They are who we thought they were

by Bill Young

Last week, the Houston Texans had a chance to establish themselves as a Super Bowl contender while the Cowboys were attempting to keep their playoff hopes alive. Is it too early for saying it was a must-win for the Cowboys? Not really, considering their awful play the first two games of the season.
The Texans came in after two good wins with a chance to bury the Cowboys and gain a strangle hold on their division. Unfortunately, the Texans are who I thought they were: a playoff pretender who can't defend against the pass. As long as they can't defend against the pass and Andre Johnson continues to get nagging injuries, their season hopes will look increasingly dire.
On the flip side, the Cowboys reminded us of the playoff and division winning potential they have by putting forth a solid effort in all phases of the game versus the Texans. The defense constantly pressured Matt Schaub, while much maligned WR Roy Williams has finally started to show up. If this continues, Miles Austin may not see constant double coverage for the rest of the season due to the balance in the Cowboys offense.
On a side note, the Redskins are who I thought they were: a competitive team who will not win ANY meaningful road games. Will they be in the playoff race til the end of the season? Probably. However, this is thanks to the Cowboys horrific start and the great potential for the Eagles to collapse. At home, the Redskins defense can play a decent game, but on the road, don't bother turning on the TV for those games because if a team allows the Stephen Jackson-less Rams to score 30 points, then there isn't much hope for the defense to stop anyone.
While everyone in Washington praised the hire of Shanahan, I was skeptical--not because his coaching record is less than stellar without Elway. Shanahan has always been an offensive minded coach. The NFC East is won every year with DEFENSE. Before Shanahan, even Zorn understood this. Even the best offense has trouble scoring in the NFC East. This greatly limits the effect of Shanahan's offensive genious while greatly highlighting the normal defensive difficulties his teams usually have. It was a good gig for Shanahan because the money was worth it. In terms of actual fit, another rebuilding campaign will take place 2 years later when management finally realizes what kind of football wins in this division.

NFC East Blog: Can someone give Brandon Jacobs his helmet back?

by Bill Young

There were two clashes between NFC East and AFC South teams. The AFC South emerged victorious both times proving their supremacy as the Colts destroyed the Giants and the Texans came back to beat the Redskins in OT. What does this say about the teams? The Texans are a solid team. The Redskins need a running game--fast. Unfortunately, the injury to Trent "silverback" Williams will not help matters when they play the Rams next week. The Colts played a good game and it was enough. The Giants are a shell of the Super Bowl team that beat the Patriots.
This brings me to the incident that happened with RB Brandon Jacobs in the 3rd quarter of last weeks game. Intentional or not, Jacobs threw his helmet into the stands while the game was going on. Half of the third quarter went by as the Giants attempted to rally against the Colts. Ahmad Bradshaw, the current top running back for the Giants was getting tired as Jacobs waited to get his helmet from Colts' security guards. As Bradshaw wore down, the Giants' comeback fizzled and the TV cameras only show was Jacobs watching the security guards wrestling for his helmet from the fans.
Should he have gotten his helmet back? I think not. All indications are that he wants out of New York. Generally, in other sports, a player about to be traded sits out games. Jacobs shouldn't have been in any way, so why give him his helmet back. Let the fans keep the souvenir. If baseball fans keep foul balls and tennis fans keep tennis balls in the stands at pro tournaments, then why can't an NFL fan keep a helmet?

AFC South Blog: Is Bob Sanders really THAT important?

by Bill Young

The Indianapolis Colts got thoroughly outplayed by the Houston Texans last week and lost 34-24. This victory says more about the Texans than the Colts. The Texans appear to finally be ready to get to the playoffs after several near misses.

The Colts, on the other hand, appear to be in trouble after allowing more than 200 yards rushing to Arian Foster and losing star safety Bob Sanders. However, this is not a new problem for the Colts. Over the last four or five seasons, Bob Sanders has barely managed to stay on the field for half of his team's games. While the stats (yardage wise) take a significant hit, the Colts defense has always been more of a bend but don't break defense rather than a shut 'em out defense. This strategy along with the play of QB Peyton Manning has been immensely successful--in the regular season.

Peyton Manning can still carry the Colts into the playoffs. Just expect the scores to be much closer. The regular season will be more demanding this year and will prevent the Colts from doing much in the post-season. They will still make it, but they may have to earn it on the last week of the season.

NFC East Blog: Did the Redskins Win or did the Cowboys lose?

by Bill Young

Last week, the Washington Redskins put forth a professional, workman-like effort to defeat the Dallas Cowboys. However, before we anoint the Redskins as an NFC contender and demote the Cowboys to being cellar dwellers, we need to take a closer look at some key factors that happened during the game.

First, the Redskins defense played a great game. This was greatly aided by the poor playcalling of Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Only last year's Redskins and this year's Jets have managed to butcher a game plan to a greater extent. The Redskins fought valiantly to cover the other receivers, but in the end, the Redskins had no answers for Miles Austin (10 catches 146 yards 1TD). One would think this would lead to even more balls his way. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, the majority of the first half was spent throwing screen passes to Dez Bryant and trying to get Roy Williams involved.

The running game was also ignored. The Cowboys have always been a better team when they commit to the run. It allows the offensive line to get better protection for Romo on play action situations. In addition, without the running game, the talent of Felix Jones, Marion Barber, and Tashard Choice was benched. It is always easier for the defense when their are less great offensive players to worry about.

On top of the playcalling blunders, the Cowboys fumbled at the end of the first half which led to Deangelo Hall scoring the Redskins only touchdown. Coach Wade Phillips admits that kneeling down was the right play. Unfortunately, Jason Garrett bungled the play call again.

This play would have been of no consequence if the Redskins offense had been putting points on the board. While the Cowboys played a strong defensive game, QB Donovan McNabb was up to his old tendencies including bouncing the ball to his receivers and having receivers drop the ball when he finally threw accurate passes. While it is possible that the receivers were shocked that McNabb actually threw accurate passes, the injury to Damarcus Ware is certainly a huge loss if Ware has to miss any more time this season. Without a pass rush, the Cowboys corners have been exposed in the past to be no more than average.

Ultimately, despite all of these shortcomings, the Redskins still BARELY won on the last play after a holding penalty was called on OT Alex Barron, one of two backup offensive linemen the Cowboys were forced to play due to injuries. The stars aligned perfectly for the Redskins on this night. As for the Cowboys, better days are ahead as OT Marc Colombo will return for Week 2 vs the Chicago Bears.