The Mess That Is the New York Jets

As a New York Giants fan, I can't help but laugh at all the nonsense coming from the Giants' MetLife stadium mates - the New York Jets. The entire offseason has been a circus for the Jets. First, they picked up Denver Quarterback Tim Tebow even though they have a quarterback who has taken the Jets to the AFC Championship twice, but regressed last year. Then, they courted a quarterback controversy.

Throughout the preseason, the Jets offense has been missing in action. Actually, it's been worse than that. The offense has actually turned into points for the opposition while not putting up a single touchdown.

The offense is putrid. Yet, Coach Rex Ryan seems to be pinning the team's offensive success on a wildcat offensive system that has yet to be tested during the preseason.

Ryan keeps claiming that there's no reason to show the offense before the regular season opener against the Buffalo Bills.

Throughout the preseason, the Jets have zealously guarded the Wildcat portion of their offense that coach Rex Ryan has boasted about so much since they acquired Tim Tebow in a trade with Denver in March. Not only did they not use it in any public practices during training camp, they didn’t run it, not even for one play, during any of their first three preseason games.

And Tebow won’t play Thursday night in the preseason finale, Ryan said.

Why all the secrecy? Ryan truly believes it will make the formation and all its wrinkles that much more effective when the Jets finally unleash that Wildcat against Buffalo in the regular-season opener Sept. 9.

“There’s no sense in putting it out there on film,” Ryan said Tuesday. “Let [the Bills] guess and hopefully it messes them up.”

He admitted that he and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano made a conscious decision not to tip their hand at all.

“Yeah, we bounced it back and forth,” Ryan said. “But we made that collective decision that we thought it was in our best interest not to.”

Still, it could be argued that merely a few snaps in preseason game action against an opponent other than the Jets themselves could have helped Tebow and the rest of the players become more familiar with the scheme under game conditions. And really, the Jets could have done that without giving away too much that isn’t already known among NFL defensive coordinators.

The folly of the logic of not testing out the system in the preseason is that the first time they run the system in the regular season, every team they face down the line will be able to recognize it and prepare defenses to counter it. So, instead of preparing the team for how it will operate during the regular season, the Jets have put together an offense that can't score under a standard offensive scheme, and will leave it to wishful thinking that the wildcat will work past the first game.

There's absolutely no reason to believe that the offense will improve. After all, the offensive line can't protect the quarterback, create running lanes for running backs or Tim Tebow, and if they can't vastly improve on either front, the team will disintegrate before your very eyes. It will turn ugly.

In fact, there's already been signs of just how ugly it might get - with the team failing to score a touchdown thus far in the preseason, the first time that the offense sputters in the regular season will open up the possibility of a full-blown quarterback controversy that will only mire the rest of the season as a lost cause.

Yet, despite this self-imposed disaster, picking up Tebow helped sell newspapers and keep the Jets in the headlines.

That's all while the defending Super Bowl champion Giants went to business and are plugging away at getting their players ready for the grind and seeing who will fill the shoes left by the departed Brandon Jacobs and Mario Manningham. In both instances, it seems the Giants have found their men, and their chief concern is mitigating and minimizing injuries.

Football Training Camps Open With Giants As Underdogs and Jets Again Overestimating Themselves

The last Super Bowl is already in the rear view mirror, and training camp is now open across the NFL. Despite having a stirring Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots, Las Vegas has a half dozen teams ranked ahead of the defending champion New York Giants including all the teams that the Giants beat in the playoffs to win it all.

You can be assured that will make for all the motivation that the defending champs need. Their regular season wasn't much to look at, but it was more than enough to get them into the playoffs where they showed their mettle. The Giants have already stated as much.

That’s why Eli Manning said in a radio interview on WFAN earlier this week that the Giants will begin camp with “a lot to prove” to everyone, even though their most recent championship isn't yet six months old. That’s a notion that has been echoed by some of his teammates who will arrive in Albany with chips on their shoulders the size of their Super Bowl rings.

“There’s always a lot to prove every year,” Osi Umenyiora said. “It’s not like the Olympics or the World Cup. Every year somebody’s got to win it again. Last year’s over with. Going into this year nobody’s picking us to win again, as usual. There’s always going to be a lot to prove every year we go out there.”

