Tag: Tony Romo

Tony Romo or Dak Prescott

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dakp

A few months ago I was going to write the Cowboys will be fine going with Dak Prescott as the #2 QB behind Tony Romo.  Then the play that changed this article and the Cowboy’s season with Romo breaking a bone in his lower back in the pre-season.  The Dallas Cowboys currently sit at 3-1 after a win today over the SF 49ers and Romo is still expected to be out another month.

Dak Prescott was a 4th round draft pick has had a good enough preseason for the Cowboys to name him the starter. Prescott has shown Russell Wilson ‘esk’ qualities and hasn’t turned the ball over yet through 4 games.   I am not saying he’s the next Russell Wilson, however he has shown his type of leadership and play! The major thing that Prescott has going for him is the other 10 players around him. One of the best offensive lines in the league, plus weapons like of Dez Bryant, TE Jason Witton, Cole Beasley and 1st round pick RB Ezekiel Elliott who has been a stud so far.

Time of possession will a important key for Dallas this season. The more they can keep the ball, the less their defense will be on the field, which is one of their biggest question marks!  I think he will come back on October 30th after their BYE week against the Eagles.  If that happens it will be eight weeks since the injury. Let’s see how this plays out. One thing is for sure, you are going to be hearing about this a thousands times thanks to the media and if the Cowboys are 6-1 or 5-2 I think you have to stay with Dak.

Written by Mike Anthony for VegasTopDogs.

Philadelphia Eagles Likely to Crash and Burn

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The Philadelphia Eagles have been relatively quiet since firing Chip Kelly before the end of his third season with them. The turbulence and controversy hasn’t stopped, though.

The Eagles just moved up to No. 2 in the draft by giving up their No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 draft choices this season plus their No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks next year to the Browns to move up six spots in the draft plus get Cleveland’s fourth-round pick in 2017. In other words, the Eagles surrendered an extra first-round pick, second-round pick and third-round pick to draft either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz.

The Rams are likely to grab Goff leaving the Eagles to take Wentz. It’s a foolish gamble for the Eagles since earlier this year they signed San Bradford to a two-year $35 million deal that includes $22 in guaranteed money and also inked Chiefs backup quarterback Chase Daniel to a three-year, $21 million deal with $12 million guaranteed. So Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie already has tied up $34 million in guaranteed money to Bradford and Daniel.

Without high draft picks and free agent money the Eagles are at a real disadvantage. There’s no guarantee Goff or Wentz turns out – and the Rams get first crack at the one they believe is best.

Neither Goff nor Wentz are rated as a sure-fire franchise quarterbacks. I rate them lower than Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, last year’s top two quarterback picks who went 1-2 in the draft. I didn’t like the Rams surrendering a king’s ransom to move into the No. 1 draft spot. I like the Eagles’ move even less.

The Eagles could have stayed at No. 8 and likely had a choice of a stud lineman – either on offense or defense – or maybe the top ranked wider receiver or running back. Then in the second round they could have addressed their quarterback future by taking either Connor Cook or Christian Hackenberg since they are so unsure of Bradford and Daniel despite just shelling out big bucks for them.

That way the Eagles would have upgraded their roster while not gambling their future away.

The NFC East turned very weak in 2015. The Redskins are the defending division champs. Dallas is a factor as long as Tony Romo is healthy. The Giants made huge free agent news upgrading their defense with multiple signings. The Eagles certainly appear now to be the weakest team in the division since they are the least likely to improve themselves in the draft.

Written by Stephen Nover of VegasTopDogs.com

On Any Given Sunday

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NFL Parity

For years, pro football has been the sports leader when it comes to parity. Pete Rozelle was credited with, “On any given Sunday any team can beat another.” Despite all the undefeated NFL teams this late in the 2015 campaign, that adage is still true. The Tennessee Titans opened the season at Tampa Bay as a dog, won 42-14, then kept on losing into November.

The ever-rebuilding Jacksonville Jaguars opened the season losing 5 of 6, but that lone victory was 23-20 over Miami as a +6 dog. With the undefeated starts of several teams it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are no winless ones. The last few years it seemed as though parity had disappeared from the NFL. The Pats, Broncos, Packers, Bengals and Panthers have dazzled in the win column, but they have been far from dominating every week.

The Patriots had to rally in the fourth quarter at home to top the Jets, trailing 20-16. The grind-it-out Bengals have wins by 5, 4 and 3 points. The Broncos have won games by 6, 7, 3, 6 and 3 points and have a QB that has thrown more picks than TDs!

