Spec"dak"ular game this afternoon. Beat the packers, bumped Brady from the record books with interception-less record, and proved again Cowboys have the best offensive line in the league.

The one time I root for Philly they come through (although made it suspenseful)!

Interesting take where vested native Americans are okay with the Redskins name change, but upset that the logo isn’t staying.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/it-takes-away-from-the-native-americans-son-of-redskins-logo-designer-denounces-rebranding

Approaching comical levels: The "Washington Football Team" with numbers on their helmets instead of a logo. My vote for the new name is "Swamp Rats"

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I just loved being preached to by pious professional football players - they are so above reproach.

BTW, "The Arrest-O-Meter" on this site is pure genius! | http://www.nflarrest.com

Oddly enough, there is already a moment of unity built into every pre-game during the National Anthem, except this moment is inclusive of all participants (players, fans, viewers, etc.) Unfortunately, this is the time when many choose to display disunity through their actions.

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Downvote(s) on a moment of unity - how revealing.

I think you meant to say "It's pretty clear where he kneels."

Oddly enough, I think the avatar is a self-fulfillment of the stated intent.

Meanwhile, I'm curious as to how the Cowboys will play things out. I'm concerned that the heritage and moniker of "America's Team" is at risk.

While I am a Cowboys fan (not always the case as I wasn't born or raised in Texas), I do agree the blind hype year after year is indeed undeserved (you can rest on your 20+ year laurels for only so long). However, for some reason they still remain one of, if not the best drawing/ratings teams in the league. Not sure why this is the case (haven't taken the time to research), but I would really be interested in knowing how the younger generations of fans perceive them. Of course, living here in DFW it's Cowboys 24x7x365 on nearly all sports media outlets, so kind of hard not being abducted into the cult.

Did anyone watch the documentary on the construction of the new LA stadium the other night? It is truly a remarkable engineering feet, and quite beautiful. Don't know if I'll ever get to see it in person, but I am looking forward to seeing it on TV (won't be quite the same without a packed house).

I'm also really digging the new Rams logo (couldn't care less about the team). I did chuckle a little when during the documentary they were talking about the Chargers logo and uniforms being the most iconic. I think maybe whoever said that actually did get struck by a lightning bolt.

Being here in DFW, I've been to the Cowboys stadium a few times (also drove by it twice a day for 5+ years during my commute), and it is very impressive. Now, if we could only get the broadcasting companies to stop highlighting the artwork in the stadium, showing cowboy hats being steamed, and featuring longhorn steers in the pasture every time a Cowboys game is on.

About the only more stereotypical thing I've experience was growing up in Oklahoma where people from other parts of the country would visit and sincerely wonder where all of the teepees were.

You have to add artichoke - yum!

Why would you not tie the game in that situation? Stupid! Decisions like that and Cowboys are destined for another 8-8 at best.

Terrible OPI call! Hand fighting by both, no full extension, and defender loses footing.

Even so, in the end that was a coach’s loss. Jason Garret could have done that. All that time left, you knew you would get the ball back, yet you choose to leave points on the field. Frustrating! Geez, no guarantee you would have won, but give yourself a freak’n chance. Even if they would have made it, completely the wrong decision. I can handle losses as a fan, but I can’t tolerate stupidity by the coaching staff.

Man that was hard to look at. Not to make this about me, but I suffered a similar injury back in 2000. Regardless of who you are it is devastating physically and emotionally, and the rehab is long and grueling. Was happy to see Alex Smith back on the field earlier, only to have Dak go down moments later.

I've not been keeping up with the thread, so I'm sure this has been addressed. I watched all 6 playoff games last week, and the one thing that drove me crazy was the fake crowd noise in the games w/o live crowds. I find it to be incredibly annoying due to its generic "white noise" sound, the lack of proper timely response to play on the field, and just overall lack of variable volume and intensity. Personally, I'd rather watch the games without it. Baseball was the worst with this, almost unwatchable, and I can't speak to the NBA as I've pretty much been turned off by all of in-your-face activism. I've not tuned into hockey yet, so interested to see what they are doing in empty arenas.

