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| ESPN.com |
Joe and Troy with the call for Fox and the world-weary-looking Peter Morelli calling out the penalties.
FIRST QUARTER
Joe lets us assume Dallas won the coin toss, as they're receiving. Detroit run-blitzes and holds Demarco Murray to 1 on the opening carry. Romo gets a ton of time to throw on 2nd down and hits Dez Bryant on a cross; Rashean Mathis drills him and forces a fumble but Dez recovers. 3rd-and-7 pass is way over Cole Beasley's head. I know, not that hard to do. 3-and-out for Dallas.
Returning his first punt of the season, Golden Tate gets whacked by C.J. Spillman as the ball arrives but holds on. Lions at their 38. Barry Church holds Reggie Bush to nothing on a screen. Another screen, this one to Joique Bell, picks up 11 after he runs over a DB. Tyrone Crawford drops Bell in the backfield.
And, lightning strikes in Dallas. The Cowboys bring three on the blitz, Stafford steps up and hits Tate beating Church badly on a blitz, and Tate runs across the field with little resistance for a 51-yard TD. Ooh, that wasn't a slant, it was a double-move. Diabolical. Lions 7, Cowboys 0. Like I said, the Cowboys are going to mop the floor with the underwhelming Stafford.
My fantasy team would be off to a 20-point start if it were still alive. I had Stafford and Tate. Early story is that Murray isn't getting anywhere against Detroit's run defense. Tahir Whitehead and Ndamukong Suh stuff him on the right edge for no gain. Romo gets a long time to throw again and ends up one-hopping a dumpoff to Jason Witten. Detroit's taking away all the deep stuff and brilliant Scott Linehan isn't giving Romo enough short options. I barely get that typed out by the time Romo hits Beasley for a 17-yard out. Murray's stopped by James Ihedigbo for 3 and comes off the field. Romo gets forever again and Dallas is looking deep yet again, but the long ball for Terrence Williams hangs up and is swatted down by Darius Slay. No intermediate routes at all from Linehan. The Lions blitz off RT on 3rd down and Romo rushes a pass behind Beasley incomplete. Punter Chris Jones gets a ridiculously lucky roll, about 20 yards, and they pin Detroit inside the 1.
The Lions pound out to the 5 on a couple of runs but Stafford can't hit Bush on 3rd down, with Dallas bringing only 3. AND, LET'S WELCOME BACK PLAYOFF SPECIAL TEAMS IDIOCY. Dekoda Watson runs into the punter in the end zone and hands Detroit a first down on 4th-and-5. What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?
Dallas is swarming every run so far and holds Bush to no gain on 1st down. Quick screen to Tate doesn't get much thanks to Sterling Moore. On 3rd-8, Stafford has to scramble after Crawford explodes by Riley Reiff at the snap, makes Tyler Patmon look like a complete clown trying to tackle him and gets the 1st down at the 23. Bush sweeps left, runs through Orlando Scandrick and cuts back for 9. And now Bell gashes them for 12. We'll call this a wrap play, with RT Cornelius Lucas and Brandon Pettigrew blowing open a big hole. Remember, all Dallas had to do a few plays ago was NOT rough a punter. Detroit isn't slowed by an injury to RG Travis F'n Swanson; Bell rumbles for 31 with a screen built off a fake end-around to Tate. Dallas' terrible tackling continues as Bell makes Crawford whiff in the hole and crashes ahead for 10. They're at the Dallas 21. All Dallas had to do was NOT rough a punter. A couple of plays later, Bush completely humbles the Cowboy defense, faking Scandrick out of his jock and beating a couple of trailers around the corner for an 18-yard TD. Dallas looks so unprepared for this playoff game it isn't even funny. Lions 14-0 A 99-yard TD drive made possible by Dallas failing TO NOT ROUGH A PUNTER.
Hey, it took only a quarter for Linehan to quit sending everyone deep. 13 to Witten. Murray up the middle for 4. On 2nd-and-6, FOUR Dallas linemen do not know the snap count, giving Ezekiel Ansah and Daryl Tapp free runs to CRUSH Romo; he loses the ball but Beasley alertly comes back and falls on it along with Jeremy Parnell. Their first playoff game in five years and they are a complete cluster [RADIO EDIT] bomb right now. Romo nearly gets sacked again to end the quarter, scrambles and gets his pass tipped, but it still makes it to Witten at the 46 for an unlikely first down and the end of a quarter from hell for Dallas.
As absolutely flat, stupid, unprepared and shitty as they have come out for this game, I hope Dallas loses 56-0. So much for the "hot team with momentum going into the playoffs" theory. How bloody stupid was I to fall for that. THERE IS NO SUCH THING!
