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Nevermore: Will Tony Romo deliver against the Ravens' D?

The spotlight is on Tony Romo. It always has been. But especially this year. The NFL Network crew looks at whether he's ready or not in this video. Rich Eisen, Sterling Sharpe and Warren Sapp provide analysis. Sharpe thinks he's ready. Sapp isn't so sure. He's also not ready to call our defense dominate just yet.

Shout out to rioplayer7 for his fanpost here.

Brad Sham gives his top three memories of Texas Stadium. Gotta love Brad. Tells it just like it is. If the 'Boys are playing like dogs, he says it. If we're playing well, he says that too without being too much of a homer. I wish I could hear his voice tonight for the last game.

TH's favorite Texas Stadium moment? My first and last time there. Watching grown man cry during this historic event. I actually got in trouble at my job for going to this game. But boy was it worth it.

There are so many subplots to this game it feels like a Quentin Tarantino movie. We've got the Ravens D v. the Cowboy O. We've got Tony Romo v. Joe Flacco. We've got DeMarcus Ware and the sack record. We've got the last game at Texas Stadium. And so much more.

DC.com does a good job of running down the line of all the major characters in this game with huge playoff implications.

BIG ISSUE: The Cowboys can clinch a playoff spot this week, as much of a long shot as that is, but they can't do it all by themselves. First, though, they need to beat the Ravens, who have never played at Texas Stadium. Then, they need one of the following scenarios to occur - a Philadelphia loss or tie against Washington, a Chicago loss or tie against Green Bay and an Atlanta loss at Minnesota; a Philadelphia loss or tie and a Chicago loss or tie and a Tampa Bay loss against San Diego; a Chicago loss or tie and a Tampa Bay loss and an Atlanta loss; or a Philadelphia loss or tie and an Atlanta loss and if Dallas clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over Chicago. If none of that happens, the Cowboys will still hold firmly onto a wild-card spot with a win, but will need a victory in Week 17 to clinch. Lose, and it's anybody's game, so this is a must-win for Dallas - again. Add in the extra motivation that comes along with playing the final game at Texas Stadium, and the Cowboys should be revved up for this one.

The Ravens are also fighting for a wild-card spot. Right now, Baltimore owns the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC, holding tiebreakers over two other 9-5 teams - the Patriots and the Dolphins. The Jets, also at 9-5, may factor into the wild-card race if they lose the division lead. If the Ravens lose Saturday and those three teams win, it will be nigh impossible to gain a playoff spot with a week left in the season. If all those teams win, Baltimore would still have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami (which plays Kansans City), the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Jets (who play Seattle) and the conference record tiebreaker over the Patriots (who play the Cardinals).

I can't wait. 

Star-divide

Uh oh, ladies and gentlemen. Do we have a fracas on our hands?

Seems like Clarence E. Hill got a little snippy when Randy Galloway called him out in his column. Galloway's main point was that T.O. should apologize to Ed Werder for calling him a liar (I still don't get that, Galloway says Marshall Faulk doesn't live in Dallas, the local media does, so we should believe the local media, but T.O. was in the meeting, Werder wasn't, so we should totally believe Werder, hunh?) Galloway basically gets on Hill for standing up for Owens, which is an unpardonable sin in his book.

But this is where it gets interesting: Hill blasts back at him (in his typical passive-aggressive way).

Now maybe we are playing the semantics game. But I think in the column I supported reasons why Owens might be bothered by the idea that Witten is the team's leading receiver. But jealous has a different connotation. You can have a problem with someone and I suppose be bothered by their success. But that doesn't mean you are jealous.

 He also suggested that because I didn't attack Werder's information that I totally agreed with it. Well, if truth be told no other writer on the beat wrote articles supporting Werder's information either. Usually, when a story breaks, news organizations will try to get sources to get their own story on the issue. Now we were the first one's to report that Owens and receivers Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams had meetings with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett about their belief that quarterback Tony Romo was throwing too much to Witten and not looking for the open receiver.

