Pacman can join Cowboys for workouts

by the AP

Adam "Pacman" Jones can join the Dallas Cowboys for everything but the regular season - for now.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday he would decide by Sept. 1 whether to fully end Jones' suspension, which wiped out the entire 2007 season when he was with the Tennessee Titans. The Cowboys play their opener Sept. 7 in Cleveland.

"Commissioner Goodell told Jones that his continued participation in the NFL depends on demonstrating that he can conduct himself in a lawful and reliable manner," the league wrote in a statement. "Jones will be expected to continue the personal conduct program established for him by the NFL and the Cowboys and to avoid further adverse involvement with law enforcement.

Hitler furious over Cowboys loss to Giants

I came across this on youtube today and thought it was too funny to pass up. Damn those Cowboys!

Good news for Cowboys, Glenn back at practice

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn went through some drills at practice for the first time all season Wednesday, a good indication the already dominant Dallas offense could have another weapon by the playoffs.

Glenn, out because of two knee operations, is not expected to play Sunday against the Eagles. He's more likely to make his season debut the following Saturday at Carolina or in the regular-season finale at Washington. If the Cowboys get a first-round bye, Glenn would have four weeks of practice before the first playoff game.
Coach Wade Phillips said he'd like to see Glenn be able to tolerate several practices in a row before using him in a game.

"It's a slow progression, certainly, but we want to be careful," Phillips said. "He didn't seem to be limping on his leg at all, so there were some positive signs from him being out there. He looked very quick. That was a good thing. ... (After practice) he was still smiling. That's my doctoring right there. If they're smiling, they're getting better."

Cornerback Terence Newman missed team drills Wednesday because of a sprained big toe on his right foot and a slight knee injury. They're new injuries, sustained this past Sunday, and not related to previous problems with his knee and heel.

He might be able to practice tomorrow so I'm not too discouraged," Phillips said. "But it may be a similar situation to what we've had all year, where he comes in as a sub guy instead of a starter."

Glenn was supposed to be Tony Romo's deep threat until he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee during training camp. He was hurt again in his first practice back, leading to a second arthroscopic procedure in September. It wasn't a typical scope, though, which is why he's been so slow to return. At the time, he also was considering season-ending microfracture surgery.

Dallas has kept Glenn on the roster all season exactly for this scenario — a return just in time for the playoffs.

"Terry is an anomaly, he's a guy that really can't be covered one-on-one," Romo said. "We're going to see to what extent he comes back, obviously. If it's the old Terry Glenn, this guy is unbelievable. ... I like our offense a lot right now, obviously. With him coming back, I think that we add another dimension that helps us be even more explosive."

Glenn's return to practice had been expected for several days. He's been working out at team headquarters in recent weeks, and on Friday he ran routes and caught passes.

This time, he came out wearing a red Ohio State hat, a blue Cowboys sweatshirt and with his right leg tightly wrapped. He limbered up with teammates, then spoke with assistant trainer Britt Brown as individual drills began. Glenn then went to the end of the line as fellow receivers caught passes being lobbed by a coach. The next session required cuts off the line and he made them smoothly, with flashes of his great speed.

The Cowboys already have clinched the division title and can wrap up a first-round bye with a win Sunday at home against the Eagles. If Dallas wins and Green Bay loses at St. Louis, the Cowboys also would clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Glenn caught 70 passes for 1,047 yards and six touchdowns last season, with his best days coming after Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe. So when Glenn went down in the preseason, it was expected to slow the Dallas offense.

The Cowboys have done just fine without him, though, leading the NFC in scoring and yards, and on pace to set club records in both categories. Still, they're eager to have him back.

"It'll be another guy for defensive teams to contend with," fellow receiver Terrell Owens said. "Everyone knows the impact Terry Glenn (can have) and once he gets out there and gets his feet underneath him, I'm sure he'll be back to his old self."

Although he's 33 and in his 12th season, Glenn - when healthy - is among the fastest players on the roster and perhaps Dallas' most well-rounded receiver.