It’s still early, but in some places the Giants are already projected to finish third in the NFC East, and at least one Vegas oddsmaker has them the ninth choice to win Super Bowl XLVII behind four other NFC teams (including the Philadelphia Eagles). It’s been pointed out in many places too that before they were champions the Giants were a 9-7 team that barely qualified for the playoffs.

That fact will follow them this summer, and likely for most of the year.
“It’s understood,” Umenyiora said. “We’re used to it. It’s been like that since I’ve been here.

“My teammates understand we are the champions and we are the best team in football until someone knocks us off that mantle. To me there’s no question we’re a great football team and we’re going to play that way. But it’s just making everybody else on our football team understand that what we did last year wasn’t a fluke.

“What we did last year was real and we can do that again this year.”

They officially begin working toward that goal on Friday afternoon when they take the field for their first practice at the University at Albany, free from some of the distractions that have plagued previous camps. Umenyiora, for example, got his long-awaited raise and no longer has contract issues hovering over his head. And the Giants extended Tom Coughlin’s contract through the 2014 season, taking his usually perilous job security out of play.

The Giants do have some holes to address, including at tackle and tight end, but those are concerns that mirror the issues the team had last season as well.

By comparison, the Jets are already making newspaper fodder despite having not produced on the field. They also face the prospect of a QB controversy the moment starting quarterback Mark Sanchez hits a rough spot or a losing streak and fans begin chanting for Tim Tebow. It's a self-imposed mess that will only fester the longer the season goes. And the Jets don't seem to have the discipline to keep out of the headlines, which means that it's great for selling papers but not so good for sticking to football.

Has Eli Manning Established Hall of Fame Credentials With Second Super Bowl Win; MVP?

Kurt Warner, who knows a thing or two about winning Super Bowls, seems to think that NY Giant Eli Manning hasn't quite made the case to be in the Hall of Fame.

For the moment, I think he's right.

Two rings and two Super Bowl MVPs plus the rest of Manning's numbers definitely put him in the discussion for the NFL Hall of Fame, but don't mean he's a sure thing.

Just ask Jim Plunkett.

Plunkett won two Super Bowls with the LA Raiders, but he still needs to buy a ticket to get into Canton. Manning, if he plays at the level he did this year for the next few years, could find a space saved for him there. If he keeps his interception rate down, maintains his completion rate and accuracy on his long throws, then he'd be in the discussion both on the strength of his regular season numbers plus what he's done in the postseason.

After all, Manning has set all manner of records in the postseason. He's won seven straight road/neutral games. He's had several stirring come-from-behind wins in that stretch, including twice in the Super Bowl. He's led the Giants through some of the toughest competition to get to the Super Bowl this year, including wins over the number 1 and 2 seeds in the NFL plus the top seed in the AFC.

Yet, his statistics until the 2011 season were not quite Hall of Fame material. If Manning puts another couple of seasons together like he did this year, he cements his legacy as a Hall of Famer. If he does that, he might make it on the first ballot.

If he has a few more average seasons, with 18-20 interceptions to go along with 25 touchdowns, then he'd still have a good shot of getting in, but it would not be a sure thing. Someone would inevitably point to his uneven regular seasons as proof he's not Hall of Fame material.

I'm sure that Manning would love to put together another couple of years like this - particularly the outcome - and end all doubt about his credentials and career.

The thing is, that compared with his peers, he's certainly in the Hall of Fame discussion. That discussion starts with Tom Brady, with his three rings in five chances. It also includes Ben Roethlisberger, who has also won two rings. For Roethlisberger, his statistics are in good company:

He currently ranks 10th all-time in NFL passer rating (92.9), 5th in yards per attempt (8.06), and 11th in completion percentage (63.24%) among quarterbacks with a minimum of 1,500 career attempts. He has the fourth highest career winning percentage (.710) as a starter in the regular season among quarterbacks with a minimum of 100 starts.

Manning, by comparison, has a lower NFL passer rating, lower yards per attempt, lower completion percentage. Yet, he's done something that none of his other peers have done - and that's outplay Brady - the best quarterback of our generation - twice in the Super Bowl.

