The New York Giants’ defense forced six turnovers and held off the Dallas Cowboys 29-24 after blowing a 23 point lead to improve to 6-2 on the season.

On 2nd and 6 at the Giants 37 yard-line Dallas quarterback, Tony Romo dropped back and threw the ball to wideout Dez Bryant in the end-zone. Bryant caught the ball and the play was initially called a touchdown. The play was reviewed and overturned because Bryant’s hand touched out of bounds. Romo converted a first down to tight-end Jason Witten to move up to the 27 yard-line.

Romo, threw an incomplete pass to Miles Austin and was left with one second on the clock. On the final play Romo scrambled out of the pocket and threw the ball out of the back of the end-zone handing the Giants the victory.

Romo struggled early and often against the Giants. Romo completed 36-of-62 yards for a career high 437 yards one touchdown, one rushing touchdown and four interceptions. Dallas’ first four drives resulted in three interceptions. Romo’s third interception was intercepted by defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul who took it back 28 yards for seven.

Tight-end Jason Witten had a career day catching 18 passes for 167 yards. Witten’s 18 catches broke his previous team record. In addition, his 18 catches was the most by an NFL tight-end. Austin also caught nine passes for 133 yards and Bryant caught five receptions for 110 yards.

The Cowboys were unable to run the ball against the Giants front seven. They compiled 19 yards on 17 carries.

As for Eli Manning and the Giants offense they were unable to move the ball very effectively. Manning completed 15-of-29 passes for 192 yards and one interception. Wideout Ruben Randle led the receiving crew with 68 yards. Both Hakeem Nicks and tight-end Martellus Bennett caught four passes. The Cowboys secondary contained Victor Cruz limiting him to two catches for 23 yards.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw, carried the ball 22 times for 78 yards and one fumble. Also running back Andre Brown carried the ball three times for 21 yards and punched in a touchdown towards the end of the first quarter.

Giants kicker, Lawrence Tynes was a perfect 5/5 scoring 17 of the Giants 29 points. Tynes play was essential considering the Giants offense was unable to produce anything inside Cowboys territory.

Giants safety, Stevie Brown, was the defensive MVP for New York. Brown, led the team with eight tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

The victory gives the Giants an early NFC East lead with the second place Eagles and Cowboys sitting at 3-4. The Giants will look to expand their winning streak to five games next week as they welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to MetLife Stadium. As for the Cowboys they will have another tough match-up against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons.

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The Chicago Bears forced Tony Romo to throw five interception to improve to 3-1 and defeat  the Dallas Cowboys 34-18.

The Bears defense had a busy evening, forcing turnovers the entire night. Bears safety, Major Wright, had two interceptions giving him a total of three on the season, and the second best in the NFL.  Cornerback, Charles Tillman, picked off Romo in the 1st quarter and ran it back 25 yards for a touchdown. Linebacker, Lance Briggs, picked Romo off in the 3rd quarter and took it back 75 yards for another touchdown. Cornerback, D.J Moore, also had an interception. The Bears lead the NFL with a total of 11 interceptions. Bears Safety, Chris Conte, led the Bears with 11 tackles.

Romo’s five interceptions tied a career high for the Dallas quarterback. Interestingly enough, Romo’s first five interception game was back in 2007, also on Monday night. Four weeks in, and Romo currently leads the NFL with eight interceptions. Romo did throw one touchdown to wide receiver, Miles Austin. Austin finished the game with four receptions for 57 yards.

Romo’s awful performance ended late in the 4th quarter and back-up, Kyle Orton, took over. On Orton’s only drive, he completed 8-of-9 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown. Orton’s lone touchdown was too tight-end, Jason Witten; Witten finished the game with 13 receptions for 112 yards. Cowboys running back, DeMarco Murray, struggled running the ball for a third straight week. Murray had 11 carries for 24 yards. Murray was featured in the pass game, catching seven passes for 57 yards.

Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler had a season best 75% completion percentage, threw for 275 yards and had two touchdowns. After being contained under 100 receiving yards the last two weeks, Brandon Marshall caught seven passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Devin Hester caught Cutler’s first touchdown pass of the night, and Hester caught three passes for 38 yards. The Bears were delighted to welcome Matt Forte back after missing last week because of an injury. Forte had 13 carries for 52 yards.

The Bears are currently atop the NFC North Division with the Minnesota Vikings at 3-1. Chicago will be on the road again next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As for the Dallas Cowboys, they are in a three-way tie at 2-2 in the NFC East Division. Luckily for the Cowboys, they can rebuild and get things together during their bye week. The Cowboys will be back in action in Baltimore to take on the Ravens October 14th.

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Defending Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants, welcomed one of their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, to MetLife Stadium to kickoff the 2012 NFL season.

Unfortunately, the Giants did not look as good as they did last time they faced the Cowboys in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In an early defensive gridlock, the Giants took the lead in the 2nd quarter thanks to a Lawrence Tynes 22 yard field goal. Their lead did not last long: two drives later, from their own 22 yard line, the Dallas Cowboys marched right down the field. On 2nd and 5, at the Giants 10 yard line, Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo found wide receiver Kevin Ogletree for a 10 yard touchdown to help retake the lead 7-3.