Even at less than full strength he could hurt defenses that pay too much attention to Owens and Jason Witten. Of course, any extra attention paid to him would open things up for Owens and Witten.

Patrick Crayton has done a nice job filling in for Glenn as the No. 2 receiver and could keep that spot, with Glenn being the third receiver. Or perhaps they'll share both jobs. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett probably won't mind having to solve that problem.

"Terry's a phenomenal talent," Romo said. "Anything that he does, even if it's 80 percent of what he was before, he's still going to give you something good."

Terence Newman threatens John Kitna

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman has been put on notice by the NFL after indicating his desire for revenge on Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna.

Posted on Newman's locker Thursday was a letter he received from the NFL after making comments about Kitna during a satellite radio interview. Newman refused comment to reporters when he walked through the locker room.
"Be advised that your comments will now compel us to carefully monitor your activities in this weekend's Cowboys-Lions game," read part of the letter signed by Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president for football operations. "As you know, flagrant fouls may subject a player not only to fines, but to suspension as well. So conduct yourself accordingly."

Kitna threw four touchdown passes in the regular-season finale in Dallas last year to end a 3-13 season for Detroit. In an interview the following week with a radio station in Seattle, where the Cowboys had to go for the playoffs, Kitna called out the Dallas defense, specifically linebacker Bradie James.

The Cowboys (11-1), who have already clinched another playoff spot this season, play at Detroit on Sunday. Kitna's bulletin-board remarks from January have been widely discussed.

While Newman hasn't spoken to local media this week, he issued what amounted to a warning for Kitna during an interview Tuesday on Sirius NFL Radio.

"Basically what it boils down to is you've got to watch what you say. Your mouth can't write checks that your (expletive) can't cash. That's what it comes down to," Newman said. "Everybody's going to see those quotes. He better just hope I don't blitz off the edge, because I've got 15, 25, 30 (thousand dollars), however much it would be for a fine. I've got that much for one fine. Revenge will be sweet definitely."

In the NFL letter to Newman, Anderson wrote those comments were "thoughtless and irresponsible" and "contrary to all the NFL stands for."

On Monday, when the Cowboys returned to practice from a three-day weekend following their victory over Green Bay, James was already talking about facing Kitna and the Lions.

"It has been circled on my calendar the whole year, and here we are and I'm looking forward to it," James said. "Y'all can ask me about Jon Kitna every day from here on out the rest of my life and I will get fired up. ... He talked like we weren't ever going to play them again. We're going to be ready."

Cowboys look good

The Cowboys looked good last night, coasting to a 37-27 victory over injured Brett Favre and the Pack.

Romo threw for 309 yds and 4 touchdowns giving TO 156 yds and a TD. Patrick Crayton chimed in with 2 TD's and Fasano with one. Favre went out early with 2 INT's and was replaced by A. Rodgers who did a pretty good job of not turning the ball over and managing the game.

The Cowboys are progressing nicely and have become stronger each week. Here are a Couple things I noticed the Cowboys need to work on.

1. Sit Julius Jones on the bench....forever.

2. Don't throw the ball to Terrell Owen's in the clutch or when he is standing wide open in the End Zone.

The due return of Terry Glenn is sure to help the boys who look pretty good agianst a 10-1 Packers team. Everything is going right for the Cowboys right now, well see if it can last through the first round of the playoffs

The Game of the Year, and No One Gets to See It

Unless of course you happen to be one of the priviledged few who already have the NFL Network. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone. It's an obscure high-number cable-channel operated by the NFL that is available on a few select cable and satellite providers.

Supposedly, 30 million people already have access to the network. I'm sure three times that will petition their cable providers to get access before next year. Roger Goodell is probably peeing himself with glee. Most of these obscure cable networks remain obscure because the don't draw much an audience compared to what their owners charge cable providers. Looks like the NFL Network is getting a little bit of a boost.

Who knew when they set the schedule to play a few select games on the NFL Network, that one of them would turn out to be the hottest game of the year? Rumor has it that the NFL is making the game available on a live feed via their website.

Frankly, I'm disappointed in the whole affair. I understand that they schedule these things months in advance, but to have a game of this magnitude unavailable to the vast majority of the American population is a tragedy of epic proportions.