The big edge that the top teams have is above average quarterback play. The disparity between the good QBs and the bad ones has really become noticeable in 2015, especially with stars like Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo missing time. Backups are forced to become starters and discarded QBs are forced out of retirement for a while with the dearth of depth and talent behind center. Teams like the Bills, Browns and Texans haven’t known who their starting quarterbacks are from week to week.

What New England did in 2007 was unique, an 18-0 run, but let’s not forget that they were fortunate to run the 16-0 regular season table. They had wins over the Colts, Eagles, Ravens and Giants by 4, 3, 3 and 3 points. Counting the playoffs, the Patriots went 2-9 against the spread their final 11 games. They were double digit favorites in their final ten and went 2-8 ATS.

Last season the top two seeds met in the Super Bowl, New England and Seattle, but that’s not the norm, either. Upsets are common in the postseason, as are teams with No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds reaching the Super Bowl.

There’s an old wagering adage about going against pro football teams who roll by 20 points in back-to-back games. That’s not easy to do. If a pro team beats another by 20-plus points in consecutive weeks, it can be a good time to look at the other side, as the club off two blowout wins can be overvalued. In order to win by that kind of margin in consecutive games, a team has to play close to two perfect games back-to-back. In this day of parity, that takes a rare combination of talent, execution, health and luck.

This season the Patriots trashed the Jaguars (51-17) and the Cowboys (30-6) in back-to-back games, but failed to cover the next week in a 34-27 win at Indy as -8 chalk. They failed to cover the first half line, as well, trailing 20-17.

Remember how bad the Chiefs started in 2011? Kansas City opened the season with back-to-back colossal stinkers, losing 41-7 and 48-3. They were a +16 dog the next game, but a very different team showed up in a 20-17 loss at San Diego, an easy cover. Atlanta has been a major turn-around team in 2015, starting 5-0 SU, 4-1 ATS. However, when oddsmakers adjusted, the Falcons came back to earth a bit, failing to cover three straight weeks in a win over Washington (25-19), a loss to the Saints (31-21) as a favorite, and a 10-7 win over Tennessee as -6 chalk.

So keep a close eye on dominant teams in a small two-game stretch. In 2010 the Jaguars got routed by the Chargers (38-13) and Eagles (28-3), then as a +7 dog beat the Colts, 31-28. In 2009 after losing road games by 23 and 37 points, the Raiders stumbled home and not only covered, but beat the Eagles as 14-point dogs, 13-9. That same season the Browns lost back-to-back games by 20+ in Weeks 2 and 3, then got the cover against the Bengals as a +6 home dog. After losing by 35 and 28, the Rams got the cover in a 23-20 loss at Jacksonville as a +9 dog. It is hard to wipe out a pro team by 3 TDs three games in a row.

It might not seem like it at times, but this is parity at work, with salary caps and free agency making it difficult for teams to simply buy players to shore up weak areas, as is the case in baseball. In football, if you pay a lot to get or retain a key player, you may lose a star in another area. Overall, you rarely see pro teams keep up 20-point or more dominance for more than two games.

Written by Jim Feist for VegasTopDogs.com

Who is the most important player for a Cowboys playoff run?

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Dallas-Cowboys-3
 
DeMarco Murray has been beyond phenomenal this year with 1845 rushing yds and 13 scores on the ground. His season has done nothing but build an immense amount of confidence in the teams running game, more so than anytime recently.
 
This season, the Dallas Cowboys have had the 3rd most rushing plays in the entire NFL with 508. Murray has been averaging 24.5 carries/game this season. And a total touches of 28.1 a game. Opposed to last year, when Murray was getting just 15.5 carries/game and 19.3 total touches.
 
His pure dominance has blossomed this year, and has become an elite back in the NFL officially this season. Murray has been producing 100-yard rushing games all year for the Cowboys like clockwork with 12 out of 16 games. Demarco Murray carried the team to the amazing season, with his monster games. DeMarco Murray, is obviously the best season of his career.
 
But Murray’s numbers had plummeted in the month of December. Murray had played “human” in December though. At the end of the season, he was putting up just 3.96 yards/carry. And when playing the Colts he had just 58 yds.
 
Think about how Romo has been able to change his style of play, he doesn’t have to throw the ball constantly, as he has had to do in the past. His attempts/game have dropped significantly, from 40.5 in 2012, down to 29 this year. Murray has taken a lot of the offensive burden from Romo.
 
Tony Romo has overcome a back injury that could have easily landed him on the sideline for weeks on end, and Romo, with his turnover issues that so many were concerned about, has only 9 picks and an astounding 7.8% td passing pct. which led the NFL. And has also been the most accurate he has ever been, at 69.9%.
 
