Jason Witten: I like him

Here's a good article on Cowboys Pro-Bowl tight end Jason Witten and his desire to help victims of and prevent domestic abuse, and also on his relationship with Christ.

I need to improve

I was re-reading some of my posts from last September and October (you know, the first half of the NFL season), and I was embarrassed at a lot of what I saw. It's definitely evidence that I'm no pro, and that people should never been expected to accurately predict the outcome of a season early on.

So do me a favor... don't go back and re-read my posts from those months (as if you were going to anyway), and DEFINITELY don't compare those posts with actual end-of-the-season standings and statistics.

Thanks

Football Fix

I got my football fix today. This morning on NFL Network they showed the NFC Championship between the Cowboys and the Packers from January of 1996. This was the last Cowboys team to have won in the postseason. After beating the Packers in the game I watched this morning, they went on to win the Super Bowl. Since then the team hasn't won a single playoff game.

It was kind of a nostalgic experience for me. Watching Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Larry Brown, Leon Lett, Nate Newton, Darryl "Moose" Johnston, Larry Allen, Chris Boniol and Charles Haley (injured on the sidelines) playing against the old Packers Brett Favre (who looked like a little kid), Reggie White, Antonio Freeman, and Robert Brooks -- it was really kind of fun.

As I watched the game, I realized how different that team was compared to the recent Cowboys. They were fundamentally solid. Their offensive line completely ran over people, allowing the offense to grind out yards and eat the clock -- not relying on big flashy plays to the wide receivers (though those certainly came too... Michael Irvin scored the 'Boys' first two touchdowns). There were other noticeable differences too, some involving the effort that the players seemed to give versus what we see today (but that's not entirely fair to everyone -- Marion Barber works as hard as any player I've ever seen). I think the biggest difference I saw was that the Cowboys of 13 years ago stepped on the field knowing that they were better than the other guys. In everything they do, even when they're tied and the other team is driving, they carry themselves with confidence, knowing that they have the ability to take over the game. I couldn't say the same thing about the team today.

On a final note, I know there are an awful lot of people who have the life mission of pointing out to every Cowboys fan how lousy T.O. is, and how arrogant he is and how flashy and egotistically he plays... but I guarantee that if you watch T.O. play a game today and compare it to watching Deion Sanders play a game from a decade ago, you'd hate Sanders MUCH more. He had way more of that kind of presence on the field than T.O. does.

T.O.?

Yesterday in his Monday Morning Quarterback column, SI.com writer Peter King predicted that Terrell Owens will not be a Cowboy six weeks from now.

I'm posting this because I haven't posted any Cowboys-related stuff for quite some time. Not because it's all that interesting.

Big game prediction

The game starts in just over an hour. THE game. The Super Bowl. The single largest sporting event every year for who knows how long. I'd promise to blog through the game, but first of all, that would likely annoy all of you, and second of all, I neither care enough nor know enough about these teams to be able to blog throughout the game. As promised, however, I am now providing my prediction for the game's outcome.

Cardinals 27, Steelers 20.

More Super Bowl talk

I don't think anyone would disagree that this was at least a somewhat "down" year in the NFL. There were no dominant teams like, oh, say last year's Patriots. I'm impressed with Pittsburgh's ability to come out of games with wins, but they haven't shown anything terribly impressive all year (with the individual exception, perhaps, of defensive maniac Troy Polamalu). The Cardinals have been less impressive, with an unexpected playoff burst necessary to put them in their current position. Not that I'm trying to take anything away from these two teams. I'm happy for both of them. They've both accomplished what's necessary to make it to the biggest game of the year. Therefore, they deserve it.

I plan to make a Super Bowl prediction, complete with scores and everything. I won't do that tonight, but I will tip my hand a little. If you read below that I'll be cheering for the Cardinals, and if you've come to realize how terribly optimistic I tend to be, it should come as no shock at all that I'm going to predict Arizona over Pittsburgh. I guess it just comes down to the fact that I believe Arizona's defense is good enough to stop the not-so-fantastic-on-the-offensive-side-of-the-ball Steelers (though the Pitt O has looked much better throughout the playoffs, and is perfectly capable of big numbers), and I also believe that Arizona's offense is good enough to score 24+ points against the Steelers defense. I know that Pittsburgh's defense is the most hyped-up unit in this game, but Edgerrin James can play well enough to make the Steelers keep Polamalu in the box more than they want to. Also, Kurt Warner is mentally tough and more of a Super Bowl veteran than most people at his position. He doesn't make enough mistakes for the usually suffocating defense of the black & gold to make the difference they usually do.

If you've got preliminary thoughts, I'd love to hear them. You might help keep me from making a fool of myself with my prediction.

Jones and Super Bowl week

Jerry Jones, as we all know, likes the spotlight. He has a history of making big announcements during Super Bowl week, so that he can put himself at the top of the headlines. I'm only pointing this out so that you're ready in case we hear about Wade Philips being fired or T.O. being let go at some point in the coming days.