2012 NFL Season Thread

[Kramerica Industries]

During his Cowboys tenure, Bledsoe was nothing more than a statue with real skin and a football uniform on him.

[CS85]

1. Why the hell isn't Pioli fired? No coach in the right mind wants to work under this guy.

2. Josh McDaniels is staying in New England. Guessing he's hoping to be the heir apparent once Belichick retires.

[infrared41]

Romo is one of the best QB's in the NFL, but yesterday Haslett devised the perfect game plan against Garrett and Romo. The window hasn't closed, in my opinion. The window won't close until Romo, Witten and Ware retire or until they stop playing at a high level.

The Cowboys, next season will be a damn good football team. Once we're healthy, and especially since Dez decided to become the best WR without the last name Johnson, we'll have a hell of chance at a deep postseason run.

1. No, he's really not. He's Vinny Testeverde 2.0. Romo has moments where he's really good but he'll follow that with games where he throws 3 picks and does a bunch of stupid that ends up costing his team the game. I get that you're one of the biggest homers on these boards, but at some point you need to face reality. It's not the game plans, it's not the coaches, it's not the receivers, it's that Tony Romo simply isn't as good as you think he is. If he were, he would have proven it by now. He's had seven seasons and it's been seven seasons of "it's everyone's fault but Tony's." You can only blame everything else for so long.

2. With a good draft, a new QB, and a new coaching staff, maybe. Otherwise, plan on 7-9 wins - again. "You" (the Cowboys) are stuck in the dreaded middle; not bad enough to get the necessary draft picks to get better, not good enough to be a serious championship contender. Until "you" (the Cowboys) either a.) spend a boatload of money and try to improve via free agency or b.) hit rock bottom and start over, it's 7-9/8-8/9-7 seasons for the foreseeable future.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

Romo is one of the best QB's in the NFL, but yesterday Haslett devised the perfect game plan against Garrett and Romo. The window hasn't closed, in my opinion. The window won't close until Romo, Witten and Ware retire or until they stop playing at a high level.

The Cowboys, next season will be a damn good football team. Once we're healthy, and especially since Dez decided to become the best WR without the last name Johnson, we'll have a hell of chance at a deep postseason run.

1. No, he's really not. He's Vinny Testeverde 2.0. Romo has moments where he's really good but he'll follow that with games where he throws 3 picks and does a bunch of stupid that ends up costing his team the game. I get that you're one of the biggest homers on these boards, but at some point you need to face reality. It's not the game plans, it's not the coaches, it's not the receivers, it's that Tony Romo simply isn't as good as you think he is. If he were, he would have proven it by now. He's had seven seasons and it's been seven seasons of "it's everyone's fault but Tony's." You can only blame everything else for so long.

2. With a good draft, a new QB, and a new coaching staff, maybe. Otherwise, plan on 7-9 wins - again. "You" (the Cowboys) are stuck in the dreaded middle; not bad enough to get the necessary draft picks to get better, not good enough to be a serious championship contender. Until "you" (the Cowboys) either a.) spend a boatload of money and try to improve via free agency or b.) hit rock bottom and start over, it's 7-9/8-8/9-7 seasons for the foreseeable future.

Infared, i have no disagreements with this. Once fans take the rose colored homer glasses off, this is the ugly reality with the team. The record reflects that. the play reflects that.

[dfwabel]

Why the hell isn't Pioli fired? No coach in the right mind wants to work under this guy.

Clark Hunt and team president Mark Donovan probably still need to sweep the facility for surveillance $hit Pioli put in the building.

Granted, Todd Haley (and his wife) sued McDonalds for a rat in a salad during his time in Dallas and he also seems a bit of prick but the comments of the other former Cheifs employees are too numerous to ignore.

I do love this paragraph from his initial year there:

After a while, a saying was adopted by top administrators for behavior that didn’t fit the new standards: “That’s so 2-and-14,” they would say, referring to the Chiefs’ win-loss record in 2008. This pertained to matters large and small: Stephanie Melton, who worked 11 years on the team’s operations staff, recalled Pioli’s reaction after she and a coworker, after working past midnight on a weekend, had parked a courier van in the unmarked space usually occupied by Pioli’s car. The women had forgotten to move it, and Pioli was livid the next morning. Melton said she was made to feel for several days that she’d be fired.

[Kramerica Industries]

Niners sign Billy Cundiff.

Apparently, their plan to fix their leaky kicking game is to try and find kickers who are worse than David Akers. Bravo.

[ninersdd]

Niners sign Billy Cundiff.

