In the spirit of the Ross Tucker thread this'll be where I place all the Peter King stuff I think is worth sharing (although it's usually for the exact opposite reason).
Fresh off the Dallas Win (or King's Dallas Extravaganza):
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/10/12/week6/index.html
"Imagine losing your quarterback and best cover corner (if Adam Jones gets suspended this week by the commissioner) in the span of a couple of days. That's a test of a team right there. And it couldn't come at a worse time for the slumping and embattled Cowboys.
After the 30-24 overtime loss in Arizona on Sunday, Jones said in the locker room, "I like 4-2. I do like 4-2.'' Who would say that after starting 3-0, then facing three straight teams (Washington, Cincinnati, Arizona) you were favored to beat, and winning only one of those games?...
In the last three games, Dallas is 1-2 -- and that's against teams with a combined record of 8-10. The other numbers in the three-game slide that should alarm Jones and Phillips when they meet today to discuss what ails this team:
Score: Dallas 79, Foes 78.
First downs: Dallas 54, Foes 54.
Terrell Owens touches: 13 catches and four rushes for 199 yards.
Romo wasworking hard to look at Owens as much as he could, maybe to the detriment of the team. But Owens is a great playmaker, and as long as he's on the team, the Cowboys have to figure out a way to get the ball into his hands more, and to get him off the bump at the line of scrimmage.
Rod Hood, a journeyman corner for the Cards, took a page out of the physical Shawn Springs playbook Sunday, neutralizing Owens near the line in bump coverage.
Marion Barber carries: 48. He has to average more than 16 a game.
Touchdown passes allowed: Six.
Special teams touchdowns allowed: Two. Those two touchdowns bookended the loss at Arizona. The game started with a Cardinals kickoff return for touchdown and ended with a blocked punt for touchdown...
For a great back like Barber to be averaging 3.2 yards a carry against Washington, Cincinnati and Arizona is patently absurd. I thought about the Cowboys a lot in the wee hours of this morning, trying to put two and two together about their slide."
"The Elite 18
6. Washington (4-2). I see where Clinton Portis thinks the media was the problem with the Redskins' loss to St. Louis. We pumped up the 'Skins too much for his tastes, evidently. I wouldn't blame the media, fella. I'd blame three lost fumbles, the first three lost fumbles by your team this year.
8. Dallas (4-2). Your turn to steer the ship, Brad Johnson.
10. Buffalo (4-1). Sometimes, examining schedules can backfire, because you never can tell what a team's going to be a month down the road. But examine the Bills' last 11, and tell me they don't have a heck of a chance to go 7-4 and host a wild-card game Jan. 3: San Diego, at Miami, Jets, at New England, Cleveland, at Kansas City, San Francisco, Miami (in Toronto), at the Jets, at Denver, New England.
15. (tie) Arizona (4-2). Amazing how this team doesn't miss Anquan Boldin."
"Defensive Players of the Week
DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas. Third-and-7 at the Cards' 46 with 1:44 left. If Kurt Warner converts, the Cardinals run out the clock for a 24-21 win. If Warner is stopped, Dallas has life. Warner, from the shotgun, takes the snap and surveys the field ...
and Ware, steaming in from Warner's right, levels the Arizona quarterback for a 10-yard loss, and Dallas has a last chance. That was the ninth straight game with a sack for Ware -- and, more important, set the stage for Nick Folk's tying 52-yard field goal at the gun, forcing overtime. For the game, Ware led the team with six tackles, had a sack in his ninth consecutive game, made two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. His sack was as clutch as they come."
"Special Teams Players of the Week
Sean Morey, WR, Arizona. One of the best special-teamers of this era of NFL history -- he's no Steve Tasker, but he's the closest to Tasker of anyone playing today -- Morey was the decisive figure in the Cards' 30-24 overtime upset of Dallas. After a failed first drive of overtime, Dallas set up to punt, and Morey broke through so fast that he blocked the ball before it got off punter Mat McBriar's foot. The ball was returned for the winning touchdown by an opportunistic Monty Beisel.
J.J. Arrington, KR/RB, Arizona. Fifteen seconds changed a game the Cowboys needed badly. Arrington, forgotten with the emergence of rookie running back Tim Hightower, took the opening kickoff at the seven, cut left, broke a tackle, ran up the left sideline, cut back across the field and went 93 yards for a score. Amazing half of football. Just when we thought it was going to be 24-21 at halftime with these two explosive offenses, no points were scored in the next 28 minutes. The Cards, obviously, ended up winning in overtime -- an overtime that never would have happened without the electrifying kickoff return."
....................................
