Congratulations Skins and Fans

[sandtrapjack]

Originally Posted by hail_2_da_skins

The reason the Cowboys played most of their healthy starters deep into the third quarter is because they are trying to get back to playing good football.

No the reasons they were played into the 3rd quarter was because there were a couple of acheivable franchise records that could be attained. And as soon as those were attained, the starter sat.

That game was meaningful to the Redskins and the Redskins alone:

Originally Posted by Wade Phillips

Phillips said if the Cowboys were playing for more than pride, CB Terence Newman and NT Jay Ratliff probably would've suited up. He expects both to practice Wednesday but said the status of C Andre Gurode and WR Terrell Owens is still "iffy" for this week.

Phillips goes on to say:

Originally Posted by Wade Phillips

Phillips admitted to holding back in play-calling a bit. The reason? If the Redskins beat Seattle this weekend, they'll come to Texas Stadium for the divisional playoffs.

You can beileve all you want about the Cowboys "backing in to the playoffs" (I do not see how anyone "backs in" when they clinch the division 3 weeks ago)

But what is more believable? A team that is 13-3, with a 7 game and a 5 game winning streak during the regular season "backing in", or a team with a 4 game winning streak (and a tendancy to choke away halftime leads) at the end of the season.

Point in fact is the season finale meant NOTHING to anyone but the Redskins. It was a punt game for the Cowboys. But the only way you are going to believe any of this specualtion about Dallas it is to go on the road to Seattle and earn the right to play at Texas Stadium and prove it.

[MTK]

It was a throwaway game for Dallas no doubt, but c'mon Dallas didn't want to look that bad. 1 yard rushing?! I don't care what the circumstance, the Cowboys coaches couldn't have been too pleased with the way things went against the Redskins.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

The notion that the Cowboys were concealing their strategy by restricting their playcalling is absolutely absurd. Guess what? There's 15 other weeks worth of game footage to study. How would it benefit them to conceal their strategy for one game?

The notion that they restricted their playcalling for the sake of preventing injuries is also absurd. I don't care what plays you call -- as long as your not spiking/kneeling the ball the risk of injury doesn't change depending on the plays being called.

Stop making excuses. It's pathetic.

[sandtrapjack]

Excuses? Excuses?

Then why did a PRACTICE squad guy get activated to play in that game? It was not needed, but it was done anyway.

Literally, that is what was done. Phillips rested Terrence Newman, he did not even make the trip to DC. And Newmans backup, Nate Jones sat and played on nickel packages and they started a practice squad player (Alan Ball) who played the whole game?

Do you HONESTLY believe the Cowboys would do something like that if they gave a flyin' flip about that game last Sunday? You sound as if the Cowboys, from the TOP down, really cared about the outcome of the game. The only outcome they wanted, they acheived, no injuries. The final score did not mean jack!

[GhettoDogAllStars]

If Romo gets injured, the Cowboys have virtually no shot at the Superbowl. Why take the risk and play Romo, if the potential for disaster is so great and there is no incentive to win (as you presume)?

A team who doesn't care about winning, and only cares about avoiding injuries, will rest all of its key players -- especially a pro-bowl quarterback who, this season, has performed better than any other QB in franchise history.

Also, let's not forget that Romo was sacked on the last play of the half attempting a hail-mary pass. That's pretty risky, and certainly not something a team does who cares more about avoiding injuries than winning the game.

[sandtrapjack]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

If Romo gets injured, the Cowboys have virtually no shot at the Superbowl. Why take the risk and play Romo, if the potential for disaster is so great and there is no incentive to win (as you presume)?

A team who doesn't care about winning, and only cares about avoiding injuries, will rest all of its key players -- especially a pro-bowl quarterback who, this season, has performed better than any other QB in franchise history.

Also, let's not forget that Romo was sacked on the last play of the half attempting a hail-mary pass. That's pretty risky, and certainly not something a team does who cares more about avoiding injuries than winning the game.

I did not say I agreed with Romo playing. On the contrary, I did not think it wise.

That last play of the first half was just a dumb move by the Dallas coaches. At that point, Romo only needed one completion to break the franchise record, they were trying to give him that so he would not have to start the 3rd quarter. It was stupid to expose him like that. So he took the first series in the 3rd quarter, got his 1 completion he needed (to Witten) and then Romo was done for the day.

Piss poor playing conditions or not, I would like to have seen Nick Folk try a 54 yarder on that play.

[hail_2_da_skins]

I can't believe you are continuing on this "The Cowboys had nothing to play for bullsh#t". You know that when it comes to division games, the records and everything else doesn't mean anything, each team wants to beat the crap out of the other team. If you don't win but one game all year, you want to beat your division rival. Why do you think the Redskin-Cowboy game is the last game of the year. This is what it's all about. You may have fooled yourself into believing this nonsense but we will find out in two weeks if Cowboys can turn the switch back on. You better root for Seattle because the Girls don't want to see the Skins again.