Monday, December 12, 2005

Touchdown BaD Radio!



That was an instant classic. NFL Films should not have a tough choice for their game of the week. The Chiefs and the Cowboys waged a war for the ages on Sunday, and The Cowboys made just enough plays to secure their 8th win of the season. Someone was going to lose the game, and whoever did was going to severely hurt their playoff chances. The Cowboys won.

A series of scattershots:

* Larry Johnson is unstoppable behind that offensive line. If the Chiefs don’t make the playoffs, many, many AFC teams should offer a sigh of relief.

* Drew Bledsoe is the man. Amazing what he can do, along with Keyshawn and Glenn, when you give them a freaking chance. I swear, Keyshawn makes every catch.

* Jason Witten should have caught that pass at the goal line on 4th down. He was really lucky that holding was called. So was the city of Dallas.

* Gunther Cunningham is a nut. He is flipping the bird to the refs, he is grabbing and screaming at his coaches, and he is an assistant on the team that fired him from being the head coach. Weird.

* Marion Barber is better than Julius Jones right now. It might be the ankle of Jones that makes it that way, but let’s stop kidding around. In 2005, MB3 is your guy.

* That final drive saw the tackles giving Bledsoe the time he needed.

* The prevent almost prevented Dallas from the playoffs. Nice coverage, Roy. And nice tackle on Tony Gonzalez, too.

* Dan Campbell = the playmaker (except for the tipped pass that Patty Surtain should have returned for 6).

What a win …l


Dallas rallied from deficits of 14-3, 21-17 and 28-24 and secured a non-losing season for the second time in three seasons under Parcells. To do so, the Cowboys overcame Kansas City's four sacks of Bledsoe and running back Larry Johnson's 143 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Trailing by four points after Eddie Kennison's 47-yard touchdown catch with 3:55 left, Bledsoe led his 31st fourth-quarter rally. Only Green Bay's Brett Favre has more since 1993.


And then Keyshawn makes a point that everyone is thinking:


"I don't care what anybody says – we have firepower," receiver Keyshawn Johnson said. "We just have to use it. The coaches have to have enough confidence in us to call the plays and let us do our jobs."


Meanwhile, in KC, Jason Whitlock lets Larry Johnson have it


On second and goal at the Dallas 9, Fujita, the former Chief, sashayed right past Johnson as he flopped on the ground like a fish out of water. Fujita then barreled into quarterback Trent Green, separating KC’s QB from the football. Dallas’ Marcus Spears scooped up the ball and ran 59 yards, setting up the Cowboys at the KC 26 with 1 minute, 2 seconds left in the half. Drew Bledsoe hit tight end Jason Witten with a 26-yard TD pass, completing the good-old-fashioned game-turning 14-point swing.

When L.J. whiffed, the Chiefs were up 14-10 and about to tack on a touchdown, or at least a field goal. Instead, the Cowboys went into the halftime locker room ahead 17-14.

On the road, against a good team, when you’re in a tight playoff race, when your remaining schedule consists of playoff-caliber opponents, it’s criminal for a player to give an effort that weak on such an important play.

It’s selfish. It’s immature. It’s classic Randy Moss.

The play perfectly crystallizes (justifies) why Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders were reluctant to put their trust in Larry Johnson. And let me be clear: I have no problem with Saunders choosing to throw the ball in that situation. Saunders called a beautiful game and did an excellent job of keeping the Cowboys’ defense off balance.

Nope. The only problem was Johnson’s flop.


Chiefs feel they let it get away


“We’re the better team,” Chiefs linebacker Kawika Mitchell insisted as he was surrounded by cameras and dirty socks and devastated looks in the locker room after the game. He wasn’t spitting sour grapes, either. Everybody in the room felt that way. The Chiefs were the better team. They should have won this game a dozen different ways. But maybe this is why Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is one of the best ever. Pitcher Greg Maddux always left hitters thinking they should have gotten three hits when they went zero for four.

Parcells leaves opponents feeling as if they should have won when they lost.


Fujita saves the Day for the Cowboys ….Former Chief with the big moment:

“Without that play, we probably don’t win this game,” Cowboys tight end Dan Campbell said. “It was a huge turnaround. Really, that was a 14-point swing, if you look at it that way.”

Vermeil said, “It’s all right if you fumble, but when you let the other team take it all the way up the field, that’s when it becomes a problem.”

The impact of the play was enormous. Instead of ending the first half with a two-score lead, the Chiefs went into the locker room trailing and cursing their fate.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, suddenly had reason to believe they could match the Chiefs score for score.


Hurrah! Green Bay has won a game! …Even if it was against Detroit…


Green Bay extended its mastery of the Lions in Wisconsin to 15-0 since 1991.