As far as the games go, some of my teams won and some lost. The CLE-PIT game was pretty epic and fun to watch. I'm far from a Pittsburgh fan, so their implosion from the first snap was pretty funny to me. I do root for Cleveland (primarily because of Baker - I'm a huge OU fan), but I'm also happy for one of the storied franchises to have relevancy again.

Looks like it's going to be another good weekend. Some teams will get to see how they actually measure against the best, and the Brady-Breeze matchup intrigues me.

I'll take the following:

Green Bay -6.5
Buffalo -2.5
Chiefs -10
Saints -3

It is obviously canned and fake sound (like audio "CGI"). I'm sure it the sounds were originally recorded crowd sounds then heavily digitally modified, but it's just not organic sounding to me. There's also the discontinuity when the camera shows a partial/full shot of the completely empty stands as part of the coverage, yet you still hear crowd sounds like the stadium is packed.

I get it that complete silence probably sucks for both players and television, but I would prefer additional/enhanced sounds from the actual event on the field. One idea would be to bring in more directional mics and/or player mics to bring the viewer more into the action.

Also, I don't mind at all being downvoted, but it would be interesting to know what the objections were to the original post and/or the dissenting views of those that did so.

That, and pretty much the one team I did follow from our area (Mavericks, of course) I've abandoned mostly because of how turned off I am by their increasingly self-absorbed bloviating know-it-all owner.

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Did you just grab a beer from the kitchen before you typed that last post (can't blame auto-correct for all those typos)?

Well, if that's the case I'm genuinely impressed.

That makes sense. Was hoping to see other's give their predictions for the games against the spread.

Love it!

1-0 so far.

2-0 after Saturday. I'm at least guaranteed a push.

At least it was against the spread (also, I honestly picked who I thought would win even before looking at the spreads). Besides, odds makers haven't even been close yet. However, tomorrow could be another story.

Lamar is one of a kind, but I guess when two single-faceted offences go head-to-head, the passing offense wins.

DVR? The only way to watch a game. I record and then start watching an hour later. Usually works out to where I can skip all of the commercials and by the end of the game I'm live/near live TV.

Well, not how I saw that game going down.

2 and 1 now.

You were saying?

A missed spearing call away from flipping the outcome.

Well, looks like I went 2-2 this weekend. Patrick getting hurt didn't help and I didn't realize Hill was out, both of which could have changed the outcomes. Regardless, was a good weekend of football.

Man, the early game was unwatchable. Not because anything on the field, but are you telling me Tirico & Breeze are the best NBC has to offer? I literally fell asleep watching the game.

You may not like him, but he does his prep for the game and isn’t afraid to offer critical opinions. My issue is just the lackluster monotone overall delivery of todays early crew, which Troy is anything but. However, full disclosure in that my favorite play by play guy is Gus Johnson, at least for college football. Some think he’s over the top, but he brings excitement to every game regardless of who is playing.

Breeze may get better with his presentation since he is so new at it, however.

Good, I can continue my streak of never watching the show. Bayless is a loser on so many levels.

So much evidence to show what a fraud Bayless is, but I just heard this one on the local sports radio station. The audio of Hoge breaking down predictively all the football reasons why Manziel would be a bust is spot on looking back, and the Bayless response is equally as impressive but for the opposite reason of just what an epic fail it was.

From the article reviewing the debate:

With the NFL draft looming, old clips of draft takes that didn’t age well are making the rounds online. Among those to resurface is video of Skip Bayless debating Merril Hoge during an episode of ESPN’s First Take, during which Hoge correctly predicted Johnny Manziel would be a franchise-altering bust.

Bayless, massively in Manziel’s corner back in 2014, was appalled by Hoge’s stance, clapping back at the fellow ESPN analyst.

After Hoge labeled Manziel as a player with a “fifth- or sixth-round grade,” Bayless came to the former Texas A&M QB’s defense.