Dallas started the 2nd half right where they left off. On their first drive, once again Romo connected with Ogletree for a 40 yard touchdown to put the Cowboys up 14-3. Eli Manning and the New York Giants jumped right back into it on their first possession. Manning drove from his own 11 yard line to the Cowboys 10, where Ahmad Bradshaw punched in a 10 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 4 points. Dallas extended their lead back to 7, toward the end of the 3rd quarter with a Dan Bailey 33 yard field goal.

Dallas extended the lead even further after the Giants failed to drive down the field and were forced to punt. Starting at their own 18, running back DeMarco Murray started picking apart the Giants defense with his quick and explosive runs. At the Giants own 34 yard line, Romo was quick to realize the defensive mismatch, and connected with wideout Miles Austin for a touchdown.

With little time left, and down by 14, the Giants converted two key 4th down attempts to stay in the game. At the Cowboys own 9 yard line, Manning dropped back and connected with ex Cowboy Martellus Bennet. However, it just was not enough after Dallas converted on 3rd and 10. Romo kneeled the Cowboys to a 24-17 victory.

Romo finished the game with 307 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a quarterback rating of 129.5. In what is going to be a pressure-filled season for Romo, he certainly did not let it effect him week 1. As for Dallas’ run game, Murray averaged 6.6 yards per carry and rushed for 131 yards. Ogletree led all receivers with 8 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was evident that Romo took advantage of the Giants banged up secondary.

Defensively for the Cowboys,  linebacker Sean Lee stole the show and had 12 tackles as well as one forced fumble. In addition, defensive menace DeMarcus Ware hit the 100 sack milestone and is the 28th player in NFL history to do so after his 5 tackles and two sacks against the Giants.

As for the Giants, Manning finished the game off with 213 yards and one touchdown. Bradshaw led the giants in rushing, compiling 78 yards on the ground and on touchdown. As for their receiving core, Victor Cruz led all Giants receivers with 6 receptions and 58 yards. Cruz could have easily bumped his stat sheet but dropped a few passes.

The Giants have some serious concern regarding their secondary. An already injured battered secondary became worse after: Michael Coe got injured in the 2nd half. Coe was already replacing injured corner Prince Amukamara. The Giants had no choice but to put in 5th year defensive back Justin Tryon. If the Giants do not get healthy quickly, many teams will pick them apart via passing game.

Both the Cowboys and the Giants will be back in action Sunday, September 16. The Cowboys will be on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. As for the Giants, they are hoping to bounce back next week when they welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to MetLife Stadium.

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The role of the back-up quarterback is one of the least envied positions in all of sports. Performing well enough in practice to displace the current incumbent is extremely rare (unless of course your name is Tim Tebow) and the back-up usually spends much of the season sitting on the bench, preparing for an event that is unlikely to ever come calling.

That being said, there are cases every season when the unlikely does come calling and an untested rookie gets a shot at making himself a star, or an over the hill veteran gets one last chance at glory. The relative heroics of Matt Moore, T. J. Yates and Tebow last season have cast some light on a previously unheralded position and as such we have compiled a list of the back-up quarterbacks most likely to make an impact this season.

1. Jason Campbell – Chicago Bears

Campbell signing with the Bears was one of the more surprising off season moves this year, effectively co-signing himself to second string behind Jay Cutler. When you look at the multitude of teams in the NFL struggling at the quarterback position, a move to Jacksonville or Miami (Ryan Tannehill could definitely do with a season learning the game before being thrust into the limelight) would have made far more sense given that Campbell has the quality to start in this league).

That being said, Cutler’s absence due to a broken thumb last season cost the Bears their place in the playoffs, with deputy Caleb Hanie leading Chicago to five straight defeats. If a similar situation were to occur this year, Campbell would arguably provide a much more efficient option, and with the Bears looking stronger on offense, it could make a significant contribution if called upon.

2. Tavaris Jackson – Seattle Seahawks

There is no guarantee Jackson will actually be the back-up, with Pete Carroll currently splitting snaps equally between Jackson, Matt Flynn and rookie Russell Wilson. Stranger things have happened in the NFL, but it is unlikely that the Seahawks will pay Flynn $26 million over three years for him to be a back-up, and whilst Wilson is a great prospect, he is not yet ready to start in the NFL. Wilson could well be the long term solution for the Seahawks at the position, but a role as a back-up will give him a great chance to flourish by learning from two quarterbacks as contrasting as Flynn and Jackson.

Jackson is a good quarterback, certainly not elite, but still good. Given that Flynn has started just two professional games, both of which he was surrounded by the supercharged Green Bay Packers’ offense, his credentials have yet to be confirmed at this level. Should things turn sour for him in Seattle, you could see Carroll reinstating Jackson to the starting spot by the middle of the season as they look to return to play-off contention in one of the weaker divisions in the NFL.

3. Kyle Orton – Dallas Cowboys

In my opinion, Tony Romo is an underrated quarterback. If you could cut out his high-profile errors then he would arguably be rubbing shoulders with the league’s elite quarterbacks. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans however, it doesn’t seem too likely that that is going to happen. Given that Romo is now 32, and supposedly at his peak, it is hard to imagine him improving his game dramatically enough to push himself into the upper echelons.

Orton certainly didn’t have the best time in Denver last season, but being in pole position ahead of Tebow is definitely not an enviable position (take note Mark Sanchez). Should Romo continue to hurt his teams’ chances with self-inflicted errors, how long is it before the Dallas faithful start calling for Orton to start? A refreshing role-reversal for Orton certainly.