The Cowboys used 3 first-round picks to make their O-line what it is currently. Impressively, they have become a dominant squad that has kept Romo up and opened holes like Emmett Smith used to have back in the 90s.
 
Think about this scenario, if Romo ever happened to go down. Could Brandon Weeden lead this team to a playoff win, let alone a Super Bowl? He has shown what he is, when he had played he was awful earlier this season. Going 24-41 with 2 picks. Romo has put them over the top and will be the one who can keep them over the top in the playoffs.
 
Granted during the year, Murray had to play with a broken hand that was surgically repaired and played poorly against the Colts, Romo, in the same game, when so many may have been questioning what would happen when Murray was so questionable as what he would be capable of, Romo took the Boys on his shoulders and picked it up passing the ball at 18-20 with 4 td strikes.
 
So many football fans have awaited for the December downfall. And yet they went 4-0 in the month, and proved many wrong, outscoring opponents 165-79. The month of December where everyone awaits the crumble and the collapse, Romo’s play had soared, while tearing defenses apart in the month, with 12 tds and just 1 int.
 
With the defense adjustments that teams have to make when playing the Cowboys, it makes them that much more difficult to matchup with on the field. They have built a confidence, that they haven’t had in a long time in Dallas. They can rightfully have a a feeling that they can move the ball anyway they want to now.
 
Tony Romo came off off back surgery, and has had one of his best seasons ever. Think about that, a back surgery, and has thrown for 3705 yds, and 34 tds. Romo is having one of his finest seasons in his 11 year career.
 
Romo has been nothing but terrific this season, and keeping him down will be the biggest key for the opponents of the Cowboys this playoff season. Romo is the cog that keeps the starred helmets clicking on all cylinders. He did it vs Detroit, and he played just fairly, wait until he is forced to kick it in.
Written by TonyK from VegasTopDogs.com
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dallas Cowboy Fans: A Glimmer of Hope

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I texted a good friend and fellow Cowboys’ fan that if Jerry Jones drafts Johnny Manziel it would be the last straw. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life. And than it was all over. They made the right move for once. If the Cowboys drafted Johnny Manziel it would have set back this franchise to new lows. No matter what some experts say, Tony Romo is a very good QB and should have ample time to find his receivers. This however was a good draft for the Cowboys. Zack Martin was an obvious choice for me, and I’m glad the Cowboys shored up an important part to being successful. Dallas now has a very big, athletic, and versatile offensive line. Something that has been lacking in recent years. DeMarco Murray and the entire Cowboys offense should benefit this upcoming season.

Moving up to steal DE DeMarcus Lawerence early in the second round was a nice surprise and a bit ironic. He has first round talent written all over him and takes the sting out of losing DeMarcus Ware due to the salary cap. I watched Lawerence play a lot at Boise State and love his skill-set. His 20 sacks in 23 career games doesn’t tell you how good of a player Dallas got. Lawrence plays with extreme lateral quickness while also displaying a lot of power to his game. His dynamic first step and pursuit skills will translate very well to the NFL. The defense that the Cowboys play is very similar to the defense that he played in college at Boise State. His familiarity in the 4-3 defense will only help him reach his full potential faster. I see a double digit sack monster for many years to come. Great pick.

Dallas grabbed Pittsburgh WR Devin Street in the fifth round before taking Iowa LB Anthony Hitchens with its fourth round selection. Both are decent picks with Street potentially ending up as another steal. He has first round talent and should be able to contribute immediately. I like his size (6’3, 195) and willingness to do whatever it takes to help his team win. He is a very good blocker too. The Cowboys are stacked at the TE/WR position.

The Cowboys spent the rest of their draft on a bunch of lottery tickets, hoping to improve a defense that surrendered the 3rd most yards in NFL history last season. Dallas needs some of its seventh rounders to be an above average NFL player. Way before the draft, Dallas added DT Terrell McClain, DE Jeremy Mincey, and DT, Henry Melton. All three players are better than what they put out last season. Now, all the that’s left is finding the very best 11 players on defense to come together, after watching one of the worst stop units I have ever seen in 2013. I know the Cowboys will be able to score points if all healthy. On paper, it looks like the Cowboys won’t be as bad on defense, but they have a long way to go. A glimmer of hope for all Cowboy fans. Will it be another 8-8 season? Will it be better or perhaps worse? Only time will tell. So will injuries and how the ball bounces.

Written by Jeff Hochman of VegasTopDogs.com