“Merril Hoge, with all due respect, you have never ever been more wrong in your assessment of a football player than you just were about Johnny Manziel,” said Bayless. “He won’t be a bust. He’s going to be a franchise player. He’s going to be a star. He will make Pro Bowls.”

In an age full of freezing cold NFL draft takes, Bayless’s relentless defense of Manziel remains one of the all-time greats.

Not only did he criticize Hoge for even suggesting Manziel could be a bust, Bayless went on to a detail a full list of future accolades the Aggies quarterback would win in the NFL. Of course, Manziel won none of them.

Manziel eventually was drafted in the first round (No. 22 overall) by the Browns, with whom he spent two seasons. He last played in the NFL in 2015.

Only because it's football I'm sure I check in, but excited? No. For me, games need to matter to get excited about them.

Cowboy fan here. Even though Rogers has been the Cowboy nemesis throughout his career, it was horrible watching him go down last night. Rogers in good for the NFL, and I really wanted to see how the Dallas D faired against a QB of his caliber next week.

Had to be a horrible weekend for most NY NFL fans with the Cowboy shutout route over the Giants on Sunday night, the Bills lost in OT, and then to have the Jets fans have their season’s hopes crushed in the first series of the season.

Funny!

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Not sure Tom would want any of that offensive line as he is infinitely less mobile that Rogers. In what little I saw, it looks like they are could be more of a running team, so maybe some bus driver to get them through the year?

I think that maybe Kyler Murray would work given his scrambling ability.

Oh, you're right. I forgot about his condition, just thinking of rumors he wanted out of Arizona. He's going to be out for 3-4 more weeks, at minimum.

As a Cowboy fan, I think that for literally the first time in my life watching football, I get more excited about watching the defensive series than the offensive ones. Parson's is a one-man wrecking crew, and it opens up so many other opportunities for the rest of the team. Just so much fun to watch at all 3 levels of the defense.

The wrong player got taken out for the season. Sad to see.

That's the deal - Parson's is certainly not alone this year, and his game has improved. If you've actually watched any of the line play, he lines up at all different positions, is double teamed much of the time, and he still either causes havoc or frees up someone else to cause havoc. Personally, I would think the best offense against him would be a quick 3-step drop back passer or first read shotgun passer who makes immediate decisions (i.e. doesn't give him time to get to the QB). Also, while they do have speed, it seems like in the recent past that mobile QB's were fairly successful against them.

As you should know, hyperbole rules the early NFL season. If you're 2-0 you're Super Bowl bound, if you're 1-1 your team is struggling, and if you're 0-2 your team sucks and might as well tank the season.

It's a joke, people!

Appeared to have ripped ACL during one-on-one drills in practice today ("We talkin' 'bout practice!") Out for the season, and this one could really hurt the Cowboys. As long as they can still rush and the D-line stays healthy this season (big if), they will be okay with next man up at corner. However, Diggs is certainly their best defensive back. There is still over a month left before the trade deadline, so we'll see if the Cowboys make a move. Certainly, every team goes through their injuries, but when a key player goes down it can be devastating both on the field and with fan morale (just ask the Jets & Browns).

On the bright side for him, he just signed a $97 million (over $63 million signing bonus/guaranteed) contract.

They still have a top tier corner on the roster in Stephon Gilmore, a piece that was missing last year. Might give up a few more points and/or an extra big play or two a game, but I get the sense that Dan Quinn is a no-excuses kind of coach. Will be interesting to see how he schemes teams now without this weapon at his disposal.

Overreaction Monday . . .

That's it. Cowboys aren't going to win another game this season. Offense can't score, defense can't stop the run, special teams makes penalties on every big play, and coaching decisions are inexplicable. They are the absolute worst team in the NFL this year (even worse than the two teams they beat), and maybe the worst team ever.

Nothing like sitting down with a few snacks for an enjoyable afternoon of football only to suffer the aftermath of Cheetos strewn all over the furniture, beverage stains on the carpet, and a remote control sticking out of the center of your shattered flatscreen TV.
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No, that entire post was diehard NFL fan satire. However, I did yell outloud at the TV on several occasions during the game. While it may not have helped the team's performance, it made me feel a little bit better.

