The Cowboys redeem themselves and other NFL thoughts

(1) I’m a big man. I can admit when I’m wrong. I was completely wrong about the outcome of the Dallas Cowboys game with the New Orleans Saints. I was confident that Dallas would continue their December swoon. I was so sure that Tony Romo and his teammates would wilt under the pressure. I truly believed that the Saints would overwhelm the visiting Cowboys just like they had overrun the New England Patriots three weeks ago. In the end, none of my predictions came true as Dallas played its most complete football game of the season. Frankly, their performance on Saturday night in the bayou was probably their best performance in the Romo-Phillips era. I’m willing to elevate this victory to such a high level because everything was against the Cowboys winning this game. They were riding a two-game losing streak and they had to endure all of the speculation and discussion about why they are unable to win in the last month of the year. They were facing a team that seems to have fate on its side and certainly had 60,000+ fanatics in the Superdome supporting them to the end. I figured the Cowboys would get hit in the mouth early and fold their tents before halftime. They would head back to Dallas with their tails between their legs once again and have to face another week of relentless questions about their inability to win a big game in December. Instead, the Cowboys most likely saved their season with their best effort in recent memory.

In order to win this game, the Cowboys had to start fast, which they accomplished by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. Dallas completely dominated the early part of the game. They had generated 193 yards of total offense before the Saints were able to put their first points on the board. Overall, the Cowboys played a nearly flawless offensive game. The biggest thing is that they didn’t turn the ball over against a team with one of the best turnover differentials in the NFL. In addition, Dallas was very balanced behind 145 yards rushing from their three-headed running attack and 312 yards passing from Tony Romo. Their ability to run the ball and not turn it over along with converting better than 50% of their third down opportunities allowed the Cowboys to dominate the time of possession especially in the third quarter. It certainly did wonders for the Cowboys to get off to such a hot start because I have never seen them play with so much confidence against a quality opponent. In all honesty, I believe this was the best game of Romo’s career. For the first time that I can remember, Romo made all the big plays instead of leaving opportunities on the field and watching his counterpart steal his glory at the end. It is ironic that this was his best game when it clearly wasn’t one of his best statistical performances. Romo threw for over 300 yards but he only had one touchdown pass and didn’t have a lot of highlight-reel plays that would make our Sportscenter culture go ooh and ah. The best word that I can use to describe Romo’s performances is control. He was in complete control of the football game and he knew it. Obviously, Romo’s flashiest play was his 49-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin on the first possession for Dallas, but his biggest play came in the fourth quarter with the Saints mounting a comeback and the Cowboys clearly on the ropes. On a third and seven from the Dallas 23-yard line, Romo calmly stood in the face of pressure and delivered a 32-yard strike to Miles Austin. Romo has failed in this moment before so it has to be encouraging to Cowboys nation to see him fulfill his potential. I have been very critical of Romo for a long time, but I’m willing to say that he impressed me on Saturday night. I still think he is soft and a front-runner, but his performance against the Saints showed that he has the talent to be more.

As big of an impact that the Dallas offense made on this game, I believe that the difference for the Cowboys was their defense. Their game plan was extremely effective. It looked to me like Dallas stole a page from the Miami Dolphins in their approach to playing the explosive Saints. The only difference was that the Cowboys defense was able to finish the job, while the Fins allowed the Saints to recover from a 21-point deficit. Honestly, I have never seen Drew Brees under as much duress as he was against DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. The Cowboys only sacked him four times, but they made life very difficult for Brees all night long. Dallas’ consistent pressure on Brees discombobulated the Saints offense, which affected their ability to convert on third down and get the ball down the field. The Saints were only one for seven on third down and Brees was awful throwing the ball deep down the field. Brees entered the game with a 124.1 quarterback rating on balls thrown 15 yards down the field or longer, but he was unable to convert any deep balls against the Cowboys and threw his only interception on an underthrown ball to Devery Henderson. The Cowboys allowed the Saints to get back into the ballgame in the fourth quarter, but they also made big plays when they had to walk out of the Superdome victorious.

