One thing that’s undeniable when looking at the 2006 season for the Dallas Cowboys - it hasn’t been boring. Dallas Cowboys tickets have been a chance to see what sometimes has been a circus act combined with alternating levels of good and bad football. If anything, Cowboys’ fans will be worn out by the time the season is over, as it’s been an emotional roller coaster ride.
Since July, the Cowboys have had issues pop up with their successful but sometimes-mercurial coach, a full-blown QB controversy, regular distractions courtesy of Terrell Owens and the emergence of a rising new star in the NFL. All of this has still somehow led the Cowboys to the playoffs, and their prospects, given the parity in the NFC, are as good as anyone’s.
Coach Bill Parcells knows how to prepare a team for a big game, QB Tony Romo is still a mystery to opposing teams and T.O. is still an enormous threat every time he takes the field. Dallas’ defense needs to play better, but winning three games in the NFC is far from impossible in January.
The NFC appears to be wide open heading into the playoffs, even though the Bears and the Saints look very strong. However, even with all the parity that’s in place, very few people would’ve predicted that the Philadelphia Eagles would be seen as a threat to win the NFC title even a few weeks ago.
The Eagles were bottoming out after losing QB Donovan McNabb for the season once again with a serious knee injury. This season is the third time in five years that McNabb has not finished the season, and fans were unhappy that Andy Reid chose to play Jeff Garcia over folk here A.J. Feely. However, all Garcia has done is lead the Eagles to the brink of the NFC East title, and all they need to do to secure the division is win against Falcons this weekend. Garcia has a 96.2 rating, and his play has vindicated Reid’s decision to play him.
The defense is also getting better, and Brian Dawkins has been a force on the field lately. Jim Johnson’s blitzing scheme confuses the best of them, so there’s no reason not to use NFL playoff tickets to see if the Eagles can continue their surprising run through January and into the Super Bowl - it just might happen.
As we move towards the NFL playoffs, it’s time to take a look at the teams that could wind up playing in the big game. Perhaps the most sentimental favorite in the NFL is the Saints, and that’s the case for many reasons. The Saints suffered through one of the worst seasons in the history of sports in 2005, but returned to New Orleans triumphantly this year with a new coach, new QB and new star. They have surprised the football world with their success, and they’re looking dangerous this time of year.
The Saints were largely an afterthought at the beginning of the season, but national writers have begun to take notice that this team is a real threat to go all the way. They have a brilliant young coach, a very good QB who’s having an MVP-type season, a strong running game and perhaps the ultimate weapon in Reggie Bush. The Saints have a very real chance to come out of the NFC, and Super Bowl tickets could be all the rage in New Orleans this winter.
As the NFL heads into its final two weeks, pundits far and wide are pontificating on the playoff hopes of teams far and wide. Many, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Nancy Gay, say that only a handful of teams have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.
Fact is, this looks like one of the more wide open playoff seasons in years. Indianapolis can’t stop the run, something that is doubly troublesome in January. The Colts are allowing over 170 yards per game on the ground, unheard of for a playoff team. San Diego looks like the best team in the NFL but any Browns and Chiefs fan will remind you that Marty Schottenheimer allegedly can’t win the big one.
Baltimore had a questionable offense even before Steve McNair got hurt. Now, much-maligned Kyle Boller is behind center. The Patriots? Yeah, they dominated Houston last week, but New England’s offense still didn’t look sharp - Tom Brady threw for 109 yards in the 40-7 victory.
Don’t even ask in the NFC. Chicago is 12-2 and will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. But the Bears struggled to beat an awful Tampa Bay team at home on Sunday and their offense is underwhelming to say the least. New Orleans had emerged as a fashionable choice if not a sentimental one. Then, the Saints laid an egg at home against Washington. Dallas? Maybe - but somehow Philadelphia keeps winning despite Jeff Garcia playing quarterback.
Of course, everybody last year seemed to think that Indianapolis or maybe Denver were the only two teams that had a shot to win the Super Bowl. Sixth-seeded Pittsburgh, which had to win its final four games just to make the playoffs. Then, the Steelers ended up winning out to take the championship.
And remember Charger fans, until last year, Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher had a Schottenheimer-like reputation of not winning the big one.
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The defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks will probably make the playoffs this year - they are still two games up on San Francisco with two games to go after Thursday’s awful 24-14 loss to the 49ers.
