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After eight days of talk about devastating hits, the Dallas Cowboys endured a comprehensively brutal blow from which they won’t likely recover, at least not this season.
In March, after learning that the Panthers had extended him the highest possible tender for a fourth-year player, quarterback Matt Moore gleefully told the Charlotte Observer that "something like this speaks loud and clear about how they feel." Moore got a conflicting message in late April when the Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen in the second round, and though the plan was to sit the former Notre Dame star for at least a full season, Moore played so poorly in the first two games that coach John Fox made a change. Clausen, however, was equally ineffectual in his three starts, and Moore got another chance after the Panthers completed the bye week with an 0-5 record. This time he sent a loud-and-clear signal to his bosses that he's the best man to lead the team, showing the promise he displayed late in the '09 season in leading Carolina to its first victory. As for Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, as I told you a few weeks ago, the kid thrives under pressure – and he'll likely be working his magic in Tampa for the next decade.
Replaced as the starting quarterback in Week 3, the Panthers' Matt Moore waited for another chance. Sunday, it came, and he didn't let it pass him by. Moore threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and completed eight of nine passes on the team's final two possessions, rallying the Panthers to their first victory, 23-20 over the 49ers.
Josh Freeman doesn't seem to know when to quit. With the Buccaneers trailing by five, the young QB completed nine of 13 passes on a 16-play drive that culminated in a touchdown pass with 10 seconds left to deliver an 18-17 win over the Rams. It was another dramatic win for Freeman, who in his second season, has led fourth-quarter rallies in five of seven career wins.
Matt Moore's comeback win over the Niners and Josh Freeman's magic over the Rams are just two of this week's Never Say Never moments. What's the third? Click here to find out and vote for your favorite.
As blitzing New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley(notes) drove Tony Romo(notes) into the Cowboys Stadium turf in the second quarter of Monday night’s 41-35 victory, the Super Bowl dreams of America’s Team were officially broken. So, too, was Romo’s clavicle. While it’s not yet clear exactly how long the quarterback will be out – in his postgame session with reporters, owner Jerry Jones suggested a timeline of six to eight weeks – chances are that if Romo returns this season, the Cowboys’ playoff hopes will have been officially extinguished by then.
Dallas, coming off an 11-5 season that ended with a divisional playoff defeat to the Vikings, is 1-5 and trending toward 4-12. It’s a nightmare Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t see coming when he essentially stood pat over the offseason, spitting in the face of conventional wisdom, because he felt he already had a team that could win it all.
With an uncapped year and the chance to host a Super Bowl next February in his gorgeous new stadium, Jones had been expected by many to go on a spending spree in a desperate effort to get back to the Ultimate Game. Instead he chose to play the hand he already had, a conviction that stemmed from a fervent faith in the power of Romo’s throwing arm.
Since Romo’s unlikely ascent to stardom in 2006, Jones has been convinced that for the first time since Troy Aikman’s retirement, he’s got a franchise quarterback capable of carrying a team to the top. It has guided every principle of his governance – Jones believes that when you know you have a special quarterback, it justifies a higher degree of risk-taking, so rare is the opportunity to take advantage of that relatively short window.
The crazy thing is, as we saw Monday night – and as a certain Y! Sports columnist predicted, incidentally – Jones actually brought in a big-time reinforcement last spring in first-round draft pick Dez Bryant(notes). With a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown and two late receiving scores, the polarizing wideout announced his candidacy for offensive rookie of the year and had the look of a budding superstar.
The Cowboys may have a bright future, but we now understand it will look a lot different than Dallas’ listless present. Coach and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips almost certainly won’t be back in 2011, and that leaves the fate of young offensive coordinator Jason Garrett – once regarded as the obvious heir apparent – very much in the balance. Especially if Jones goes after a big name with a proven track record such as Bill Cowher or MNF analyst Jon Gruden, there will be major stylistic and strategic changes, and perhaps some philosophical adjustments.
No one knows for sure what the post-2010 Cowboys will look like or, for that matter, whether the 2011 season will start on time or even be played at all. I’d be stunned, however, if Romo’s not a huge part of the post-makeover Cowboys. The guy gets a lot of grief, partly because of his propensity for high-profile fun away from the field, but he’s still a very good quarterback with an improvisational flair who still carries the potential for greatness.
We’re about to see the Cowboys without Romo, and it’s probably not going to be pretty. His replacement, Jon Kitna(notes), is a gritty competitor who has had success at times during his career, but he’s 38 and immobile and starting his journey from the bottom of a Texas-sized hole. The Cowboys’ opponents over the next seven weeks include the Packers, Giants, Saints, Colts and Eagles. And, of course, inertia.
Anything can happen in pro football, but it feels like we’ve seen this movie before, and it doesn’t end happily.
That’s what made Boley’s hit so devastating – it took out hope and left it sidelined indefinitely.
Romo, at least, likely has some Vicodin in his immediate future. For Jones to numb the pain, he’ll have to start plotting a possible comeback that won’t happen until next year, at the earliest.
On a positive, he can look forward to an up-close-and-personal view of a Super Bowl that won’t involve his team. It might take awhile, but eventually he might thank Boley for putting the 2010 Cowboys out of their misery and ushering in a new era.