4. Tim Tebow – New York Jets

It would be impossible to leave Tebow out of this list for numerous reasons, but perhaps most fittingly because he inspired it. Similarly to Campbell, there were calls from the Tebow faithful to explore the chances of a move to the Jaguars or Dolphins in an attempt to start, but ultimately the Broncos and Tebow found the right deal in New York.

As if the media hype surrounding Tebow last season wasn’t enough, the media circus that is in New York City will do nothing but fan the flames of ‘Tebowmania.’ Throw into the mix an under-performing starting quarterback in Mark Sanchez and you have all the ingredients for another season of drama for Tebow.

Sanchez is rightfully the starting quarterback for the Jets, he is young and was showing signs of being a successful franchise quarterback for ‘Gang Green’ but a terrible 2011 season has raised a lot of questions about the long-term future of Sanchez. A new three-year contract seemed to answer the multitude of these, but the arrival of the iconic Tebow caused them to resurface more quickly than Sanchez had hoped for.

Jets’ fans will be hoping that the arrival of Tebow has two equally important effects for a team who consider themselves play-off contenders. First, they hope that the increased pressure on Sanchez will bring the best out of the young man (although many have already condemned him to crumbling under the pressure), and second, that the unifying presence of Tebow will help bring peace to a tumultuous locker room.

One thing is certain; all eyes will be on Sanchez this season. Just one bad game from the quarterback and, perhaps unfairly, Jets’ fans, the media, and possibly even Sanchez’s teammates will all be calling for Tebow to start. In the case of Sanchez, it is perhaps far less enviable to be the starting quarterback, the ‘Tebow Savior’ headlines are probably already being printed in New York.

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With the Giants defeating the Jets just moments after this game started, one would have expected the Eagles to be the team that would play uninspired football after their playoff hopes had diminished. Ironically enough, the Cowboys, who at the very least could have played for the sake of guaranteeing a better seed than the Falcons, were the team who did not show up. One can easily point towards Tony Romo’s injury early in the first quarter, sidelining him for the remainder of the game, but the real reasons for the loss leave plenty to be concerned about.

Going into the game, the match up that was likely to be the most critical was the Cowboys’ tackle tandem of Doug Free and Tyron Smith vs. the Eagles’ DEs Trent Cole and Jason Babin. Being able to keep these two pass rushers in check is what was going to allow the Cowboys to rely on the deep ball in order to expose the poor safety play that has plagued the Eagles all season long. Unfortunately, both Smith and Free had their hands full for seemingly every play.

While Stephen McGee did not play badly considering he was under duress for a majority of the game, the lack of pass protection is ultimately what led to his being unable to let the deep routes develop. It obviously did not help that the Cowboys were unable to establish any type of threat on the ground as the ancient Sammy Morris managed just 29 yards on 13 carries.

An Air Coryell offense like Jason Garrett’s is the type of offense that needs a decent running game and good pass protection to work. As much as this may be true for any type of offense, it is especially so with an offense like Jason Garrett’s, since the Coryell offensive system relies on stretching the defense with the running game in order to open up vertical passing lanes.

Without any type of running game the defense will never feel obligated to stack eight in the box at the expense of being vulnerable to deep passes (a staple to Garrett’s offense being effective). Lack of pass protection will without a doubt, make it very difficult for deep routes to develop, and as such both, elements of the Cowboys’ offense were rendered ineffective. Ultimately, this is the reason that the Cowboys struggled to move the ball on Saturday.

On the defensive side of the ball the Cowboys seemed to be favoring a lot of zone coverage, as Rob Ryan often likes to do. Unfortunately, there were several instances in which various defenders looked completely lost, which is a recipe for disaster for a zone defense. Often times a receiver would be passed off only for someone to blow the coverage, while other times it would appear as if nobody in the secondary even knew what they were supposed to do.

While the Cowboys did do a half decent job at getting pressure, they did not do quite good enough in order to contain an elusive, mobile QB like Michael Vick. As a result, Vick was able to expose all of the poor discipline by the Cowboys’ defense whenever they were in zone. This would prove to be so effective for the Eagles that anyone who watched the game would completely forget that the Cowboys managed to contain LeSean McCoy in the running game.

The lopsided nature of this game is of course bad for the Cowboys’ momentum going in to next week’s game against the Giants for the NFC East divisional title. However, the concerns that arise from this game transcend both momentum as well as Tony Romo having to play next week with an injured hand. There are also question marks surrounding Rob Ryan’s ability as a defensive coordinator due to the inconsistent play of the defense in recent weeks.

Even if Ryan is not the one who deserves the blame, the quality of the talent that the Cowboys have on defense contributes to these concerns. Lastly, it remains to be seen whether or not Doug Free and Tyron Smith will be able to keep Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck in next week’s game, especially after the poor job they did at protecting Stephen McGee on Saturday.

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After back-to-back heartbreaking losses, Tony Romo and the Cowboys weren’t going to leave this one to chance.

Four Romo touchdowns on the team’s first five drives easily propelled Dallas to a 31-15 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday night. The Dallas quarterback looked as focused as ever during one of his best performances on the year.

“I was just finding guys who were open and the guys do the rest,” said Romo. “I thought the offense played good as a whole.”

