THE DALLAS COWBOYS WILL WIN THIS WEEK

[Lubeck]

[xxi-xxv]

[randoff]

blah blah blah- let's strap 'em up on Sunday and see who wins.

Egg-Zack-lee!!!!

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

As usual....Randoff .....bullshit walks....LOL!!!

[randoff]

As usual....Randoff .....bullshit walks....LOL!!!

 

[randoff]

I can only hope we win and fail to hear from you untill next year.

[Firstnten]

T.O. turns Terribly Overemotional

by Kevin Manahan

Monday January 14, 2008, 6:50 AM

 

IRVING, Texas -- Terrell Owens came to the podium last night wearing a suede jacket and large sunglasses. Wonder if the jacket was waterproof.

 

Terribly Overemotional, breaking his two-week near-silence, broke down after last night's stunning 21-17 loss to the Giants when asked about quarterback Tony Romo's poorly-timed Mexican vacation and whether the bye-week bye-bye with girlfriend Jessica Simpson was a factor in the upset.

 

Owens, held to four catches for 49 yards and one touchdown catch on a healing high-ankle sprain, wept for his quarterback. Or the Cowboys. Or himself. Or for the fans. Or maybe it was for the cameras.

 

"It's not about Tony," Owens said. "You guys can point fingers at him and talk about the vacation, but if you do that, it's really unfair. . . ."

 

The lips quivered. The voice cracked. The tears could be seen peeking from behind the sunglasses, the droplets glistening in the cameras' bright lights.

 

"It's unfair," Owens added. "It's my teammate, my quarterback. If you do that, man, it's unfair. We lost as a team. We lost as a team.

 

"It's unfair because I've been through it. I know what it's like. He gives you his all every day. When you lose, it falls on the quarterback's shoulders. But let it fall on the whole team's shoulders."

 

Maybe all this drama can be summarized in a Broadway tune: "Don't cry for me, Cabo San Lucas." Or maybe it's a movie: "Blame it on Romo," or, "If It's Bye Week, This Must Be Mexico." Whatever the title, Owens knows this is a soap opera that will run for years -- or at least until Romo, now 0-2 in the playoffs, wins a postseason game. You know, like Eli Manning.

 

Owens was asked how he knew this would dog Romo.

 

"How do I know?" he asked. "I know. I know. I know the media."

 

Owens tied the game 7-7 with a 5-yard reception on the first play of the second quarter, but was not a factor after that.

 

Maybe the tears came from the emotion of the loss in the NFC divisional playoff game to a team the Cowboys had beaten twice in the regular season. Maybe it was a result of the double-team jostling he took from the Giants' banged-up secondary, which kept him from making a catch in the Cowboys' last-gasp drive. Maybe Owens was crushed because he worked so hard to overcome a painful injury and return in time for the postseason.

 

Maybe he was weeping for the offense, which was lousy in the final weeks of the season and never built any momentum yesterday.

 

Not that there wasn't reason to wail: The Cowboys flushed a 13-3 season, which had matched the best in team history. They became the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in this round since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990. They are the seventh team to lose a playoff game against a team they had beaten twice in the regular season -- joining the 1998 Cowboys.

 

"This loss hurts," Owens said. "I know this team is dedicated. We put in a lot of hard work to get where we are. We knew we had to put some points on the board. We just didn't make any plays. We didn't make enough plays. It's a shame. We have talent on this team.

 

"It's hard. I just know a lot of guys put in hard work to get to this point. We felt we were destined to get to the Super Bowl."

 

For crying out loud.

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008/01...eremotiona.html

[Firstnten]

Giants in NFC Championship Game

by Mike Garafolo

Monday January 14, 2008, 7:00 AM

 

IRVING, Texas -- Tom Coughlin wrapped up his press conference, turned away from the microphone and took one step toward the edge of the podium, where he was met by Amani Toomer.

 

What ensued was a scene that, three years ago, was perhaps the most improbable, unthinkable thing that could ever happen.

 

Toomer hugged his coach.

 

And not a one-armed, "Hey, congratulations," kind of hug. A back-slapping, swaying, bear hug of an embrace. The kind of hug, with Toomer still in all of his pads, that looked like it hurt Coughlin.

 

Chances are, he didn't feel a thing.

 

Not after his group of All-Joes beat the All-Pros in a game that defied history and logic. The Giants, with their relentless pass rush, strolled into Texas Stadium yesterday and beat the Cowboys, 21-17. It was the first time since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format in 1990 that the NFC's No. 1 seed lost in the divisional round. It was also only the seventh time in 18 chances since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger that a team won a playoff game against an opponent it lost to twice during the regular season.

 

And so, the Giants will be headed to Green Bay to face the Packers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. And they'll be hugging their coach the whole way there.

 

"A couple years ago it would have been hard for me to imagine that," said Toomer, who sparked yesterday's victory with a 52-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter on which he broke two tackles, then added a touchdown to tie the game late in the second quarter. "Not to say anything too wrong, it's just the way it was.

 

"But right now, the way he is ... he's going to do anything he can to help this team, anything he feels that's right to win."

 

Now, he has the results to justify the methods. A year after nearly losing his job, Coughlin can pretty much name his price at this point.

 

But that was last week's story line after the win over the Buccaneers. This week's centers around a team that could actually -- gasp! -- make the Super Bowl.

 

One mention of playing in that game yesterday caused middle linebacker Antonio Pierce to get a little choked up during his postgame press conference, while Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens cried a different kind of tears down the hall.

