The Cowboys won the game. But they failed their “maturity test.” That’s why I still don’t fully trust them.
The Texans caught every break. Every crazy thing that needed to happen for Houston to win happened. And still the Texans couldn’t close.
And, yeah, I thought Lovie effed up late. Follow me. Houston up 23-20 with just under six minutes remaining. Tremon Smith gets his second pick of the game, deep in Cowboy territory. Houston turns that into a third and goal from the one, with a chance to put the hammer down. But on third down, Rex Burkhead loses two yards back to the three. Your stud rookie running back has been knocked out of the game. Fourth and goal from the three, after just losing two yards. Gotta kick the FG. You can’t take a chance on getting NO points off that turnover. But instead, Houston QB Jeff Driskill got stuffed on a messed-up fourth down keeper play.
I know what you’re thinking. Houston was 1-10-1. Go for it. What the hell. Beyond that, you’re going to point out that a FG would have put the Texans up by six, and that Dallas’ subsequent 98-yard TD drive probably would have given the Cowboys a 27-26 win anyway.
Not so fast, Pigskin Breath. As it played out, Dallas scored with 41 seconds left to go up 27-23. Forty-one seconds is plenty of time. But now Houston is down four, instead of just one. Now the Texans need a TD instead of just a FG. Fairbairn is a helluva kicker. But he became irrelevant.
That was a bad fourth and goal decision, Lovie. Take the points. And manage all 60 minutes of the game.
In the 60s, I was told that Clapton was God. I was dubious. But now I think there’s at least a 50-50 chance that Justin Herbert IS God. The NFL is blessed with a bunch of great young quarterbacks. (I’m gonna stop calling Mahomes a “young” quarterback.) But I think a healthy Herbert is the best of them, despite my love for Josh Allen. Holy crap…
The NFL is a QB-driven league. (And water is wet.) The SB champ may end up being the team that can keep its QB upright. Or the team that just plows through adversity. How about the ‘Niners? They lose Trey Lance. They lose Jimmy G. Enter rookie 7th round draft pick Brock Purdy. Nothing looked too big for him. He was in total control. In fact, in that uniform, Purdy reminded me a lot of…uhh…you know who I’m talking about. OK, I’ll just let it go at that for now. SF is fine at QB. Now, if they’ve lost Deebo, that may be quite another matter.
Russell Wilson’s concussion was ugly. And scary. And the Ravens, who gutted out a crucial victory over the Steelers, could be in trouble now that BACKUP QB Tyler Huntley is in the concussion protocol.
And you want TOUGH? Did you see the beating Jets QB Mike White took Sunday in Buffalo? And did you see him keep getting up? He now owns that locker room. Zach Wilson is not getting his job back. He needs to enter the “transfer portal.”
WTH has gotten into the Carolina Panthers? They’re legit. They’re pretty good. That object suddenly receding in the rear-view mirror may be the Seattle Seahawks.
Hmmm. I’m aware of only one person who publicly predicted that the Lions would beat the Vikings and the Jags would beat the Titans. Kudos to that guy. He’s currently my favorite prognosticator.
Navy FIRED Coach Ken? Are you KIDDING me? That is not “military intelligence.”
I hope Leach is OK. Pneumonia ain’t funny.
God love you, Paul Silas. I’ll never forget you.
One Response
The worst (and best) analyst I offer from time-to-time is “at the end of the game, the points add up.” And in general mathematics yes 7 >3 but also 3>0 (remember the alligator eats the bigger number).