At 8-6 the Cowboys now control their own destiny in the NFC East. Wins over the Eagles and Giants over the last two weeks would earn them a postseason berth as division champions.

And while all is good and well for America’s team, things could not be any worse for the Buccaneers (the Bucs). The loss was Tampa Bay’s eighth in a row, dropping their record to 4-10 after an impressive 4-2 start. The losing streak has head coach Raheem Morris on the hot seat just one year removed from a 10-6 season.

The players openly acknowledged a sense of fear for Morris’ future before the kickoff. With playoff aspirations long gone, they admitted that their main motivation to finally win lay in protecting his job.

A 25 yard third down run by Josh Freeman on the game’s opening drive created the immediate positive atmosphere that the players have been searching for so desperately. However, that enthusiasm lasted for literally less than a minute.

With no one open, Freeman ran up the middle once again on the next play. As he went into his slide, Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer chased him down from behind and punched the ball loose. Bradie James would recover Tampa Bay’s league-leading 32^nd turnover for Dallas at their 44 line yard.

Romo would then lead a 7 play drive that ended with a scrambling 8 yard touchdown throw to Miles Austin to give the Cowboys an early 7-0 lead. Austin showed great fight as he out-wrestled Tampa safety Sean Jones for the ball all the way to the ground.

The Bucs offense was unable to rebound for the remainder of the first half. Not only were they shut out, but they also couldn’t attain a single first down following Freeman’s opening drive run.

While Tampa was completely inefficient offensively over the first 30 minutes, Dallas was the exact opposite. The Cowboys went into halftime with a 28-0 lead behind three Romo touchdown passes and one rushing score.

Romo’s second touchdown was an 8 yard throw to Dez Bryant that capped off a 10 play, 69 yard drive. He would then lead a 64 yard drive in the second quarter that ended with a 9 yard touchdown throw to Laurent Robinson. And with 20 seconds remaining in the half, Romo called his own number to finish off a 62 yard drive with a one yard touchdown run.

Romo looked nearly perfect during the first half. He completely cut up the Bucs defense, going 18-22 for 189 yards. With the luxury of a big lead, he took it rather easily in the second half. He was not responsible for any more touchdowns and his final line read 23-30 for 249 yards.

“I thought he just had a good feel for what we were doing against what they were doing,” said coach Jason Garrett. “I thought he got back quickly and got the ball out of his hands, and when he had to move and make plays, he was able to do that too. He made a lot of big plays and not many bad plays.”

Freeman’s night was a completely different story. He passed for only 14 yards in the first half and had a total of just 148 yards through the air going 17-27 with one touchdown toss.

Tampa Bay tried to get back into the game after opening the second half with a strip-sack of Romo that was recovered by linebacker Dekoda Watson and run back 4 yards for a touchdown. Following a Dallas field goal, the Bucs were able to make it a two possession game thanks to a touchdown catch by Dezmon Briscoe and a successful two point conversion to cut the lead to 31-15 with 23 seconds remaining in the third, but the Cowboys held the Bucs scoreless in the fourth and held on to win by the same score.

Tampa Bay will now look to end the losing streak in Carolina next week, while the Cowboys will continue their playoff push hosting Philadelphia.

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The Miami Dolphins (3-8) and Dallas Cowboys (7-4) played what turned out to be a highly competitive game on Thanksgiving 2011, as Dallas edged Miami 20-19 on the game’s final play. Both teams entered on three game win streaks entering this one, and neither of them wanted theirs to end.

Two Tony Romo interceptions in the first quarter to Dolphins’ cornerbacks Vontae Davis and Sean Smith gave Miami excellent field position, first to their own 42, then to the Dallas 26. However, the Cowboys defense stood their ground and only surrendered a field goal off those turnovers.

The takeaways were certainly a rarity for Miami, who entered the game ranked 31^st in the league in the department with just eight all season. What made them even more surprising was that Romo had gone 128 consecutive throws without an interception until his first on Thursday.

Dallas was extremely effective on the ground early on, as running back DeMarco Murray continued in his recent success accumulating 51 rushing yards over his first ten carries of the game. And despite becoming a non-factor during the middle of the game, Murray was able to gain significant yardage once again on the final drive of the game. Miami maintained its 3-0 lead until a 47 yard missed field goal attempt by Dolphins’ kicker Dan Bailey in the second quarter set up Dallas at its own 38, and eventually led to a Cowboys’ field goal.

Both sides struggled in the first half to finish off drives, even after beginning with good field position. With the exception of the Romo turnovers at the beginning of the game, drives were ending with either field goals or punts. This was the case until Dolphins’ quarterback Matt Moore fumbled a shotgun snap near his own end zone, which was recovered by the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware at the 4 with about a minute remaining in the half.

Romo proceeded to throw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Laurent Robinson on a play action fake, making this his fifth straight game with a touchdown reception. It also gave Dallas a 10-3 lead, their first of the game, with 55 seconds remaining in the first half. The Cowboys aspired to go into the tunnel with their one touchdown lead, but Miami added another field goal to end the half and cut the deficit to 10-6.

The second quarter ended quite strangely in comparison to the way the rest of the first half was played. The teams combined to score ten points over the final 61 seconds of the half after only putting up a total of only six over the first 58 minutes and 59 seconds.

