Don't the signs all point to a showdown with the Pats?
A liberal dose
October 07, 2007
Not that I've forgotten about the Monday night game in Buffalo. Not that I don't realize in the grab-bag NFL of today there are no gimme games.
But to say I'm not looking ahead to next Sunday with much anticipation would be a lie.
The almighty New England Patriots coming to east Irving has the possibility to be the biggest regular-season contest around here since ...
Well, Tony Romo was in seventh grade somewhere in Wisconsin.
(Just my opinion, but the last time the Cowboys hosted any game of this magnitude was a visit by the 49ers on Oct. 17, 1993. Cows won 26-17, and a second consecutive world championship ring was already being designed by Jerry Jones a day later.)
Granted, there has to be cooperation in Week 5 before next Sunday is really that huge. The Cowboys must win in Buffalo, and they are 10-point road favorites, and the Pats must win at home as a 16 1/2 -point choice over Cleveland.
But why take it 'one game at a time?' That's coach talk. Me, I like to get ahead of myself. Truthfully, there's not a player at Valley Ranch not privately thinking the same way, and Wade Phillips knows it, and it worries him for Monday night, and it should worry him.
Then again, could Bill Belichick also be having that same concern about his players? Are the almighty Pats already looking ahead to the Irving visit, which at the moment would also rank as New England's first real test of the early season, the same as the Cowboys?
And is Belichick privately hoping for a sudden winter blast in North Texas so he can lift the hood on his Unabomber coaching attire for the first time this season?
The answer to all those questions would be a loud 'no.' At least there is no almighty Patriots' 'anticipation' for next Sunday if the players are reading the Boston newspapers.
Part of my 'looking ahead' process involved a check of those publications last week. Like Tuesday, after the Pats had gone on the road the night before and gutted Cincinnati 34-13.
This Boston Globe headline jumped out at me:
'No Stop Signs Here -- They're in Cruise Control.'
Damn, 16-and-0 already?
If not a 'Stop' sign, the Irving trip doesn't even rate a 'Yield' triangle? Or maybe a blinking yellow caution light?
I guess not.
Actually, Bob Kravitz in the Indianapolis Star also picked up on that 'why do the other teams even bother to show up' theme. He announced in a Friday column that based on reports out of Boston, the season is over for the Colts, also at 4-0 and the league's defending champs.
So who cares anymore that the Colts and Pats play on Nov. 4?
To be truthful, there was a writer in the Boston Herald who made a concession this week, at least to the Colts.
His opinion:
'If the Colts don't beat the Patriots on Nov. 4, it's quite possible no one will.'
Well, I guess that does eliminate the Irving trip being even a 'Yield' sign moment.
Admittedly, there are doubts about the Cowboys. At 4-0, they haven't beaten much of anything. And the only quarterback they've faced thus far who ranks as halfway competent would be Eli Manning, and lord knows, that kid has his problems.
At Buffalo on Monday night, the Bills will run out a rookie QB making his second NFL start, and the team's defense is down five starters because of injury.
But in terms of competition, the Pats have beaten four teams with a combined four wins, while the Cowboys have beaten four with a combined three wins.
While the Browns have been a surprise thus far at 2-2, I don't think New England is actually sweating it for Sunday.
But to put in a kind word for the Cowboys, they have one thing in common with the almighty Patriots. They aren't allowing bad opponents to hang around. They blow 'em out.
Then again, it will be the Patriots, it will be Tom Brady, and it's been a long, long time since anyone took the Cowboys all that seriously. Having to go all the way back to 1993 to locate a regular-season game of large significance indicates that.
So I overreacted again. I looked ahead a week when I should have stuck to 'analyzing' the Buffalo game.
The Boston papers are telling me I've been foolish.
They are probably right. So I second the motion from Indianapolis. Why bother? Next Sunday's winner is already a done deal. Bring on Buffalo.
October 07, 2007
Not that I've forgotten about the Monday night game in Buffalo. Not that I don't realize in the grab-bag NFL of today there are no gimme games.
But to say I'm not looking ahead to next Sunday with much anticipation would be a lie.
The almighty New England Patriots coming to east Irving has the possibility to be the biggest regular-season contest around here since ...
Well, Tony Romo was in seventh grade somewhere in Wisconsin.
(Just my opinion, but the last time the Cowboys hosted any game of this magnitude was a visit by the 49ers on Oct. 17, 1993. Cows won 26-17, and a second consecutive world championship ring was already being designed by Jerry Jones a day later.)
Granted, there has to be cooperation in Week 5 before next Sunday is really that huge. The Cowboys must win in Buffalo, and they are 10-point road favorites, and the Pats must win at home as a 16 1/2 -point choice over Cleveland.
But why take it 'one game at a time?' That's coach talk. Me, I like to get ahead of myself. Truthfully, there's not a player at Valley Ranch not privately thinking the same way, and Wade Phillips knows it, and it worries him for Monday night, and it should worry him.
Then again, could Bill Belichick also be having that same concern about his players? Are the almighty Pats already looking ahead to the Irving visit, which at the moment would also rank as New England's first real test of the early season, the same as the Cowboys?
And is Belichick privately hoping for a sudden winter blast in North Texas so he can lift the hood on his Unabomber coaching attire for the first time this season?
The answer to all those questions would be a loud 'no.' At least there is no almighty Patriots' 'anticipation' for next Sunday if the players are reading the Boston newspapers.
Part of my 'looking ahead' process involved a check of those publications last week. Like Tuesday, after the Pats had gone on the road the night before and gutted Cincinnati 34-13.
This Boston Globe headline jumped out at me:
'No Stop Signs Here -- They're in Cruise Control.'
Damn, 16-and-0 already?
If not a 'Stop' sign, the Irving trip doesn't even rate a 'Yield' triangle? Or maybe a blinking yellow caution light?
I guess not.
Actually, Bob Kravitz in the Indianapolis Star also picked up on that 'why do the other teams even bother to show up' theme. He announced in a Friday column that based on reports out of Boston, the season is over for the Colts, also at 4-0 and the league's defending champs.
So who cares anymore that the Colts and Pats play on Nov. 4?
To be truthful, there was a writer in the Boston Herald who made a concession this week, at least to the Colts.
His opinion:
'If the Colts don't beat the Patriots on Nov. 4, it's quite possible no one will.'
Well, I guess that does eliminate the Irving trip being even a 'Yield' sign moment.
Admittedly, there are doubts about the Cowboys. At 4-0, they haven't beaten much of anything. And the only quarterback they've faced thus far who ranks as halfway competent would be Eli Manning, and lord knows, that kid has his problems.
At Buffalo on Monday night, the Bills will run out a rookie QB making his second NFL start, and the team's defense is down five starters because of injury.
But in terms of competition, the Pats have beaten four teams with a combined four wins, while the Cowboys have beaten four with a combined three wins.
While the Browns have been a surprise thus far at 2-2, I don't think New England is actually sweating it for Sunday.
But to put in a kind word for the Cowboys, they have one thing in common with the almighty Patriots. They aren't allowing bad opponents to hang around. They blow 'em out.
Then again, it will be the Patriots, it will be Tom Brady, and it's been a long, long time since anyone took the Cowboys all that seriously. Having to go all the way back to 1993 to locate a regular-season game of large significance indicates that.
So I overreacted again. I looked ahead a week when I should have stuck to 'analyzing' the Buffalo game.
The Boston papers are telling me I've been foolish.
They are probably right. So I second the motion from Indianapolis. Why bother? Next Sunday's winner is already a done deal. Bring on Buffalo.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:37 AM
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