Apparently, their plan to fix their leaky kicking

game is to try and find kickers who are worse than David Akers. Bravo.

The same guy that missed an easy one in New England last year, and got cut by the Skins for missing like everything for them. Great! [/sarcasm]

[dbadefense1990]

Niners sign Billy Cundiff.

Apparently, their plan to fix their leaky kicking game is to try and find kickers who are worse than David Akers. Bravo.

I'd rather trust Bernie Madoff with my portfolio than trust Cundiff with a field goal.

[infrared41]

Granted, Todd Haley (and his wife) sued McDonalds for a rat in a salad during his time in Dallas and he also seems a bit of prick but the comments of the other former Cheifs employees are too numerous to ignore.

Ok then.

[Rockstar Matt]

Romo is one of the best QB's in the NFL, but yesterday Haslett devised the perfect game plan against Garrett and Romo. The window hasn't closed, in my opinion. The window won't close until Romo, Witten and Ware retire or until they stop playing at a high level.

The Cowboys, next season will be a damn good football team. Once we're healthy, and especially since Dez decided to become the best WR without the last name Johnson, we'll have a hell of chance at a deep postseason run.

1. No, he's really not. He's Vinny Testeverde 2.0. Romo has moments where he's really good but he'll follow that with games where he throws 3 picks and does a bunch of stupid that ends up costing his team the game. I get that you're one of the biggest homers on these boards, but at some point you need to face reality. It's not the game plans, it's not the coaches, it's not the receivers, it's that Tony Romo simply isn't as good as you think he is. If he were, he would have proven it by now. He's had seven seasons and it's been seven seasons of "it's everyone's fault but Tony's." You can only blame everything else for so long.

2. With a good draft, a new QB, and a new coaching staff, maybe. Otherwise, plan on 7-9 wins - again. "You" (the Cowboys) are stuck in the dreaded middle; not bad enough to get the necessary draft picks to get better, not good enough to be a serious championship contender. Until "you" (the Cowboys) either a.) spend a boatload of money and try to improve via free agency or b.) hit rock bottom and start over, it's 7-9/8-8/9-7 seasons for the foreseeable future.

1. Romo had a bad game. No doubt about it. He cost us the game on Sunday. I was just pointing that as bad as Romo played, Haslett created a great gameplan to help Romo have a bad game. He's the best the Cowboys have had since Aikman. I think they should give Romo 5 more seasons as the starter, and if he doesn't win a title by then, he will be released. However, the Cowboys should still be looking for his replacement. I'd wait a couple of seasons to do so. There aren't any great QB's coming out in the next couple of drafts and there aren't many other QB's that are better than Romo. I can think of 5 or 6. Max.

2. The Cowboys do need to improve their o-line and d-line. That is what the Cowboys need to focus on in the draft. And maybe another safety to replace Sensabuagh. One with more athletic ability perhaps. It seems like Jerry focused so much on getting great skill players, but not enough on the players who actually win football games. Linemen. With that being said, I thought the coaching staff did a great job this season. Keeping this team competitive despite the injuries. The Cowboys won't try to hit rock bottom. I can assure you that they wont try. They've drafted too many really good young players to do so. But, Jerry can and will go after high profile free-agents. He's always done so.

The reality is that the Cowboys are only a couple of key players away from being championship contenders and the players don't even need to be great, just good. Whether Romo and Garrett can lead them to the promised land is a whole other story. I'd say give them more time before putting the final nail in the coffin. It is far too soon to do so.

[dfwabel]

Since winning Super Bowl XXX (1995 season), the Cowboys are 140-141.

138-134 in the regular season.

2-7 in seven playoff appearances.

Average, just average.

Again, they have $5M less cap space for this year, meanwhile the cap will only go up $1M. Even with extending Romo and lowering his 2013 cap number, dealing with Spencer long term to avoid another Franchise Tag year to lower his number, the issues with Doug Free and possibly Miles Austin somewhat eliminate any cap savings with Romo and a resigned Spencer without restructuring other contracts at minimum.

Dez has his restructured once in March in turning a $1.45M roster bonus into part of his signing bonus, so while under contract for two more seasons under his rookie contract, an extension will clear up more cap room.

[infrared41]

1. Romo had a bad game. No doubt about it. He cost us the game on Sunday. He's the best the Cowboys have had since Aikman. I think they should give Romo 5 more seasons as the starter, and if he doesn't win a title by then, he will be released.

2. The Cowboys do need to improve their o-line and d-line. That is what the Cowboys need to focus on in the draft. And maybe another safety to replace Sensabuagh.