The Packers and Cowboys belong on my 62" Mitsubishi DLP in all its 720p/1080i high definition glory. It does not belong in a 4 inch window on my laptop, or even a crappy 480i scaled pic on my HDTV (don't think for a minute that when the NFL Network arrives that it will be in HD for many, many years).

If the Game of the Year happens and no one watches, was it really the Game of the Year???

Green Bay vs. Dallas the best game of the year....agian?

I read an excellent post over at FoxSports this morning. Part of it is here, for the rest, click here.

In today’s Sports Culture we are quick to throw around titles like Great, Greatest, and Best. Ohio State vs. Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl produced the Greatest Championship Game of all time. That was until 2006 when Texas beat USC in the Rose Bowl. Maybe it was 2007 when Boise St upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Miami vs. Ohio St went from the Greatest Game ever to the second best Fiesta Bowl in a matter of 4 years.

I am going to throw around the term greatest in this respect. The 2007 NFL Regular Season has had the most entertaining big game matchups in the history of the league. Consider the following:

1) October 14, 2007, New England (5-0) at Dallas (5-0) – This game had it all. First (5-0) team vs. (5-0) team. The last undefeated team in the NFC vs. the best-undefeated team in the AFC. Tony Romo vs. Tom Brady. Randy Moss vs. TO. America’s Team vs. Public Enemy #1. I still think this game is unfairly labeled as a blowout. Part of the reason is because New England was ahead 14-0 in that game after the first quarter and part of the reason was the final score. Dallas led 24-21 in the 3rd quarter. The score was 31-24 New England after three quarters. The 4th quarter got away from Dallas, but it was a competitive game until the final minutes.

2) November 4, 2007, New England (8-0) at Indianapolis (7-0) – This was billed as the best regular season matchup in the history of the NFL. The latest that two undefeated teams squared off in a regular season game. Three of the last four Super Bowl Champions were on display. It was a rematch of the 2006 AFC Championship Game. Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. Some felt the game didn’t live up to the billing because the score was only 24-20. When you consider the Patriots trailed 20-10 in the 4th quarter before coming back to win 24-20 the game was a classic contest.

3) November 29, 2007, Green Bay (10-1) at Dallas (10-1) – Okay, it isn’t (8-0) vs. (7-0). But it sure is good. The last time two (10-1) teams or better met was 1990 when the (10-1) New York Giants traveled to (10-1) San Francisco. The time before that was back in 1969 when the (11-0) Rams lost to the (10-1) Vikings in Los Angeles.

Any of the three contests are worthy of highlighting season. We are going to have had them all within two months of each other. It isn’t so much that there are so many good playoff teams playing in the 2007 season; we have seen that on a number of occasions. 1991 saw the #5 seeded Dallas Cowboys make the playoffs at 11-5. 1998 saw the four-conference finalist have a 55-9 record. 14-2 Atlanta played on the road in the NFC Championship game. 2001 saw the 49ers open up a playoff game in Green Bay with a 12-4 record as the 5th seed. 2004 saw the four-conference finalist combine for a 53-11 record with 14-2 New England playing on the road in the AFC Championship Game.

However, most seasons you don’t have this many great matchups this late in the season. Rarely will you have so many instances where the heavy weights square off against one another. Most weeks (8-3) Jacksonville at (9-2) Indy is drawing national headlines. It’s the second best game this week. In a couple weeks we have Pittsburgh at New England in what will be our 4th premier non-divisional matchup of the season. It will probably be New England’s only test to go undefeated prior to the season finale against the Giants. It has truly been a historic season in terms of great regular season matchups.

Dallas and Green Bay have quite a bit of history in their own rite. Their first meeting was in Dallas’s expansion season back in 1960. The Packers would beat the Cowboys 41-7 in Green Bay. Green Bay was beginning the Lombardi era. They would suffer his only playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles later that season. 1961 would mark the first of 5 NFL Championships and 2 Super Bowls victories.