While the name is actually derived from something entirely different, I am red-headed and in my younger years had the stereotypical temper to match.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fun-splain-your-username/page/4#post-4549617

Here's the correct way to perform a tantrum (except I boarded goofy foot):

And here is what happens when one of your bindings comes off and the other doesn't during landing one:
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Just read an article how the PA announcer played Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" immediately after the Broncos/Chiefs game - classic stadium troll!

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Per Bloomberg Wealth and Celebrity Net Worth . . .

Taylor Swift | $1.1 Billion
Travis Kelce | $40 Million

Now I understand the attraction from Kelce's perspective!

Well, I'll give you one of those but not both (you can pick).

Also, it's not so much that he wants her money, but he doesn't have to worry about her being an NFL gold digger (although he might just be an NFL boy toy). Who knows what the situation is, and who really cares? If they are enjoying each other's romantic company then more power to them, but I would appreciate it not being thrown in my face every chance the media gets.

It's bad enough that we have to have political/social issues shoved down our throats when all we want is a momentary escape from reality to enjoy "the game", but now their piling on pop culture crap.

I'm just not sure what the crossover is for the avid NFL fan and Swifties. Would teeny boppers want to go to a Taylor Swift concert and be bombarded with cameos of some NFL player they couldn't care less about? Also, yes, I am a grumpy old man, and I like it!

After last night it looks like the wildcard round for the Cowboys.

Congrats to the Montreal Alouettes - 2023 Gray Cup Winners!

I have no idea what an Alouette is and those 20 yard deep end zones with the goal posts at the line are still visually alarming to me, but viva la CFL!

The better two "things at once" this week was the simultaneous face mask / horse collar in the Cowboy-Panther game.

Funny, I know the song but had no idea it was about a bird/lark. BTW, not sure how intimidating it is for a professional football team to have a song-bird as a mascot.

Also, I do like having a Center/55-yard line.

I remember in the early years of ESPN they had a lot of Canadian football on since they were just trying to fill programming time. As a huge Sooner fan, I loved watching JC Watts play in the CFL back in the early 80's.

Hmm Cardinal vs. Alouette. Just say the words out loud and I think there is a clear winner.

My high school mascot was a fighting cardinal. We had a statue in the entry of a large cardinal in a boxing pose with gloves on. Nothing songbirdie about that!
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Being a OU fan, I claim Hurts but hate that he plays for Philly. The guy is flat out a winner regardless of whatever criticism is heaped upon him or adversity he experiences on the field.

Seriously? The dude has been in the NFL for less than four seasons and already made it to the Super Bowl once (and a very good chance of making it twice this year). Outside of Hurts and Burrow, what other current QBs with just 3 seasons under their belt have made it to a super bowl?

Mahomes was drafted in 2017 (3 years before Hurtz & Burrow in 2020). My point was what QB has been more successful than Jalen who was drafted when he was or after?

BTW, I would take Mahomes without question over either of those two.

Judging a fourth year QB by weather or not they have already won a Super Bowl just isn't realistic. There have only been a handful of QB's that have won Super Bowls in their first 5 years and Jalin may still join the group this year or next (although I hope he doesn't - I hate the Eagles)

How dare you snub the best Eagles player ever (IMO) - Rockin' Randall Cunningham! What other NFL QB has a 91 yard punt in the record books (3rd longest ever)?

Update to database coming soon . . .

https://www.1point21interactive.com/nfl-crimes-interactive

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Probably claims him as a Packer (or maybe even a Showboat).

Love this headline from article published in October, 2015 . . .

"NFL Has No Players Arrested in Calendar Month for the 1st Time Since 2009"

"For the first time since July 2009, the NFL went a calendar month without a single arrest, according to Mike Rosenberg of Reuters, based on information from USA Today and the San Diego Union-Tribune. It's also the first time in 15 years the NFL went without an arrest for an entire month during the season, per Rosenberg."