The reality is that the Cowboys are only a couple of key players away from being championship contenders and the players don't even need to be great, just good. Whether Romo and Garrett can lead them to the promised land is a whole other story. I'd say give them more time before putting the final nail in the coffin. It is far too soon to do so.

Wow. Talk about wearing the sea-foam green, silver, and navy colored star shaped glasses. Seriously Matt, are you watching the same Cowboys team the rest of us are?

Romo has had at least as many bad games as he has good ones - probably more. It's precisely why he's Testeverde 2.0. He's cost "you" (the Cowboys) a ton of games over his seven seasons. He's Danny White only not as good and without all the NFC title game shots. Saying Romo is the best since Aikman is like saying Sanchez is best Jets QB since Namath; he very well may be, but that doesn't mean he's any -ing good. All that means is that Romo is the best they could do since Aikman. Five more years? He's already had seven and he's done exactly nothing.

How can a team that has issues with both the O-line and the D-line, and needs a safety be "just a couple of key players away from being championship contenders?" (And those "key" players don't even need to be that good?) Sounds a lot more like a team stuck in the dreaded middle if you ask me.

Rare is the day that I use dfwabel to further a point I'm trying to make, but he hit the nail on the head. (At least I think he did. I only understood about 57% of what he was saying.) If I were you, I wouldn't plan on dropping those rival sigs and avatars in the foreseeable future.

EDIT: FWIW - My brother has been a Cowboys fan longer than you've been alive and he thinks you're nuts. His exact words were "is this guy talking about the Dallas Cowboys?"

[rams80]

Five Kansas City Chiefs made the Pro Bowl.

Now that's what I call a dedicated fanbase.

[Rockstar Matt]

Wow. Talk about wearing the sea-foam green, silver, and navy colored star shaped glasses. Seriously Matt, are you watching the same Cowboys team the rest of us are?

Romo has had at least as many bad games as he has good ones - probably more. It's precisely why he's Testeverde 2.0. He's cost "you" (the Cowboys) a ton of games over his seven seasons. He's Danny White only not as good and without all the NFC title game shots. Saying Romo is the best since Aikman is like saying Sanchez is best Jets QB since Namath; he very well may be, but that doesn't mean he's any -ing good. All that means is that Romo is the best they could do since Aikman. Five more years? He's already had seven and he's done exactly nothing.

How can a team that has issues with both the O-line and the D-line, and needs a safety be "just a couple of key players away from being championship contenders?" (And those "key" players don't even need to be that good?) Sounds a lot more like a team stuck in the dreaded middle if you ask me.

Rare is the day that I use dfwabel to further a point I'm trying to make, but he hit the nail on the head. (At least I think he did. I only understood about 57% of what he was saying.) If I were you, I wouldn't plan on dropping those rival sigs and avatars in the foreseeable future.

EDIT: FWIW - My brother has been a Cowboys fan longer than you've been alive and he thinks you're nuts. His exact words were "is this guy talking about the Dallas Cowboys?"

Yes, I'm watching the same team that blew huge leads in 2011 and the team that didn't start playing football until the 4th quarter in 2012.

The point I was trying to make about only needing a couple of players is that when the Cowboys' Phil Costa played, the offensive line drastically improved. Just one guy improved it. Sure, the Cowboys can use more good players but, only a couple good ones can improve the team drastically.

And you know my homerism runs rampant. That's the only way I know how to be a fan. To not take things too seriously and support my team with the utmost optimism. After my blow-up at the Lakers loss to the Mavs a couple of years back, I promised myself to never get to worked up over a game/team in which I have absolutely no effect over ever again. There are far more important things in life.

One of the reasons I'm a huge Romo fan is because I grew up with terrible Cowboy QB's. I remember these terrible QB's when the Cowboys were 5-11 three consecutive seasons. I remember Bledsoe when he was as movable as the Statue of Liberty. And then, as soon as Romo took over, the Cowboys were a different team. He went 13-3 in his first full season as the starter. 11-5 in his second full season and even ended the Cowboys playoff losing streak.

This guy is a good quarterback and can have successful seasons with the right talent around him. That's why I will believe in Romo until he finishes his career without a Super Bowl title. He's good enough.

I did warn you guys that I'm one of the biggest Cowboy fans you'll guys ever meet. Have I proven to be anything other than that?

Don't worry, the sigs and avatar will stay until the start of training camp. Like, I promised. Chances are they'll be up again at the end of the 2013 season as well.

