That was a good win for the Giants and they absolutely deserved it. Congrats.
Whoever Parcells starts (I’d prefer Romo), it’s clear the Cowboys quarterbacks need some additional receivers lining up as to date they’ve not been satisfied with the number alloted their team and keep drafting ones from their opponents mid-play.
This road stretch ain’t gonna be easy.
I must remember not to do basic math at Midnight. :smack: Thank you for the correction, I was going to update this morning when I realized on my drive in what I did last night.
I missed that Lavar is done for the season, not good news, but it should not be too bad of a hit overall.
Jim
As bad as it was seeing Arrington being carted off, nothing caused my heart to jump more than seeing Barber on the ground.
Romo had me worried; the game changed mid-stream and the Giants’ defense didn’t seem to adapt well. Fortunately, Romo completed nearly as many to Big Blue as he did to the 'Boys.
Off to check my Fantasy Leagues. I didn’t like that in one league, I was starting Eli while in another, Eli was starting against me.
Congrats to the Giants.
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee]
I agree with Parcells.
It appears that most QBs who ride the pine for a couple years avoid most of the mistakes that even highly touted rookies make. Chad Pennington is the poster boy for this phenomenon, who rode the bench for two years, and then when he finally got in a game he played the rest of the season and posted the highest passer rating in the league. Phillip Rivers looks to be doing the same thing in San Diego this year. Marc Bulger is another example (from the same draft as Pennington) but is even more compelling because he was a late round draft pick.
Basically, my hypothesis is that once you’ve been through two offseasons as a backup, if you have any potential as a starter it will show itself very quickly. Can anyone think of any counter-examples to disprove this idea? Are there any examples of the following type of quarterback?[ul][li]Rode the bench for at least two full seasons[/li][li]Struggled like a rookie when he finally got a starting job[/li][li]Later in his career, even if he went to a different team, performed well as a starter[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
I can’t think of any - but I can think of four examples that fit the hypothesis:
Mark Rypien rode the bench (actually was stashed on “injured reserve” for 2 years -a favorite Gibbs 1.0 tactic) In his first full year as a starter, he posted 3,768 yards with 22 touchdowns & made the Pro Bowl (as an injury replacement). The season after the next he was the MVP of teh Superbowl.
Trent Green threw 1 pass in the regular season from 1993-1997, for two teams before he broke out for the 'Skins.
Jason Campbell rode the bench for two years - then led the Redskins to all those Superbowls and set all those NFL records.
Brad Johnson sat on the bench before he started 8 games in 96 - as a starter he took a 4-4 team to 5-3 and lost a wild card game - and the Vikes released Warren Moon after the season. Johnson in that first campaign as a starter was NFC Offensive Player of the Week twice and finished third in the NFC with an 84.9 QB rating.
Scariest moment of the season. I was overjoyed when he was okay.
Can I take a hit off of whatever you’re having?
On to the Barber Bowl! Who will Momma Barber be cheering? What will happen when Tiki breaks it into Ronde’s secondary? If Ronde picks off Eli, how hard will Tiki plant him? All these questions and more will be answered next SundaySundaySundaySunday
Yes, scary at first and then, after seeing multiple replays, easily the most bizarre reaction to a seemingly insignificant hit ever. I like Tiki as much as I like any player in the NFL. I’m still though mystified as to what caused him to go limp like that in the absence of a more consequential impact.
Woo-fricking-hoo! What a thing of beauty last night was. Fortunately Tiki is fine, and it looks like Osi didn’t take home any lingering problems. Sucks that LaVar went down just as he was getting hot, but you had to know he was a season-ending injury just waiting to happen.
Breaking news – the first game that NBC picked for their flex-scheduling is the Week 10 Giants/Bears game. Sure as hell can’t blame them for wanting that one.
Next week:
DAL @ CAR - Romo to the rescue!
TB @ NYG - TB continues it’s hot streak!
JAX @ PHI - Jax rebounds from humilating loss!
Oh Bearflag? Care to place a fiver that you go 0-3 on that one?
how about an ice cold beverage?
2 out of 3 is great! WOO-HOO!
Romo played well and lifted the whole team with a big road win. No more BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ game plans to beat Dallas.
NYG 5-3
DAL 4-3
PHI 4-4
WAS 2-5
Dallas just won its first of a 3 game road trip. The next two are at WAS and at ARZ. Cowboys could go undefeated in that stretch of the schedule. Dallas ends the season with 2 away games out of 7, so things look good. On the other hand, many opponents toward the end of the season are no pushovers (e.g., IND, @NYG, NO, @ATL, PHI).
The Giants seem to have a similarly tough schedule for the rest of the season (e.g., CHI, @JAX, DAL, @CAR, PHI, NO).
Therefore, DAL @ NYG on 12/3/06 is shaping up to be a huge game.
Next week:
DAL @ WAS (DAL rolled over WAS earlier in the year, but WAS is at home now and is coming off a bye. It will be tough, but DAL wins for the sweep!)
HOU @ NYG (Ouch. No comment).
PHI - Bye
The Giants still only have two losses, not three.
