Sports

[gardenman]

The Cowboys have now done the classic move of dangling a guy out on the trade market to see what they get offered for him (Michael Gallup) then when they didn't get the offers they expected, they say, "Gallup? We'd never trade Gallup! I don't know where you people get those ideas!" Uh, well from you guys. You put that big old "For Sale" sign on him so we thought he was for sale.

You see that market testing type thing happening with multiple teams across multiple sports when the trade deadlines approach. Teams will think, "I bet we could get a first-round pick for this guy if we put him out there." They dangle him out there, don't get anything near to what they expect offered. Then it's time to cover their backsides by insisting the guy was never on the market and everyone's crazy for thinking they'd trade a guy like that. "Why, it's just nuts!" Uh, no it isn't. 

The Eagles look like they may be able to field something that resembles a team on Sunday as wide receiver Jalen Reagor has fought his way back to the active roster. He's that rarest of all Eagles, a fast healer. He's had two injuries this year and has come back faster than expected from both of them. To say that's something of a miracle would be an understatement. Alshon Jeffery was expected back in mid-September but still hasn't found the field. In fact, he somehow injured himself in a walkthrough practice last week. I believe DeSean Jackson has played in a total game start to finish just twice since resigning with the Eagles last year. His injury recovery tends to drag on forever.

On the offensive line Jason Peters (for better or worse) seems like he'll play and Lane Johnson is strongly indicating he'll be out there. That would give the Eagles two solid, veteran offensive tackles. (Though Jordan Mailata may be better than Peters at this point.) It's nice to see players trickling back onto the field instead of being carted off of it.

The Falcons somehow figured out how to win a game and not blow it at the end. Kudos to them for beating the Panthers last night. Take away some of their bone-headed mistakes earlier and they'd be right among the top of the NFC South. Recover the onsides kick instead of standing there watching it against Dallas, and they'd have a game there. Last week if Gurley fell short of the endzone instead of just barely crossing the line would have given them another win. It's the little things that are killing them and they'll look back at the start of this season and be kicking themselves for the games they just gave away on stupid mistakes. They're a pretty dangerous team to play despite their record.

[Spurt]

@gardenman 

Yep, as if the Cowboys don't have enough problems in the locker room already.....now they alienate players that are still trying with their "fire sale" and dangling player trades out there.... what a plan!!!  

To me, McCarthy seems like he's just going through the motions and is just a puppet for Jerry.....  It reminds me so much of the Redskins when Danny Boy was meddlin and making the major decisions, and the coaches had very very little say in things.....Now Ron Rivera and new President Jason Wright are calling the shots---WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!  Snyder has been silenced because he put team success as the goal and is letting the right people make decisions!!   But I dont think Jerry's ego will ever let him do that.....the Cowboys are DOOMED! 

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

I didn't like the McCarthy hire. It was a 'name' hire which has sort of become JJ's forte. I thought there were better options. I'm not sure McCarthy is a puppet or a stooge, but in either case, it's not great if you're a Cowboys fan.

I didn't like their free-agent signings. Once again they went for 'name' guys instead of lesser-known guys who played better football. The hires sounded impressive and would have been if it was 2015. But it's not 2015. Building an all 2015 team in 2020 is not a great strategy.

The immediate future in Dallas isn't great. They need to find a lot of players to be truly competitive again. They have to figure out what to do with Elliott. He's not effective how they're using him now. They might as well start running him into the ground and not worry about five years from now. They'll be paying him the same money anyway, so they might as well get something out of him. Now he's more of a paperweight than anything. 

They may have the most issues of any NFC East team right now. They do have an advantage over the Giants and WFT in that they know they have a QB (when he's healthy), but they're burning the bridges between him and them by not signing him to a big new deal. The WFT and Giants hope they have a QB, but don't truly know. They've overpaid a bunch of players who aren't performing well. I don't think it's an especially good locker room right now. 

It's smart to dump the high priced guys who aren't performing. Give kids a shot. The strength of their roster is wide receiver, but four quality starting-caliber wide receivers may be one or two too many.

CeeDee Lamb is their best trading chip right now. Offer him to Green Bay, who reportedly is looking for a good young receiver, and see what they offer. Obviously, you'd want a first-round pick back and more. What more would they give you? Two firsts? Probably not, but maybe. A first and a player or two? Probably not the players you'd want though. A first and another or multiple other picks? Given the holes on this Dallas roster, it's something you'd probably have to think about. Lamb is, and was at the time, a luxury pick. They didn't need him. They still don't need him. They had much bigger needs. They still do. Moving Lamb gives them a chance to fill those holes.

