Saturday Open Thread

Here’s hoping NE and KC come up with big wins today to help the Cowboys out.

Don’t know if I can bring myself to root for the Patsies. Oh, I remember the days before free agency…the Patsies, the Yuckaneers…neither had ever sniffed a championship. Oh well. I move on. I stand by my Dal 27 to Was 13 prediction. I believe ole Joe and Danny boy hit the wall this weekend.

KC has legitimate chance to beat Giants. Would that be the deciding tie breaker? Dallas beat KC or does Dallas lose on the conference wins?

Lin,
KC beating giants is big but what really needs to happen is skins beating the giants next week.. divisional wins and losses for tie breaker.. of course you already knew that. Anyway, anytime anybody beats giants is good for me.

so if giants and cowboys win out after this weekend giants win division?

linus, yes, because the Giants would have a 5-1 record in the division while the Cowboys would be 4-2. Giants would win the tiebreaker in that case. We need the Skins to beat the Giants next week.

never bet on the Bucs in Cold Weather…….or the Seahawks on the east coast!!!

So all giants have to do is win two more and one of them has to be against Washington

Jon, got that right 28-0 NE right now.

Linus, in that case yes, the Giants would win the division. Now if they both tie with the same records, as well as having the same divisional record, the 3rd tiebreaker within a division with 2 teams is commom games and then Conference record. I’ll have to check to see what other common games the Giants and Cowboys have, but they beat Denver, we lost to Denver. We beat KC, it would be nice for KC to beat them.

Learing something today

Assuming that giants don’t collapse and win division dallas could still get no. 1 wildcard? If so, they would go where?

Learning rather

Linus,

If Dallas got the top wild card, they play the #4 division winner, which looks like, well, either Chicago, Carolina/Tampa or the Giants. Wouldn’t that be crazy.

If the Cowboys got the #1 wild card, they would play the division winner with the worst record of the four.

  An update on those common games: Dallas is 4-3 in those games with only St. Louis left the last game of the year. The Giants are 4-2 with KC today, and the Raiders in their last game of the year. If the Giants split those two, which is quite probable, and th Boys beat the Rams, which should also happen, then they would both be left with 5-3 common game records.
     At that point, it would then go to Conference records. But, if the Giants beat Washington and lose the other two games, we would have to still win out to win the division because they still would have a 5-1 division record.

Thanks for the help Rafael. It does get quite crazy this time of year.

Lets see,
Bucks will be playing Falcons and Saints at home… I am thinking 11-5. Panthers play on the raod at Falcons and Saints, and at home the cowboys, I am thinking 2 out of 3 and finish 11-5. And there is us, hoping and praing to finish 11-5. It’ll be interesting all the way to the end.

Hey Raf, don’t forget Minnesota, they can conceivably still win that division. If the Bears and the Vikings are tied for the last game, its winner take all.

bushpilot:

We beat San Diego and the Giants lost to San Diego …

What is our comfort level with the psychology of our team? Are we battle hardened enough to think we can win on the road against anyone?

Raul, you’re right, but the common games play out like this. SD: Dallas W, Giants L, SF: Dallas W, Giants W, Oak: Dallas W, Giants ?, Seattle: Dallas L, Giants L, Denver: Dallas L, Giants W, KC: Dallas W, Giants ?, StLouis: Dallas ?, Giants W, Arizona: Dallas W, Giants W.

That puts us at 4-3 with the St Louis game to go. The Giants are 4-2 in those games with todays KC game, as well as the Oakland game at the end of the year. We’ll see how it plays out, here’s hoping for the best.

I meant Oak: Dallas L, Giants ?

I predict that KC will have big day passing against Giants
tackle Roaf will neutralize Strahan
If we are correct that tackle for dallas is a real weakness, then maybe we can play the what if game by watching KC who has very good offensive line

Is it OK to hope Eli suffers a high ankle sprain today from the KC blitz’s?

Steelers will beat the Vikes!!! Pats beat up on TB…..it will be a race to the end. Every game is a playoff game……..come on KC….you know I like KC against NYG in this game. LJ is a between the tackle strong back and he can run it up the middle against em.

Eli is in a slump so…….KC wins it for us. Just do our job every week and we go to the playoffs and win the division…….well see yall in Charlotte…….anybody else going?

Plus the mighty love boat is back in Minn……..even their skipper Donovan is accused.

Hey heard the head coach was going to crack down on discipline this year but he also has a few tickets to the super bowl on sale on eBay in the meantime. I called him myslef looking for tickets for next week and he just directed me to his eBay.

Cmon KC!!!

Looks like KC just got the ball back on a fumble by Manning. It’s getting reviewed right now.

Ha Ha Giants don’t know crowd noise
It is so loud at Arrowhead that sometimes you forget to breath breath just vibrates through your lungs

well, its a draw so far in first quarter
KC — welcome to very fast defensive ends

Anyone ever notice how Tom Coughlin looks like Al Bundy on the sidelines? lol

talk about poor tackling………geez

Giants are matching up pretty well against KC

Just like Bledsoe, Trent Green plays nervous and his throw is a bit off when you get those two ends crashing fast around him. So there is something to say about Bledsoe holding up under poor protection

KC’s D. needs to pull their heads out of their collective arses

interception KC! now that’s what i’m talkin about nice strategy Giants after taking that 5 minute timeout

KC’s defense sucks!

More poor tackling.

jeez well that’s all she wrote – they’re making friggin barber look like an all star…i mean the guy’s good but he’s not THAT good

thoughts – are the Giants REALLY this good guys? i really don’t think so, but those sickos seem to keep coming up with big plays – makes me friggin sick

Loozeeana, if you can’t stop Tiki, they are real tough. I think the key to beating them is to shut down the running game. Eli still looks very erratic at times. I was just going over the records, and if the Giants do finish this win, they have to lose both their last two games for the Cowboys to win the division.

