2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 3
by Jody Jamieson
1/10/2009
 
Browns 3 Ravens 34
 
The Brady Quinn era is likely over in Cleveland. Well at least until Derek Anderson crashes and burns. Anyone who follows baseball may be aware that Washington Nationals closer Joel Hanrahan lost his closers job, only to win it back about 6 weeks later. When I say he won it back, it was more that everyone else sucked, so he got it back by default. Anderson flopping may be Quinns only chance of getting the gig back. Incidentally Hanrahan was later traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after sucking again. With three weeks left till the trade deadline, may that be a possibility for Quinn?
 
Theres not really much to say about this game. Baltimore are really good on both sides of the ball. Cleveland are really bad on both sides of the ball. The mismatch was complete when Cleveland turned the ball over 4 times, while a Joe Flacco interception was the lone blemish in a dominant Ravens performance. They were 20-0 up at the half with 2 Stephen Hauschka field goals coming in between two Willis McGahee touchdown runs. Ray Rice made it 27-0 in the 3rd before Billy Cundiff kicked Clevelands only points of the day to start the 4th. Baltimore finished the scoring with a 72 yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Derrick Mason.
 
Cleveland havent scored a rushing touchdown since Jerome Harrison took one 72 yards for a touchdown on Monday Night Football last year against Buffalo in Week 11. Baltimore had 479 yards of offense, compared to Clevelands 186 yards.
 
Houston Oilers 17 New York Titans 24
 
New York had a chance to condemn Tennessee to 0-3 on throwback day very early in this one, racing out to a 14-0 lead. Mark Sanchez ended a good Jets drive with a 14 yard touchdown run, and they took full advantage of a Ryan Mouton fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Sanchez found Ben Hartsock at the goalline on a nice play fake. With the Titans looking like doing nothing offensively, Sanchez bailed them out by making some rookie mistakes. He was lucky not to be intercepted before holding onto the ball too long in the pocket and taking a sack around midfield. He fumbled the ball and the Titans took advantage with LenDale White scoring on the ground. New Yorks offense started to struggle and after a field goal brought them within 4 to end the half, Tennessee took a 17-14 lead on the first drive on the 3rd quarter when Collins found Nate Washington. Mouton had another special teams disaster after he muffed his third punt in the last two weeks to give Sanchez the ball inside the Titans 25. Sanchez to Cotcherry on that drive was the game winning score. New York added a field goal late to give them a 7 point lead that Tennessee never really threatened, turning the ball over on downs with more than 70 yards to go on their final drive.
 
Kerry Collins was 15/24 in the 3rd quarter. He finished the game with 13 straight incompletions. Mark Sanchez continues to get away with some rookie moments, but his overall poise in the pocket is impressive, and hes done a fabulous job leading the Jets to a 3-0 record.
 
Giants 24 Buccaneers 0
 
Heres the problem with the nfluk.com fantasy league. I had the Giants defense, and Im only going to get 3 points. New York had no sacks and no defensive touchdowns. The one fantasy scoring play was a Terrell Thomas interception. Surely anyone who had the Giants should be rewarded for the fact that the defense they picked pitched a shutout and gave up 86 yards of offense? I picked New Orleans on the opening day of the 2007 season and despite giving up 41 to Indianapolis, Jason David had a pick six. That was a 9 point play. Despite an awesome performance, the Giants defense actually ruined my fantasy week in which I finished 30th overall for the week. Something doesnt quite add up there...
 
Oh, the game? Jacobs scored on the ground. Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss had receiving touchdowns. It got so bad that David Carr threw 3 passes.
 
The only thing the Bucs did impressively on Sunday was their uncanny impression of the 2008 Detroit Lions with a dreadful performance. The Giants had over four times the offensive yards (297-86) as Tampa Bay registered a lousy 5 first downs all day compared with 7 punts. Tampa Bay even benched Byron Leftwich in favour of last years 5th round pick Josh Johnson when they game got out of hand. Johnson had only 36 passing yards, but that was almost double what Leftwich had (22). It was announced the day after the game that Josh Johnson will start on Sunday against Washington.
 
What are the odds for an 0-16 Bucs season?
 
Packers 36 Rams 17
 
The Rams actually got pressure on Aaron Rodgers in this game and made him move his feet. He was only sacked twice, but was under pressure for a lot of this game. It helped St Louis that Allen Barbre is the worst starting tackle in the NFL. Luckily for Green Bay, Rodgers doesnt get fazed in the pocket and led the Pack to a comfortable victory in the Edward Jones Dome. Green Bay blocked an early field goal attempt and never looked back. While they could only turn their first three scoring plays into 9 points by the ailing Mason Crosby. The Rams fumbled the ball twice to give Green Bay two short fields. John Kuhn went in for the first TD of the game to make it 16-0, but the drive was highlighted by a wonderful one handed catch by Donald Driver for 46 yards. Driver did go into the endzone before half time, but Daniel Fells caught two Kyle Boller (after Bulger got injured again) TD passes to make it a 23-14 half time lead for the Packers.
 
Josh Brown made it a one score game in the 3rd, but Rodgers iced it in the 4th quarter with a QB keeper from 4 yards and a 10 yard pass to John Kuhn for his second TD of the day. Who had the fullback in their fantasy team? I doubt it.
 
St Louis drubbed Dallas in Week 6 last year. Theyve lost 13 straight since. Donald Driver passed Sterling Sharpe in Packers career receiving yards. Only James Lofton with 9,656 has more. Driver needs 1,435 yards to set the new record. Greg Jennings only had to catches, but they went for 53 and 50 yards.
 