Millen's team slipped to 4-9 and to an NFL-worst 20-57 since he took over in 2001.
"We won a ball game tonight," Sherman said. "That's as far as it goes. I'm happy about that. We have been in every ball game and we haven't won nearly as many as we would have liked. These are our playoff games."


USA in the Group of Death


At some point you knew it would happen: The U.S. would draw into a Group of Death at the World Cup.

It finally happened on Friday as the No. 8-ranked Yanks were placed in Group E with three-time world champion Italy, the Czech Republic (ranked No. 2 in the world) and rising African power Ghana.

Even worse, the U.S. will have to face the Czechs first and Italy second, leaving the lower-regarded Ghanaians until the end.

The Italy matchup is the most intriguing in my mind because it offers a chance to see an Old Europe soccer power (the Azzurri) against a rising New World soccer power. Can the U.S. take out the three-time world champs when it counts? When they met in 1990 in Rome, Italy dominated and won 1-0. Can the Americans earn more bona fides from the world soccer community? Here's their opportunity.


What does the Schneid mean?


"The schneid" ... means nearly the opposite of "in the catbird seat." To be "on the schneid" means to be on a losing streak, racking up a series of losing, and especially scoreless, games. "Schneid" is actually short for "schneider," a term originally used in the card game of gin, meaning to prevent an opponent from scoring any points. "Schneider" entered the vocabulary of gin from German (probably via Yiddish), where it means "tailor." Apparently the original sense was that if you were "schneidered" in gin you were "cut" (as if by a tailor) from contention in the game. "Schneider" first appeared in the literature of card-playing about 1886, but the shortened form "schneid" used in other sports is probably of fairly recent vintage.


All this, and no mention of the Mavs, Stars, Matt Morris, JJ Redick, or Reggie Bush. I can do better tomorrow.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

As soon as I saw Cambell rolling out on that play, I heard the BaD Radio Liner in my head! It was so great to see Dan win the game for the Cowboys! He's a cool guy that works hard on every play. Great to see him get some recognition.

Anonymous said...

Worst blogging ever. I want my money back.

Anonymous said...

what a great win and a great game that was. the cowboys made the big plays when they needed to and did enough to win. the fujita sack was probably the play of the game b/c if they give up another score, i don't know if they could have done enough the way the chiefs were rolling on offense. they need to open up the offense the rest of the way and give bledsoe a chance to throw down field. the flea flicker was genius, 2 for 2 on that play this year....

they've got to put together a little run now and get to the playoffs on a high.

Anonymous said...

At least Jerry and Bill aren't talking playoffs with a 5-8 team like they were last year. I'm afraid that we're still looking at 9-7...will that get us in for a date with the New York Football Giants up in Yankeetown?

Has anyone summarized the total Ranger personnel activity so far? It can't be good.

Converse Judson vs Euless Trinity. Wow, the Tongans beat the Africans in a great game. Somebody needs to pull the video and do a bit on the Judson coach...you think Gunther Cunningham is a nut? I'll see your Gunther and raise you this guy.

Andy Douthitt said...

OUR LITTLE BOY IS ALL GROWNS UP!!

He may grow that long ass hair thats attractin' all the men...but our little BAD Radio frat boy Dan Campbell was a badass yesterday!!

That game had it all: great plays, great players on both sides of the ball (KC is pretty, pretty, pretty good), wild ass crowd (Texas Stadium was the loudest it has been in a long time), and a W.

Some quick hits for you Bob..

- Bledsoe was as accurate as our boy Aikman used to be yesterday!!
- Keyshawn and Glenn are so money! IT's nice to have such a great 1/2 punch on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
- Defense got bailed out.. they were absolutely SHREDDED YESTERDAY. Roy needs to stop thinking he's cool and make some plus plays on Defense.
-MB3 thumbs up. Jules Jones thumbs down. He is what he is, we need to live with it.. disappointing at best..
- Give tuna some props about a solid gameplan and not dumbing down the game yesterday.


Here we go, a win at Washington (should win), a weird Carolina team (who knows what we'll get), and St. Louis (they have quit)

Let's enjoy this ride!! It's been a good one this year.

Anonymous said...

We need a Trinity, SLC, HP playoff Dallas playoff....

Anonymous said...

No mention of Liverpool's 7th straight EPL win either. Wow.

Observer said...

Give me the Chiefs at NY next week. What an enormous game we have coming up in Washington. Which Redskin team will show up? The one that got drilled 36-0 by NY a few weeks ago?

Just think if we had dominated Washington and Oakland for the whole game like we should've earlier this season, instead of turning those games into last-possession coin flips. Argh.