The Cowboys and Tom Landry would finish that 1960 season 0-11-1. Neither appeared to be headed for greatness. By 1966 Dallas was playing Green Bay in the title game. They would lose the 1966 Championship Game in Dallas 34-27. They would lose the Ice Bowl in 1967 by the score of 21-17. Dallas would win their first Super Bowl in the 1971 season. Landy would coach the Cowboys until the 1988 season.

The two franchises went in different directions after the Lombardi era. The Packers would win one playoff game in the 1981 strike season. It would mark their only playoff victory from 1968 season through the 1992 season. Dallas would go on to win two Super Bowl under Landry and lose three others. Two of those losses were to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas would have a winning record every year from 1966 to 1986. Jerry Jones would buy the Cowboys and hire Jimmy Johnson to coach the Cowboys in 1989.

This is when the Packers and Cowboys crossed paths again. The Cowboys hiring of Jimmy Johnson and trade of Herschel Walker to the Vikings led to a rebirth of the Cowboys. They would win 3 Super Bowls in 4 years from 1992-1995. Meanwhile, the Packers hired Ron Wolf in an attempt to turn around one of the worst run franchises in sports. He hired Mike Holmgren, traded a first round pick for Brett Favre, and signed Reggie White in free agency. The rest was history. The Packers would appear in 3 straight NFC Championship games from 1995-1997, winning the 1996 Super Bowl and losing the 1997 Super Bowl. They have had one losing season since 1992.

From 1993-1996, Dallas and Green Bay played each other a total of seven times. The game was played in Dallas all seven times. Three times it was in the playoffs. Dallas went 7-0. The average score was 33.3 to 18.3. Dallas won every game by more than a touchdown with five of the seven Dallas victories coming by double digits. While Green Bay had the superior passing attack, Aikman managed the game more efficiently behind the best offensive line and running game in football. Even in Green Bay’s magical 1996 Super Bowl season; Green Bay lost 21-6 in Dallas. They would not get to face the Cowboys in the playoffs in 1996, due to Carolina upsetting Dallas in the second round.

Green Bay would finally host Dallas in the 1997 season. The Cowboys were going through an up and down season and went to Green Bay 6-5. The Packers were in the midst of their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. The frustrations of the 1993-1996 seasons were taken out on Dallas that day 45-17. The Cowboys would fail to win another game the rest of the season. The Cowboys would get back to the playoffs in 1998 and 1999. However, they have not won a playoff game since 1996. The 1996 Panthers loss and the 1997 Packers loss are the two games that marked the end of 1990’s Cowboy dynasty.

Cowboys Roll Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Once they stopped beating themselves with penalties, the Dallas Cowboys took command of the NFC East by riding their biggest stars: Tony Romo and Terrell Owens.

Romo hit Owens on two of his four touchdown passes and Dallas opened a big lead in the division by ending the Giants' six-game winning streak with a 31-20 victory on Sunday.
"If you want to call it swagger, yes we have the confidence that we know we can go out and beat teams," said Owens, who broke the game open with second-half TD catches of 25 and 50 yards. Owens finished with six catches for 125 yards, his third straight 100-yard game.

"Obviously today, we had more penalties than we would like and we have to eliminate those," T.O. added. "That was everybody's emotions running high. There was a little trash-talking by them. We came here. The game was played and I feel like we made a statement."

With the win, the Cowboys (8-1) opened a two-game lead over the Giants (6-3), a three-game edge on Washington (5-4) and a four-game margin on Philadelphia (4-5). Dallas also swept the season series with New York, so it has the tiebreaker should they finished tied.

"It's another step along the journey that we're trying to go through to get where we want to go," said Romo, who completed 20-of-28 for 247 yards. "A win like tonight just adds to your confidence. When you do something like this, you have a chance to do something special."

The last time the Cowboys started a season at 8-1 was 1995, the last time they won the Super Bowl.

With seven games left, the Cowboys also are tied with Green Bay for the best record in the conference. The two will play in Dallas on Nov. 29.

For the Giants, their best hopes for a playoff berth seemingly are a wild-card spot.

"It does put us behind the 8-ball," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "If you ever play pool, I've seen people make shots from behind that 8-ball. That's what we are looking at."

