Tony Romo

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NEXT COWBOYS QB: NATE SUDFELD

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/05/22
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Crazy Talk, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Nate Sudfeld W17 vs Dallas

REMEMBER during the 2020 Draft, Eagles GM Howie Roseman said that he wanted the Eagles to be a “QB factory”. Well the first product to roll off the line may be QB Nate Sudfeld. Regrettably the Eagles only have Sudfeld under contract for 2020, so we won’t get anything for him, but the Dallas Cowboys seem like the most likely 2021 landing spot for him.

Currently Dallas is embroiled in a fruitless standoff with free agent QB Dak Prescott. The Cowboys slapped a 31M$ franchise tag on him, as a counter to his unconfirmed request of over 40M$ per year. The two sides are so far apart, that unless one side caves completely, you can just about bet that Prescott won’t sign the tag, and has already played his last down as a Cowboy.

Writing out a check.

I’m guessing it tops out at about 33 million?

At this rate, this time next year will see Prescott in another jersey, and the Cowboys will be in search of a new franchise QB. Unless they tank in 2020, they likely won’t have a shot at one in the 2021 Draft. So their search might take years. Unless they hit upon another QB like Tony Romo (undrafted free agent), or Prescott (4th rounder).  Right?

Wrong.

Dak-romo-1

Problem with bargain basement QB’s is that they tend to yield bargain basement playoff success. Romo and Prescott have a combined 3 – 6 playoff record. Neither ever made it past the Divisional round while they were a Cowboy. QUICK! Where was Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman selected? Oh that’s right! He was a #1 overall pick in 1989. He also won three Super Bowls.

So don’t expect much from the Cowboys trying to take a shortcut. Bargain basement effort, yields bargain basement returns. Top-shelf is on the top shelf for a reason. Reaching for anything else…is just settling. And unless 3 – 6 is your style, settling ain’t winning. 

Next year the Cowboys will need a QB, and the guy they’re trying to short-change, will have an easier time finding job, than the Cowboys will of finding a new QB. That will leave the Cowboys with options like what’s left of Cam Newton or Phillip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett (not a bad option), Andy Dalton, Mitch Trubisky, Jameis Winston, or Nate Sudfeld. Folks, those are the highlights of the 2021 QB free agent market.

Slim Pickens

But Nate Sudfeld? Why Nate Sudfeld and not those other guys?

If the Cowboys are going to start looking for a franchise QB, they can only go one of two routes: A) Hand the keys to a rookie and roll the dice, or B) Develop a QB, to give him a bonafide chance to succeed. Picking door #1 could yield any result. Door #2 however, is a process. That’s where they would need Nate, specifically.

shadenfreude2

To develop a QB, a team has to do it from a point of stability. So they first need to start out with a QB who they can rely on if the new guy is a dud. So they’d need youth. Not raw youth, because then their older free agents won’t stick around to lose games, thus creating holes that will cost more draft picks. He also can’t be so bad that fans will scream for the young guy, well before he’s ready.

They’ll also need the QB to be relatively inexpensive. This is because getting some of those older FA’s to stay, will mean overpaying them. A young QB needs stability around him. Constant change has wasted plenty of promising QB talent. Right, RG3?

The final ingredient, is a guy that fans will let a team move on from, once that young gun is ready for the job. So while a guy like Brissett may look appealing from the get-go, you don’t want him accidentally growing on your fan base.

USATSI_13545201-e1571795919722-1024x758

Nate Sudfeld was almost cooked up in a lab to be the Cowboys 2021 starter. Not a heavyweight, but not a lightweight. He’s been well-coached, isn’t too expensive, not an injury risk, has prototypical build, strong enough arm, comes from a winning culture, and might bring a wealth of intel about the enemy. Comb that list up there, and you’ll see that no one even comes close.

So why is an Eagles fan so giddy over the thought of Nate going there? Because the Cowboys will almost certainly not opt for developing a QB. Even if they do, the process takes a couple of years. That means barring a miracle after 2020, a division rival is out of the running for a minimum of two years. Longer if they get their gamble wrong.

Oh by the way. Keep in mind that ALL OF THIS is balanced against the ticking of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’s biological clock. So they will feel obligated to rush all of this. And people in a big rush, always do stupid things. Sometimes VERY stupid, costly things. 

Damn. If only we’d signed Nate to a two year deal. 

