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Week 11: Extra Points...and Opinions
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
By Tovash Hatcher
It's Week 11, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and teams are starting to show their true colors. I've been looking closely at this thing and I have a lot of questions. Who is THE dominant team in the league? Who is the best player? And will another team sneak up out of nowhere and shock some people down the stretch? There are a lot of areas of concern for the NFL and teams are looking for their identities. It's a short week in the NFL with Thanksgiving approaching and 6 teams go at it on Turkey Day. But Sunday was a heck of a day around the league.
The 9-0 Indy Colts went to Dallas to battle the streaking Cowboys and the new star in town, Mr. Tony Romo. If you are a fan of the underdog, you would have loved this game. My only question, who was the actual underdog? The Vegas odds were up and down for this game. One day the odds had the Colts favored, and the next minute the Cowboys were favored. At the end of the day the Colts were favored to win..well, I thought they were. Talk about an intense game, this classic became a tale of two offenses. However, it was the Cowboys' defense that stepped up and shut down Peyton Manning and that ridiculously good offense. In this game many analysts predicted that the Cowboys had the juice to give the Colts all they wanted in this one. But only 14 points were scored by Indianapolis. Peyton Manning found it very difficult to throw the ball to his receivers when Cowboys linebacker Demarcus Ware was breathing down his neck on just about every play. The Cowboys knew that if they wanted to have success against Manning, they would have to put pressure on him. With 5 early turnovers combined by both teams, I had the feeling that we would be in for a good game. The Cowboys got a defensive touchdown from LB Kevin Burnett that evened the score up at 7-7.
Oh, and let me mention that ex-Colt Mike Vanderjagt "stunk up" Texas Stadium. The guy missed two field goals; one from 43 yards away and another from 46. He was booed by Cowboy fans and laughed at by the small amount of Colts fans in the building. I was on hand with the other 60,000 plus fans in Texas Stadium and got a "kick", no pun intended, out of a Verizon Wireless commercial that Vanderjagt was in. They aired the commercial on the two big screens hanging for the fans to see during a timeout. The chorus of boos rang out as if taxes were being increased. They booed Vanderjagt as if George W. Bush had walked into the gym. Funny stuff. But this game was all about the Cowboys and their gameplan to shut down the Colts. Peyton Manning was still able to go 20-39 with 254 yards and 2 TDs. However, he threw two INTs and the Colts could never recover. Tony Romo led the Cowboys offense to two scores and did it in a veteran-type way. Romo, a 4th year QB, plays like he's been an NFL quarterback for years. He's only started 4 times. I predicted a Cowboys upset over the Colts last week because I knew turnovers would be important to the game. The Cowboys re-energized their season by beating Manning and the Colts by the score of 21-14.
And did something crawl into the New York Giants' jocks? They are just not playing like Giants these days. I just know that the injuries can't be the problem right? But when I think of the key injuries they have suffered, now I see why they are struggling the way they are. Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Sam Madison, Armani Toomer and offensive tackle Luke Petitgout are all out and the Giants are hurting without them. What the Giants have put on the field lately is something out of a scary movie. I feel for Giants fans too because this was a team that went on a five-game winning streak this season including that Monday night massacre in Dallas. No more jump shot celebrations, no more winning, and the Eli Manning led offense cannot move the ball like they did in the beginning of the season. The Jacksonville Jags are hit with injuries as well, particularly at the quarterback position. Byron Leftwich is out with an ankle injury for some extensive time, but David Garrard has stepped in and filled in quite well. Garrard, who reminds me of a poor man's Donovan McNabb, is doing a better job than the actual starting QB. All Garrard does is win and he carved up the Giants defense with ease. He didn't have any touchdown passes and neither did he have any turnovers. The game was a blowout although the score didn't indicate it. New York was only able to score 10 points and even the Jags scored 26 that could have easily been 40 or more. The Jags have a quarterback in that Garrard and they do not need Leftwich. I don't see him being in Jacksonville for long. The Raiders need a QB too. Maybe Al Davis can look his way. The Giants have a quarterback too...but one with a problem. Manning needs to get it together before the Giants square off in a showdown with the Cowboys on December 3. On Monday night, the Jags rolled over the Giants but the score of 26-10.
And how do you throw for 510 yards and still lose to an underachieving Cincinnati team? Drew Brees and the Saints have been losing lately and have been doing so in their own back yard. Here's Brees' line: 37/52 for 510 yards and 2 TDs. He had 3 interceptions to boot. The 3 INTs turned out to be the killer. And that's what has been killing the Saints during these last few games, turnovers. Their opponents have been taking advantage on those turnovers. The Bengals, who dominated the league in takeaways last season, capitalized on the Saints mistakes by scoring 3 touchdowns. Bengals QB Carson Palmer tossed 3 touchdown passes to WR Chad Johnson who had a big day. The Bengals cruise over the Saints by the final of 31-16.
If you think the NFC East is competitive at all, the Eagles also lost another game this weekend. This time they lost to the Titans, remember them? The Titans used their ground game to run all over the mediocre Eagles. The lost cost Philadelphia more than just ground in the NFC East because Donovan McNabb, Eagles QB tore his right ACL and is finished for the season. Team doctors say that he is out for 8-12 months. Ouch!! That will be tough for McNabb who is usually injured anyway. First it was the ankle, and then a sports hernia slowed him down last season, now this. Dare I say a curse? And to make it even more ironic, McNabb suffered season-ending injuries at home at Lincoln Financial Field each time. Now Jeff Garcia replaces McNabb at QB for the Eagles.
If I've learned anything this week in the NFL, it is that Mr. Momentum swings. One week can be filled with Super Bowl talk, and the next week people are calling for each other's jobs. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!
I'm Tovash Hatcher
4:11 PM
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