Matt Moore led his team out of the locker room on a 70 yard drive, but had to settle for yet another field goal to cut the lead to 10-9. But after forcing a punt they finally got the ball into the end zone to acquire a 17-10 lead after a five play, 74 yard drive concluded with an outstanding 35 yard over the shoulder touchdown reception by wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was also interfered with on the play.

Tony Romo then decided that it was his turn. The Cowboys covered 77 yards and concluded their drive with another touchdown reception by Robinson to begin the fourth quarter. This one went for 18 yards and gave Dallas a 17-16 lead. The Dolphins then regained the lead with another field goal with 7:14 remaining after starting at their own 19.

Dallas was forced to punt on the following drive, but got the ball back with 2:59 remaining after their defense forced one of their own. The drive began at the Dallas 36 after a 19 yard return from Dez Bryant. The Cowboys handed the ball off to Murray who had some solid carries to put his team into field goal range after a 23 yard completion from Romo to tight end Jason Witten.

Miami ran out of timeouts and Dallas called one with three seconds remaining at the 11 yard line, setting up a 28 yard field goal attempt for rookie kicker Dan Bailey. Bailey, who had made 24 consecutive attempts coming into this one, drilled it right down the middle as time expired to give Dallas a 20-19 victory.

With the victory, Dallas moves into first place in the NFC East after beginning the season just 3-4. Miami, the polar opposite, is one week closer to a great 2012 first round draft pick.

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To the typical NFL fan, Thanksgiving traditions, such as eating turkey and rejoicing in familial love, will always fall short of watching the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys host back-to-back games at their respective stadiums.

This year’s match-ups managed not to disappoint as the Lions and their undefeated division Packers rival remained scoreless throughout most of the first half before the Packers began to break the game open shortly after halftime Aaron Rodgers had no problem picking apart a depleted Lions secondary, which was missing one of its starting cornerbacks, as well as a very underrated safety in Louis Delmas.

Due to the relatively one-sided nature of this game, the main story line that came along with it mostly pertains to Ndamukong Suh’s ejection. As most people know by now, Suh’s ejection came after aggressively stomping Packers linemen Evan Dietrich-Smith shortly after the play had ended.

The first thing most people would think upon seeing this is that it certainly is not the first time that Suh has been involved in an incident with an opposing player, leading one to question if he can ever learn from his mistakes.

However, what makes the incident even more absurd is that it happened just days after Sports Center ran a segment reporting that he and Lions running back, Jahvid Best, donated equipment to a high school football team that had all of their equipment stolen.

This was certain to come off as an attempt to clean up Suh’s image after he had previously established himself as one of the NFL’s dirtiest players. However, after his ejection on Thanksgiving, he has clearly cemented himself into the the dreaded thug stereotype.

The odd thing about this is, disregarding Suh’s on-the-field shenanigans, he actually appears to be a well-spoken person in interviews and press conferences.  Yet, for whatever reason, the intensity that goes along with being a defensive tackle in the NFL seems to overcome him whenever he is on the field.

With this in mind, it now remains to be seen whether or not Ndamukong Suh can truly clean up his image or if his reputation is a product of some sort of compulsive behavior that he is incapable of controlling.

Moving on to the Cowboys-Dolphins game afterwards, the excitement came down to the last second of the game. Both offenses struggled early on with two early interceptions from Tony Romo, who was able to rebound significantly throughout the rest of the game, in addition to DeMarco Murray having yet another solid performance despite the poor run blocking from the offensive line.

Despite this rebound, the Cowboys secondary had a difficult time keeping Matt Moore in check throughout the second half of the game after holding them to just 6 points at halftime. The Dolphins’ first touchdown drive came after Terence Newman committed a pass interference penalty, which involved Newman practically strangling Brandon Marshall on a pass which placed the ball on the 1 yard line.

While Terence Newman certainly showed that his speed is not what it used to be on that particular play, he should take no blame for the decision to commit what appeared to be a deliberate penalty. Brandon Marshall clearly had Newman beat on the play with Abram Elam being fairly slow to provide help over the top.

This eventually proved to be a microcosm for the Cowboys’ second half struggles on the back end. Even after the Cowboys answered back with a touchdown of their own to take a 17-16 lead, Abram Elam managed to commit a penalty of his own to keep the Dolphins’ ensuing drive alive.

It obviously did not help that Orlando Scandrick and Alan Ball were both having some difficulty covering the Dolphins’ receivers, which led to a field goal that gave the Dolphins a late 4th quarter lead. After this happened, the outcome of the game became dependent on which Tony Romo would decide to show up, the mentally tough-clutch version or the reputed choker.

Luckily, for the Cowboys, Romo made some key throws in the face of pressure to put the Cowboys in field goal range before Dan Bailey made a last second field goal to give the Cowboys a relieving one point win over the Dolphins.

Although the win puts the Cowboys in first place of the NFC East, there is obviously some area of concern such as the aforementioned secondary woes. Terence Newman has not aged quite as well as anyone would have liked, while Scandrick and Ball are both average cornerbacks at best.

A game in which a quarterback such as Matt Moore was able to have a great statistical performance is, without question, something that should only highlight these issues, even in spite of the victory.

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Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys offense looks like its back to full power and with a solid defense the Cowboys are looking strong. They dominated the Bills in more than convincing fashion with a 44-7 victory. With the Cowboys schedule getting even easier, Tony Romo torched the Bills defense on their first four series all ending in touchdowns.

