NFL 2013

[Nevermore]

Why not? He tossed a pick at the worst possible time when you absolutely need him to not turn the ball over. He did what franchise QB's aren't supposed to do - he threw a pick deep in his own territory with the game tied and no timeouts left. He should have had better blocking but he also should not have thrown that ball. That game was insane. I may have to change my mind about Dez Bryant being a true #1 - he looked the part yesterday and his stats this year hold up. Now if only the Cowboys could run the ball, they might have a winning record. Romo was incredible for 58 minutes. Peyton was Peyton. I'm more surprised that the Denver D gave up almost 50 points.

DeMarco Murray has been running the ball pretty well, the Cowboys just go away from the run for long stretches of time because their playcaller is terrible.  I think the worst part of the Romo interception is there's Murray wide open in the foreground waiting for a dump-off pass that would have gained them close to 10 yards.  There was plenty of time left on the clock and the Cowboys had all three of their timeouts at the time iirc.  It's like Romo wanted to remind everyone he was Romo on that play. 

Here's my week 5 power rankings:

1) Broncos
2-32) Who cares?

[HaemishM]

Here's my week 5 power rankings:

1) Broncos
2-32) Who cares?

That really is true. I mean, New Orleans is good and KC seems to be decent as well. But San Fran didn't look that convincing in their win, Green Bay should have destroyed a Lions team at home without Calvin Johnson and they only got what, 1 TD? Seattle lost to Indy who apparently have something approaching a defense now. The Cowboys might have to go up in the rankings based on their performance but NFC East, dumpster fire, etc.

[Segoris]

Why not?  

Because at some point the Dal defense needs to step up and make a stop to keep him out of the situation, or his O-line needs to block better? Because Trevalan made a great play while Escobar did fuck-all for effort to go and get the ball? I believe Witten would have at least made an effort for the ball in that situation. Or maybe, because Romo had a 140 passer rating and 90qbr with 500+ yards, going toe to toe with a living legend, and it really isn't his fault they lost by 3 to a much better team?

N.O is for real, absolutely. Rob Ryan has patched up that defense from worst in the league to a top 5 in one season, and that is crazy. As for Chi, they are exactly what their record indicates - above a .500 team. It's still the same shit though - a receiving RB tears them up. It breaks down tampa-2 defenses if the WRs can block. Det and N.O have WRs that can do just that and the RBs that are good enough to make use of those blocks.

Agree with Vick, Eli, and Hou though.

Here's my week 5 power rankings:

1) Broncos
2-32) Who cares?

^Truth. I think Hilton put on a clinic of how to be a WR against Sea yesterday, who stays at the top of the "Who cares?" team for the time being.

[MrHat]

Here's my week 5 power rankings:

1) Broncos
2-32) Who cares?

Maybe

1) Broncos
2-4) NO
5) KC

[HaemishM]

I think KC is going to get exposed soon and it probably won't be against a great team. Don't get me wrong, KC is good but I think they are a piece or two away from really contending. Of course, in this NFL, that means they could make the AFC championship game because at least 60% of the teams are utter crap.

[Paelos]

I actually think the Broncos are going to get all they can handle when the travel to Indy. If they win that game as convincingly? Then it's just the Chiefs standing in the way of 16-0.

[sickrubik]

Anyone should see that Indy is going to be a tough and highly emotional game. But, seriously, don't leave out the Redskins. Shanny's returns to Mile High. That being said, it IS the Redskins, but I don't really want the Broncos to sleep on them. Also playing IN Foxboro is always risky.

Sunday really exposed just how paper thin our defense is. While Dallas got away with a lot of holding, so did the Broncos. Two weeks until we get Von back, thank god.

[Ingmar]

Blaming the QB for a loss when the team scores 48 is so stupid that any columnist that tries to pin that on Romo should be fired for gross incompetence, interception at the end of the game or not. That game goes squarely on the defense.

[sickrubik]

Blaming the QB for a loss when the team scores 48 is so stupid that any columnist that tries to pin that on Romo should be fired for gross incompetence, interception at the end of the game or not. That game goes squarely on the defense.

Yup. Romo played out of his mind in that game. All the throwing him under the boss is ridiculous. It was one INT, on a play they ran several times. Trevathan read the play and jumped. Both defenses played terribly in general.

[Nebu]

QB's, like the leader of any team, always get the blame.  When you're the on-field general, you take the heat.  It's what you're paid for.

[sickrubik]

And that doesn't have anything to do with fans saying stupid shit.

[Ingmar]

The one that really got me was the ESPN Dallas guy, but then again the ESPN Dallas writers are all terrible.

[Paelos]

I don't blame Romo for that game at all. Both defenses should be totally ashamed in that fiasco.

[HaemishM]

So you're telling me that he is blameless for throwing that INT at the worst possible fucking time? How the fuck is that possible? If Peyton's INT was the last pass he threw during the game, and the opposing offense scored on a short field because of it, it'd be Peyton's fault too. Should the defense not have let in 51 points? Of course - but this is also a team that has scored 35+ points EVERY GAME THIS SEASON. That doesn't excuse the defense but it shouldn't excuse the QB when he makes a dumb pass in his own half that gets picked and turns into the game winning field goal. He played out of his mind for 58 minutes but the game is 60 minutes long. You're the QB - you get paid the insane bucks to lead a team. That means you get the blame when it's your pass that gets intercepted. And when you just got a huge contract to be the face of the franchise, and this is almost a by-the-book retelling of the entirety of your career as a starting QB, you get the blame.