 

Pierce later admitted his eyes started to get watery as soon as 10th-year veteran cornerback R.W. McQuarters intercepted Tony Romo's fourth-down pass to Terry Glenn in the end zone with nine seconds left in the game.

 

"I didn't ever want to cry (over) football before," said Pierce, who began his career as an undrafted free agent with the Redskins in 2001. "But that's the best moment I've ever had in football."

 

It was also Eli Manning's. On a day big brother Peyton and the Colts had already lost, the younger Manning played another solid game at the stadium in which he suffered a shoulder injury on opening night. Yesterday he completed 12 of his 18 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns, never losing his rhythm despite standing on the sideline and watching the Cowboys put together drives of 20 and 14 plays, which ate up a combined 18 minutes, 35 seconds of game clock.

 

The 20-play drive, on which the Cowboys converted six third downs, ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Marion Barber that gave Dallas a 14-7 lead with 1:07 left in the first half. Manning responded by completing four of his seven passes on the next drive, which he capped with a 4-yard touchdown throw to Toomer over the middle.

 

"They had all the momentum. They had a long drive, the defense was gassed," Manning said. "To get a touchdown there, to tie it up before halftime, that was a big momentum-builder for our team."

 

As was a stop on third-and-12 on the first drive of the second half. With Owens streaking across the middle of the field, Romo threw high and over his head, forcing Dallas to settle for a field goal and a three-point lead. At that point, the Giants defense knew it had Romo rattled and had started to wear Barber down. The next drive was a three-and-out for the Cowboys.

 

McQuarters then returned a punt 25 yards to the Dallas 37. Manning hit Toomer on a hook to the left side, found Steve Smith on the right side and, on third-and-6, connected with the rookie receiver again on a key 11-yard hook. Two plays later, Brandon Jacobs scored the game-winning touchdown and celebrated by firing the football into the play clock behind the end zone.

 

It was a sign of disrespect toward the only stadium in which they had lost a road game this season.

 

"We had a big sign posted: 'Warriors 9-1 coming in here,'" Coughlin said of the team's record away from home. "And we were able to win on the road again."

 

How about 10-1? Maybe. After losing here in Week 1, they lost to Green Bay at home seven days later. This time, they're headed to Wisconsin -- while Romo is free to go back to Mexico for a couple of months if he'd like.

 

As Texas native Willie Nelson once sang -- in a tune reprised yesterday by Giants assistant video director Carmen Pizzano as he walked through the locker room -- the Giants are headed "on the road again."

 

Perhaps it's the "road" to the Super Bowl.

See more in Newspaper article

[Firstnten]

Manning quiets critics

by Mike Garafolo

Monday January 14, 2008, 6:40 AM

 

IRVING, Texas -- Brandon Jacobs said Eli Manning is the best quarterback he has ever played with. Of course, Manning's the only quarterback Jacobs has played with on the NFL level.

 

But after the Giants' 21-17 divisional playoff victory yesterday against the Cowboys, in which Manning completed 12 of 18 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns, any compliment seemed fitting for a quarterback who has been criticized at length over the first three years of his career.

 

"I don't know if he's silenced the critics. In this game, you're always going to have critics," Jacobs said. "Eli Manning is a great quarterback. I love the guy to death. I don't give a damn what anybody says about it. He plays hard toward the end of the season and he's playing hard now."

 

Center Shaun O'Hara also doesn't care what the critics think about Manning.

 

"Everybody wants to judge the guy. I'm just happy he's on our team," said O'Hara, who played yesterday one week after sitting out in the win over the Buccaneers with a knee injury. "I know he gets a lot of criticism just because of his last name. Eli is a great quarterback. I'm glad to see him get the recognition he deserves."

 

Perhaps after yesterday, Manning will start getting the kind of recognition O'Hara and his teammates think he deserves. On a day older brother Peyton and the Colts had their Super Bowl defense ended by the Chargers, Eli was calm, composed and error-free.

 

"We just had a bunch of big plays throughout the game," Manning said as his mother, Olivia, and his fiancee, Abby McGrew, watched his news conference from the side of the room. "It wasn't fancy."

 

It doesn't have to be. With Manning, it just has to be solid and consistent. So far in the playoffs, that's exactly what he's been. And after yesterday's game, Manning's streak of postseason passes without an interception has been extended to 61.

 

"He's playing with a lot of confidence," wide receiver Plaxico Burress said. "As long as that continues, we'll be going to Arizona (for the Super Bowl)."

 

Not before a stop in Green Bay. And as much as Manning's play over the last two weeks has been encouraging, his struggles in the cold over the last few years will be a big topic of discussion this coming week.

 

Sunday's forecast for Green Bay, after all, is for snow showers and a high of 11 degrees.

 

"It's going to be a tough task for us to play in that stadium, especially with the weather," Burress said.

 

Still, it was supposed to be tough for them to play here as well. And it was supposed to be Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo who would be the star of last night's game. But guess who was throwing off balance and over his receivers' heads? Not Manning.

 

Oh, and for those who like to compare the two NFC East quarterbacks, Manning now has two playoff wins to Romo's zero.

 

"It's just a great feeling," Manning said. "It was a great game and a team win."

 

But make no mistake, it was a huge win for him in the respect column.

See more in Newspaper article

[xxi-xxv]

Because they are the better team. :bye:

 

Right on

[Nesta]

For shits and giggles.

 

Where the hell is Randoff by the way?