Terence Newman added two interceptions, one which he ran back for the score and the Cowboys cruised to victory. This was the second straight victory for Dallas who moves to 5-4 and one game behind the Giants. The difference is the Giants have one of the hardest remaining schedules and the Cowboys have one of the easiest. The Cowboys next three opponents have a combined record of 6-18.

“We needed a game like this,” tight end Jason Witten said. “This needs to be the foundation of what lies ahead for this team.” This marks the most points scored by a Cowboys team since 2007 when now-coach Jason Garrett had his first game as offensive coordinator.

The Cowboys have been benefiting from more balance on offense and much of that is thanks to the emergence of rookie running back DeMarco Murray. He rushed for 135 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown while contributing 35 yards receiving on 6 catches out of the backfield.

Murray has been helping to create space in the secondary by creating problems for opposing defenses. ”They can’t load the box on us and they can’t double-team wide receivers,” Murray said. This was the first game Romo played without a special vest protection for the broken rib he suffered back in Week 2.

Romo put the Cowboys up 21-0 with a 34 yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, and a 58 and 5 yard passes to Laurent Robinson. He hit on his first 13 throws and finished 23 of 26 and 270 yards. His completion percentage, 88.5, set a franchise record for a single game. Though the offense was somewhat shutdown after those first scoring drives, they protected the lead with no interceptions from Romo and the offensive line doing their job and allowing no sacks for the second straight week.

“We are learning a little bit about who we are and what we can do and what we are capable of doing,” Romo said. Dallas handed Buffalo its second straight beat down and third loss in four games. They didn’t do much right in this game and need to turn things around quickly to stay in the playoff hunt.

We will regroup and continue to work to get better,” Gailey said. “But you have to go do it. Nobody’s going to give you anything in this league.” Ryan Fitzpatrick had another forgettable day. He was 20 of 31 for 146 yards a touchdown and three interceptions. The touchdown was a 3 yarder to David Nelson. The Bills were only able to convert 2 of 7 on third down.

After signing his new 6 year $59 million contract Fitzpatrick has had two bad games. ”We put in some good practice time and really thought we’d come out here and play well,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s hard to even think ahead right now because of how embarrassing that loss was.”

The Cowboys forced four total turnovers getting a fumble from Jackson, his second of the season. The lone bright spot was Jackson who racked up 114 yards on 13 carries. The Bills look to turn things around and avoid three straight losses with a trip to Miami next Sunday to face the Dolphins who are suddenly the winners of two straight, while the Cowboys head to Washington to face the Redskins losers of five straight.

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The Dallas Cowboys were able to capitalize on their scoring chances in the second quarter to get the 23-13 victory on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, securing their fourth win of the season. The stars of the game were in the kicking teams, with most of the points in the game coming off the boots of Cowboys Dan Bailey and Seattle’s Steven Hauschka.

Bailey was the first to score for Dallas, putting a 20-yard field goal through the uprights with five minutes left in the first quarter. Hauschka tied up the game with a 45-yard field goal for Seattle with four seconds left in the first quarter. The second quarter ended just like the first, with Bailey and Hauschka kicking field goals to keep the game tied at six points going into the second half.

The only touchdown to happen in the third quarter came off a 33-yard pass from Tony Romo to Jason Witten to give Dallas a seven point lead going into the fourth quarter. Laurent Robinson caught a six yard pass from Tony Romo five minutes into the fourth quarter, giving the Cowboys a 20-6 lead. Bailey kicked a 42-yard field goal two minutes later, giving him a total of 11 points for the game.

The Seahawks had the final say in the game with Marshawn Lynch running four yards for a touchdown with six minutes left in the game. With their fourth win of the season, the Cowboys are still questionable as to whether they will make the postseason. ”You can’t just hover around .500,” tight end Jason Witten said in an interview with Fox Sports. ”You need to make a run and make a push to stay in the hunt.”

The Cowboys (4-4) stay at home to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, with the Seattle Seahawks (2-6) travelling back home to welcome the Baltimore Ravens.

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The Philadelphia Eagles controlled the game on Sunday through offensive and defensive standouts, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 7-34. The Eagles’ defense was able to stop any opportunities the Cowboys had in the rushing game; Dallas made ten rushing attempts for a total of 85 yards.

This was mostly due to the efforts made by Eagles defense Jamar Chaney and Asante Samuel, who made a total of 10 tackles throughout the game on the Dallas offense. The Eagles used their rushing attack effectively throughout the game to move the ball up field for scoring chances; Lesean McCoy ran for a total of 185 yards on 30 attempts for two touchdowns.

Quarterback Michael Vick also carried the ball on several runs, going for a total of 50 yards on seven attempts. The passing game was where Dallas fell short during the game. Quarterback Tony Romo threw for 203 yards on 18 completed catches, along with throwing for one touchdown and one interception.

Receiver Laurent Robinson made the touchdown catch, getting 103 yards in the game off of 5 receptions. Vick helped carry the team on to victory, throwing 28 passes all together for a total of 279 yards and two touchdowns. Receivers Brent Celek and Jeremy Maclin both caught touchdown passes, adding up for a total of 148 yards off of ten receptions.

