Comments from Week 8

I'll start with the Cowboys because my poor mother's been waiting patiently for my commentary for days now.

Unfortunately, the last two Cowboys games (you know, the ones in which they've played really well) have not been shown in my local area. As far as I can tell, though, they're performing at a decently high level. They defeated a very good Atlanta team two weeks ago (quite handily), and put away the Seahawks early in the game on Sunday. Both of those impressed me, because prior to these two games the 'Boys had won an overtime game against a BAD team (Kansas City), a home game against Carolina that they didn't put away until fairly late, and a Tampa Bay team that may not get a victory this season (have you seen them play? they're awful). It was exciting to see them beat a good team with room to spare, and even though the Seahawks aren't impressive by any means, Dallas never really let them stay in the game with any hope.

This week's game is a Sunday nighter in Philadelphia in a battle for 1st place in the NFC East against the Eagles. Both teams enter the game 5-2, and the winner will be in the proverbial driver's seat for the division championship. Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton was asked about this game and said something like (I'm quoting from memory), "I'm not gonna call it a must-win, but it's definitely a have-to win." He's gotten a little bit of jeering from Cowboys bloggers (from what I've read), but I actually think that's a very accurate way to describe the upcoming showdown. It's not a must-win in the sense that a loss would break the Cowboys season or anything. If they lose they'll still be sitting in an okay spot. But it is kind of a have-to win game in the sense that good teams win games like these. You go on the road against a division opponent (and not just any road game, but into hostile, blue-collar Lincoln Financial Field in Philly) who's playing really well, and you beat 'em, putting yourself in a very good spot for playoff contention. Last season Dallas played in Philadelphia in their last regular season game, if you remember. The winner of the game was to earn a playoff berth, and Dallas got walloped. The official score was 44-6, but it looked far less close than that. That was an example of a team with no heart. We'll have to see if 1) that loss provides motivation for the 'Boys this week, and 2) throughout the rest of this season we'll determine if this year's team does have heart or not.

A couple of weeks ago, prior to the Giants-Cardinals Sunday night game, I commented to a close friend (Eagles fan -- fellow NFC East follower) that the Giants could lose that game and then Philadelphia and Dallas would be in decent shape in the division. He told me, "No way. Against the Cardinals? Giants by 20." I told him I'd take that bet. If you recall, Arizona won the game, and New York looked bad losing. The week before that the Giants had been trounced (and I mean absolutely go-home-crying-to-momma-because-you've-been-embarassed kind of trounced) by the Saints, so everyone thought that "This team'll bounce back. Tom Coughlin won't let them lose two straight." So after falling to the Cardinals, people said, "Well they certainly won't lose THREE straight," but they went to Philadelphia last week and got killed again. Finally everyone's starting to say, "Maybe this team isn't as great as we thought." Something my brother and I have been saying all along. Other than the last-second fieldgoal win over Dallas in Week 2 (a game in which New York looked good, but not great), the Giants haven't beaten anyone decent. They're in an absolute freefall, and I'm pretty sure they face San Diego this week. They're 5-3, but on a quick slide, and if they get beat by the Chargers I will (first, have a party, but then) consider them quite a long-shot for the playoffs. Right now, they look like they're in the hunt for worst-looking team on the field in the whole league.

Denver suffered its first loss at the hands of the Ravens on Sunday. The Ravens are good (they had lost three straight, but those were to Cincinnati, New England, and Minnesota... three of the better teams in the league) and they were coming off a bye-week. Denver went to Baltimore and lost 30-7. Some say that's a killing, and it's obvious Denver was never that good. I won't say that until we see how they rebound against Pittsburgh on Monday night. With all of the negativity that surrounded Broncos coach Josh McDaniels over the first 6+ months of his arrival to town, the guy seems like a pretty decent coach to me. After the loss he didn't make any excuses. He said, we'll see how we respond next week. As for right now, I'm going to consider this one of those kinds of losses that's good for a team to experience. My prediction is that they come out fighting at home against the hated Steelers.

And Brett Favre is still playing like a 28-year old. Someone pointed out that Favre hasn't missed a start since Percy Harvin (Vikings receiver and likely rookie-of-the-year candidate) was four years old. I thought that was funny. After a bye this week Favre will make his 300th consecutive start against the Detroit Lions. For those of you who aren't aware, that's a ridiculously impressive stat.