WK9: EAGLES/COWBOYS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/11/06
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments

DAL (A)

SUNDAY              8:30                 AT & T Stadium                      Arlington, TX

PICTURE a ragged man dragging a sledgehammer across concrete. Picture a bloody man on his back shimmying away as fast as he can; hand out-stretched, eyes wide, words that won’t form between gasps of breath. The raggedy man with the hammer, still suffers from a wound given to him weeks ago while fighting the bloody guy, but he will not be stopped by mere pain. His eyes, his face, conveys his singularity of purpose.

In that fight, the bloody guy was ripped open. Weeks later that wound still won’t stop spurting. The bandages (Weeden, Cassel) haven’t helped. He’s weak. He’s dying. He knows it. And now the man with the sledgehammer is looking to finish the job. The bloody guy’s head touches a wall behind him. There is is no where else to go. There is nowhere left to run.

Ask any Cowboys fan and they’ll tell you the loss of their starting QB is why they’re in the 5 game tailspin they’re currently in. The hit that sealed the Cowboys fate was delivered by Eagles rookie ILB Jordan Hicks. So in a very real sense, it was the Eagles that ruined, that ended, the Cowboys 2015 season back in Week Two.

And this weekend, with just one more swing of the hammer…we will make it official.

EAGLES

Defense

FS Walter Thurmond has as many interceptions (3) as this weeks opponent. In seven games this team has stolen 11 passes, which puts us on pace for 25 when the year ends. That’s not an earth-shattering number, but with our spotty pass rush, it’s at least something to hang our hats on while we tighten everything else up. By everything else, I mean the pass rush, the 4.0 yards per rush we allow, and the 64% completion rate allowed.

These are the type of numbers that sub .500 teams put up. Oh wait, we’re 3 – 4 now. So yeah, we need to get this fixed. The sack production (7) from our starting Defensive Line is better than it’s been in years, but there’s been a massive drop-off in production (8) from everyone else so far. In a passing league that also has to get fixed.

Luckily for us, this week the NFL has lobbed us a softball, underhand. This is perfect time to experiment and see what works for when we start seeing real teams again.

Offense

Even with last week’s Bye, the Eagles are in the middle of the pack as an Offense. That’s due in part to the actual use of RB DeMarco Murray and employing some basic power elements which not only benefit Murray but also RB Ryan Mathews. Now if only QB Sam Bradford would get around to getting rid of the ball sooner, we might be able to break out and scare some teams.

In the meantime we’ll put up points in our usual “off and on” manner. We score enough points to stay in games, but it would be nice to be able to put together four quarters of high octane ball for a change. It’s a good system our coach has brought here, we just don’t have the top-shelf talent to run it anymore, since our GM gave it all away.

.

Cowboys

Defense

Statistically this is one of the better teams in the league. Those stats also tell you that they suck at forcing turnovers. In fact, the only thing they do worth a damn, is rush the passer. Everything else, (4.1 ypc allowed, 65.8% completion rate allowed, 3 picks all year far) they suck at. All those statistical rankings…we’re talking about a paper tiger here.

Offense 

Matt Cassel‘s QB rating is over 40 points lower than the rating of starter Tony Romo and 33.6 points lower than Brandon Weeden whom Cassel replaced. QB is a downward spiral for this team. Well at least they can lean on their run game.

Did I mention that they just cut the guy who was their Week One starter and their current leader in rushing TD’s? Oh yeah and also their long run leader. And their yards per carry leader. He’s been replaced with a brittle and less explosive player as the Cowboys are now staking it all on former Raider RB Darren Mcfadden.

BOTTOM LINE

Under no circumstances should the Eagles lose this game. Both teams have issues, many of which are similar, but the bottom line here is that the Cowboys are just a bottom feeder team this year. They probably would find themselves being blown-out by some college teams. (Alabama springs to mind.) There’s nothing the Cowboys can do to save themselves. This week the hammer falls and the with it so does one fourth of the NFC East.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 28 – Cowboys 18

EAGLES vs COWBOYS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/19
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , . 9 Comments

DAL (H)

SUNDAY        4:25                 Lincoln Financial Stadium     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ALL we have to do is win, and regardless of anything else that happens this week, we take over first place in the division. Even if the giants and ‘skins win this week all four teams would be 1-1, but we’ll have the head-to-head and be undefeated in the division. We’d get it by tie-breaker. Understand, it’s still early in the season, but better to play from ahead than from behind.