It sucks. I'm sure he can console himself with his hot wife and piles of fat fucking cash.

The same goes for Schaub. His picks were the reason that team lost. Their defense played like shit against the run game and deserve a good share of the blame, but Schaub's picks? As bad as the offense played, that one pick-6 he threw was enough to ensure they didn't win the game.

[Ingmar]

It's because you can't narrow down the game to that one instant. If you are going to blame him there you also have to credit him with the play that allowed them to be in it at all. They did not lose that game because of Tony Romo; they were only IN that game because of Tony Romo.

With Schaub you're actually right. There is a vast, vast gulf between those two performances.

[Trippy]

Can't really blame him for the loss, though.

Why not?

Last I checked Romo doesn't play defense for the Cowboys, though admittedly I didn't watch the entire game so I may have missed a defensive substitution. The only reason why the game wasn't a laugher was because Romo had a career day and outplayed Manning. As others have said at some point the Cowboys defense needed to make some plays but didn't. Romo had the Cowboys in the lead twice in the 4th Quarter but they couldn't stop Manning. Granted that's a very difficult task but if, say, they forced Denver to kick a field goal when it was 48 - 41 we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[HaemishM]

He played out of his mind for 58 minutes but the game is 60 minutes long.

As I said, he played great and that team would be dead without him.

But he's still got to finish the game.

[Malakili]

Doesn't that pretty much sum up Romo's career.  They lost because of his mistake, but they wouldn't have been close enough for the mistake to matter without him.

[ghost]

Yeah, Romo sucks.   

[HaemishM]

Doesn't that pretty much sum up Romo's career.  They lost because of his mistake, but they wouldn't have been close enough for the mistake to matter without him.

Abso-freaking-lutely.

[Ingmar]

Who knew, throwing a one-hitter when the guy on the other side tosses a perfect game makes you a choke artist.

[Paelos]

He played out of his mind for 58 minutes but the game is 60 minutes long.

As I said, he played great and that team would be dead without him.

But he's still got to finish the game.

That's ridiculous. The game should have been over already, but somehow it's on Romo because he threw that pick late? The defense gave up 9-13 3rd down conversions and 5 first downs on penalties. It's a fucking train wreck.

Romo brought them back from 35-20 to having a TD lead with about 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter, and the defense STILL couldn't do jack shit. I will blast Romo for bad decisions, but that pick wasn't one. It was an incredible diving catch made by a DB that 9 times out of 10, he drops.

[sickrubik]

Like I mentioned earlier, they had ran that same play several times during the day. Trevathan (said DB) recognized it, read the play and jumped on that ball. It was a solid pass. That was not on Romo. At all.

[Nebu]

Who knew, throwing a one-hitter when the guy on the other side tosses a perfect game makes you a choke artist.

When you're making $108 million on your contract you sometimes have to take blame that you don't deserve.  It's a rough life, but I'm sure Tony can gut it out.

[sickrubik]

We're saying the blame is dumb, not that Romo needs protection.

[Ingmar]

Who knew, throwing a one-hitter when the guy on the other side tosses a perfect game makes you a choke artist.

When you're making $108 million on your contract you sometimes have to take blame that you don't deserve.  It's a rough life, but I'm sure Tony can gut it out.

It isn't about Tony's feelings - I hate the Cowboys, and he falls right under that with everyone else - it is about my desire to read commentary by professional sportswriters who actually understand what is going on in front of their eyes. Haemish is just a convenient proxy.  

EDIT: On the other hand, maybe Jerry Jones believes all this stuff about him being terrible now and will get rid of him, thus making the Cowboys worse and me happier. I need to ponder this.

[HaemishM]

I predict the Cowboys will not win another Super Bowl with Jerry Jones alive OR Tony Romo as starting QB. Bold prediction, I know. 

[Paelos]

You can remove the Tony Romo part.

[Nebu]

We're saying the blame is dumb, not that Romo needs protection.

I get it.  I agree. People get stupid when it comes to sports. 

You want to be really shocked... go to a little league game and listen to the parents in the stands.  It's fucked up.

[MrHat]

Like I mentioned earlier, they had ran that same play several times during the day. Trevathan (said DB) recognized it, read the play and jumped on that ball. It was a solid pass. That was not on Romo. At all.

That's basically the only play Denver D made that whole game, just happened at the BEST possible moment.

I mean, Jesus, look at this shit:

[Paelos]

Hell, go ump a YMCA tee ball game. That was an experience that wasn't worth the $40.

[Nevermore]

See what I mean about Murray on that interception?

[HaemishM]

Murray was wide open with room to run and Romo missed the checkdown. Escobar was not open - the linebacker was almost in step with him. Bryant wasn't open on the outside. Romo saw a guy coming up the middle and got happy feet.

[shiznitz]

Yes the defenses were awful, but the loss is on Romo's shoulders.  He made a bad decision at a critical time.  Wars are lost that way and the winner writes history. 

[Paelos]

That's simply madness. By that logic, it wouldn't be his fault for the loss if he didn't bring the team back from the brink of a 2 TD deficit.