Would they consider trading Lamb? Probably not. Should they? Absolutely! He's their most valuable asset other than Dak and they can't trade Dak. (At least not yet.) They overpaid Amari Cooper and no one wants his contract. No one offered them the value they sought for Gallup. Lamb is their best asset to get some real value in return. I'm pretty sure the kid is coveted throughout the league. They could get back the first they invested in him and a bit more besides.

The Eagles invested in Jalen Hurts with the plan to unload him before his rookie deal is up. Raise his value by training him up and find a buyer down the road. I think they're expecting Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley to join the NFL soon and when he does they'll have a fit, trained up, NFL ready, young QB just sitting there waiting for him. There may be quite the bidding war for Hurts when he's offered up.

CeeDee Lamb's value is highest right now. He's halfway through the first of five years on a rookie deal (four years and the option year.) He's cheap, performed well, healthy, and a valuable asset where the Cowboys don't really need him. Put him on the market and see what offers come in. Two first-round picks? He's gone! 

[teganslaw]

The Colts released their depth chart for this week: Darius Leonard is back (yay!), TE Mo Allie-Cox and C Ryan Kelly are questionable, but no one has officially been ruled out for Sunday's game. This is the first time in weeks the report is favorable. 

I think the score will be close. Matthew Stafford has been playing well, and their rookie RB Andre Swift is a factor in their games. The Colts have to avoid penalties, hang onto the ball and Rivers can't have interceptions. 

[gardenman]

It looks like rookie Ben Dinucci will be getting the start for the Cowboys at QB Sunday night. Wide Receiver Michael Gallup is encouraging the Eagles to send every blitz they have at the kid. I'm not sure how that's a good strategy for the Cowboys but okay. I guess Gallup thinks the kid can handle the pressure. I'm not so sure Ben DiNucci thinks it's a great idea, but whatever. The Eagles are a little beat up on the d-line, but mostly at the tackle spot and the pressure will come from the defensive end spot where the Eagles are pretty healthy.

In a shocking twist, the Eagles are actually getting a bit healthier. Only two guys ended up on IR this week. We should be getting back Jason Peters, Lane Johnson, Jalen Reagor, and possibly Dallas Goedert. Losing two players and getting four back is a step forward for the Eagles. Lane Johnson is a big addition. If he can play the whole game it'll help to neutralize Demarcus Lawrence. 

Give Carson Wentz some time to throw the ball with Reagor, Travis Fulgham, and Greg Ward at wide receiver, and one of those guys will be open. Expect to see that trio at wide receiver for the next few years for the Eagles. All three look like keepers. This is arguably the first time in his career that Wentz has had three legit NFL caliber young wide receivers to work with. Then there's John Hightower, and Quez Watkins as kids in reserve, and the Eagles look to be pretty set at wide receiver for the immediate future. The Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson experiments are ending this year. JJ Arcega-Whiteside has to do more than block to keep a roster spot also. He's a good downfield blocker, but it would be nice if he caught the occasional pass.

Wentz's best group of receivers before this was in 2017 when he had Agholor (having a career year,) Alshon, and Torrey Smith. This group of kids looks better than those vets did. Being six deep at wide receiver with most in year one or two of their careers is not a bad thing. The Eagles also have Marquise Goodwin lurking in the background who opted out of this season but will likely be ready to play next year. That could give them a veteran presence if they feel the need for a vet on the roster.

The kids on the o-line have played pretty well overall. Nate Herbig has been bounced from right guard to left guard, now back to right guard and that's got his footwork a bit messed up, but I suspect the Eagles coaches are working on that. As a guard, you don't want your inside leg to drop (fall back towards the QB.) At left guard Herbig's inside leg was his right, so he'd let his left leg drop. Last week at right guard again he was still letting his left leg drop which opened an inside passage for the defensive tackles to get to Wentz. He didn't do that in his first stint as a right guard, so it's a mental thing, but he needs to get that fixed. A week of practice with the Eagles coaches screaming at him likely has that fixed for this week. We'll find out tomorrow.

I expect the Eagles to invest heavily in the defense this coming offseason and NFL draft. More help for the DBs and linebackers is likely. There really aren't a lot of holes on the offense right now. A young stud defensive tackle might be coveted also as some of our guys are getting up there a bit.

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

OMG so what is Gallup thinking inviting the Eagles to blitz their 3rd string QB!!?!?!?!?....well I hope the Cowboys have a plan and a 4th string QB ready.........