SECOND QUARTER
They replay the last Romo hit and Joe says Romo got his right hand crushed, which is really eye-opening SINCE IT'S THE HAND ON THE END OF HIS LEFT ARM. Romo gets buried for the second time by a Lion blitz as the vaunted Cowboy o-line that the Rams couldn't even dent back in September looks like the Rams' o-line in the 4th quarter of the last preseason game. Ihedigbo, Josh Bynes and Nick Fairley ALL get free runs at him. This is a complete fiasco. Hot team my ass. Romo one-hops Williams on 3rd-and-a-mile, and send in the punter.
Dallas gets Detroit to 3rd-and-long right away but Church gets burned again by Tate on a slant for 17. Stafford hits Megatron on a comeback near midfield, and Joe is right, Detroit hasn't looked this good on offense a lot of the year. I barely get that typed out before Stafford gets sacked by Jeremy Mincey. They faked an end-around and wanted to go deep but Dallas had Megatron double-blanketed. Stafford fires way out of bounds on 2nd down and Brandon Carr defends a sideline bomb for Tate perfectly on 3rd down, which Tate acknowledges. Don't forget about the run, Detroit! Your balance has gotten you out to this lead.
After actually managing to NOT rough the punter, Dallas starts at their 14. Murray finally gets going, running through Ihedigbo at the line and over Glover Quin downfield for 18. Then, back to normal, Jason Jones stuffs him for 1. Dwayne Harris makes the most out of a bubble screen for 6. Old reliable Witten converts the 3rd down on a 12-yard dig out to midfield. Murray churns out 3 on a run he should have bounced outside for a big gain. A perfect blitz by Whitehead buries Romo for a loss of 8. I'm going to say that's Romo's fault for not shifting Joseph Randle to that side of the formation. Romo way underthrows Gavin Escobarrrrr on 3rd down and goes off on him on the sideline for some reason.
More special teams idiocy as Jeremy Ross (where's Tate?) muffs the punt, but George Winn falls on it for Detroit. Crawford and Nick Hayden stuff Bush on 1st down, followed by a Detroit false start. 2nd-15 at the 9, full national TV closeup of a coach picking his nose. Going for gold, too. Detroit now looks as sharp as Dallas has most of the game, getting a delay of game after a dead-ball play. How is that possible? Bush gets stopped on a screen and Bell gets out to the 15 on another to get the punter some room.
2:15 to halftime, Dallas at their 26 after a hold on the punt. Quick hitch to Williams for 8. At the 2:00 warning, Dez Bryant has a total of one catch for two yards. Romo bails out and misses Beasley with a shot put on a quick out. Williams gets 10 for setting a pick he maybe shouldn't have gotten flagged for. He more than makes up for it the next play anyway. With Detroit blitzing, Romo hits him on a 12-yard slant, Cassius Vaughn goes to the ground and Williams hits the gas and runs off with a 76-yard TD. No safety help back there because they blitzed, and the two closest men in coverage were running away from Williams at the time. Dallas is back in a game they deserve to not at all to be in. Lions 14, Cowboys 7
There was a safety back there, actually; Ihedigbo took a Craig Dahl-quality angle, though. 1:37 to halftime. Detroit suddenly gets Theo Riddick involved with a couple of catches for 20 and Stafford hits Megatron for 20 more to the DAL40. Stafford hits Tate at the 31 a couple of plays later, which should be a cake FG if Matt Prater is sober. Well, it should be a first down at the 30; Tate pretty clearly extended the ball. Replay review makes it so. 21 seconds to go. Dumpoff to Bush for 10. 13 seconds left, they can take a shot at the end zone and can even go over the middle, with a timeout left. Bruce Carter breaks up a rope from Stafford at the 5 and probably saves a TD to Megatron. Prater barely sneaks it in from 37 as the half closes. Timing really thrown off there by a poor snap, but punter/holder Sam Martin saved the day, straightening the ball up AND getting THE LACES OUT. Lions 17-7
HALFTIME SHOW
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| USA Today |
Detroit seemed to forget their run game in the 2nd quarter, and I'd like to see them get back to it. They showed some ability to push the Cowboys around power-running. Ride Megatron and Bell to Seattle.
Fox halftime show was dead-on that Dallas had been terrible against the Detroit blitz. For 28 minutes, at least. The long, late Williams TD may have scared Detroit off it a bit. Linehan has to help Romo out there by keeping checkdowns within 20 yards and not firing everyone deep like he did the first quarter. From there, it's up to Romo. Let's see who's got big plays left in them.
THIRD QUARTER
Augh, what a start for Detroit, or, ooh, what a start for Dallas. Mincey deflects a Stafford pass straight up on Detroit's first play of the half and Kyle Wilbur cradles it for an INT at the DET20. THAT's the Stafford we fantasy players have come to know and love, though that play wasn't really his fault.