 

EAGLES  

Defense

Last week was not our finest hour. Pass rush, run stopping and coverage all looked shaky. Considering how piss-poor Atlanta’s offensive line is, we should have come out of that game with 6 – 8 sacks.  Instead we ended up with just one recorded by DE Fletcher Cox. We managed a decent 5 TFL (tackles for loss) against 35 rushes.

We might have gotten more sacks and pressure if our coverage was tighter. Last year that part of our defense was a spurting gunshot wound and this year so far looks the same. Prize FA CB Byron Maxwell said that he can fix his problems. DC Bill Davis agreed with that assessment then he threw Maxwell under the bus a little bit. No one said anything at all about whether or not CB Nolan Carroll can be better.

ILB Kiko Alonso nabbed us a great one-handed pick in the end zone to save a touchdown early in the game, but then some undisciplined play by him cost us another turnover later. Other than that our LB’s didn’t really make much of an impact in that game.

Right now this looks like last year’s unit. We’re big on making splash plays, but we allow too many yards and points to all but the most feeble of offensive units.

Offense

Some fans think everything is just fine and we just had to shake off some rust in the first half last week. That’s hilarious, because no one was talking rust in the preseason. In fact it seemed like some fans (mostly C-dubs), were already moving their cars (parked in the center of Broad Street) to clear the parade route.

Truth is, the play-calling (52 passes compared to just 16 rushes) was uneven. Our Guard play was pretty much abysmal last week. But like I said before, that game is a small sample size, let’s see how they respond this week before we make the jump from an impression of them, to an opinion of them.

QB Sam Bradford picked up for us where he left off for the Rams, playing the role of Checkdown Charlie even on downs where he had more time in the pocket. I have an article all set to publish about that on Monday, but I’m waiting to see if he improves any this week first.

I’m attempting to give my team the benefit of the doubt here, but so far they’ve shown a lack of balance and consistency. Aside from RB Darren Sproles no one on Offense looked like a difference maker last week, and we all know that we have better athletes than that.

 

Cowboys

Defense

Injuries and suspensions have depleted The Cowboys pass rush. Last week against the game of musical chairs that the giants call their offensive line, the Cowboys notched just one sack and let the giants run for a respectable 4.1 yards per carry. Against Eli “Turnover Machine” Manning this unit couldn’t manage even one.

Offense

So far despite all the accolades for their (largely overrated) offensive line, it looks like the Cowboys run game left town when Eagles RB DeMarco Murray did. So either Murray’s replacements or the offensive line isn’t up to the challenge. What that means is that the offense now lives and dies on the arm of QB Tony Romo. That wouldn’t be so bad if WR Dez Bryant wasn’t laid up for the next few weeks with a broken bone in his foot. The team will now rely on TE Jason Witten and hope for contributions from WR Terrance Williams and TE Gavin Escobar. Right now the team leader in receptions and yards is RB Lance Dunbar, but due to the Cowboys RB by committee approach, his reps will likely be limited exclusively to 3rd downs and 2nd and 15 type situations.

 

BOTTOM LINE

The Eagles have a leaky Defense, but against a virtually toothless Cowboys team, the odds of the Cowboys being able to mount a challenge are low. Dallas is of no consequence defensively, so as long as we can do what we did last week, this win is in the bag already.

 

PREDICTION

EAGLES 28 – Cowboys 23

AN EAGLES FAN’S FULL ATTENTION

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/10
Posted in: Defense, Fans, NFL, Offense, Players, Rants. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

tony romo

I’M sick of Cowboys fans whining every time a rival fan mentions their team that we’re “closet fans” or, “talking more about their team than our own”. Since my website here overwhelmingly disproves those statements, I felt comfortable taking a day to indulge our rivals. So they can know what it REALLY MEANS to have an Eagles fan’s full attention focused on their team.

They can’t win the division again this season, because they simply don’t have the tools.

Last year they leaned heavily on Philadelphia Eagles RB DeMarco Murray to carry their team and keep their QB upright. They don’t have him this year. Delusional fans have convinced themselves that replacement Darren McFadden can pick up where Murray left off. I won’t even argue too hard against that one, since I’m going around collecting screenshots of Cowboys fans who are piking McFadden up as being able to do what Murray just did.

Last year Tony Romo had the best year of his career while our RB set their franchise rushing record, and STILL while maxing out like that, they only won the division by a SINGLE game. Just one.