Kicker Alex Henery also provided points for the Philadelphia victory, kicking two field goals and four extra points for a total of 10 points in the game. The Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) face off at home against the Chicago Bears on Monday, November 7th, while the Dallas Cowboys (3-4) travel back home to welcome the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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The Dallas Cowboys came out of the game against the St. Louis Rams with an easy 34-7 win, with the help of rookie running back DeMarco Murray. Murray, backup for starter Felix Jones, ran for a franchise record of 253 yards, including a 91 yard touchdown at the beginning of the game on Sunday.

Murray’s touchdown was the second-longest touchdown in the history of the Cowboys, second only to Tony Dorsett’s 99-yard touchdown, which holds the NFL record. The Cowboys (3-3) end their two game losing streak with help from quarterback Tony Romo, who threw 14 for 24 and two touchdowns to Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

A performance like this would be expected against a team like St. Louis, who has the worst defense against the run in the NFL, allowing 163 yards per game. The only points received by the Rams were due to a rushing touchdown by Steven Jackson. St. Louis quarterback A.J. Feeley threw 20 of 33 for 196 yards and one interception.

The Rams (0-6) were not even able to stop fourth-string running back Phillip Tanner from running a 35 yard drive for a touchdown after Murray was taken out of the game with an injury. The Cowboys travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday, while the St. Louis Rams go back home to face the New Orleans Saints.

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With your team down by three with under two minutes left to go, who would you rather have leading your team down the field than Tom Brady? That’s exactly what happened in Sunday’s game as Brady stepped onto the field with only one thing on his mind; “You can’t not get the ball in the end zone.”

And Brady did just that, finding Aaron Hernandez in the endzone with 22 seconds left on the clock to give the Patriots a close win over the Dallas Cowboys and moving the team to 5-1 and back atop the AFC East with Buffalo losing.

This was Brady’s 32^nd comeback in games where the Patriots trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter, so it’s nothing new for Pats fans or the fans of teams playing them. The fact that he was able to do it against the fourth overall defense in the NFL, who had been stifling the Patriot offense all day, says something about Brady.

“When you’re playing against a quarterback like Tom Brady, he’s going to go down as one of the all-time greats,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “So you have to try to make it hard on him.”

Dallas did a good job all day of making things difficult for Brady as they had an extra week to prepare coming off a bye week. He was sacked three times, two by DeMarcus Ware who now has seven through five games, and picked off twice, but Brady turned it up on that last drive going 8 for 9 with 78 yards and the game winning score.

This wasn’t the best game for the Patriots as they had four turnovers, but they still found a way to pull out a victory. Brady finished 27 of 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

Dallas fell to 2-3 behind an okay game from Tony Romo who was 27 of 41 for 317 yards 1 TD and 1 Int. The Cowboys broke the tie with 5:13 left and after a Patriots punt decided to run the ball three times, only gaining 5 yards and punted right back.

Welker, who entered the day as the leagues’ leading receiver, was held to 6 catches for 45 yards, but three of those catches came in that final drive none bigger than his last which put the ball at the 8 yard line. That’s when Brady found Hernandez in one on one coverage and zipped a pass to him for the winning score.

“This is probably, as a whole, one of our worst performances as an offense,” Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch said. “It’s times like this when we show what we’re made of — that last drive.”

All things aside the Patriots are right where they were expected to be, heading into their bye week at a 5-1 mark. Things don’t get easier for the Patriots after the bye though as they travel to Pittsburgh and then face the Giants at home.

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In the Monday night football game against the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboy star Tony Romo was outfitted with special Kevlar lined pads to protect his ailing ribs. Romo had to resort to wearing the pads after suffering a broken rib and a punctured lung. Romo’s injuries were caused by taking a brutal hit from San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks in Week 2.

The special pads were designed and developed by Unequal Technologies, and this was not the first time that the company has designed pads for an NFL quarterback. Last year Unequal Technologies mocked up similar types of pads for Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick after he damaged his rib cartilage in a game.

The material the pads are created with are reported to be five times stronger than steel and they are the no. 1 shock suppression material in the world, according to Unequal Technologies. However, there is some validity to the statements made by Unequal Technologies. On CBS’ The NFL Today Show, Dan Marino swung a bat at Boomer Esiason, as he shielded himself using some of the protective material.

While Boomer did feel the impact of the strike, he was able to walk away, unharmed. Albeit Marino’s shot was more on the side of an overly aggressive love tap than a full out swing, the material gave Boomer the willingness to be hit in the ribs with a baseball bat and not have any regrets about his decision.

The Kevlar pads obviously provide an extra layer of a protection, and the question that should be on every players lips is why these haven’t become league standard. The pads should not just become standard for QB’s, but for every player who gets on the field. In 2010 30 percent of all NFL players had to miss a game due to injury according to the NFLPA.

Jason Witten, the Cowboys star tight end, was also fitted with a pair of the pads for Monday night’s game so he could return to the football action early. Unequal Technologies’ creation could prevent some of these injuries from happening or from becoming a serious issue. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been quoted as saying “One of our most important priorities is protecting our players…”

It is encouraging to hear that from Commissioner Goodell , but first a plan of attack needs to be form to tackle the issue of lower body padding. The NFL doesn’t mandate that players wear knee and thigh pads, but does recommend the idea. As a result players, mostly running backs, tend to ignore the recommendation and choose not to wear lower pads.

It is believed by players they can obtain faster speeds quicker and for longer without the hindrance of bulky lower pads.  Without pads on the lower extremities chances of players getting injured are increased; this plays a part in why running backs are habitually sidelined for weeks at a time.