If we run the table in the last three games, and the Giants split their last two, they win the division.

If they win the Washington game and lose the Oakland game, they have a better divisional record than us.

If they lose the Washington game and win the Oakland game, they have a better record against common teams, which is the 3rd tie breaker in this case. Either way, it looks like we’re looking at a wild card right now.

My wish for Christmas is:
Us playing the giants at their place for play off and kick their LUCKY butt.
Looz is right.. kc made barber look like all world for peet sake.

No Loozeeana Cowboy. The Chiefs defense IS THAT BAD!

I don’t think the Chiefs had any idea that a trip through the NFC East was going to be this heartbreaking! Their season is all but over. Maybe not mathematically, but for all intents and purposes, it is OVER!San Diego and Pittsburgh are happy.

Thanks KC, For Nothing!!!!

KC probably misses the playoffs after today. The DMN began its annual will-they-trade-Greg-Ellis-and/or-LaRoi Glover column.

We talked about this a lot during camp. I wonder what these guys would give for a good d-lineman? I can’t think of much I’d want off their offense; their line is awesome but old. There are persistent rumors that Willie Roaf and Will Shields will hang them up. Welborne is an Eagles castoff. With that, there’s no way they trade Brian Waters or Casey Weigman.

Forget working with KC and trading with “King Karl” their general manager
And just think — this was KC who looked like it building steam, even in its loss to Dallas
Just goes to show you how KC did not have the mental toughness to recover from a close loss
So I have a greater appreciation for what Parcells has done in making the psychology of this team in its ability to play close every game and recover from close heartbreaking losses
Can Parcells prepare this team for a game like tomorrow? I think he sensed during the week a loss of intensity. BP has a great way of keeping his finger on the pulse of the team
I thought KC’s coach Vermeil would hang it up this year and I believe that he will realize he doesn’t have enough for another year
As for cherry picking players from KC, Priest Holmes says he’s coming back but with Larry Johnson now entrenched, there is a possibility to get another Eddie George… Priest has always been underestimated

Geeze KC stunk. The Giants played badly, as they did in the second game with the Cowboys, but still got the wins.

What a disappointment KC was today. We can’t count on anyone to help us, and I’m afraid to rely on this offense.(And the D in the last 5 minutes).

Raf,

You wouldn’t want Larry Johnson? :D Of course they’d never give him up but that guy is a stud.

Cash,

Of course he is. I was wondering who we could realistically get in return.

And on that topic, Cash, didn’t Dallas try to acquire Johnson two years ago, when he was pouting and Dallas had Troy Hambrick? I know Parcells pursued Rudi Johnson with gusto. This was when Corey Dillon was still with the Bengals. Showed me the pro scouting department was on the ball.

Are the Giants this good? .. If I may chime in on this one .. you stop the run and they are a very different team. The Boys held them under 100 yards rushing, they won. When they didn’t they lost. .. Eli has looked average, if that, as he continues to make key mistakes.

On to today. Boy this is a huge game!!

During training camp Parcells reiderated that he wanted to rotate his defensive linemen, and he has done so as the season has gone along. I bring this up because during the early part of the 90s in the Jimmy Johnson years, down the stretch run, the Cowboys were well rested and it showed. In 1991 Dallas won there final 5 games. In 1992 they won 5 of their last 6. Then again in 1993 they won their final 5 games.

Can’t focus with you all on playoff implications today. Sorry. I am too focused on simply whipping the Skins! Tell me what it means when it is over.

Go Cowboys!

Let’s hear a little “Hail to the Redskins” just to get us good and frothy.

Aargh! Joe Theisman, Dexter Manley, Diron Talbot, Joe Gibbs, John Riggins, Charles Mann, Sonny Jurgeson, Billy Kilmer, George Allen, Timmy Smith, Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Art Monk, George Rogers, Darrell Green, Gary Clark, Doug Williams, Gerald Riggs, Danny Snyder…

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

GO COWBOYS!

The factors that point to a Cowboy victory:

Physically — Cowboys the better team

Psychology -
1. Cowboys believe they are the better team (see last game and win history)
2. Cowboys were embarrassed last time and want to prove they are better team. This is precisely why teams play each other twice in the season.
3. Parcells understands this team. Last season, Parcells seemed a little fuzzy on the psychology of team and what motivated them. Now the coaching staff has a much better grasp of this.
4. Are battled hardened enough to know that they can go to Washington and win - they are not intimidated whatsoever.

One last thought on KC loss — I am not sure it would have changed anything as far as Cowboys winning division. It does point out how much the mental and coaching aspect of the game counts. KC was mentally exhausted from losing at dallas and could not recover. Parcells should be given alot of credit for keeping this team mentally competitive each and every game — Dallas doesn’t need a loud stadium (although it helps a bunch) to win.

And Rev
If the “Rev” means “reverend” vs “revolution”, are you bloggin from the church during your sermon?

The KC loss was huge for Big D to win the NFC East. It basically gives the G-men the third tie-breaker on common opponents.

Basicaly, we have to win out & Giants lose their last two.

Some good news was Tampa’s loss. Combine it with a Steelers win over the Vikings and the ’Boys will be hitting over .500 for the wild card.

If they win. They must.

Win and you’re in.

Well, looks like we need to beat the ’Skins this week and the ’Skins need to beat the Giants next week in order for us to have a shot at winning the division.

If we can’t beat the ‘Skins today, we don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.

Go Cowboys!

If we don’t win, we won’t. Making all else moot.

Like I said earlier, Giants must lose their last two for the Cowboys to win the division.