NFL Week 3 Picks

BAD WEEK LAST WEEK 7-8-1   AFTER 2 WEEKS 17-13-2

Packers and Vikings was a loss because of the Clay Matthews penalty. I've looked at that play from all angles and that was not a penalty hit. The NFL stands by the ruling on the field but this bad call cost the Packers a game and me breaking even.

The Jets didn't look good against the Dolphins. Is that more of a reflection on how far the Jets need to go or are the Dolphins this good?

What can I say about my Eagles...they looked listless and almost uncaring. Of course, they did run across the Bucs and Fitzmagic!

The 'Skins also didn't look very good! Is Luck back and can he carry the Colts. Alex Smith can't carry the Redskins.

The Patriots lost to a very good Jaguar team. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised but I am.

So...let's regroup and tackle Week 3:

Thursday

Jets @ BROWNS (-3)(WIN)     Browns are favored...think about that! Gotta go with the Browns

Sunday

Saints (-1) @ FALCONS (LOSS)     Saints have looked bad while Falcons are better that they look
49ers @ CHIEFS (-5.5)(WIN)     Media building up Mahomes...hope it continues
Raiders @ DOLPHINS (-2.5)(WIN)     Raiders will win but not this week
Bills @ VIKINGS (-16.5)(LOSS)     Don't like the point spread but I like the Vikings
Colts @ EAGLES (-6)(LOSS)     Why the Eagles give 7 I don't know but #flyeaglesfly
PACKERS (-2) @ Redskins(LOSS)     Pack fine offensively need to work on the defense
BENGALS @ Panthers (-3)(WIN)     Dalton don't let me down watch the naked bootleg right
Titans  @ JAGUARS (-10)(LOSS)   Bortles for MVP erhh Jags defense for MVP
Broncos @ RAVENS (-5.5)(WIN)     Hate taking the Ravens and points but today they make it right
Giants @ TEXANS (-6.5)(LOSS)     Look up inept in the dict. and you see a picture of the Giants
Chargers @ RAMS (-7)     Gurley and Goff they're my boys
BEARS (-5) @ Cardinals     When was the last time da Bears were a 7 point favorite
COWBOYS (-1) @ Seahawks     Tossup but I'll take Dak and Zeke over Carroll's Comedy
PATRIOTS (-6) @ Lions     Belichick vs Patricia NO! It's Brady et al vs Stafford et al

Monday

Steelers (-1) @ BUCCANEERS     Oo Oo Oo it's Fitzmagic!

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Cam Newton Injured in Traffic Accident

Cam Newton suffered two transverse process fractures of the lower back during a 2 vehicle traffic accident at around noon on Tuesday in Charlotte. This is the same type of injury that kept Tony Romo out of one game for the Cowboys earlier this year.

There was no announcement at this time on whether or not Newton would miss any time.

The club did say that Newton would be kept overnight for additional observation.

Dez Bryant Calls Eagles "Cheap" Players

Dez Bryant, whose Cowboys had just been beaten 33-10 was crying about the "cheap" play of the Eagles.

"I'm really not mad at all," Bryant said after the Cowboys' 33-10 loss on Thursday. "They beat us and I'm going to accept that, but [expletive] can't wait, but not looking past Chicago [on Dec. 4], but I cannot wait to go up there and play [Philadelphia] again. Cannot wait."

Seems when a team holds you to 73 yards in the air and no touchdowns somebody must be cheating.

The Cowboys' defense struggled with the high-tempo Eagles offense, which converted 53 percent of its third-down plays and gained 464 yards, the most Dallas has allowed this season. The Eagles defense also held Demarco Murray to 73 yards on the ground, only the second time in 12 games that Murray has not rushed for at least 100 yards.

Tony Romo had his consecutive game streak of 38 games with a touchdown snapped. he game was played in Arlington and the rematch, on December 14th will be in Phildelphia.

Jerry Jones Insists Romo Must Play on Sunday

The Dallas Cowboys meet the Jacksonville Jaguars in London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday. The Cowboys are 6-3 and in the hunt for a playoff spot this year. The Jaguars are 1-8 and going nowhere this season. In the end this is a meaningless game for the Cowboys. Dallas is a 6 1/2 point favorite and should beat the Jaguars handily.

Cowboy quarterback, Tony Romo, suffered two transverse process fractures in his back during the game against the Redskins in late October. Romo left the game but returned in the 4th quarter to try and win the game. He didn't look very good and the Cowboys lost. Head coach Jason Garrett said following the game that owner Jerry Jones did not insist that Garrett put Romo back in the game. Read the rest of this article and extrapolate the data backwards to that game.

Romo made the long flight with little pain he said and he is walking, throwing passes and even participated in team walk through drills this week.

What is a transverse process fracture you ask?

A fracture of a bone is the same as a break in the bone. A fracture of a transverse process is a break of a part of one of the bones in the spine. This part extends out from the side of the main body of the bone (called the vertebral body). A transverse process is shaped like a wing. They extend from both the left and right sides of the vertebral body.

If the injury is limited to a break of a transverse process with no other bone or organ injury, hospital care may not be necessary. Medication for pain control, special back bracing, and limitations in activity are done first followed by physical therapy later.

Romo says if he keeps improving he'll have a good chance of playing. Coach Jason Garrett would not comment on whether or not Romo would play. The only person who speaks of Romo definitely starting is Cowboy owner Jerry Jones.