(2) As I predicted several weeks ago, the NFC West once again belongs to the Arizona Cardinals, who clinched the division with a hard-fought victory in Detroit combined with a San Francisco loss in Philadelphia. The Cardinals were far from impressive against one of the worst teams in the NFL, but they got it done and won back-to-back division titles for the first time since 1974-1975. Now that their first goal is achieved, the Cardinals can focus on winning 10 or more games for the first time since 1976. With the St. Louis Rams visiting the desert next week, I think we can feel pretty confident about the Cardinals getting their 10th victory.

As you can imagine from their lack of repeat division titles, we are witnessing the most successful period of football in the history of the Cardinals franchise. They have been the cream of the crop in the NFC West over the last two seasons and I believe that they can continue their dominance in the division if they make smart moves starting this off-season. It looks like they are already moving in the right direction to stem any drop in play by building a championship caliber defense and running game. I think we all know that Kurt Warner will not be able to play at a high-level indefinitely, so the Cardinals will be judged on how they manage his final seasons in the desert as well as the transition period after he retires. They have taken a step in the right direction in regard to the former by developing Tim Hightower and drafting Beanie Wells to lead their running game. They are still only the 26th ranked rushing attack in the NFL, but I have noticed improvement over the last few weeks as Wells has become acclimated to the NFL game. In my opinion, improving the running game over the next two seasons will be the key to the Cardinals remaining among the top teams in the NFC. If Arizona can become a top 20 running team in 2010 and a top 10-15 running game in 2011, then I think they will be able to overcome any decline in Kurt Warner’s performance. Since they also have nice weapons on the outside, led by Larry Fitzgerald, I also believe that the Cardinals will be able to attack teams in the future with improved balance. If Hightower and Wells can super-charge the Cardinals’ running attack, then I think they will be well-positioned to put together a run in the NFC West reminiscent of the Seattle Seahawks.

The other key for the Cardinals will be the continued improvement of their defensive unit. The Cardinals are currently 23rd in the league in total defense, but they are 13th in the league in points allowed. These statistics tell me that Arizona is not a dominant defense, but they clearly have the talent to become one. Their defense is the perfect blend of young and old. They feature two guys, Calais Campbell and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who are starting to come into their own in just their second season in the NFL. They have several guys, including Adrian Wilson, Antrel Rolle, Darnell Dockett and Karlos Dansby, who are currently in the prime of their careers in the NFL. Finally, they have a couple of old vets like Bryan Robinson and Chike Okeafor, who provide leadership, experience and savvy. Obviously, Arizona will be unable to keep this unit together, but if they do a good job of identifying their cornerstones and building around them, then I believe their defense will continue to get better. The biggest problem for the current group of players is that they have been wildly inconsistent. On the one hand, they flashed their potential dominance when they completely dismantled the Minnesota Vikings before a national television audience. They forced Brett Favre to throw two interceptions and held the vaunted Minnesota running game to only 62 yards on 20 carries, which included completely shutting down Adrian Peterson. Two weeks later, the same defense got swiss cheesed by Maurice Morris of the Detroit Lions. In my opinion, the inconsistency is a sign of a unit that is still finding its way. Keep in mind that they are primarily running the 3-4 defense for the first time in Arizona. With another off-season under their belt to learn the nuances of the defense and the right amount of tweaking by the front office, I believe that the Cardinals can be a top 15 defense in 2010. If they make this kind of stride in the next year, then it is not hard for me to envision another division title for Arizona.

(3) You can say what you want about the Pittsburgh Steelers but you cannot say that they don’t play an entertaining brand of football. They have had their hard times this season, but they seem to be locked in a close football game nearly every single week. This week, they saved their playoff hopes for another week by beating the red-hot Green Bay Packers on the final play of the game. In a play reminiscent of last year’s Super Bowl, Ben Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a 19-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Big Ben threw a perfectly placed football to the boundary of the end zone and Wallace did his best ballerina impression and got both feet in bounds. It was a fitting ending to a game that featured a smorgasbord of passing yards, multiple lead changes and one gigantic coaching controversy.