True, the Cowboys were 12-4 to the Eagles 10-6. Had we won that second game, we’re both 11-5 and the Eagles hold the tie-breaker. Since we lost that game, it was a moot point. Fact is however, the entire season turned on that ONE GAME. Just one. We did 10-6 with a plethora of injuries, and they maxed out to get to 12-4 on the swing of one game. Hardly the cream of the crop.

Last year on defense they couldn’t get within a $50 cab ride of a QB, so they went out and added some firepower. Only question is, will it ever see the field? One guy has become synonymous with domestic abuse and likes making 9/11 jokes as he appeals his 10 game suspension; and another guy can’t handle the rigors of May heat in shorts and no pads. The killer DT they were depending on, has all but retired. That front seven is a mess, and anyone who disagrees is probably the sort of fan that Cowboys defensive coaches hate. (That tweet has been since taken down.)

They picked up some O-line help, but from what I keep reading, the Cowboys line was already perfect last year, so I guess this will make them…“perfecter”?

While Cowboys fans like to talk smack about Sam Bradford‘s injury history, at least our back-up is Mark Sanchez. Meanwhile the Cowboys are still just one good hit away from starting this guy at QB:

 brandon weeden

Speaking of which, just how good are the current RB’s at blitz pick-up?

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE EAGLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/09
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , . 4 Comments

sam bradford

THE Dallas Cowboys have given me reason to be optimistic about the Eagles 2015 season. Not be because I expect the Cowboys to be bad, but because they make it safe to assume that the Eagles will be good. Again, let me say that I am in no way bad mouthing the Cowboys, just being optimistic about the Eagles, and getting behind guys like Sam Bradford, Ryan Mathews, Kiko Alonso, Walter Thurmond, and rookie Jordan Hicks.

Earlier this offseason when it seemed you needed a season ending injury on your resume to make the Eagles roster, I was worried. Injuries have a way of being cumulative. Overcompensation during rehab for X injury often leads to Y injury. Notice how some guys always seem hurt and some guys never do? Over time injuries mount and they sap a player’s effectiveness.

Enter the Dallas Cowboys. QB Tony Romo’s back is a ticking time bomb. RB Darren McFadden has almost as many missed starts (49) as actual starts (63), due to injury. The guy I thought would be McFadden’s back-up (Joesph Randle) seems to have gotten an unspoken demotion  in favor of former Cardinal Ryan Williams. Williams has a torn patellar tendon in his past. (Here is his career.) 

What gives me so much hope for my team is despite the ICU that is the Dallas backfield, the national media just can’t stop dick-eating the Cowboys. I guess that means that we’re playing 2015 with injuries turned off, in which case we have a pretty good team. I mean most of my worry about the Eagles centered around who we could and couldn’t keep on the field; but if the Cowboys are injury-proof then why aren’t we? Shit, we’re the ones with the smoothies, right?

Of course reality could set in, and both teams could end up with a lot of fucked up key athletes. (Which would probably be what we both deserve.) But hey, if it ain’t broke (at the moment) then I have plenty of reason to be optimistic. Right?

EAGLES/COWBOYS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/11
Posted in: Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , . 12 Comments

12.14.14-Wk15

SUNDAY 8:30 Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

SHOWDOWN

THIS is the biggest game of the regular season. Not because it’s against the Cowboys, but because it’s one of three division games at the end of the season. As long as two teams in this division were still alive in the race to win it, there was ALWAYS going to be a fight somewhere during these last three weeks.

Personally, I’m glad it’s the Cowpies. If we can string this and the va-giants game into wins, we can rest our starters in Week 17. If it were us and the Foreskins, we’d have to run hot the whole time, which might burn us out for the playoffs.

 

EAGLES

Defense

Except for the inability to contain Russell Wilson last week, our Defense was what I expected it to be against the Seahawks offense. Dallas plays with a similar mindset (pound the ball, draw teams into the box, hit’em up top vs 1-on-1 coverage), but Dallas’s QB can’t run around anymore. Somewhere out there DE Vinny Curry and OLB’s Brandon Graham, Trent Cole and Connor Barwin are licking their chops.

Then of course there’s the fact that this Defense took away all of Dallas’s weapons last time we met. It’s not like the Cowboys had anyone out on injury or suspension when we did that. They weren’t playing on a slick field that hampered their running. Conditions will be similar this time around. Except colder. Windier. And the crowd won’t be neutral this time. It’ll be downright unfriendly. Expect the Defense to repeat what it did two weeks ago.