Remember that Romo had back surgery last off season and these fractures are to the bones on the edges of the spine. Could the consequences of sitting Romo for one more game be that dire? The Cowboys are 6-3 on the season. Yes, they have lost their last 2 games and are in a fight with the Eagles for a playoff spot but the Jaguars are 1-8, their only victory over the Cleveland Browns by a point, and going nowhere. The Cowboys should win this game.

I'm using quotes from Jerry Jones here in an ESPN.com article by Todd Archer to show just how little Jones looks at the future, a player's or the team's, in insisting Romo will play.

"I'm anticipating him playing, have no reason to think that he won't, and this will be a nice little practice session for him out there today," Jones said. "But my expectations are for him to play."

"Any time he can play, we want him to play," Jones said. "We're a better team, to be trite, with him playing. And so as far as the meaningful games, I'm talking about -- we didn't play him in the preseason obviously but felt we could have had we needed him to win the game -- but these games, we don't play many of them. You know that. And every one of them counts so much.

"Invariably any time you do lose one of these games in the regular season, our experience with us, especially these last several years, is we needed every win we could get. There's no such thing as holding him out and forgoing the potential chance that we win.

Romo may well have the best game of his career on Sunday. The Cowboys may make the playoffs by virtue of this win, but is it in the best interest of the team, Tony Romo and the Cowboys fans to take a chance with your 100 million dollar franchise quarterback?

Arizona Cardinals Defeat Cowboys 28-17

DeMarco Murray had his record 8 game streak of 100+ yard rushing games halted by the Arizona Cardinals who held hin to 79 yards on 19 carries as Arizona won 28-17.

Carson Palmer was 22 of 34 for 249 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT for the Cardinals who improved to 7-1 on the year while the Cowboys lost their second game in a row to fall to 6-3, 1/2 game behind the Philadelphia Eagles who beat the Houston Texans 31-21.

Brandon Weeden, starting for the Cowboys in place of the injured Tony Romo, was 18 of 37 for 183 yards and a late 4th quarter touchdown pass to Dez Bryant but threw 2 INTs.

"You can't turn the ball over, and that is on me," Weeden said.

Read the ESPN recap here.

Garrett Says No Pressure From Jones To Insert Romo After Injury

The Dallas Cowboys coach, Jason Garrett stated emphatically that owner Jerry Jones did not order him to put Tony Romo back in the 4th quarter of Monday night's loss to the Redskins.

"I think the ideal situation is to get it communicated as quickly as possible and he felt like he could do it," Garrett said. "It wasn't a big deal to me at all."

Jones "indicated that the X-rays were negative and that as long as he was functional, he could be capable of playing in the game," Garrett said.

If you believe that Jones did not hint that he wanted Romo back in the game you are naive. I can't think of an owner or coach in the league who would have taken a chance like that with their starting quarterback when DeMarco Murray was running so well and the Cowboy's defense was doing a credible job of shutting down the Redskins.

But, decide for yourself by reading the Todd Archer ESPN article here.

'Skins Dump Cowboys 20-17 In Overtime

The Washington Redskins, behind Texas native Colt McCoy, held off the Cowboys in regulation and won the game on a field goal in overtime, 20-17.

McCoy was 25 of 30 for 299 yards. Although he had no passing touchdowns he did score on a 7 yard run near the start of the 4th quarter that put the Redskins up 17-10.

DeMarco Murray had his 8th straight game with 100+ yards rushing and tied eight other NFL players with 1000 yards rushing in their team's first eight games.

The Cowboys were 17-1 in games where Murray had 20 or more carries. Murray only carried the ball 19 times in last night's game. Those 19 rushes were good for 141 yards. Demarco is on a pace for an NFL record 2108 yards on the season.

Dallas has lost three overtime games under coach Garrett. Interestingly the two previous OT losses were followed by losses in the next game.

Read the full ESPN recap article here.

Who Predicted the Cowboy's Would Improve on Their 8-8 Record?

Did anyone, not a Cowboy fan, think that Dallas would be in the playoffs this year?

ESPN The Magazine had a panel of  64 "experts" in their NFL 2014 season preview and exactly one person predicted that the Cowboys would be in the playoffs this season.

KC Joyner, the ESPN Fantasy football expert, was the lone supporter of the Cowboy's playoff hopes.

Read the ESPN article here to see the experts opinions now. Ashley Fox, ESPN's NFL writer, goes so far to opine that the Cowboys could be on a 10 game winning streak before they take on the Eagles for 2 games in 3 weeks in November.

My how times have changed!

Cowboys Take Down Seahawks 30-23

The Dallas Cowboys controlled the offensive line of scrimmage to rush for 162 yards on the ground as the Cowboys defeated the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks 30-23.

Tony Romo passed for 250 yards on a 21/ 32 day with 2 TDs and no INTs. Both touchdown passes were caught by tight ends. Jason Witten had 2 catches for 24 yards and a TD while Gavin Escobar had 1 catch for 2 yards and the other passing touchdown.

Demarco Murray ran for 115 yards on 29 carries for his 6th straight 100 yard game and Joseph Randle added 52 yards on the ground.

Dan Bailey kicked 3 FGs for the 'Boys.

Russell Wilson was 14 for 28 with no TDs and 1 INT. He did have a rushimg touchdown. Seattle LB Mike Morgan returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a score for the only other touchdown for Seattle. Scott Hauschka kicked 3 FGs for the Seahawks.

Read the ESPN article here.