game. While none of the NFC teams appear to be playing impressively at the moment, the Vikings are sitting at the bottom of the barrel.
The Minnesota Viking find themselves still with a shot at the #1 seed in the NFC playoff picture. This possibility is due to the big upset of the New Orleans Saints yesterday to the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Big Easy. We will see how the Vikings respond to this opportunity tonight in Chicago as they take on their fierce division rival “The Bears”. Chicago would love nothing better than to spoil this opportunity and keep the Vikings from any shot at securing that #1 spot.
Brett Favre and the Vikings still in the hunt for NFC's #1 Seed.
The Saints loss their opportunity to clinch the #1 seed with their overtime loss yesterday. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead three possessions into the game but never scored again. They missed a field goal at the end of regulation. The Saints have lost two in a row and appear to be playing flat football which makes this opportunity even more of a possibility. The Saints can still clinch the seed with a victory next week in Carolina. That is no gimme as Carolina is coming off two impressive victories over the Vikings and the Giants. The Vikings have a real shot.
The Vikings must look better tonight in Chicago. Last week they were listless in their 26-7 defeat to the Carolina Panthers. Brett Favre has not played well in recent weeks and needs to get the Viking ship headed in the right direction. With this game being in Chicago and still having a chance for the #1 seed, this could be the motivation the Vikings need to get out of their funk. The Vikings will need a victory tonight and a win next week at home against a demoralized Giants team along with a loss by the Saints in Carolina. Motivation is everything in team sports, the Vikings have it in front of them, lets see how they use it.
The Minnesota Vikings have more than another loss to be concerned about after taking a solid beating last night to the Carolina Panthers 26-7. They have a quarterback that is placing his ego ahead of the betterment of the team and a long playoff run. Surprise, Surprise. Brett Favre is playing awful football in December and losing self awareness of his abilities.
During the defeat, head coach Brad Childress and Favre got into an animated and heated argument on the sidelines during the third quarter. Childress had decided he’d seen his quarterback take enough of a beating and was ready to replace him with Tarvaris Jackson. Favre refused the benching and stormed back onto the field. Shortly thereafter, the team imploded, giving up 20 unanswered points as Carolina flattened the Vikings in the fourth quarter.
Favre is no longer the QB he used to be when he was younger. The long NFL season is taking a toll on his old, creaking body. The numbers don’t lie.
Month
G
QBRat
Comp
Att
Pct
Yards
Y/G
Y/A
TD
Int
September
11
100.9
260
388
67.0%
2,706
246.0
7.0
25
7
October
10
87.5
239
349
68.5%
2,632
263.2
7.5
13
13
November
14
108.2
313
450
69.6%
3,656
261.1
8.1
28
7
December
10
69.7
199
330
60.3%
2,198
199.8
6.7
11
17
The once unvincible Favre’s numbers in December have resembled that of a Cleveland Browns starting QB…you take your pick on which one. His QB rating is sub-70, his completion rate drops more than 15% and his interceptions go through the roof.
For once, Brad Childress was making the right call. The Minnesota offense was going nowhere and Favre was taking an unnecessary beating from Julius Peppers. But just like Eric Mangini, Childress was spineless and didn’t have the courage to bench the future Hall of Famer.
Last year when Favre imploded with the Jets only one person had the courage to speak out, running back Thomas Jones. On talk radio shows after the season, Jones chastised Favre for playing through serious injuries and costing the team a playoff berth. The Jets and former coach Eric Mangini were each fined $125,000 for concealing the injury, a violation of NFL policy. Favre later required surgery to repair the injury in the offseason before he joined the Vikings.
Favre’s behavior last night not only cost his team a victory, but it could possible cause unnecessary distractions as the Vikings try to seal a first-round bye for the playoffs. The Vikings didn’t bring in Favre to just get to the playoffs, they could have done that with Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels. Favre was brought in to win a Super Bowl and this will only happen if he is healthy heading into January.