[CS85]

Why the hell isn't Pioli fired? No coach in the right mind wants to work under this guy.

Clark Hunt and team president Mark Donovan probably still need to sweep the facility for surveillance $hit Pioli put in the building.

Granted, Todd Haley (and his wife) sued McDonalds for a rat in a salad during his time in Dallas and he also seems a bit of prick but the comments of the other former Cheifs employees are too numerous to ignore.

I do love this paragraph from his initial year there:

After a while, a saying was adopted by top administrators for behavior that didn’t fit the new standards: “That’s so 2-and-14,” they would say, referring to the Chiefs’ win-loss record in 2008. This pertained to matters large and small: Stephanie Melton, who worked 11 years on the team’s operations staff, recalled Pioli’s reaction after she and a coworker, after working past midnight on a weekend, had parked a courier van in the unmarked space usually occupied by Pioli’s car. The women had forgotten to move it, and Pioli was livid the next morning. Melton said she was made to feel for several days that she’d be fired.

Tack on that Clark actually recently spoke with Peyton and asked why he didn't give KC more serious consideration when he was a free agent, and Manning said it was Pioli's terrible reputation around the league. Apparently this infuriated Hunt to the point where his view on Pioli is a total 180, and considering all the damn lawsuits that invoke Pioli's name, I wouldn't expect him to be around much longer. Just gotta find a way to get out of paying Pioli remaining moneys considering how he's destroyed that franchise.

Kudos to Hunt for taking back the team, however. Nice to see top men take initiative.

[dfwabel]

Wow. Talk about wearing the sea-foam green, silver, and navy colored star shaped glasses. Seriously Matt, are you watching the same Cowboys team the rest of us are?

Romo has had at least as many bad games as he has good ones - probably more. It's precisely why he's Testeverde 2.0. He's cost "you" (the Cowboys) a ton of games over his seven seasons. He's Danny White only not as good and without all the NFC title game shots. Saying Romo is the best since Aikman is like saying Sanchez is best Jets QB since Namath; he very well may be, but that doesn't mean he's any -ing good. All that means is that Romo is the best they could do since Aikman. Five more years? He's already had seven and he's done exactly nothing.

How can a team that has issues with both the O-line and the D-line, and needs a safety be "just a couple of key players away from being championship contenders?" (And those "key" players don't even need to be that good?) Sounds a lot more like a team stuck in the dreaded middle if you ask me.

Rare is the day that I use dfwabel to further a point I'm trying to make, but he hit the nail on the head. (At least I think he did. I only understood about 57% of what he was saying.) If I were you, I wouldn't plan on dropping those rival sigs and avatars in the foreseeable future.

EDIT: FWIW - My brother has been a Cowboys fan longer than you've been alive and he thinks you're nuts. His exact words were "is this guy talking about the Dallas Cowboys?"

Yes, I'm watching the same team that blew huge leads in 2011 and the team that didn't start playing football until the 4th quarter in 2012.

The point I was trying to make about only needing a couple of players is that when the Cowboys' Phil Costa played, the offensive line drastically improved. Just one guy improved it. Sure, the Cowboys can use more good players but, only a couple good ones can improve the team drastically.

Phil Costa went out on the third play of the opening game. Returned later in the season only to miss the last ten games after dislocating his ankle. He went under the knife last week to repair it. Plus, Costa is a RFA.

The OL was in the top third in Sacks, QB hits, and Tackles for Loss.

They went 8-8 with NYG and CIN being the opponents with records over .500 they beat and only one win against a playoff team (CIN).

[BlueSky]

Weird coincidence...you may have heard of Joe Vitt, the Saints assistant who took over for Payton as interim head coach after serving a 6-game bounty suspension. And you may know that the Saints' 2012 D set a record for awfulness, surrendering more yards than any defense in NFL history. Well, that record had been held by the 1981 Colts. One of their assistant coaches was none other than Joe Vitt. Not really a distinction he likes to have I'm sure.

[Lights Out]

I think they should give Romo 5 more seasons as the starter, and if he doesn't win a title by then, he will be released.

The Giants, Eagles, and Redskins concur.

[ninersdd]

And this will be Ray Lewis' last season. Sunday could very well be his last game.

[tBBP]

And this will be Ray Lewis' last season. Sunday could very well be his last game.

If true, then in precisely five years that guy WILL be standing behind a podium at Fawcett Stadium (sp?) With a yellow jacket on and a bronze bust of his head next to him. Ain't a doubt in my mind.

(By the way, 'Red...is it still too early for that annual HoF discussion? )