First of all, the game featured nearly 900 yards passing and six touchdown passes from the two quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers continued his Pro Bowl season (All-Pro?) with another 300-yard performance and three more touchdown passes. His stellar day included a personal best 83-yard touchdown connection with Greg Jennings. Rodgers also contributed a touchdown on the ground, which added to his league-leading rushing touchdown total by a quarterback. Rodgers’ numbers are staggering! He is on pace to exceed 4,500 yards passing and finish the season with a four-to-one touchdown to interception ratio. He is on pace to post a quarterback rating better than 100 and he has had only one game this season with a QB rating lower than 83. I know that he has some tough competition in the NFC, but Rodgers is deserving of an All-Pro spot. On any normal day, Rodgers would be the story of the game, but there was actually a more impressive performance from a guy on the other side of the field. Big Ben had a record-breaking day and nearly had nothing to show for his efforts. Roethlisberger set a Steelers record with 503 yards passing, which broke Tommy Maddox’s record of 473 yards set back in 2002. At the same time, Big Ben became the first quarterback to throw for 500 yards in a game since Drew Brees put up 510 yards in 2006. Finally, he became the first quarterback to throw for 500+ yards in a win since Boomer Esiason in 1996.

The other big story that came out of this game was the controversial decision by Mike Tomlin to go for an onside kick midway through the fourth quarter. Without really saying it, Tomlin acknowledged that his defense had been getting kicked up and down the field and he didn’t feel confident putting them back out there against the sizzling Packers’ offense. This curious decision by Tomlin has been compared to the now infamous decision by Bill Belichick to go for a fourth down in his own territory against the Colts. Personally, I think that the comparisons are fair because both coaches showed absolutely no confidence in their defensive units. Oddly, I can probably defend Belichick’s decision a little more because he placed his trust in the worthy hands of all-world quarterback Tom Brady to get the necessary yardage on fourth down. Tomlin, on the other hand, placed his faith in his kicker and on a play that has a pretty low success rate regardless of it being expected or a surprise tactic. Also, Tomlin’s decision shows just how far the Steel Curtain has fallen this season. Does anyone honestly believe that Tomlin would have tried this ploy with the defense that he had at his disposal last season? The only thing that will save Tomlin is that the Steelers managed to win the game despite his poor decision. He will always be able to claim that his “plan” worked out perfectly, which is something that poor Billy Belichick can’t do.

(4) If I told you that two of the most entertaining games of the NFL season featured the same team and I asked you to name that team, would you be able to pick the Cleveland Browns? How about if I gave you 10 chances? 20 chances? Several weeks after going toe-to-toe with the Detroit Lions and ultimately losing on the last play of the game, the Browns pulled another thriller out of their back-pocket thanks to two record-breaking performances from Jerome Harrison and Josh Cribbs. It has to be refreshing to their fans to finally see the Browns play an exciting brand of football. The worst thing for a fan of any team is to endure a team that loses in a stale or boring fashion. Fans can endure losing for awhile if the losing comes wrapped in offensive explosions and scoring windfalls. The Browns have certainly given their fans a taste of a better brand of football.

Cribbs and Harrison were so outstanding that I don’t know which one to start with. Do I start with the guy who broke an NFL record or the guy who broke a franchise record previously held by one of the mythical figures in the history of the league? Do I start with the guy who has been the one redeeming player on the roster the last several years or the guy that promised to “make something happen” in the second half and then delivered? After flipping a coin, I have decided to start with Cribbs. After returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, Cribbs established a new NFL record for career kickoff return touchdowns with eight. In addition, he joined Ted Ginn Jr. as the only players in NFL history to have two 100-yard touchdowns of any kind in the same game. Cribbs has been a one man wrecking crew for the Browns since joining the team and he is poised to become one of their highest paid players in the near future. Cribbs appears to be the right kind of guy to build a winning franchise around because he makes plays on the field and represents the team with class and dignity off the field. Normally, Cribbs’ achievement would have been enough to keep the pundits talking for days, but Harrison basically upstaged him with his own record-breaking performance. Harrison ran for 286 yards, which is the 3rd highest rushing total in a single game in NFL history. In addition, Harrison shattered the Browns single-game rushing record, previously held by Jim Brown, by 49 yards. For good measure, Harrison added three touchdown runs of his own, all after halftime. We all fondly remember Jerome tearing up the Pac-10 during his time at Washington State University and it looks like he has finally made a huge mark on the NFL as well.