I loved how former Giant, JPP, is hoping to DESTROY his old team on MNF!!!  I already warned my sis, the Giant fan....LOL....With a QB that falls down on his own, I dont think the Giants need a whole lot of help to destroy themselves....

[gardenman]

Ben DiNucci has now joined Michael Gallup in encouraging the Eagles defense to come after him. I'm not sure how brilliant that is as a strategy. He has an iffy offensive line protecting him, so it may not be the best time to tease the Eagle defenders who will be looking to attack him anyway. I'm guessing they're hoping the Eagle defenders get overly enthusiastic and let the Cowboys run draws and screens to fool them. Either that or DiNucci is a bit suicidal. It'll be interesting to see how this all ends up.

[gardenman]

It's game day! Lots of good football today. My first game today will be the Steelers/Ravens or Vikings/Packers. The later game is the Saints/Bears (I think.) Then tonight we have the Eagles/Cowboys.

The Steelers/Ravens games are typically bloodbaths. The officials need combat pay for these games. Expect a few cheap shots, some hot tempers, and lots of vows for revenge no matter who wins.

The Vikings/Packers game figures to be the last chance for the Vikings to have a shot at salvaging their season. A loss would drop them to 1-6 and they'd pretty much have to win out from there to make the playoffs. That's not the easiest thing to do. Expect the Vikings to be playing desperately. I don't think it'll be enough though.

The Bears need the good Nick Foles to show up today. If he does, they have a shot. If the bad Nick shows up, well, it won't be pretty.

The Cowboys are starting seventh-round rookie Ben Dinucci at QB tonight and he and Michael Gallup are encouraging the Eagles to come after him. Uh, okay. Not necessarily the best strategy, but I guess the kid is young and will heal quickly. Sane quarterbacks tend not to encourage the Eagles defense to attack them. 

The Eagles finally get back some of the walking wounded. Jalen Reagor rejoins the WR pool and is anxious to put on a good show. Dallas Goedert is back at tight end. The offensive line gets some vets back in Lane Johnson and Jason Peters. We're still missing more than a few guys, but getting a few back is better than losing still more.

I would expect the Cowboys to come out and try to run the ball on the Eagles. Any passes should be of the short, fast variety, and maybe try to sneak in a deep ball every now and then, but they'll need their line to hold up for that. I'm not wildly optimistic about the Cowboys chances in this game.

The Eagles will try running the ball using little old Boston Scott as the main back. The Cowboys haven't been all that effective at stopping the run this year. Add in the passing game to Goedert, Fulgham, Reagor, and Greg Ward, to say nothing of Scott out of the backfield and the Cowboy defense will be truly tested. The Eagles should be able to mix things up enough to confuse the Cowboys reads, which will slow down their reactions and lead to some easy yards for the birds.

This is one of those rare Eagles/Cowboys showdowns where I'm not unduly worried. (Check back at halftime and that may have changed.) 

It should be a good day of football.

[Spurt]

Here's the games in my area---

EARLY GAMES--

Steelers vs Ravens----Should be a great game....

Vikings vs Packers---Aaron says the Vikings shouldn't fire Zimmer, "it will be absolutely crazy" but will Zygi the owner think the same????

LATE GAME-

Saints vs Bears--- Brees vs Foles.....

SNF--

Cowboys vs Eagles--- FLY EAGLES FLY!!!!  Get the stretcher ready for DiNucci as the Eagles front Blitzes.....maybe DiNucci wants to hurry up and get out of the game quickly and to the safety of the medical tent....

MNF---

Bucs vs Giants ----  Lets see if JPP & Tommy can DESTROY those Giants!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[emmygrace]

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@Spurt wrote:

Here's the games in my area---

EARLY GAMES--

Steelers vs Ravens----Should be a great game....

Vikings vs Packers---Aaron says the Vikings shouldn't fire Zimmer, "it will be absolutely crazy" but will Zygi the owner think the same????

LATE GAME-

Saints vs Bears--- Brees vs Foles.....

SNF--

Cowboys vs Eagles--- FLY EAGLES FLY!!!!  Get the stretcher ready for DiNucci as the Eagles front Blitzes.....maybe DiNucci wants to hurry up and get out of the game quickly and to the safety of the medical tent....

MNF---

Bucs vs Giants ----  Lets see if JPP & Tommy can DESTROY those Giants!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

---

OMG!! Missed most of the first quarter of the Chiefs/Jets!!!!!!!! Changed my clocks too! Thankfully we're doing great! GO CHIEFS!!!!!