In March, after learning that the Panthers had extended him the highest possible tender for a fourth-year player, quarterback Matt Moore gleefully told the Charlotte Observer that "something like this speaks loud and clear about how they feel." Moore got a conflicting message in late April when the Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen in the second round, and though the plan was to sit the former Notre Dame star for at least a full season, Moore played so poorly in the first two games that coach John Fox made a change. Clausen, however, was equally ineffectual in his three starts, and Moore got another chance after the Panthers completed the bye week with an 0-5 record. This time he sent a loud-and-clear signal to his bosses that he's the best man to lead the team, showing the promise he displayed late in the '09 season in leading Carolina to its first victory. As for Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman, as I told you a few weeks ago, the kid thrives under pressure – and he'll likely be working his magic in Tampa for the next decade.
Replaced as the starting quarterback in Week 3, the Panthers' Matt Moore waited for another chance. Sunday, it came, and he didn't let it pass him by. Moore threw for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and completed eight of nine passes on the team's final two possessions, rallying the Panthers to their first victory, 23-20 over the 49ers.
Josh Freeman doesn't seem to know when to quit. With the Buccaneers trailing by five, the young QB completed nine of 13 passes on a 16-play drive that culminated in a touchdown pass with 10 seconds left to deliver an 18-17 win over the Rams. It was another dramatic win for Freeman, who in his second season, has led fourth-quarter rallies in five of seven career wins.
Matt Moore's comeback win over the Niners and Josh Freeman's magic over the Rams are just two of this week's Never Say Never moments. What's the third? Click here to find out and vote for your favorite.
As blitzing New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley(notes) drove Tony Romo(notes) into the Cowboys Stadium turf in the second quarter of Monday night’s 41-35 victory, the Super Bowl dreams of America’s Team were officially broken. So, too, was Romo’s clavicle. While it’s not yet clear exactly how long the quarterback will be out – in his postgame session with reporters, owner Jerry Jones suggested a timeline of six to eight weeks – chances are that if Romo returns this season, the Cowboys’ playoff hopes will have been officially extinguished by then.
Dallas, coming off an 11-5 season that ended with a divisional playoff defeat to the Vikings, is 1-5 and trending toward 4-12. It’s a nightmare Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t see coming when he essentially stood pat over the offseason, spitting in the face of conventional wisdom, because he felt he already had a team that could win it all.
With an uncapped year and the chance to host a Super Bowl next February in his gorgeous new stadium, Jones had been expected by many to go on a spending spree in a desperate effort to get back to the Ultimate Game. Instead he chose to play the hand he already had, a conviction that stemmed from a fervent faith in the power of Romo’s throwing arm.
Since Romo’s unlikely ascent to stardom in 2006, Jones has been convinced that for the first time since Troy Aikman’s retirement, he’s got a franchise quarterback capable of carrying a team to the top. It has guided every principle of his governance – Jones believes that when you know you have a special quarterback, it justifies a higher degree of risk-taking, so rare is the opportunity to take advantage of that relatively short window.
The crazy thing is, as we saw Monday night – and as a certain Y! Sports columnist predicted, incidentally – Jones actually brought in a big-time reinforcement last spring in first-round draft pick Dez Bryant(notes). With a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown and two late receiving scores, the polarizing wideout announced his candidacy for offensive rookie of the year and had the look of a budding superstar.
The Cowboys may have a bright future, but we now understand it will look a lot different than Dallas’ listless present. Coach and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips almost certainly won’t be back in 2011, and that leaves the fate of young offensive coordinator Jason Garrett – once regarded as the obvious heir apparent – very much in the balance. Especially if Jones goes after a big name with a proven track record such as Bill Cowher or MNF analyst Jon Gruden, there will be major stylistic and strategic changes, and perhaps some philosophical adjustments.
No one knows for sure what the post-2010 Cowboys will look like or, for that matter, whether the 2011 season will start on time or even be played at all. I’d be stunned, however, if Romo’s not a huge part of the post-makeover Cowboys. The guy gets a lot of grief, partly because of his propensity for high-profile fun away from the field, but he’s still a very good quarterback with an improvisational flair who still carries the potential for greatness.
We’re about to see the Cowboys without Romo, and it’s probably not going to be pretty. His replacement, Jon Kitna(notes), is a gritty competitor who has had success at times during his career, but he’s 38 and immobile and starting his journey from the bottom of a Texas-sized hole. The Cowboys’ opponents over the next seven weeks include the Packers, Giants, Saints, Colts and Eagles. And, of course, inertia.
Anything can happen in pro football, but it feels like we’ve seen this movie before, and it doesn’t end happily.
That’s what made Boley’s hit so devastating – it took out hope and left it sidelined indefinitely.
Romo, at least, likely has some Vicodin in his immediate future. For Jones to numb the pain, he’ll have to start plotting a possible comeback that won’t happen until next year, at the earliest.
On a positive, he can look forward to an up-close-and-personal view of a Super Bowl that won’t involve his team. It might take awhile, but eventually he might thank Boley for putting the 2010 Cowboys out of their misery and ushering in a new era.