Romo also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tony Curtis in the first quarter and a 20-yarder to Patrick Crayton just before halftime, starting a string of three straight touchdown drives.

Nick Folk added a 44-yard field goal.

Eli Manning threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, who tied his career high with 12 catches for 129 yards. Reuben Droughns scored on a 1-yard run and Lawrence Tynes kicked field goals of 40 and 26 yards.

The second field goal came after New York had Brandon Jacobs' potential tying touchdown run early in the fourth quarter nullified by a questionable holding penalty on guard Chris Snee against Roy Williams.

"I didn't think I held him, but you have to go with the call," said Snee, who originally thought Dallas was being called for a penalty.

Until that point, the Cowboys were the ones hurting themselves with undisciplined errors. Four penalties in the first half gave New York 10 points and had Dallas heading to the locker room tied at 17.

The Cowboys were called for three penalties on the Giants' opening TD drive. The one everyone will remember was a taunting call against linebacker Kevin Burnett with the Cowboys ahead 17-14 in the waning seconds.

Jacobs had just been stuffed on a run from his 35 and Burnett yapped at him. The 15-yard walkoff moved the ball to the 50 with 12 seconds to go. Manning found Shockey for 29 yards to set up a 40-yard field goal by Tynes that tied the game.

"Once it's over, you have to learn from your mistakes," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "We couldn't harp on that. We just told them it was nothing-nothing. We've done it all year. The second half is ours."

The Cowboys' defense, which sacked Manning five times and intercepted him twice, stopped the Giants on the opening possession of the half and then Romo and company took over.

The go-ahead 25-yard touchdown pass came on a play where T.O. ran past cornerback Sam Madison and was wide open. It capped a 12-play, 86-yard drive on which the Cowboys converted three 10-plus-yard situations, the last a 13-yard pass to Crayton on third-and-11 from the New York 38. Owens scored on the next play.

Owens ran by safety Gibril Wilson on the long pass.

"If he gets moving, he's tough to catch up to," Romo said. "I just tried to give him some air and let him go get it."

Romo's other touchdown passes were just as easy against an improved defense that gave up 45 points in Dallas in the opener.

His 15-yard pass to Curtis on the opening series came after he broke containment on a pass rush. Just before reaching the line of scrimmage, he saw a wide-open Curtis in the corner of the end zone.

Manning, who was 23-of-34 for 236 yards on a day he threw mostly short passes, tied the game with his TD pass to Shockey.

Folk's field goal gave Dallas a 10-7 lead before Wilson's interception set up a 60-yard drive Droughns capped with his run.

Crayton gave the Cowboys a 17-14 lead with 20 seconds to go with a 20-yard catch and run after breaking a tackle by cornerback Aaron Ross.

NFL Games to Watch this Weekend

Chargers 1-1 Packers 2-0

The Packers are off to a quick start but face their first real opponent this season in San Diego. San Diego has stumbled out of the gate this season and need this win to get on track.

Who will Win? Chargers

49ers 2-0 Steelers 2-0

The Steelers and the Niners records are the same but both took two very different ways to get their. The Steelers have dominated their two previous games, while the Niners have had to claw to victory in both of theirs.

Who Will Win? Steelers

Colts 2-0 Texans 2-0

The Colts have had a history of problems with the Texans when they were bad. I wonder what will happen now that they don't suck. Colts need to jump out ahead early and let their defense go after the QB.

Who Will Win? Colts

Bengals 1-1 Seahawks 1-1

Both of these teams have had hard losses. The Bengals scored 45 on the Browns and still lost, while the Seahawks were down 17 at the half to the Cardinals scored 20 unanswered points then ended up losing 23-20.

Who Will Win? Seahawks

Cowboys 2-0 Bears 1-1

This will be one of the more interesting games this week. The Cowboys offense is firing well, but their secondary is horrible. Chicago's defense is excellent but their offense is horrible. The Cowboys need to limit their penalties and big plays, Chicago needs to pull Rex Grossman.

Who Will Win? Cowboys