If Dallas and NY end up with the same conference record (which looks likely), what's the next tiebreaker? Is it too early to do tiebreakers now?

Oh, and nice job, Rafe. You screwed up twice, voting Lydia out instead of nutting up and choosing between Danni and Steph, then giving Danni a free ethical pass to win a million. I guess nice guys do finish last. Well, except for Tom last season who was smart enough to ally with someone who was susceptible to a guilt trip.

Anonymous said...

tvb Said- Roy Williams looked as bad as he could and the offense bailed out the "D" for once. The offense took some chances and it payed off. Please don't run on first and second down in Washington! I was sure that game was going into OT and another loss of less than 7 points. Huge win!

How bad was thar UT B-Ball game. Gawd!

Unknown said...

If (not when) the Cowboys get their offense and defense working like they should at the same time, they would probably be the second best team in the NFL. Bledsoe just needs to play decently, and the defense needs to quit giving so much of a cushion on every receiver. If that happens...XL is on.

Julius is not nearly as quick to the line as he was last year. It has to be the injury.

Anonymous said...

division tie breakers from nfl.com

TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION
If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with identical won-lost-tied percentages, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Two Clubs
1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
5. Strength of victory.
6. Strength of schedule.
7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
9. Best net points in common games.
10. Best net points in all games.
11. Best net touchdowns in all games.

Anonymous said...

Giants (4-1) .800
Cowboys (3-2) .600

Unknown said...

What about the blown call on review on the Chief's last drive? Wasn't it obvious that the receiver's knee and most of his leg were laying out of bounds by the time he caught the ball? It doesn't matter now, despite Roy's failure on coverage, but it looked to me like a blown call that could've cost the game.

Anonymous said...

Hey Kawika, scoreboard.

Anonymous said...

It's a close call, but the game of the week was obviously Eagles-Giants.

BTW, keep track of Dallas' own Ryan Moats, who seems to have overcome fumblitis and likely guaranteed himself a roster spot next year with his 11-carry, 114-yard, 2-TD performance yesterday.

Anonymous said...

so, no one has a pic of the Gunther Bird?

Anonymous said...

How come more isn't being made of the Giants having one more home game than the Cowboys? This is going to turn out to be an ENORMOUS factor in deciding the East. The NYG are 3-3 on the road, and one of those road games was in New York against the Saints to open the season. NFL making sure to keep the big markets in the best of shape...

Anonymous said...

i think that was a blown call. we'd be all screaming about that if the cowboys end up losing the game. it looked clearly like the knee and part of the left foot were out as he caught the ball.

as for the giants having one more home game, i think i'd be a little more upset if it was a team other than the saints. the giants more than likely would have beaten new orleans no matter where the game was played. it was an unfortunate event, and many will keep talking about it if it ends up being a deciding factor in the playoff picture, but given the circumstances at the time, what were the alternatives?

Anonymous said...

What were the alternatives?

The East Coast media would like you to believe that playing the game in New York was the best possible scenario but forgot to mention how it gave an advantage to the Giants & it wasn't like the telethon for hurricane aid was being held inside of Giants stadium. Texans owner Bob Mcnair offered to have the game in Reliant Stadium (which was available & would have been ready for MNF) & offer free tickets to Hurricane victims in the Houston area to support their team. But I guess then the Giants would have not had an advantage

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but Tags and the NFL has absolutely no excuse for that Giants/Saints game site decision debacle. They should never be allowed to live that one down.

Anonymous said...

a non-football point from peter king's mmqb...

f. I simply can't buy that Brad Wilkerson and Termell Sledge is the best the Rangers could do for a C-minus fielding middle infielder who hits 38 homers every year. To not get a pitcher, any pitcher, for Alfonso Soriano is unconscionable. Those two new guys mean the Rangers now have 27 Laynce Nixes on their roster.

Anonymous said...

I think the receiver probably was actually out of bounds based on the replay, but there was not a definitive angle to be able to overturn the call. I too think it would have stood no matter what the on-field call was.

Anonymous said...

Peter King's preseason prediction for the previous two seasons has been Jake Plummer to be the MVP...and his supposed expertise is football. So I'd tell Peter King to take his MLB opinions and cram them in his four-grand-latte-a-day drinking ass.

Anonymous said...

vincente padilla??????????????????????????????????

Anonymous said...

So the Rangers still suck. How is this news to anyone? They've never done a thing in the 33 years they've been here. Next...

Anonymous said...

Gunther bird!

http://members.cox.net/ragedogg69/IMG_0096s.jpg

Anonymous said...

It's never too early to do tiebreaking scenarios.