FANS' INSIDER
A liberal dose
October 10, 2007
Before we delve into Monday night's unexplainable Cowboys win in Buffalo, let me first say that I have repeatedly reviewed replays of Nick Folk's game-winning kick and can conclusively report that Folk's toe was not in the crease.
I lead with that only because I suspect that the rookie's 53-yard kick had many a bewildered Buffalonian asking, 'What in the name of Brett Hull just happened?'
What happened was that Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo pulled off the most remarkable individual comeback since Billy Ray Cyrus.
Compared so often to Brett Favre, his quarterbacking idol, Romo found a way to accomplish something Favre never has: lead his team to victory after throwing five interceptions.
The kind folks at ESPN told us more times than Romo angrily unsnapped his chin strap that former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells had really wanted to see how Romo would respond to adversity. Of course, Parcells didn't want to see this bad enough to put up with The Player for another season, but he did want to watch Romo in difficult times.
That must be one of the reasons why I'm not a Hall of Fame coach, because I would rather never watch my quarterback deal with adversity.
The funny thing is that it's possible that Big Bill did not watch Monday's game because nothing in the game previews hinted at Romo facing adversity.
Buffalo came into the game with an injury-depleted defense ranked last in the NFL. No one willing to take a polygraph exam expected that by halftime Romo would have set his career high for interceptions, with four. And, as you know, he had more in him.
In an apparent tribute to Marion Jones, Bills defenders managed to intercept a Romo pass for each Olympic medal Jones lost.
It was an interesting method the Cowboys chose to tire out the Buffalo defenders -- by making the Bills return interceptions and allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown to keep the defense from resting. I had to check the statistics Tuesday morning to make sure that Terrell Owens didn't wind up with more tackles than receptions.
But to quote Emmitt Smith on ESPN's postgame set, it worked 'at the end of the day.' Emmitt was correct. Folk's winning kick came at 11:57 p.m. Eastern time.
Not to pick on ESPN, but someone somewhere needs to correct Stuart Scott's statement that, despite the fact that the winning kick came with :00 showing on the clock, 'the Cowboys led for all of two seconds in this game.'
No, Stu, they didn't. But when it mattered most -- at the end of the day -- they were ahead and still undefeated.
Just don't ask us to explain how.
Do what? Somebody called timeout? This column isn't over? I have to try to end it again? Who made that rule?
Romo and Folk made for a miserable night in Buffalo, where the Bills were making their first Monday Night Football appearance since 1994 -- a better era for both the Bills and Monday Night Football.
Bills fans and players had waited 13 years for this game, and they seemed to treat Monday like a Super Bowl.
Perhaps that explains everything.
David Thomas' sports humor column appears Wednesdays and Sundays.
October 10, 2007
Before we delve into Monday night's unexplainable Cowboys win in Buffalo, let me first say that I have repeatedly reviewed replays of Nick Folk's game-winning kick and can conclusively report that Folk's toe was not in the crease.
I lead with that only because I suspect that the rookie's 53-yard kick had many a bewildered Buffalonian asking, 'What in the name of Brett Hull just happened?'
What happened was that Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo pulled off the most remarkable individual comeback since Billy Ray Cyrus.
Compared so often to Brett Favre, his quarterbacking idol, Romo found a way to accomplish something Favre never has: lead his team to victory after throwing five interceptions.
The kind folks at ESPN told us more times than Romo angrily unsnapped his chin strap that former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells had really wanted to see how Romo would respond to adversity. Of course, Parcells didn't want to see this bad enough to put up with The Player for another season, but he did want to watch Romo in difficult times.
That must be one of the reasons why I'm not a Hall of Fame coach, because I would rather never watch my quarterback deal with adversity.
The funny thing is that it's possible that Big Bill did not watch Monday's game because nothing in the game previews hinted at Romo facing adversity.
Buffalo came into the game with an injury-depleted defense ranked last in the NFL. No one willing to take a polygraph exam expected that by halftime Romo would have set his career high for interceptions, with four. And, as you know, he had more in him.
In an apparent tribute to Marion Jones, Bills defenders managed to intercept a Romo pass for each Olympic medal Jones lost.
It was an interesting method the Cowboys chose to tire out the Buffalo defenders -- by making the Bills return interceptions and allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown to keep the defense from resting. I had to check the statistics Tuesday morning to make sure that Terrell Owens didn't wind up with more tackles than receptions.
But to quote Emmitt Smith on ESPN's postgame set, it worked 'at the end of the day.' Emmitt was correct. Folk's winning kick came at 11:57 p.m. Eastern time.
Not to pick on ESPN, but someone somewhere needs to correct Stuart Scott's statement that, despite the fact that the winning kick came with :00 showing on the clock, 'the Cowboys led for all of two seconds in this game.'
No, Stu, they didn't. But when it mattered most -- at the end of the day -- they were ahead and still undefeated.
Just don't ask us to explain how.
Do what? Somebody called timeout? This column isn't over? I have to try to end it again? Who made that rule?
Romo and Folk made for a miserable night in Buffalo, where the Bills were making their first Monday Night Football appearance since 1994 -- a better era for both the Bills and Monday Night Football.
Bills fans and players had waited 13 years for this game, and they seemed to treat Monday like a Super Bowl.
Perhaps that explains everything.
David Thomas' sports humor column appears Wednesdays and Sundays.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:57 AM
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