But no one from the Star-Telegram or the DMN followed Werder's "jealous" and "team divided" angle. The only story we followed was the controversy the initial story caused and the team angle that it was overblown. So should we draw any conclusion from that?

Lordy Lord I've been waiting for someone to say that. The news in the story was the meeting not the jealous angle. Jealousy is an intangible subjective thing while reporting is supposed to recount objective tangibles. How do you know someone's jealous? Particularly if you were not there?

Hill is a nice guy so he tries to play peacemaker in the end. But I'm glad he stood up to Galloway.

ESPN stops their over-the-top T.O.-bashing for a second to preview today's game. In this video Trent Dilfer, a cautionary tale to most quarterbacks and a disgrace to bus drivers everywhere, does the analysis with Mike Golic, who both think the Cowboys will win. Matthew Bery tells you to bench Jason Witten because the Ravens defend well against tight ends (I say, at this point in the season, play your studs regardless, just my personal philosophy).

The NFL Network also previews the game in this video. Eisen and Sharpe are joined by Adam Schefter. Apparently there will be cameras following T.O., Romo, Ray Lewis, Joe Flacco and Ware. A game full of stars needs extra facetime, I guess. The topic of discussion was the Ravens D (of course) and Romo. Will the Ravens D -- after being outplayed in its five losses -- finally shut down a big-play offense? Will Tony Romo finally prove he can win a big game? I guess this game and this game and this game don't count.  

D-Ware has got to be licking his chops with the Ravens' O-line problems. Don't look at me for any sympathy. I've been holding candlelight vigils for Montrae Holland all week.

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benching witten

is about the dumbest thing i’ve heard – the Ravens might as well bench Flacco so he doesn’t get sacked too much.

no excuses – we have to win and i think we do – 23-13 Boys

by Scoobay on Dec 20, 2008 12:13 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Matthew Berry is the fantasy football guy

"When it's third and ten, you can take the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time." -Max McGee

by BigDinSC on Dec 20, 2008 12:32 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

ah

different angle…

by Scoobay on Dec 20, 2008 1:51 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

"Randy Galloway, You Ignorant Slut"

yakuza rich has a good piece on his blog breaking down Galloway’s reponse and Werder’s reporting, and really ripping them both new ones. worth reading if you’re still into this whole drama…

I can’t wait for this game!!! getting butterflies already…

by scottmaui on Dec 20, 2008 12:40 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

lmao...

good SNL reference…

"They need security in the world, Craig!"

by Tuna Helper on Dec 20, 2008 12:43 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I love it..

Romo lost the big game vs Pitt, won vs Giants, but that wasn’t a big game..

I don’t understand how when he wins it isn’t big, but when loses it is a big game.. BS!!

I love Warren Sapp saying we don’t have a top defense.. Wow..

"If you see me up in the mountains with a lion, I ain't lyin
don't help me, help the mountain lion"

by Wmillion on Dec 20, 2008 12:54 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Romo has won plenty of big games in career

the pundits and haters just refuse to recognize it…..bottom line Romo is as clutch as any qb in this league.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Dec 20, 2008 4:49 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I may not be as big a Romo fan as you Terry

But I agree with what you just said. I cannot recall one time besides the Steelers game that Romo actually choked..as a quarterback. And if somebody tells me he choked in the Giants playoff game last year, please talk to me and I will explain that he in no way choked.

by witten82 on Dec 20, 2008 5:55 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

+1

he’s won big games. he beat green bay last year, the giants in giants stadium two years ago. he beat the redskins on the road and the giants at home this year. those were big games. just not playoff games. the playoff game thing is a legitimate criticism. not winning any big games is not.

"They need security in the world, Craig!"

by Tuna Helper on Dec 20, 2008 5:57 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Something else to remember is not all playoff wins and losses are created equal.