There's a lot of stuff to pick apart here, but I want you guys to do it.
Fresh off the Dallas Win (or King's Dallas Extravaganza):
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/10/12/week6/index.html
"Imagine losing your quarterback and best cover corner (if Adam Jones gets suspended this week by the commissioner) in the span of a couple of days. That's a test of a team right there. And it couldn't come at a worse time for the slumping and embattled Cowboys.
After the 30-24 overtime loss in Arizona on Sunday, Jones said in the locker room, "I like 4-2. I do like 4-2.'' Who would say that after starting 3-0, then facing three straight teams (Washington, Cincinnati, Arizona) you were favored to beat, and winning only one of those games?...
In the last three games, Dallas is 1-2 -- and that's against teams with a combined record of 8-10. The other numbers in the three-game slide that should alarm Jones and Phillips when they meet today to discuss what ails this team:
Score: Dallas 79, Foes 78.
First downs: Dallas 54, Foes 54.
Terrell Owens touches: 13 catches and four rushes for 199 yards.
Romo wasworking hard to look at Owens as much as he could, maybe to the detriment of the team. But Owens is a great playmaker, and as long as he's on the team, the Cowboys have to figure out a way to get the ball into his hands more, and to get him off the bump at the line of scrimmage.
Rod Hood, a journeyman corner for the Cards, took a page out of the physical Shawn Springs playbook Sunday, neutralizing Owens near the line in bump coverage.
Marion Barber carries: 48. He has to average more than 16 a game.
Touchdown passes allowed: Six.
Special teams touchdowns allowed: Two. Those two touchdowns bookended the loss at Arizona. The game started with a Cardinals kickoff return for touchdown and ended with a blocked punt for touchdown...
For a great back like Barber to be averaging 3.2 yards a carry against Washington, Cincinnati and Arizona is patently absurd. I thought about the Cowboys a lot in the wee hours of this morning, trying to put two and two together about their slide."
"The Elite 18
6. Washington (4-2). I see where Clinton Portis thinks the media was the problem with the Redskins' loss to St. Louis. We pumped up the 'Skins too much for his tastes, evidently. I wouldn't blame the media, fella. I'd blame three lost fumbles, the first three lost fumbles by your team this year.
8. Dallas (4-2). Your turn to steer the ship, Brad Johnson.
10. Buffalo (4-1). Sometimes, examining schedules can backfire, because you never can tell what a team's going to be a month down the road. But examine the Bills' last 11, and tell me they don't have a heck of a chance to go 7-4 and host a wild-card game Jan. 3: San Diego, at Miami, Jets, at New England, Cleveland, at Kansas City, San Francisco, Miami (in Toronto), at the Jets, at Denver, New England.
15. (tie) Arizona (4-2). Amazing how this team doesn't miss Anquan Boldin."
"Defensive Players of the Week
DeMarcus Ware, OLB, Dallas. Third-and-7 at the Cards' 46 with 1:44 left. If Kurt Warner converts, the Cardinals run out the clock for a 24-21 win. If Warner is stopped, Dallas has life. Warner, from the shotgun, takes the snap and surveys the field ...
and Ware, steaming in from Warner's right, levels the Arizona quarterback for a 10-yard loss, and Dallas has a last chance. That was the ninth straight game with a sack for Ware -- and, more important, set the stage for Nick Folk's tying 52-yard field goal at the gun, forcing overtime. For the game, Ware led the team with six tackles, had a sack in his ninth consecutive game, made two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. His sack was as clutch as they come."
"Special Teams Players of the Week
Sean Morey, WR, Arizona. One of the best special-teamers of this era of NFL history -- he's no Steve Tasker, but he's the closest to Tasker of anyone playing today -- Morey was the decisive figure in the Cards' 30-24 overtime upset of Dallas. After a failed first drive of overtime, Dallas set up to punt, and Morey broke through so fast that he blocked the ball before it got off punter Mat McBriar's foot. The ball was returned for the winning touchdown by an opportunistic Monty Beisel.
J.J. Arrington, KR/RB, Arizona. Fifteen seconds changed a game the Cowboys needed badly. Arrington, forgotten with the emergence of rookie running back Tim Hightower, took the opening kickoff at the seven, cut left, broke a tackle, ran up the left sideline, cut back across the field and went 93 yards for a score. Amazing half of football. Just when we thought it was going to be 24-21 at halftime with these two explosive offenses, no points were scored in the next 28 minutes. The Cards, obviously, ended up winning in overtime -- an overtime that never would have happened without the electrifying kickoff return."
....................................
There's a lot of stuff to pick apart here, but I want you guys to do it.