This is one discussion that I'm sure will be revisited in the next few years, particularly if we see a few more of these.

Sex Assault Scandal Threatens To Take Down Penn State Sports Program

This is a story that broke over the weekend, but actually began more than a decade ago. A former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, for Joe Paterno's storied Penn State Nittany Lions football team was arrested for sexually abusing 8 boys over a 15 year period from 1994 to 2009, including some incidents that are believed to have occurred in a Penn State athletic building. Sandusky faces 40 abuse charges, including 21 felonies. He was released on $100,000 bail. Sandusky retired from Paterno's staff in 1999.

Sandusky apparently encountered the children through a charity he founded and operated called The Second Mile.

The allegations are bad enough, but the university's actions are reprehensible:

According to a grand-jury report, a Penn State graduate assistant claimed that on the night of March 1, 2002, he entered the football locker room and was surprised to hear the showers running and sexual sounds coming from that area. The young coach said he witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy he estimated to be 10 years old, that both the well-known former coach and the boy saw him, and that he raced to his office and called his father, who advised him to leave the building.

The graduate assistant went to Paterno’s home the next day to explain what he had seen. A day later, Paterno called athletic director Tim Curley to his home to relay the message.

More than a week passed before Curley and Gary Schultz, Penn State’s senior vice president for finance and business, called upon the graduate assistant for his direct version of events.

Curley and Schultz never reported the accusation to authorities, even though the grand-jury report indicated that Schultz testified he was aware of a 1998 investigation into shower incidents involving Sandusky and children in the football building. Sandusky retired in 1999, after 21 consecutive years as a Paterno assistant.

Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury to a grand jury and failure to report suspicion of child molestation.

Penn State’s president, Graham Spanier, expressed support for Curley and Schultz. The prosecutor didn’t. Neither Curley nor Schultz, after their lengthy delay in calling upon the graduate assistant, told university police about the allegation. They face perjury charges for claiming that the graduate assistant never informed them that sexual activity was involved.

Curley did ban Sandusky from bringing children on campus again, however, and Spanier approved the ban. The university president also never informed any police authorities, but was not charged.

So, at best, the AD and a university V-P were told about a possible child molestation in a football locker room; they waited a week-and-a-half to question the witness; they took action banning the alleged perpetrator -- a longtime former trusted employee -- from bringing children on campus; and the university president approved the ban, either knowing why he approved it, or not knowing why he approved it, which would be almost equally preposterous.

The arrest shook the campus to its core, and raises questions over who knew and when. It appears that at least several people knew about the sexual abuse, but did not alert the authorities. Two officials have resigned, and are facing charges themselves for obstruction of justice and perjury:

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and a university administrator, Gary Schultz, will step down amid a sexual abuse scandal involving a former football assistant, the university announced early Monday morning.

Curley will take an administrative leave to defend himself against perjury charges, and Schultz will retire. The decision came during an executive session Sunday night involving Graham B. Spanier, the president of the university, and members of the university’s board of trustees.

The possibility of the resignations of Coach Joe Paterno and Spanier was reportedly not discussed at the meeting.

Curley and Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, were charged Saturday with perjury and failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations involving the former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, who was charged with 40 counts related to sexual abuse of boys.

Curley and Schultz deny any wrongdoing.

Mark Sherburne, the senior associate athletic director, will serve as interim athletic director.

“The board, along with the entire Penn State family, is shocked and saddened by the allegations involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky,” Steve Garban, the chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “Under no circumstances does the university tolerate behavior that would put children at risk, and we are deeply troubled.”

Fantasy Football Picks, Darth Vader Style

Darth Vader isn't a good fantasy football manager, but don't disagree with him.

He doesn't like it.



Are you ready for the season?

See you in the playoffs.

Why This Giants Fan Is Rooting For the Cowboys

I'm a longtime Giants fan, but I know my division rivals well enough to know that to maximize the Giants playoff possibilities, it will require winning of their remaining games and hoping that the other division rivals beat each other up.

It wont hurt if the Cowboys win their remaining two games against the Eagles.

Cowboys can still make some noise.

At 4-8, the Cowboys are even more cooked than the 5-7 Vikings. But the Cowboys still can screw things up for other teams as they continue their climb to respectability.

Specifically, the Cowboys can throw a wrench into the Eagles’ playoff hopes. A year after Dallas took three from Philly, the Cowboys still have not one but two cracks at their NFC East rivals.

Lose both, and the Eagles could end up home for January, especially since they still have to travel to New York to face the Giants. The Vikings likely won’t be a pushover, either.

But it all comes down to Dallas and Philadelphia, and it starts on Sunday night in Dallas, where the Eagles lost twice in six days to end their 2009 season.

The Cowboys are showing life for interim coach Jason Garrett. They're 3-1 after he inherited a lifeless 1-7 team. Garrett has made the Cowboys dangerous and while the Cowboys are an outside chance for winning a playoff slot - they'd have to overcome both the Eagles, Giants, and a slew of other teams who are ahead of them in the NFC playoff hunt, they could derail some of those other teams - particularly the Eagles.

And nothing would make me happier than to see the Eagles implode to the Cowboys except seeing the Giants make a return trip to the playoffs on route to the Super Bowl.

Lingerie Football League Comes To New York

Women in scantily clad uniforms playing football and grappling each other on cable television near you?

What could possibly go wrong.

The league is expanding in to the New York metro region, with a team being formed in New York City called the Majesty.

Here's the league's website, and it's 7 on 7 full contact football.

If there's one complaint, I would say that it's the uniforms, which aren't actually lingerie. It's supposed to be lingerie, and yet the players are wearing bikinis. What is the fun in that? At least some of the players have garters, so there's that.

Brett Favre Retiring Again?

Reports claim that New York Jet quarterback Brett Favre is considering retirement again. I'd say that he already retired a month ago when his arm pretty much gave out. Only after the season ended was it revealed that he had a torn tendon in his arm, affecting his accuracy and play.

I'm sure that this isn't going to be the last time we hear about Favre and his decision to retire. I'm sure he'll attempt yet one more year in the NFL, hoping to erase the stink of failure surrounding the 2008 campaign. After all, the Jets were in a prime position to make the playoffs before their complete collapse with a losing December.

For the Jets, they'd better start looking at quarterbacks on the market and in the draft, because it will be some time before they have a franchise quarterback to helm the team.

Creep Invoked 9/11 Imagery and Jokes Over Football Game With NY Giants

There's no other way to put this delicately. Some people are just flat out creeps.

A few hours ago, one lunatic Seattle Seahawks fan took football trash talk a few zillion steps too far by posting a picture of the collapsed World Trade Center smoldering on Sept. 11, 2001 on a fan site called Seahawkshuddle.com, and following it with not one, but 17 horrifying jokes. I’m not going to post the jokes here, because they’re really offensive. If you want to see for yourselves, you can check it out in a cached version someone found on the Web right here.

Why invoke 9/11 imagery and joke about the terrorist attacks that resulted from Islamic terrorists murdering nearly 3,000 people and destroying billions of dollars in property over a football game between the NY Giants and Seattle Seahawks that will be played next week?

Why indeed?

I doubt that the person who made the post will be ashamed of what he did. He might be sorry for the avalanche of scorn and derision that will head his way, especially as his name and various other sundry details have been revealed.

This goes beyond the pale. Scorn and derision are properly deserved.

Tom Brady Out For Season

What did Brett Favre know and when did he know it? Many people looked at Farve's decision to come to the NY Jets in the offseason as a bad idea (or here) since his plans for a playoff run would run up against New England the arm of Tom Brady.

Now, all that changes.

Brady is now out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in the first quarter of yesterday's season opener against Kansas City. The AFC heirarchy of power and control may shift if Brady's replacement, whether it is Matt Cassel or Chris Simms (or anyone else the Patriots bring in), cannot deliver. Teams like Indianapolis or San Diego might take advantage of the situation, but it is no longer a lock that New England will be there at the end of the season.

Brady has been part of a remarkable run by the Patriots that includes two Super Bowl titles, and an 18 game winning streak that ended with a loss to the NY Giants in the Super Bowl this past February. He broke through as a starter when Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury; Bledsoe never got another chance to QB in New England. Now, it's up to Cassel to deliver.

And Jet fans are probably wondering what they've done to deserve this turn of events.

Joy in Jets-land

Happy days are here again? Brett Farve, one of the all time NFL greats, has finally ended the long saga with the Green Bay Packers and has agreed to be traded to the New York Jets.

Farve holds quite a few NFL records: career NFL touchdowns; career passing yards; pass completions; pass attempts; most interceptions; most consecutive starts; and most career victories as starting QB.

This was the long shot of the teams suspected of being in the running. The Jets were atrocious last year, and Farve clearly wants to make it back to the playoffs, and the Jets happen to play in the same division as the Patriots, which lowers those chances.

Tampa Bay was another option, but that clearly didn't pan out. It would appear that the Jets' commitment to win this season won Farve over:

The Jets spent more than $140 million in the offseason on new talent to bolster a team that went 4-12 in 2007. Among the offseason work the Jets did was revamp the offensive line with the signings of LG Alan Faneca and RT Damien Woody.

Those signings surely were attractive to Favre.

So, too, was a conversation he had with coach Eric Mangini on Tuesday night during which Mangini gave Favre the hard sell on why coming to New York was the move for him to make.

Mangini told Favre of the team's new state-of-the-art practice facility that the Jets will move into in September. He informed him of the attractive rural places to live in New Jersey near the team's Florham Park (N.J.) facility. He, too, emphasized the fact that playing in New York could be a huge marketing and promotional opportunity for him.

The Jets, too, would love to think the addition of Favre will soften the blow to season ticket holders who will have to pay those personal-seat licenses in the new stadium that will open in 2010.

So, Farve comes to the Meadowlands to bring his gunslinging attitude to a team sorely in need of a quarterback who can lead the team out of the wilderness (or at least out of the long shadow of their co-tenant - the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants). It also means that the days of Chad Pennington lining up behind center for the Jets is over. The Jets will try to move him as quickly as possible, along with the $6 million owed for this season.

Farve brings leadership, NFL MVP awards, Super Bowl rings, and a strong arm to the table. Pennington, who was a capable leader, never managed to get the arm strength back after injuries and that limited the team's offense.

A Super Ending

While I am not at today's parade down the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan, it is still a super ending to a super season for the New York Giants. They're going crazy along the parade route and it's a well deserved accolade after beating the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew Crushes Patriots Perfection

The New York Giants stunned the football world and prognosticators who never gave them a chance of even staying close with the New England Patriots. They not only kept the game close, but played a game for the ages.

The Giants defense harassed Tom Brady all night and Brady spent half the time on the ground. Even if they didn't get a sack, Brady was hitting the turf.

And the Patriots defense was just as stingy. Until that last drive. While people will point to the Manning to Burress touchdown throw as the one that sealed the Giants win, it was the Manning to Tyree pass earlier in the series that cemented Manning's legacy in Giants and NFL lore.



The Patriots had Manning in their grasp, and they couldn't contain him. And David Tyree made his catch of a lifetime by going up for the ball and coming down with it with a circus catch.

So, the Patriots, who came in with dreams of perfection couldn't close the deal. And the Giants came away with the perfect ending.

Sweet.

And I'll also take this opportunity to mention that I picked the Giants to win 21-20.

UPDATE:
And for those who only watched for the commercials, I've got to say that by and large they sucked. Bigtime. Two did stand out; the Sobe Lizard Thriller and the Budweiser Clydesdale Rocky. Every other commercial fell flat or simply didn't get it done. An honorable mention does go to the latest trailer for Ironman.

Super Bown XLII Prediction

Well, here goes nothing. The Giants will win 21-20 on a last minute field goal by Lawrence Tynes shocking the world. It would also mean that I'd win a nice chunk of change in my office pool since those numbers would mean I win on the boxes. I love it when a plan comes together.

The spread on the game has been about 12-14 points depending on the day and what news comes out about Tom Brady's gimpy ankle. I don't think that injury will have any effect on his play. He'll still do well, but not well enough to break the Giants defense.

The Giants will come up big on a goal line stand somewhere during the game and will force the Patriots to make a field goal instead. They'll need their front four on defense to get serious pressure on Brady all game long to harass him into making early throws and keep the Patriots off balance.

On offense, the Giants will have to play error free ball. Eli Manning has done just that since the last meeting with the Patriots during the final week of the season.

For a slightly different take, check out Jammie's predictions, although the outcome remains the same - Giants win in a shocker.

NY Giants: Super Bowl Bound!

For all the naysayers who thought that Eli Manning couldn't finish the season, he's taken the Giants to within a win of holding aloft the Vince Lombardi trophy. This was quite the game for the Giants, who not only had to overcome a very game Packers team, but weather conditions that were horrendously cold.

Not only did Manning survive the game, but he thrived under pressure, which included watching his place kicker miss two field goals in regulation (one with seconds left on the clock). His defense kicked it up a notch in overtime, got the ball back in Eli's hands, who got the ball down to within range where Lawrence Tynes made his third field goal.

Giants 23- Packers 20 (OT).

As for recapping my predictions from earlier today, I'd have to say I did damn well.

The Patriots won their game 21-12, which I had predicted to be 28-13. Here, I had predicted 24-21 [fixed typo]. I also get to rub it in to anonymous emailer, who was bandwagoning on the Packers to beat the Giants. He thought the Packers would win, and gave me the spread (+7). Turns out, I didn't need the spread.

So, next stop, Glendale, Arizona where the Giants will face the Packers in a clash for the ages. Can the Giants stop the Patriots perfect season? Can the Giants continue their record run on the road? We'll see.

UPDATE:
Here's the box score. Read it and weep Packer fans.

UPDATE:
Apparently Eli Manning's long time girlfriend is the anti-Jessica Simpson. Hey, whatever it takes to win.

NFC and AFC Championship Game Predictions

The Giants and Packers will face off tonight in the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Big Blue has a big task today, but I think that they might be able to pull it out. They've been overcoming long odds all postseason, and today will be no different. If the defense gets pressure on Farve, it can be a long day for him - and no matter how used to the cold he is, being flat on his back isn't going to be comfortable. It might not be the coldest game ever played, but it will be the coldest that these players have ever experienced.

Eli will have to be on the top of his game, but he's come through in the playoffs so far. I see that trend continuing.

Giants 24 - Green Bay 21.

Meanwhile, the Patriots will face off against the surprising Chargers, who are as beat up as you can possibly imagine. Their starting quarterback is beat up, and their all world running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, suffered from a hyperextended knee.

The Patriots aren't going to lose their perfect season here.

Patriots 28 - Chargers 13.

Video of the Day

All I can say is boo hoo. The Giants won that game fair and square and it actually had little to do with Romo and everything to do with the fact that the Cowboys defense couldn't stop the big play involving Amani Toomer. Romo was merely average yesterday, and yet they were able to control the ball for 2/3 of the game. They simply couldn't get in the end zone. That's not all on Romo. It is, however, on the coaching staff, and on the Giants ability to stiffen up when they needed to make the big plays.

They Might Be Giants...

Giants 21 - Cowboys 17.

A mild upset, but those who are most upset are those Dallas fans who thought that their Cowboys would beat the Giants for the third time this season. Sorry to burst the bubble, but the Giants can bring it, and Eli Manning did just a wee bit better than Tony Romo.

With the clock running down, Romo threw an interception that sealed the Cowboys fate, and with it the questions will swirl as to whether Romo's relationship with Jessica Simpson had anything to do with the loss and everyone will wonder what will happen to the coaching staff.

The problem wasn't solely Romo, who had a 50% completion percentage and 1TD/1INT. I'd say the inability of the Cowboys secondary to stop Amani Toomer was a bigger problem. Despite a ball control offense that kept the Giant offense off the field for most of the game, Manning made the most of his chances, and going to his Mr. Dependable made the difference.

Dallas' failure is huge, much bigger than last season's flop in Seattle when Romo botched the hold on a go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.

The Cowboys just wasted a 13-3 season, which matched the best in team history. They're the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in this round since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990. They also became the seventh team to lose a playoff game against a team they'd beaten twice in the regular season -- joining Dallas' 1998 club.

Worst of all is the extension of all the skids: Romo now 0-2 in the playoffs, coach Wade Phillips 0-4 and the team 0-for-the-postseason since winning a wild-card game in 1996. The Cowboys have dropped five games since then.

The Cowboys might be headed into a stormy offseason. Team owner Jerry Jones said Thursday he would keep Phillips regardless of what happened in the playoffs. Now that will be tested, especially with highly valued assistant coaches Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano interviewing for jobs elsewhere.

Critics may point to Romo's trip to Mexico last weekend with his latest celebrity girlfriend as a disruption, but the problems went a lot deeper. There were all kinds of penalties that hurt Dallas drives and helped New York's, sloppy tackling on defense and special teams, dropped passes and wasted timeouts.

The Giants will next play Green Bay, who is coming off one of the more entertaining games I've seen in quite some time. There is something to be said for watching football with the snow flying. Now, if only they could play the Super Bowl in the snow.

Sports Blotter Roundup

The wheels are officially coming off the cycles at the Tour de France, as not only have two teams been disqualified for members doping, but the tour leader was pulled by his team because he failed to provide an itinerary for the past several weeks. Oh, and a bomb went off along the Spanish portion of the ride earlier today. The terrorist group, ETA, claimed responsibility. As for the racing, Michael Rassmussen was tossed, even though he was leading the race. He violated his team rules.

The Tour is in complete disarray as leaders have been sacked, high profile cyclists have been tossed, and last year's winner, Floyd Landis, is still under a cloud of suspicion over his performance and a failed test.

Earlier this week, Cofidis pulled its team out of the Tour when rider Cristian Moreni of Italy failed a doping test and was led away by police at the end of the 16th stage. That comes on the heels of another team pulling out because Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for a banned blood transfusion. He had won a stage earlier in the race.

It's a sad thing that the sport of cycling is best known for doping scandals, and not the difficulty of winning the most prestigious race, the Tour de France.

Then, there's the ongoing mess with Michael Vick. He's been told to stay away from training camp by the NFL. Some are wondering why the half measures. Well, good question. There's also a good answer. While everything appears stacked against him, he is still presumed innocent under the law. Animal lovers have every right to be pissed off at Vick, but don't get ahead of the legal process. These things also have a way of working out for themselves. It might not be as fast as one would like, but they will work out.

There are also signs that Vick might never take another snap with the Atlanta Falcons, the team that drafted him out of college.

Expect Vick to take a look at what's happened and I expect him to try and cut a deal to get out. Prosecutors will likely try to take this to court, and the evidence certainly seems quite complete.

Oh, and for those still paying attention, there's Barry Bonds and his quest to crack baseball's holy grail, the career baseball home run record. He's sitting at 753, and Hank Aaron stands at 755. The problem for Bonds is that everyone associates him with the steroid scandal, regardless of whether he actually took them or not. His name is indelibly linked with the BALCO mess, and his name keeps popping up, despite his protestations to the contrary. It's surely keeping MLB Commissioner Bud Selig up at night, and perhaps wishing that Bonds comes down with an injury that prevents him from reaching the milestone, but Selig has said he'd be there. Hank Aaron has said he wouldn't attend, which is a shame, since putting the spotlight on Bonds actually makes Aaron's accomplishments all the more impressive - he did them without any claims of performance enhancement.

NFL Tells Michael Vick To Stay Away From Training Camp

Michael Vick was ordered by commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons' training camp until the league reviews the dogfighting charges against him.

"While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy," Goodell said in a letter to the quarterback.

The NFL said Vick would still get his preseason pay and Goodell told the Falcons to withhold any disciplinary action of their own until the league's review was completed.

The NFL is trying to balance the fact that Vick is still presumed innocent in the criminal justice system with the appearance of impropriety and misconduct under the league's personal conduct policy.

They can rationalize this simply by noting that the bad press Vick has rightfully received as a result of being indicted on multiple counts of animal abuse and gambling has given the league a black eye.

Don't expect the player's union to contest this as they are the weakest player's union among the major sports.