Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Maybe the teams are waiting for that first domino to fall and they see what happens with the QBs:  Watson, Rodgers, and Wilson.....if they stay or move on...............or maybe the owners are trying to move the cap up a bit for 2022 since it appears fans will be back in most stadiums...

WHO KNOWS!!! 

I usually have Wheel Of Fortune on in the background while I cook supper---last night it was funny because one of the contestants said she was a DIE HARD Eagle's fan and unfortunately she was married to a DIE HARD Giant's fan, and she said they even had it put it in their wedding vows that their marriage was put on hold whenever the Eagles and Giants played each other....😄

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

I dare say she's been having a lot of fun jabbing hubby about getting Devonta Smith. Giants' fans did not take that well.

[Spurt]

---

@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

I dare say she's been having a lot of fun jabbing hubby about getting Devonta Smith. Giants' fans did not take that well.

---

@gardenman 

😄😄😄😄 Yep, I bet she's enjoying that.....

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

People forget the Cowboys were pretty healthy and had Dak and got off to a 1-3 start and that one win was the miracle win over Atlanta when the Falcons forgot they could recover an onsides kick. If they'd been 4-0 before Dak got hurt, yeah, they should be optimistic. They were very lucky not to be 0-4 though. We'll see what happens this year, but I just don't think they've fixed their defense.

[Spurt]

---

@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

People forget the Cowboys were pretty healthy and had Dak and got off to a 1-3 start and that one win was the miracle win over Atlanta when the Falcons forgot they could recover an onsides kick. If they'd been 4-0 before Dak got hurt, yeah, they should be optimistic. They were very lucky not to be 0-4 though. We'll see what happens this year, but I just don't think they've fixed their defense.

---

@gardenman 

I totally agree with you, and as does one knowledgeable local Sports guy here.....the others are going with the mirage with all the other Cowboy fans

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

Yeah, I think a lot of the Cowboy lovers have a bit of amnesia. Dak was putting up amazing numbers before he got hurt, but the Cowboys legitimately should have been 0-4. And, truth be told, Dak's numbers would have likely slipped over the course of the year. He started out hot, but hot streaks tend to fade. 

If you look at the Cowboys' wins last year, they barely beat Atlanta in a miracle win. They eked out a three-point win at home against the Giants. They then lost four in a row before eking out another three-point win over the Vikings. Two more losses, then a win over the Bengals who were without their QB. Then a win over the Niners who were without their QB. Then a win over the Eagles who were without pretty much everyone by then, before losing to the Giants to end the year. They weren't a championship-caliber team. 

Getting Dak back will help them, but he's not a miracle worker. They legitimately should have been 0-4 with him playing at a level no quarterback has ever reached before. He was on pace to rewrite the QB record books if he'd kept up that pace all year. (He likely would have regressed as the season went on, but had he not, he'd have rewritten the record books.) And they should have been 0-4 despite his playing the best any QB has ever played. 

I just don't see where they've fixed their issues. The strength (relatively speaking) of their defense was the linebackers. So, what do they focus on in the draft? The linebackers. They bring in a new defensive coordinator who made his name in Seattle with an extremely talented defense. His defenses since then have been mediocre and he's been fired. This is arguably the least talented group of defensive players he's ever had. He's going to somehow coach them up to be great? Eh, call me a skeptic, but I don't think so. 

If the Cowboys had been 4-0 before Dak got hurt, sure, he'll make them great again. They weren't 4-0 though. They were 1-3 and barely that. It took them a miracle to get the one win. If Dak had stayed healthy and they'd won one of every four games all season they'd have ended up at 4-12. As it was they ended up 6-10. And frankly, a lot of those wins came against relatively crippled teams.

We'll have to see what happens in 2021, but if I was a Cowboy fan, I wouldn't be putting the deposit down on playoff tickets just yet. I might be looking more at who we could draft in the top ten of the draft in 2022. A top-five draft pick wouldn't shock me. They were a bad team with Dak last year. I don't think a lot has improved this year. 

[gardenman]

Over at NFL.com Adam Schein has his picks for teams that could go from "Worst to first." I'm not sure poor old Adam hasn't hit his head at some point. His most likely team is the Niners. Yeah, well maybe. They have a shot. His second most likely team is the Falcons. That might be pushing things a wee bit. The third most likely is the Broncos. Uh, seriously? With no real QB? Fourth are the Bengals. They may be first for me. I think they'll be pretty good. Fifth most likely is Jacksonville. Yeah, not going to happen. They'll be better than Houston, but that's not saying much. Sixth most likely are the Eagles. Bear in mind the Eagles could have won the division with three weeks to go had they won their games. Nearly all of the higher-ranked teams were way out of the playoff hunt with three weeks to go. Now part of that was due to the pathetic play of the NFC East, but we were competitive. His seventh most likely team is Detroit. Eh, I might have them a tick higher than seventh. And his least likely team to surge to the top is the Jets. 

I would more likely rank the Bengals as the top team. Before Burrow went down, they were competitive in every game until weird stuff happened late in the games.

I'd slide in the Niners next, but a lot depends on how they handle the QB chaos they've created.

The Eagles would be my third most likely team. They'll be better this year than last year and they weren't that far out of first last year.

Fourth would be the Lions. The Packers are the class of the NFC North, but if Rodgers goes, everything's wide open. The Bears are still a bit unsettled at QB. The Vikings' defense fell apart last year. (They gave up more points than the Cowboys.) 

Fifth might be the Falcons. I'm not a true believer in Matt Ryan. Losing Julio will hurt them. But they'd be my fifth most likely.

Sixth most likely to go from worst to first would be the Jaguars. They have some talent and a new QB, but they need a lot of help.

Seventh most likely would be the Jets. They're the Jets. All three teams above them should be better in 2021 also.

And last would be the Broncos. (Assuming they don't get Aaron Rodgers.) They've pretty much told the world they don't trust their kid QB. (For good reason.)  They struck out on getting a new kid QB. It's Rodgers or bust for them and they're in a mighty tough division.

[teganslaw]

Tyrod Taylor said that the Texans have given him an opportunity to lead since they named him bridge starter. I'm not familiar with the term "bridge starter." How is that different from being named a starter? The article said that the team is in transition and that Watson is out, not really explaining what means. Out as starter, off the team, suspended? It sounds like Watson's days are numbered. 

[Spurt]

---

@teganslaw wrote:

Tyrod Taylor said that the Texans have given him an opportunity to lead since they named him bridge starter. I'm not familiar with the term "bridge starter." How is that different from being named a starter? The article said that the team is in transition and that Watson is out, not really explaining what means. Out as starter, off the team, suspended? It sounds like Watson's days are numbered. 

---

@teganslaw 

I found this definition of a "bridge starter"----A true bridge quarterback is a quarterback that's more than a placeholder; they should be able to compete and win games in the short term while the team is still preparing the franchise's chosen quarterback for his eventual time in the spotlight.

I guess I missed that news that Tyrod had moved on to the Texans....It sounds like the team will indeed move on from Watson, OR perhaps the Texans think the NFL will suspend Watson while they conduct an investigation and the civil trial takes place....OR perhaps they will make a trade and just wash their hands of him and start over to find their franchise QB.........