A good way to beat blitzes is with draws, and Murray nearly cracks a Detroit blitz for a TD on a draw the next play. Got 5. Murray hunts and pecks out another 3 off an inside handoff. Murray comes off the field on 3rd-and-2. Mmm-kay. Romo gets a LONG time to throw and idiotically gets sacked by Ansah. Bryant tripped over a LB trying to run a crossing route. MORE SPECIAL TEAMS IDIOCY as the certifiably reliable Dan Bailey BIFFS the 41-yard attempt. NICE SACK, ROMO.
Pettigrew runs through Anthony Hitchens after a rare catch for 11 and a 1st. Carr shuts down a Bush sweep right for no gain. And now here's Megatron, getting man coverage from Carr and losing him after the catch for 28. Ball at the DAL26. They run down inside the 20 before Scandrick comes up with the lucky trip play on Tate in the end zone. Prater extends Detroit's lead from 37. Lions 20-7
Murray takes a dumpoff for 7, then Zack Martin gets him a lane for 8. Murray cuts back and beats a blitz for another 13 out to midfield. They try another draw to Murray but DeAndre Levy stuffs it. Incomplete pass for Beasley never really got to him in the flat. Joe and Troy try to analyze Romo's technique but neither says he's bailing out on every throw when he's under pressure.
But now, it's time for a Dez Bryant Alert. Detroit leaves him running free on a crossing route, with only Levy to chase him, and he loses him, flies down the sideline and runs through 3 or 4 Lions inside the 10. 43-yard play. Detroit was once again blitzing there, and Dallas made them pay for it with a perfect blitz-beater. Holding on Witten takes away a Murray TD run. They recover from that with a slant to Beasley down to the 3.
Jim Caldwell calls timeout from the Detroit sideline the next play because no one on his D went out to cover Bryant wide. If that had been the Rams, Jeff Fisher would have totally let that go for a Dallas TD. The hell? It's shovel pass at the goal line day? And this one, to Witten, only gets them inside the 1. Now Dallas tries Murray up the middle, and he tries to drive through Suh and C.J. Mosley, but they and Ihedigbo stop him short to leave 4th-and-goal. Murray gets outside this time and pops through off LT off a super seal by fullback TYLER CLUTTS. Nothing awkward or ungainly about that block. Lions 20, Cowboys 14 Pretty ideal drive for Dallas there, especially both finding ways to beat the Lion blitz and get Bryant a big play. CALLED. IT.
Detroit opens by trying to pound Bell but Crawford doesn't let him go anywhere. Similarly on 3rd down, Dallas is all over Stafford and Bush on a screen pass attempt and Stafford throws it away. 3-and-out, and we have a momentum shift here.
Dallas back in business at their 31. Beasley runs through a bad Mohammed Seisay tackle on a bubble screen and gets out to midfield. Murray bounces outside for 4 to end the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
Beasley makes a VERY painful 12-yard catch over the middle which ends with Whitehead launching his shoulder into his head. That sends Dallas all the way inside the 20. On 2nd down, though, Romo comically runs around in circles in the pocket while Suh breaks out of a blatant and uncalled hold by Martin and chases him down. On 3rd down, even MORE comically, Romo runs in circles like a damn idiot and loses 10 yards when Suh tracks him down again. You don't see rookies making plays as stupid as Romo just did once during a game, let along back-to-back plays. Bailey does hit the FG this time to pull Dallas within 3. Lions 20, Cowboys 17
Detroit's been running in place too much this half. Time to get something going. No, Ross instead IDIOTICALLY brings the ball out from deep in his end zone when Dallas already has the 10-yard line flooded. He gets dropped inside the 5. SPECIAL. TEAMS. IDIOCY. Church then cloisters Bell for a loss. Detroit gets their first clutch offensive play in what seems like a long time; Corey Fuller grabs a middle pass in heavy traffic and weaves for 21 out to the 24. Stafford dodges two disasters the next play as Anthony Spencer whiffs a sack and Bruce Carter knocks down a pass he nearly intercepted. Draw to Bush only gets 2, stop again by Carter. Stafford's tightrope act keeps working, though, as he throws a tight rope to Megatron on the far sideline for 18. Stretch handoff to Bush gets 4 to midfield. Bell bounces left for 5 more.
Multiple problems the next play. Stafford gets Pettigrew isolated on LB Hitchens and goes that way. There's grabbing back and forth and Hitchens never looks for the ball, so the flag flies for DPI. That's not my problem. Dez Bryant runs onto the field, without his helmet, to protest the call. Somebody explain to me why that wasn't two personal fouls.
Mike Pereira no more than gets done explaining why the DPI call was good when Morelli announces there's no penalty on the play after all. SOMEBODY GOT A CALL FROM JERRY. That unjustifiably leaves Detroit 4th-and-1, they fail to get Dallas to jump offsides, a ploy that only ever works against the Rams, and will now punt. The Lions got screwed pretty good on that call.