While there has been talk by league offices to enforce players to wear the lower padding, at the moment nothing has come to fruition. However the NFL should receive some credit because addressing the issue is a crucial first step on the path to maximum player safety.

With any luck in the near future, when players suit up on Sunday’s they will be covered from head to toe in best padding, even if that padding just happens to be made of Kevlar
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It was an emotional day for all of America with the opening Sunday of football falling on the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. There was no bigger game Sunday that that between America’s team the Dallas Cowboys and the new kings of New York the Jets. Both teams with Super Bowl ambitions started their long quest to obtain a ring with a thrilling game.

The Cowboys came out firing on all cylinders marching right down the field on the opening drive making the Jets defense look like a practice squad.  The Jets had trouble covering TE Jason Witten all game who torched them for 110 yards and CB Antonio Cromartie didn’t have his best game getting beaten twice for both the Cowboys passing touchdowns.

The Jets offense led by Mark Sanchez got off to a real slow start, which unfortunately is becoming a regular thing, and were virtually useless until a good two minute drill to end the 1^st half was capped by a 4 yard pass from Sanchez to Dustin Keller for the score. The “ground n pound” that has run the Jets offense was non-existent as newly appointed feature back Shonn Greene only rushed 10 times for 26 yards, yet Sanchez had 44 attempts.

The Jets defense kept them in the game as best they could, but the Jets found themselves down by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter and it was looking like the Cowboys would come into MetLife stadium and steal a win from a Super Bowl contender on a day where everyone was honoring New York.

The Jets fighting to stay in it put together a nice quick drive down the field capped by another Sanchez touchdown this time finding new wide receiver Plaxico Burress for a 26 yard pass. This was Burress’ first game since spending two years in jail on a weapons possession charge and his first touchdown which cut the defecit to 7.

Burress would finish the game with 4 catches for 72 yards and the 1 score a respectable game for his first game back. Then on a punt RB Joe McKnight who has been scrapping to find anyway to stay in the good graces of the organization was able to get free in the middle and made a diving one handed block on a punt causing the ball to bounce backwards.

It was picked up by unlikely hero CB Isaiah Trufant who was the 46^th man of the 46 man roster and was promoted from the practice squad Saturday and he ran it into the end zone to tie the game up at 24. With the Jets missing an opportunity to drive down the field for the winning score Tony Romo and the Cowboys had the chance to do the same thing.

Then Romo broke the one rule that just about every QB in the league abides by. He threw the ball to Darrelle Revis’ side of the field and ended up stranded on Revis Island. A great play call baited Romo into throwing to his side thinking there was man to man coverage on a blitz and Revis was right there for his first interception since his pick against the Chargers in the playoffs two years ago.

He returned the pick to the Cowboys’ 34. A few plays later K Nick Folk got revenge against the team that cut him two years ago nailing a 50 yard field goal which sealed an improbable comeback victory by the Jets for their first win of the season in dramatic fashion. This was a game every bit as dramatic as the day in which it was held on and the Jets are flying high as they prepare for their Week 2 opponent the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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This action packed game came down to the wire. The game started with a special tribute for the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 and was followed up by chants of “USA”. The Jets had the honor of starting this home game in remembrance of 9/11 over the Giants so the pressure was on for gang green.

The Cowboys came down and scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game. Dallas QB Tony Romo threw a three yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant for the score. After that touchdown, the next touchdown wouldn’t come until the last drive of the first half when Mark Sanchez got hot for the Jets and found TE Dustin Keller with a four yard touchdown pass. Dallas led at halftime with the score 10-7.

The Cowboys looked like they were going to take over the game when Tony Romo threw up a jump ball to WR Miles Austin and he came up with it over CB Antonio Cromarite for the score, making it 17-10. The 3^rd quarter would end when Mark Sanchez threw an interception to Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee. He took the ball all the way down to the one yard line.

Felix Jones punched in the ball from the one yard line and made the score 24-10 to start the 4^th quarter. Never in Cowboys history have they lost a game in where they led by 14 or more points in the 4^th quarter. They were 241-0-1 all time.

Jets started gaining some momentum as Mark Sanchez was finding WR Plaxico Burress late. Burress capped a 7 play, 84 yard drive with a 26 yard back shoulder touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to cut the lead to 24-17. Tony Romo would come right back with a 64 yard pass to TE Jason Witten setting up first and goal at the Jets three. Although that wasn’t the big play, the big play was Jets SS Jim Leonard stopping Witten from getting into the end zone as he caught up to him and knocked him out of bounds before he was able to score the touchdown.

Three plays later, on third and goal, DE Mike DeVito sacked and forced a fumble on Romo and the Jets would recover. No touchdown, no field goal, and no score for the Cowboys. With 5:08 left and Dallas’ ball and 4^th and 22, they would bring on the punting unit. With MetLife Stadium rocking, Isaiah Trufant returned a block punt 18 yards for the game tying score.

The defenses would not be forgotten as LB Anthony Spencer sacked Mark Sanchez and gave the Cowboys a chance to win it. With less than a minute to go and Dallas’ ball, Tony Romo gets intercepted by Darelle Revis. Four plays and two yards later it would set up a game winning 50 yard field goal by Nick Folk. The Jets would go on to win 27-24.

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