However, it looks like there’s no chance Seattle will return to the Super Bowl this year. The Seahawk fans showed that they understand on Thursday, booing lustily on their way out of Quest Field.
What went wrong for Seattle this year? Is there really a jinx on teams that lose the Super Bowl?
There’s no jinx. Several things factored in to limit the Seahawks this year. First, they lost all-pro guard Steve Hutchinson to the Vikings via free agency. Hutchinson led the blocking for 2005 MVP Shaun Alexander. Add in Alexander’s foot injury that kept him out for six games and the running game - a key to winning in the NFL - has been a shadow this year. Alexander has rushed for just 664 yards on 193 carries this year, an average of just 3.4 per rush. He averaged over five yards a carry last year.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck also missed three games due to injury and hasn’t looked the same all year. His quarterback rating entering Thursday’s game was just 81.6 - almost 17 points below last year’s rating. Although the defense has played well at times this year, it has been under a lot more pressure this year.
Thursday’s loss means that Seattle can’t earn a first-round bye - a huge key to advancing to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks would host a wild card game and in a very weak NFC, anything can happen. But it would be hard to imagine Seattle going into, say, New Orleans or Dallas and pulling off a playoff upset.
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Hold off on putting the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl just yet. The Colts have been looking flawed of late and the San Diego Chargers have tied Indianapolis for best record in the AFC.
Entering Week 14, the Chargers and Colts both sit at 10-2. They don’t face each other this season and Indianapolis currently holds a tie-breaker advantage but a lot can change in the final four weeks.
San Diego has now won five in a row after beating Buffalo on Sunday, 24-21. It was a classic trap game - a California team playing in Buffalo in December. And the Bills gave the Chargers all they could handle. But San Diego has LaDainian Tomlinson, who is on his way to the Most Valuable Player award. Tomlinson rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns against the Bills and has now rushed for 23 touchdowns on the year - four short of Shaun Alexander’s NFL record, set last year.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis was blowing a 14-0 lead at Tennessee en route to a last-second 20-17 loss. Most people credited Rob Bironas’ 60-yard game-winning field goal and Vince Young’s play leading the Titans back. But the Colts did plenty to give Tennessee a chance. Peyton Manning was intercepted twice and coach Tony Dungy’s decision to call his final timeout when the Titans faced a fourth down with 10 seconds left allowed Tennessee coach Jeff Ficher to call on Bironas to kick the field goal. Fisher had originally sent out his punt team.
San Diego and Indianapolis have about equal schedules the rest of the way. Indy faces Jacksonville on the road this week and has home games with Cincinnati and Miami sandwiched around a trip to Houston. The Chargers play three of four at home, hosting Denver on Sunday, then Kansas City followed by a trip to Seattle and a return to face the woeful Arizona Cardinals.
If the Colts want to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, they may need to run the table.
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Cincinnati would like to think it still has a shot at the Super Bowl. The Bengals have struggled this season especially on defense. But the past two weeks, Cincinnati’s defense has shown that it can play at a playoff level.
The Bengals first shut out lowly Cleveland, 30-0. Then on Thursday, Cincinnati almost shut out AFC North Division leader Baltimore, allowing only a late touchdown in a 13-7 win.
Less than a month ago, the Bengals were 4-5 following a disheartening loss at home to San Diego. In that game, Cincinnati went up 21-0 in the first quarter, and led 28-7 at halftime. But the Bengals defense couldn’t stop San Diego in the second half, allowing 42 points in a 49-41 loss.
Since then, Cincinnati has rolled off three consecutive wins, allowing only 23 points in that time.
The Bengals offense controlled Thursday’s game, although the tough Ravens defense kept them off the scoreboard for the most part. Two second quarter field goals after long drives gave Cincinnati a 6-0 lead. Then in the third quarter, the Bengals ran a perfect flea-flicker with Rudi Johnson flipping the ball back to Carson Palmer who then fired the ball downfield to T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a 40-yard touchdown.
It was an especially sweet win because it came against the Ravens. Baltimore won the earlier meeting between the teams, 26-20. After that game, Houshmandzadeh said that the Bengals were the better team. When they lost the following week to San Diego, it appeared he was just full of hot air.
Now, although they are still two games behind the Ravens, the Bengals have their post-season hopes back on track.
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