Take the Eagles, for example, who when they finally did make the Super Bowl were facing such average riff raff in an 8-8 Vikings team and a one-dimensional Falcons team led by a clueless Michael Vick that they didn’t even need T.O. to reach the Super Bowl.

On the other hand……

How big of a chokejob was it losing to the Giants since that same Giants team went on to to beat the immortal 18-0 Patsies? Now if the Giants had went up to Green Bay and laid an egg losing 41-10 that would’ve meant the Cowboys truly blew it losing to an inferior team. As it turns out the Giants were just that good in last year’s playoffs.

by MadMick on Dec 20, 2008 6:48 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I don't think i understand

I’m from DC, so i’m unfamiliar with the dymanics of Dallas’ local media. Is Randy Galloway an entrenched, “name” celebrity writer who has enough skins on his wall to do and say whatever he wants, and, he has a schtick, and that schtick is to insult the Cowboys… and this schtick is so inflammatory that people buy papers and surf to his web site just to get enraged? Does he cover anything else, or does he just lob baseless, vindictive, insulting bromides at Valley Ranch?
I cannot imagine Wilbon or Kornheiser (WaPo writers for decades, and both have covered the Skins thoroughly) or any Skins beat writers adopting this tack. I suppose they wouldn’t, as they’re classically trained sports journalists with ethics from by-gone days. I think the worst Kornheiser has ever done is call Dan Snyder “Little Danny” and describe him as egomaniacal.
Is it “Texan” to be a cantankerous shit-slinger? Is it more appealing in Texas to be loud rather than smart?

Y’know… it’s in Galloway’s best interests to always be wrong. If he were right, and Jerry Jones and the stars on the roster were to be run out of town on a rail, then where would he be? Covering a vanilla, boring, lackluster franchise that would in time be the equivalent of the Chiefs or Seahawks or Texans. It’s NOT what he wants. He has to have these casts of characters in place doing things to offend his supercilious sense of righteousness so that he has a stage to act upon.

by Joey2zs on Dec 20, 2008 12:58 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

+100 for the "supercilious" usage

Don't believe everything you think.

Your causes are cute!!!

by stoproyce on Dec 20, 2008 1:03 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Im not a Galloway fan but I dont find him to bash the Cowboys anymore or less

than the rest of these clowns. He, like all of the writers, immediately back their brethern. Peter King did the same for Werder. This rant about Jones and Phillips apologizing to Werder in all this is a joke. After reading that article, I have lost all respect for him.

As far as Texans go we are a little over the top when it comes to our Football, State and Barbeque. Here we are taught Texas History(at least when I was young) before American history. We are Patriotic Americans but we will damm well let you know we are a Texan. We are also very friendly which probably stems from having the best looking women. We like to work hard and play hard. We dont take ourselves to serious. At least that is the way my family and friends back home are.(I live in N.O. now)

by squidlo97 on Dec 20, 2008 1:38 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

What is this crap about Tony Romo finally winning a big game?

How about a win against an undefeated Colts team a few years back?

What about a win against everyone’s paper champs for the past 12 weeks, the Giants…which by the way is a division rival and was a must-win game.

Give me a freakin’ break…..

(and that’s directed at the MSM not you Tuna)

by mhuff13 on Dec 20, 2008 1:52 PM CST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Yea so Tuna you listed some games

I got all caught up in the absurd thing that he hasn’t won a big game and didn’t read the next sentence. But we make the same point..

by mhuff13 on Dec 20, 2008 1:54 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

If last week wasn't a big game

then I don’t know what is. And our D had a lot to do with it, but that was the guttiest performance I’ve seen from Romo to date and i sure as hell hope he carries that momentum into tonight.

by Billito on Dec 20, 2008 4:43 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Eh I guess that's true to a point

But there are big games that you use to build your confidence to a championship level.

You’re not just a championship QB out of nowhere.

by mhuff13 on Dec 20, 2008 4:30 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

+1

Im just comenting on the media’s and the haters attitude.

by squidlo97 on Dec 20, 2008 6:25 PM CST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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