Offense

QB Mark Sanchez cut Dallas’s defense up like a fork-tender steak the last time he saw it. And RB LeSean McCoy ran through their defenders like he was coated in Ex-lax. The excuse from Cowpies fans last time around was that they only had 4 days rest. Translation:

 cowboys ready

Fuck outta here, you whiny bitches. It was the same 4 days of rest we had, plus WE had to travel.

If you take Dallas now having to travel east to play outside in cold air (making breath harder to recover, trust me, I know), and add it to the fast paced Offense we tired them out with two weeks ago;  it might have these guys on the sidelines wearing oxygen masks like they’re playing in Denver.

 

COWBOYS

Defense

Really? They have one?

Offense

My instincts say that with the colder, windier weather that will make the ball as hard as a brick, Dallas won’t want to throw the ball around too much. Especially if fans are loud enough to make it hard to hear in the huddle. (And just so you know: Run plays usually have short names like “23 Trap” or “31 Dive”; whereas pass plays have names like “Spider 2 Y Banana” or “Spread RT X Left Zoom Post 269”. So the louder fans are, the harder it is for an opponent’s passing game to be in synch.)

Basically this next game will be them attempting to get RB DeMarco Murray on track early. As long as we realize that and focus more on limiting him and don’t over-commit to stopping him altogether, we can throw a wet blanket over their whole offense again.

 

BOTTOM LINE

Dallas plays a style of ball that currently can’t beat us on offense and can’t keep up with us on defense. The only way we lose this game is if we’re careless with the ball and maybe not even then.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 40 – Cowboys 6

LOCKING DOWN THE NFC EAST

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/03
Posted in: NFL, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

bighurt

POOR Cowboys fans. 33-10 on our way to locking down the NFC East and it wasn’t even close. It was 33-10 in your HOME. 33-10 in front of a national audience. We humiliated you. Bullied you. Beat you.

BROKE YOU. And  it wasn’t even close.

Look at your QB. Look at him.

card-graham and curry

Giving up on the play to save his life. Feeling the heat. FEARING the hit. His nerve deserting him in front of the world. His back may have been injured, but his spine was missing entirely.

We took that from him.

We took HIM from you. We took Bryant from you. We took Murray from you. We took Witten. My god, we took it all. We just came and TOOK whatever we damned well pleased.

And in 2 weeks, we’re going to do it all over again. 

Prior to the last game some of your fans were saying how they hardly saw this as a rivalry. And I have to agree. Cats don’t consider mice rivals. You’ve become prey. The Cowboys are almost a food source now.

And in 2 weeks someone is going to lock you in our cage. Again, in front of a nation audience. Want to guess at how that will turn out? My prediction is-

First, we have this Seattle situation to handle. But you are on the menu. Don’t doubt that. Never doubt that.

See you in a bit.

“YES, WE HAVE TONY ROMO!”

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/18
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , , , , . 9 Comments

henery miss

REPORTS out of EAGLES practices say that rookie Kicker Carey “Murderleg” Spear looks bad compared to veteran Alex Henery. This could be why Spear has so far not gotten an opportunity to swing his leg during live action so far.

I call bullshit on that.

Before I go into it, let me say that I’m not surprised that Henery has won this job. I said he would (SEE HERE). I wasn’t happy about it when I said it, but I could see the handwriting on the wall; and when I see something coming, it’s my job to share it with you whether I like it or not.

I thought that Spear would at least get a chance to lose the job. Instead it looks like Chip Kelly is fine with releasing a guy who he hasn’t even looked at in live fire. I mean if Henery can look good in practice but suck in games, why not take a chance that Spear may be better when the lights come on? It’s unlikely, but that’s partly what preseason is for, right?

Of course if Spear out-shined Henery, the Kicker position would suddenly be a decision that has to be actively weighed amidst a bunch of others. This may be drama that Kelly would rather avoid. However as far as most of us fans are concerned, Kicker has been a decision worth actively weighing for years now; because while Henery’s career percentages are stellar, he never fails to fail in big moments.

The idea of a Kicker who only misses important FG’s is terrifying. You want a Kicker who’s clutch, but we don’t have that. Currently we have the Tony Romo of Kickers. Yes, we have Tony Romo! The guy who statistically should be the answer to your prayers, but who in clutch moments is the biggest liability on the roster. Yeah, we have that guy.

My hope was that Spear would push Henery, and that through mentoring Spear, Henery would go back to doing the little things. That didn’t happen. In fact if there was anything for Henery to take away from this, it’s that no matter how many times he fails us, there will always be a home here for Tony Romo.