How much are people going to read into a single still photo from 65+ years ago when JJ was 14 years old? In no way am I a defender of his, but I have heard his explanation and take him at his word. He was not blocking the students, but said he was at the back of the crowd out of curiosity of what was going on.

Anyone can make assumptions, but projecting uneducated conclusions about his intentions and overall character based on an event he checked out in 8th grade is ridiculous.

You sure about that?

Dallas | 9 penalties for 121 yards
Seattle | 10 penalties for 130 yards
PI called 3 times against each team

Seems pretty even to me. However, needlessly excessive both ways.

IMO the team that "should have won" is always the team that ends the game with the most points. Dallas "should have" convert 4th & goal. Dallas "should have" not let the receiver get behind the third level. Seatle "should have" converted 4th and 1, Seattle "should have" not let Parsons run at the QB unabated the last play of the game, etc., etc., etc.

However, if you want to say that a given team "could have won" or was in "a position to win" but they failed to execute, then I'm fine with that. It is one thing for a team to put themselves in a position to win, but an entirely different thing for them to actually take advantage of the situation and execute to the level required to win. This is what typically separates winners from losers on the field of play.

Did anyone feel a little sympathy for Romo last night? During the intro to the game they played a quick video collage of the history between the two including a few seconds of Romo mishandling the field goal snap. He will be known for that for the rest of his life. I'm pretty much neutral on Romo given that he at least brought the Cowboys out of years of mediocrity, but on the other hand he never lead his teams to their full potential.

Sorry, guess I missed the anti-humor.

Also, certainly not defending Jones or the Cowboys as he's void of moral character in a variety of ways (e.g. his infidelity for one).

At least they look good wearing those awesome uniforms while doing it.
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BTW, a few years ago I actually saw a couple of moose close up walking in a river (the moose, not me - I was on the bank) just south of Yellowstone. Absolutely magnificent creatures if you've never seen one in person.

You say it like it’s some sort of negative thing. Sometimes it takes breaking things down to their simplest forms so that others with illogical opinions can understand.

Starting to look more like this, but we’ll see if Philly can avoid the 10 count in the fourth quarter.

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San Francisco - 84
Eagles + Cowboys - 29

I don't know after watching the video several times. He was a sideline team employee and seems like all he was trying to do was prevent/stop a fight between the two players. I'd tend to give him the benefit of the doubt but by the letter of the rules he was still in the wrong, so I guess I do understand him being ejected with additional potential punishment. Overall, the event just doesn't appear to be as egregious as originally presented. I guess the view of the 49'ers and possibly the NFL is that he was the instigator.

Free agent LB Shaq Leonard just chose Eagles over Cowboys. 1 Year deal. Hard to blame him for chasing title and thinking Eagles are in better position than Cowboys.

Technically, they share the second best record with 4 other teams (possibly 5 after tonight's game). However, they do have a 3 game lead in their division with 5 games to go, so quite possible/probable they get a playoff home game.

Every team they play for the rest of the year should write notices to the NFL office before games, pound the refs on this before the game, during the game, at half-time, etc.

Kapernick made his choices and the owners have made theirs. If you want to play in America's most popular sports league then you should make a business decision not to offend the majority of its fans and be a risk to the marketing revenue of an owner's business. Anyone who has a job and works for someone else makes similar decisions every day. You are certainly welcome to express your opinions, but if they are not in line with the organization you represent then you do so at the risk of alienating yourself. Such a lesson is especially hard for an elite athlete who has been glorified and coddled his entire career, but the real-world spares no one of life's hard lessons.

Additionally, I question his passion for football. He's made a variety of choices over the last few years to alienate himself from his opportunities. Has he even tried earning a spot in the CFL, an arena league, XFL, etc.? One path back to the graces of the NFL would have been to reprove himself, yet he's never taken a serious action to do so. Given recent events, college football may not be a pure meritocracy but I'm pretty sure the NFL is as close as it gets (minus the whole division winner earning a home playoff game even when the wildcard has a better record thing).