MORE SPECIAL TEAMS FOLLIES as Martin SHANKS a TEN YARD PUNT. What is with the G.D. specialists in these playoffs. I can punt a ball ten yards. Johnny Hekker can butt-bump a ball ten yards. How can these idiots like Martin tonight and Drew Butler last night make this so hard? Moms, dads... please teach your kids to be punters. The NFL has plenty of openings.
Dallas at their 41 with 8:10 left and poised to take the lead in a game they really do not deserve to win. Nice call here by Linehan; Murray started in the slot, faked staying in to block and leaked out for a 13-yard catch. Detroit stuffs a run and makes Romo settle for a couple of dumpoffs to leave 4th-and-6. They're out of FG range and look set to go for it with 6:00 left. They do, Detroit rushes only 4 and gives Romo plenty of time to slide in the pocket and hit old reliable Witten for 21 down to the DET21. I'm no Cowboy fan but it's good to see Witten making a clutch play. Don Carey gets a DPI for grabbing Beasley over the middle; it's a good call that was HARDER TO SEE than the flag they picked up on Detroit's drive. 2nd-7 from the 13, Romo has Escobarrrr wide open for a probable TD on a slant but throws it way too far behind him and incomplete. Lance Dunbar gets hauled down on a screen pass the next play for another holding penalty. 1st-goal at the 8. Williams lets a back-shoulder pass go through his hands. Murray draws down to the 3. After a false start, Romo once again gets a week to throw and Williams stops on a dime and doubles back on Ihedigbo to get open in the middle of the end zone. Wonder if Romo was really throwing to Bryant there? He looked open running across the back in about the same spot. Dallas' lead with 2:32 left. Cowboys 24, Lions 20
I hate to say that, but Scott Linehan has outcoached somebody. Detroit's really been afraid to blitz in the second half. They've only rushed 4 on most of Dallas' big plays.
More comedy at the 2:00 warning. Spencer cruises around Lucas with ease to whack Stafford for a sack/fumble. DeMarcus Lawrence picks the ball up for Dallas and fumbles it away idiotically trying to shake-and-bake Garrett Reynolds. He strips the ball out in turn, Reiff falls on it for Detroit, and Lawrence gets a good chewing-out from J.J. Wilcox. First down Detroit.
Fox awesomely points out that the Cowboys' DTs coach is LEON LETT, who apparently didn't learn a damn thing from Super Bowl XXXVII or Thanksgiving 1993 to pass on to his charges. Dallas makes Stafford settle for two dumpoffs, then he misses Megatron at midfield with a Kent Tekulve throw. 1:29, Dallas brilliantly only has 10 on the field and has to call timeout. Jeff Fisher totally would have let that go and gotten burnt by Tate for a long TD. A screen to Riddick gets across midfield with 1:18 left. Detroit uses a timeout, leaving them one. Crawford bats down a pass, followed by a Megatron false start. Stafford continues to have to settle for short stuff and is left 4th-and-3 at the DAL42.
Lawrence makes the play and finishes it properly this time. He completely whipped Reiff with a rip move, hammered Stafford for a sack/fumble and covered the loose ball to end the game.
I have to go vomit now watching Chris Christie hugging with the Jones family. Shouldn't you be in NEW JERSEY or something?
Final score: Dallas 24, Detroit 20
POSTGAME SHOW
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| ESPN.com |
RamView ends a gambling weekend to forget 2-2 outright, 1-3 ATS, 1-3 o/u. Insanely, Arizona/Carolina was the only game to go over. Please don't gamble on sports, kids. Or at least be smart enough to bet against me.
Speaking of which, right now I like the road AFC teams to cover next weekend, the NFC road teams to get slaughtered, and Seattle to be the only game to go under. Bet accordingly.
Dallas surviving this game, though, could be bad news for the rest of the NFC. I liked them as the NFC's spoiler team until they played like dog crap for a half today. I should probably still like them. They played far from their best game against a very tough team but still won and should get a lift from that. They have a running game built for success in the playoffs, and the Packers are constantly overrated and overbet this time of year. OK, give me Dallas and the points, at least.
Detroit's maddening inconsistency on offense came back to bite them today, along with Dallas' ability to beat wunderkind Teryl Austin's blitzing in the 2nd half, and of course, that bizarre flag pickup with the Lions driving in the 4th. Their 2015 draft's going to depend on whether or not they can re-sign free agent Suh. They need to keep him and add some big uglies to all those pretty skill players if they can.
Oh, and one more thing, thanks to the turnovers, Stafford did in fact have a lousy fantasy day. I have him for 13 points. Caldwell better ride him about that all offseason. That kind of game, they're no better off than if they had Shaun Hill.
I need a nap. I'll try to get Ramview website updates and Rams player grades out this week.
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