Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Sometimes you win when you should lose, and sometimes you lose when you should win. Welcome to the 2005 Dallas Cowboys.

What a stinking shame that game was.

Stat of the game? 9-11. That is how many times the Cowboys ran on 1st down in the 2nd half when they held their 7-3 lead. 9 times out of 11 1st down opportunities.

That to me points with bright lights the problem with the Cowboys on Sunday: Bill Parcells. I think you would agree that I am not one to default to blaming Parcells for everything that goes wrong in the world. But the Cowboys offensive aggressiveness in the 2nd half when they had a chance to go up two scores was flat out pathetic. In fact, twice, they were handed the ball in a golden spot. Let’s review what Parcells would allow Sean Payton to call:

Situation #1: 14:47 to go in 4th Quarter, Cowboys recover fumble at Seattle 9.

1st and Goal from 9: Barber +1
2nd and Goal from 8: Barber +2
3rd and Goal from 6: Wistrom Sacks Bledsoe
Settle for FG – missed by Cortez.

Situation #2: 3:04 to go in the 4th Quarter, Cowboys Roy Williams interception + Face Mask Penatly gives Cowboys the ball at the Seattle 12.

1st and 10 from the 12: Barber +4
2nd and 6 from the 8: Barber +3
3rd and 3 from the 5: Bledsoe bootlegs to the 3 yard line
Settle for FG – 22 yarder made by Cortez.

In both occasions, not one stinking pass attempt into the end zone. You score a touchdown, and the game is likely over, especially in situation #2. But the Cowboys decide to get ultra-uber conservative, and they end up with 3 points from two golden opportunities. Why? Because the coach was scared to try anything. No play action, no safe routes on max protect. Nothing. Barber up the middle 4 times on every play, until it is 3rd down and the defense is sitting on a pass. Horrible.

Here is something else to cement my opinion on the Cowboys turning into complete pansies when calling plays up 7-3 with a chance to win. The Cowboys had 14 snaps inside Seattle territory in the 4th Quarter on Sunday. How many pass attempts by Bledsoe? 1. The first play of the 4th quarter he threw a pass behind Keyshawn.

14 plays in Seattle territory in the 4th quarter. 1 pass. Horrendous.

Remember, Julius Jones was not playing. Marion Barber had 7 4th Quarter carries, Tyson Thompson had 2. And Drew Bledsoe had 1 pass fall incomplete.

That is not what I would call going for the throat.

Now, were they scared to death of LT and RT getting Bledsoe killed? Perhaps. Were they hoping for more from that potential flea-flicker that blew up? I assume so.

But, c’mon. 1 pass? In 14 plays? That is coaching. And not good coaching I might add.

Parcells is a genius. But Sunday, he over-thought a win into a loss.

I also think he punched an assistant coach, but since the announcers ignored it, I figured I must have been hallucinating.

Links:

Galloway on the Seattle trip …

ChiSox go up 2-0, with late inning drama from an unlikely source …

Scott Podsednik, who didn't hit a home run in 507 regular-season at-bats, clubbed a homer off closer Brad Lidge with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Sox a 7-6 victory over Houston and a 2-0 lead in the World Series before a damp but delirious crowd of 41,432.

"It's pretty indescribable," Podsednik said.

Texas pats Tech on its head, tells it to go play …

It didn't take long to see which team was the national contender and which one looked out of place as the No. 7 team in the initial BCS rankings.
"I said at the beginning of the season USC was definitely No. 1 and nobody deserved to be No. 2 because they hadn't done enough," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "Now I think this team definitely deserves to be No. 2."

Washington Times suggest that Hokies will still pass Longhorns …

The only thing worse than being strapped with the BCS formula is suffering the misinformation propagated by those who do not understand it. At least four times this week, the Back Judge was assaulted with the assertion that a Southern California-Texas title tilt in the Rose Bowl was a virtual guarantee if the Trojans and Longhorns win out.

After No. 2 Texas trounced Texas Tech 52-17, one CBS Sportsline scribe even went so far as to write: "It's obvious. One half of the national championship game is filled."

Texas certainly will sit in strong second when the latest BCS standings are released today, but a Trojans-'Horns party in Pasadena is far from fait accompli, even assuming both teams stroll home unbeaten.

Why? Because if everyone keeps winning, Texas is going to spend the remainder of the season losing ground in the BCS standings to unbeaten Virginia Tech and the undefeated SEC champion (Georgia or Alabama).

The question is how much ground?

Likely a huge chunk to the No.?3 Hokies (7-0), who could cap a flawless season by collecting stretch-run wins against No.?13 Boston College (Thursday), No.?6 Miami (Nov.?5) and No.?10 Florida State (Dec.?3 in the ACC title game).

During the same six-week closing stretch, Texas (7-0) won't see a single ranked opponent nor a whole lot of television screens. And the forgettable Big 12 North isn't likely to give it a meaningful title-game boost with Colorado and Missouri both at 5-2.

The result? Wins against the nation's sturdiest remaining schedule would almost certainly bump Virginia Tech past both Georgia and Texas in the computer rankings that make up one third of the BCS standings. The Hokies have an average ranking of fourth in the six sets of computer rankings, behind USC, Texas and Georgia. But those computer rankings are based almost entirely on to-date strength of schedule. In fact, if Georgia wins out and beats an unbeaten Alabama team in the SEC championship game, Texas could easily finish fourth in the Deep Blue portion of the BCS standings.

Another statistically perfect performance from Favre, another loss, another 2 skill players lost for the season …

In losing two more of his playmakers, Ahman Green and Robert Ferguson, it's almost as if Favre has to do it alone, and he can't, even if he continues to register age-defying statistics. Even at 17-0, Favre realized it wasn't over.

"At halftime we came in and said it wasn't over," Favre said. "We said that against New Orleans. It's a generic saying, but I knew it was true."

And now, at 1-5, with the guts ripped from the Packers against their archrival, is this a low point for Favre?

"The answer is yes," he said. "That's the easiest answer.

"There are not many good things that are going to be said and written about us, and that's OK. We still have to play football. We can try to play football or we can give in to what people think about us."

JORTS, JORTS, JORTS …



Porky leaves this world …

Here is a solid Astros site …

Andy Pettitte post-season stats to ponder:
34 Starts – Most in the history of baseball
14 wins – 2nd most in the history of baseball
210 innings – most in the history of baseball

Feel free to win bets with your buddies on those stats….

World Series fun facts from the Boston Globe …

OK. This is pretty amusing. dude gets scared and appears to be a bit gay …

Mike Leach wants to be a Pirate …

Baby Got Back remake …