I was in and out of the game tonight, only watching the Dallas possessions. Romo looked good to me. As (I) expected, he doesn’t seem to have any rookie issues to work out. Hell, he looked decent last week against a Giants team that was playing quality defense. Granted the redzone pick-six in that game wasn’t so hot, but that can happen to any quarterback when facing a good defense. Pick-sixes have been alarmingly common for NFC East quarterbacks this season anyway, so he fits right in.
If I were a Dallas fan, I would be optimistic. As much as I think Michael Irvin is a tool, he is absolutely right about the whole team seeming to get a lift in their step when Romo is leading the team. No way is the OL blocking that well for Bledsoe. I’m not ready to annoint Romo the starter for the next five years, but he could do some damage in the playoffs. And judging by how pumped the OL got when blocking for him tonight, the playoffs are not out of the question.
So, uh, what’s up with the Eagles? I flipped back and forth to it during commercials of the Giants game. WTF? I saw about 1000 three-yard dumpoffs to Westbrook, and not one rushing play. The Eagles seem to be regressing. I don’t know if it’s Reid, or McNabb, or the receivers, or what, but they need to right the ship fast.
I was under the impression that Stallworth and Brown were good enough receivers that they didn’t need to feature Westbrook so much in the passing game. And more, Westbrook looked great running the ball early in the season. While the WCO swing and screen passes in lieu of rushing sounds good on paper, the problem with that approach is that you cannot “impose your will” on the opponent. Standing upright and blocking backward isn’t going to demoralize anyone. To take control of a game in the fourth quarter you need to have established the run with punch-in-the-mouth style pancake blocks early on. I think that’s part of the reason the Eagles seem to be vulnerable late in games. (Aside from the vomiting, that is. heh.)
Since I’m a Giants fan, I should probably mention the Giants. How awesome was that 3rd&1 when Ronde squared up on Jacobs in the backfield and Jacobs just carried him forward five yards? Plus the circus-catch by Plaxico was nice. Other than that, a boring and pedestrian win. The wind kept things on the ground, so both teams stacked the box and stuffed the run. The Giants just managed to make a few more big plays, and that was that.
Call me crazy, but as long as the Giants are winning the division, I like to see the rest of the division do well. Pride of the division and all that. I also like to see the conference do well. While the AFC humiliated the NFC so far this week, (Go Vikings!) at least the NFC East went 2-0 against the best division in football.
Crazy.
I want no one within striking distance in the division. I want a three game cushion with two games left. I want to run away with the lead and leave the Eagles, Cowboys, and Redskins fans wailing about next year and thinking about draft picks.
Agreed. I was very disappointed that Carolina blew the game yesterday. I always want Dallas to lose.
Jim
I, too, agree with the sentiment. I want Dallas to go 16-0 and win the Super Bowl while the other teams in the Division go 0-16 and seriously consider whether they want to stay in the NFL or disband when the season ends because they have no hope.
I want Dallas to beat every opponent by a score of 300 to 0, except Division rivals, where I want Dalas to win by a score of 1000 to -3.
I want Dallas to cause the Division rivals to cry in the stadium, sobbing and shaking with fear as they sheepishly line up in the face of the silver and blue for the next play, constantly watching the game clock, wondering when their pain will end.
I hope Philly never gets a Lombardi Trophy. I hope Washington and the Giants get no more. In fact, I hope they never make the playoffs again.
I think it sucks that when Dallas gets a good team, the rest of the Division seems to get good teams at the same time. I would love to see Dallas in the same position as the 49ers in the 1980s… a powerhouse team against flimsy Division opponents, where they are guaranteed easy Division wins every year.
Speaking of Division rivalries, I can understand why the Giants, Washington, and Philly hate Dallas. The rivalries really picked up steam in the 1970s when Dallas kicked all their asses. So, it doesn’t surprise me that the other division teams don’t have strong rivalries against each other so much as they all have against Dallas. However, Dallas has very strong rivalries against both Philly and Washington, but not so much against the Giants. Why is that?
I think for those of us that started on football in the Seventies, Dallas was the team to hate for most football fans. The Yankees of the NFL.
As a Giant Fan I built up a heavy hatred for the Eagle too, I never really built a strong dislike for the Skins, but my Dad is very old school and the Skins remain his number one rival.
I think for Dallas fans, the Giants were so putridly bad in the 70’s that Dallas fans barely noticed the Giants. It would be like asking a Yankee fan, why we don’t care about the Devil Rays. Well anyway, that is my WAG.
Jim
I haven’t done this in a while…
If the playoffs started today:
DIVISION CHAMPS
WILDCARDS
LOSERS
Hey New Yorkers, I’m gonna be in NYC next weekend and was looking to take in the Bears-Giants tilt. Haven’t tried to get tickets to the game before and was looking for some advice on how to get some and what I should expect to spend. Thanks.
That is a very tough one. I would just go through StubHub, but you are not giving yourself much time. You might have to pick the Tickets up at the Manhattan office. I have used Stub Hub several times now with no problems, but having to go to Manhattan first for the Tickets can be annoying. I do not know what day you are flying, there might be enough time for them to overnight the tickets to you.
Jim