The bottom line is that both of these guys helped the Browns win back-to-back games for the first time since 2007. The Browns clearly need a lot of help to get back to being a winning franchise, but this game seems to indicate that they might have a few pieces in hand to help them get going in the right direction. Also, it appears that future Hall of Fame candidate Mike Holmgren has agreed to join the team as their “czar” of football operations a la Bill Parcells in Miami. This might be the smartest decision that the Lerner family has made since bringing football back to Cleveland in the late 1990’s.

(5) The Hawks are not even worth my time. After losing to the one win Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Hawks can only claim that they are better than the Detroit Lions and the St. Louis Rams. I still can’t believe that this is the same team that went to the playoffs and won a first round game just two years ago. They have fallen to a depth that no one could have predicted. Keep in mind that this was the first time that the Hawks had lost to a one-win team this late in the season since a 28-16 loss to the New York Giants in 1976. That was the Seahawks’ inaugural year in the NFL. It was just the Bucs’ second win in their last 17 games and it was their first win on the West Coast since beating the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl back in January 2003. It was their first win on the road since beating the Lions back in November 2008. The Hawks let a rookie quarterback, who had thrown eight interceptions in his last couple of games, beat them. Meanwhile, it was Matt Hasselbeck that looked the part of the rookie as he turned the ball five times to basically gift-wrap a victory for Tampa Bay. I love Hasselbeck and all that he had done for this team, but it is time that we revoke his free pass. I know that at least one interception was not his fault, but when you turn the ball over five times you have to take more than your fair share of the blame. I feel sorry for Matthew because he competes as hard as anyone, but he has not performed well like many of his teammates. My fear is that the collective strain and pain of this season has taken several years off his career. I still think he can be a competent NFL quarterback, but the Hawks have to identify the future of the position this off-season. Ultimately, the new general manager has to clean house like he was on the Style network. No one should be safe. The new GM should probably take a cue from Jackie Z. with the Mariners and not allow the sins of past regimes to color his decisions moving forward. I’m just glad that I only have to endure this horrible brand of football for two more weeks.

The Hawks got even more bad news when Mike Holmgren turned down their “senior leadership” opportunity to become the President of the Cleveland Browns. We will probably never know the exact nature of the Hawks’ offer or the exact reasons why Holmgren politely declined, but the entire sordid affair is going to get Hawks’ fans riled up nonetheless. Did they low-ball him with money? Did they low-ball him with responsibility? My take on the whole thing is that the Hawks are not prepared organizationally to give anyone Bill Parcells-control of the team. In Seattle, Paul Allen does not deal with the general manager. In order to get to Allen, the GM has to go through Todd Leiwicke or some other lackey at Vulcan. My perception is that Holmgren wanted to be the man next to the man and the Hawks didn’t want to go there. As a result, the Big Show decided to take the position in Cleveland, where the working arrangement is much more to his liking. In fact, Holmgren stated that the Browns opportunity was more intriguing because of the absence of “layers” between him and Randy Lerner. I’m sure that Holmgren realized that he was going to be up to his ears in “layers” if he took the job with Seattle. Ultimately, I think Holmgren made the right decision. I also feel like the Hawks made the right decision. My only complaint is that I feel like Seattle made a less than serious offer to Holmgren. Frankly, I would have preferred that they didn’t make an offer at all rather than insult the man’s intelligence. I know that the fan base is in an uproar because Mike is not returning to save the day, but I was never sure that he was the answer to begin with. The Hawks need to start fresh, which is why they didn’t need to bring back Holmgren and why they shouldn’t hire someone like Ruston Webster. The fans need to take a chill pill and allow the Hawks to do their due diligence prior to hiring their next general manager. We were in the same position with the Mariners about 18 months ago. Mariners’ fans were disgusted with the product on the field and didn’t have any confidence that Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong could hire the right person. I think it has worked out pretty well so far. If the Hawks end up hiring Webster, then we can all piss and moan. Otherwise, we need to have confidence that the right guy is out there.