I'd be curious to know Kapernick's positive & negative Q Score.

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Ratings are from April, 2022.

Can't believe the whining coming out of KC from Mahomes & Reid. Any honest person can see the receiver was lined up offside. He never looked over, he never asked. On top of that Mahomes arguments about refs not letting them play is just stupid. The ref threw the flag at the beginning of the play when the foul occured. He had no idea that the pass would result in a throwback TD (even if he did, he was still obligated to call the penalty). I wonder how the Chiefs would have responded if it was the defense that lined up offside, and as a result Patrick got sacked and the ref decided to wave the flag because it was a "critical moment" in the game.

Bottom line is that was a terrible look for Patrick and his crybaby response did a lot to take away from his positive persona.

On another note, not sure which I enjoyed more last night - the Cowboy win or the Eagles fan response to the loss. Those fans are ready to fire their coach and for Hurtz to be traded after having their third loss and still controlling their own destiny to win the NFC East - just stupid. Philly fans, remind me the last time the Eagles went undefeated? Let me help you - never. This is the NFL and any team can beat another. Just get to the playoffs and string together 2/3 great games, and nothing else matters.

Seriously, overall I still don't know if Dallas is better than Philly. Playing San Francisco is a physical beatdown and it takes time to recover. Dallas went through a similar experience after playing them. I think that the 49'ers are a class above this year, but still wonder how they lost those 3 games which does show that they are beatable.

The "All 22" doesn't lie.

It's football. Every team has key players out at different times and certainly no guarantees everyone will be 100% during playoffs. 49ers didn't dominate Seattle with a backup QB this week, and they won but did not dominate a few other games this season. However, what they did do is show the other NFC contenders (Philly & Dallas) who the real boss is, and in a big way. Not sure if they are turning things on/off, just get extra up for big games, or if something else is going on, but they have certainly established themselves as the frontrunner and a class above all other teams in the NFC if not the entire NFL.

So I can use YouTube TV's nifty multiview feature.

How about don’t fumble the ball at the goal line? Seems like there should be a punishment for fumbling at the goal line instead of rewarding the offense with a second chance for their mistake. The rule also discourages purposely fumbling into the end zone in the hopes or with the intention for an offensive recovery for a TD. The current rule also rewards the defense in the case of a forced fumble.

Also, your scenario is not exactly correct. The ball is not placed where it goes out of bounds if fumbled forward, but at the spot of the fumble.

Additionally, there is a similarrule at the other end of the field. If a player fumbles the ball while in their own end zone and the ball crosses the goal line into the field of play and then goes out of bounds, then that is a safety. In this scenario, the offensive player cannot purposely fumble the ball forward and out of bounds to intentionally avoid the safety and retain possession.

For me one of the dumbest rules is when fielding a kickoff outside of the end zone and the returner has one foot out of bounds that the ball is considered to be out of bounds and the offense is awarded the ball in the 40 yard line.

The ball itself should have to touch out of bounds (or at least crossed the plane of the sideline) to be a penalty, and if caught while the ball is in bounds and a player has a foot out of bounds then ball should be spotted at that point if a fair catch signal was not given.

Because once the plane of the end zone is broken with the ball possessed, the play is at that very moment over. If you fumble before the ball breaks the plane (which occurs quite often) then it is a fumble.

But in the NFL the ground can cause a fumble as long as the ball carrier is a) not down by contact or b) hasn't already given himself up (e.g. a QB slide, a defensive player intercepting the ball taking a knee, etc.)

In college football a similar case holds true. If the ball makes contact with the ground and the player loses possession before any part of the ball carrier's body hits the ground besides a hand or foot, then the ball is considered to be fumbled.

So, the good news for you is that football has already done away with the "ground can't cause a fumble" rule (if there ever really was such a thing).

Yes, the CFL does have the penalty but just calls illegal formations "Illegal Procedure" grouped in with other types of the same penalty. In the CFL there must be 7 players (excluding QB) within one yard of line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped.