How did the Dallas Cowboys go from best team in the NFL to the worst team in week 7 ?

Welcome to third place, Dallas Cowboys. Welcome to dizzying expectations unfulfilled. And while we’re at it, welcome Jerry Jones, to a dark, dark comparison – a younger, slightly less meddlesome version of Al Davis.

Injuries and a lack of toughness have dragged the Cowboys to 4-3 and third place in the NFC East after Sunday’s 34-14 embarrassing defeat to the St. Louis Rams, but some of Jones’ moves only complicate where Dallas goes from here. First we have Adam “Pacman” Jones, one of Jerry Jones’ worst gambles. Then we have Terrell Owens, who is screaming at his teammates on a weekly basis and approaching the verge of critical mass. And finally, we have Wade Phillips, a head coach who might be the least capable man in the NFL of bringing fire and brimstone to motivate a locker room.

These are three hand-selected men by Jones, and all of them are bringing drama and complication to a team trying to weather a crashing tidal wave of injury misfortune. How to solve the crises? Do the Cowboys really know? How long before Jones shakes up the coaching staff? After all, this team’s talent is better than last season – and Jones called last season’s playoff failure one of his biggest disappointments.

There are some troublesome hurdles ahead. Owens hasn’t had a 100-yard receiving performance in 11 straight games, dating back to Week 13 of last season. And no matter what Jones says, the addition of wide receiver Roy Williams is going to take catches away from Owens – not magically add them. And Pacman? Well, the word out of Dallas’ headquarters is that the team is open to bringing him back after his latest suspension. That reality showcases how foolish Jerry Jones has become with his troubled cornerback.

This is a team in dramatic disarray. Meanwhile, the rest of the NFC East looks more than prepared to take advantage. And that makes Dallas the biggest loser of this weekend.

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NFL.com: SAN DIEGO -- Their eyes met -- the tight end under the goal posts and the quarterback who was moving up in the pocket, trying to keep the play alive.

Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers? Oh no, try Jake Delhomme and Dante Rosario of the Carolina Panthers.

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Delhomme came back from an elbow injury with the kind of impact the San Diego Chargers won't soon forget, throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rosario as time expired to lift the underdog Carolina Panthers to a shocking 26-24 win Sunday.

When he saw the ball in Rosario's hands, Delhomme felt as if he were replicating one of the most famous celebration scenes in sports history.

"I didn't know what to do. I think I ran around like Jim Valvano," he said, referring to the late North Carolina State basketball coach's reaction to the Wolfpack's upset of Houston in the 1983 national championship game.

"I started to run to go jump on him, and I'm just kind of in awe," Delhomme said. "Then you hear the ref blowing the whistle, so I'm like, 'Oh, did something happen?' But it was for the PAT. ... It was just elation."

Read More: NFL.com

Tom Brady will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the season on the injured reserve. Brady hadn't missed a game since he was named started after Bledsoe got injured on 2001, that's a 128 game streak.

This means Cassel will most likely be the starter for the rest of the season. Although Patriots are bringing in Chris Simms on Monday to check him out and will also consider Tim Rattay. Neither will likely step in any time soon, if at all. Cassel knows the system more than anyone else, plus I'm not too high on Chris Simms. But we'll see eventually what happens.

Also now that Brady is done, what does this mean for the Pats season? They still have a stellar defense, a dynamic running back duo with Maroney and Morris, and they still have Moss and Welker. My guess is that they'll be good, but will now have to actually compete with the Jets (and maybe the Bills) for the division title.

I think you can see in this image why Brady's out, check out his knee.

CLEVELAND (AP)—Tony Romo’s bloodied chin needed stitches and an X-ray, and Marion Barber’s ribs were badly bruised. The Dallas Cowboys absorbed more than a few hard knocks on Sunday.

Not as many as they landed, though.

Picking apart Cleveland’s secondary with ease, Romo passed for 320 yards, Terrell Owens caught a 35-yard touchdown pass and Barber scored on a pair of 1-yard runs as the Cowboys opened a season they expect to end in the Super Bowl by overwhelming the out-of-sync Browns 28-10.

Coming off a 13-win season, which ended with a bitterly disappointing playoff loss at home to the New York Giants, the Cowboys lived up to all their preseason hype with a solid all-around performance. They’re the team to beat in the NFC, and after one game, it’s hard to argue there’s any better.



Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20080907005&prov=ap

latimes: Now that he's the starting quarterback of the New York Jets -- a development that would have been inconceivable that day he tearfully retired as a Green Bay Packers legend -- Brett Favre has had to relearn so much of what once was second nature.

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New city. New teammates. New playbook filled with new terms for everything.

"You know what I'd do with Brett Favre?" said Rick Neuheisel, who was offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens before UCLA hired him as head coach. "I'd give him tapes of the New York Jets' language. It's like taking German and putting in those little cartridges while you're driving, saying, 'A bathroom is . . . ' "

Never mind the blitz, Favre's summer has been all about Berlitz.

"That's what I had to do with Steve McNair when he came to Baltimore from Tennessee," Neuheisel said. "I'd go, 'What did you call this? What did you call that?' We'd have those conversations."

More: latimes.com

canadianpress.google.com: MIAMI — The story so far: Brett Favre retired, called a reverse, endured a stormy Wisconsin summer and was discharged to revive the New York Jets, thereby supplanting Chad Pennington.

Pennington, after being released, was signed by former Jets coach Bill Parcells, another ex-retiree now trying to revive the Miami Dolphins.

A five-receiver pass pattern is simpler than the interwoven plot lines in Sunday's season opener between the Jets and Dolphins.

"That's the hype around the game," Pennington said. "Good coffee talk. All the transactions that have happened - that's why it's fun."

"There are lot of reasons to want to watch this game, I guess," Favre said. "But the bottom line is it's football. It's Jets versus Dolphins."

Once that was enough. Jets-Dolphins games used to rank among the most entertaining in the NFL. Favre, for one, fondly remembers the shootouts Dan Marino and Ken O'Brien waged in the 1980s.

But the AFC East rivals have fallen on hard times. The Jets have only one playoff victory since 2002 and went 4-12 last year. The Dolphins' most recent playoff game was in 2001, and they reached a new low last season by losing all but one game.

"We're at the bottom of the hill looking up," Miami linebacker Channing Crowder said. "Everybody is still looking at us as a 1-15 team."

The Dolphins believe they're better with Pennington. And the Jets believe they're better with Favre.

Skeptics say the 38-year-old Favre had it right when he retired. But he's coming off one of his best seasons and remains a marvel of durability - counting the post-season, he'll start his 276th consecutive game Sunday, extending an NFL record for quarterbacks.

He still wears No. 4. But for the first time since 1992, he won't wear a Packers jersey.

"It's like another chapter," Favre said. "I'm not naive to think it won't feel different. But you have to believe me that I am excited about this.

"I knew what I was getting into at the start. There are no guarantees what will happen for me and for this team, but I do like the team we have in place. I'm excited for the opportunity. I do feel like a Jet. The uniform feels right on me. And when we line up to play Sunday, it will be exciting for a lot of reasons."

Favre, who joined the Jets a month ago, played in only two exhibition games and threw 18 passes. He's liable to be rusty Sunday, and he's still learning his teammates and the playbook.

Plus, he's a month from his 39th birthday.

"I'm excited," Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter said, "because I know he can't run too fast."

Favre won't win any races, but he can still win games.

"He has been doing it so long, he knows before the play begins where he wants to attack you, and once he gets the ball in his hand, it comes out pretty fast," new Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "You need to be around the receivers, because if not, he's going to be 27-for-30 for a bunch of yards, and it's going to be one of those days."

Favre's 160 victories are an NFL record for a starting quarterback. He helped the Packers win the 1996 league title and last year led them to the NFC championship game, where they lost to the New York Giants.

It's not exactly the Giants the Jets will face Sunday. The Dolphins are a team in transition, their lineup littered with new starters, including Pennington, Miami's 13th quarterback since Marino retired.

Defensive anchors Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas departed during the off-season, leaving Ricky Williams with roster seniority, even though he has played only 45 games for the Dolphins.

Sparano, who will make his debut as an NFL head coach, said he told his players they should treat the opener like kids treat Christmas.

"It can't come soon enough for me, certainly, and I know our team feels the same way," Sparano said. "I'm sure they're anxious to get out there and really get a chance to see what we're all about. This has been a growing process since the day we walked through the door here. We really want to get an idea where we are."

Parcells' rebuilding project is expected to take at least a couple of years, and many prognosticators peg Miami for last in the AFC East again this season.

Beating the Jets would be a sign of progress. New York has won the past four games in the series, and seven of the past eight.

"It's not a rivalry if it's one-sided," Porter said. "You have to win some games to make it a rivalry."

A rivalry also requires hype, and Sunday's opener offers plenty of that.

Source: Google.com