Chiefs 14 Eagles 34
 
Philadelphias defense came out angry and made this a very uncomfortable day for Matt Cassel and the Chiefs offense. In a one sided snooze fest, my attention was perked up in the third quarter when it came up on the screen that the previous play had been a 4 yard rush by safety Quintin Mikell. Unfortunately that was just a major mess up by whoever was in charge of graphics on CBS. Shame I dont have a screenshot.
 
Michael Vick was the big story going into this game, but ultimately he didnt have an impact. Vick threw two incomplete passes and had a 7 yard rush. The impact players were the Eagles 2nd round picks of the last three years who had the impact as Kevin Kolb, DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy made big plays to give the Eagles a lead that was never in jeopardy. Kolb ran the offense convincingly and even had a rushing touchdown on top of another 300 yard passing day. LeSean had a rushing touchdown and DeSean had a big 64 yard reception in traffic that he took to the house to make it 21-7. Brent Celek continued his fine form with another 100 yard day that was highlighted by a 36 yard touchdown catch in the 4th quarter. Rookie Jeremy Maclin had 4 catches for 33 yards. Maclin has good hands but still has a lot of work to do in becoming a polished route runner.
 
Matt Cassel continued to show less than impressive arm strength. His completion percentage was impressive (14/18) but with only 90 yards, the combination of his poor arm strength and the pressure defense of the Eagles really showed him up. Cassels first TD pass to Mark Bradley was a great touch throw over the top for 13 yards, but thus far hes not looked value for his big money contract. Kansas City were 0-11 on third down.
 
Falcons 10 Patriots 26
 
Matt Ryans return to Massachusetts was not a happy one as the Patriots defense had its first impressive game of the season in a good win over a tough Falcons team. Tom Brady once again wasnt at his brilliant best, but he found a way to get a win for a Patriots side who havent lost two in a row since 2006. While Brady wasnt great, the Patriots were 8-18 on third down and 3-3 on fourth down. Fred Taylor had a big game for New England (21 carries, 105 yards) and had the first touchdown of the game to make it 10-3 in the 2nd quarter. Atlanta responded with a quick score on a drive highlighted by a 4th and 3 conversion. Michael Turner scored from 2 yards out to tie the game. Turner fumbled the ball away in Falcons territory on their next drive, but the defense held and Gostkowski kicked a field goal. New England failed to cement their third quarter dominance by only adding two field goals, but in the 4th Brady found Chris Baker over the top for a 36 yard touchdown to push New England to 2-1.
 
Bradys TD pass in this contest was his 200th of his career. Randy Moss was an injury worry going into this one, but he had 10 catches for 116 yards. Atlanta really missed injured rookie DT Peria Jerry as the Patriots rushed for 168 yards.
 
49ers 24 Vikings 27
 
This was a brilliant game with an incredible finish. Frank Gore went out injured in the first quarter on his only carry of the game and is likely to miss 3 weeks. Glen Coffee replaced Gore and had 54 yards on 25 carries. While no-one runs on the Williams wall, it is obvious San Francisco missed Gore in this one. Favre game Minnesota a 7-0 lead when he hit Sidney Rice in stride for a touchdown. It was 10-0 when Shaun Hill hit Vernon Davis in the back of the endzone. The Vikings led 13-7 when at the conclusion of the half a Ryan Longwell field goal attempt was blocked and Nate Clemens took the ball back for a touchdown and a 49ers half time lead.
 
Now that the wedge has been made illegal on kickoff returns, it seemed that kickoff returns for a touchdown may have become a thing of the past. During the preseason there was one KO return for a TD and even that was on an onside kick. Percy Harvin changed that by taking the kickoff back 101 yards for a 20-14 lead. Shaun Hill wasnt to be outdone just yet as he took his team down the field and found Vernon Davis for his second TD of the day. The game looked over till with just seconds remaining Favre heaved one downfield from the 32 and found Greg Lewis in the back of the endzone. It was Lewis first catch as a Viking. Hell never have a bigger one. Favre did a good job avoiding pressure on the play to get the ball downfield. The media are absolutely fawning over Favre like they usually do. What cant be lost is that this was a reasonable but not great Favre performance overall. 24/46 301 yds 2TD 1INT is a fairly average line, especially in terms of completion percentage. ESPN even created a game ball feature on the MNF halftime show just so they could give it to Brett Favre. If Favre beats the Packers next Monday then the man love will get completely out of control.
 
Jaguars 31 Texans 24
 
After my horrendous 54 point effort last week I can totally understand if you ignored my Maurice Jones-Drew recommendation for the fantasy game on nfluk this week. But there was an obvious method to my madness this time. Jones-Drew doesnt go down, and Houston cant tackle a ball carrier. That is a recipe for yards and touchdowns. Lost in Houstons overall mediocre at best play so far is fact that Matt Schaub has been fabulous. The offensive line is still not doing a particularly good job of protecting him, but hes overcoming it. Schaub did throw an early interception to Rashean Mathis (surprise surprise he was tattooed as he released the ball) but after that was excellent in a losing effort. Josh Scobee nailed a 52 yard field goal that looked like it would have had the distance from 62 before Schaub and Jacoby Jones hooked up for an 18 yard touchdown. Garrard scrambled home from 2 yards to make it 10-7, but Schaub to Kevin Walter gave Houston a 4 point lead.
 
This game then became the Maurice Jones-Drew show as Pocket Hercules ripped of a 61 yard TD run to start his big day. Houston actually held a 21-17 half time lead (Schaub to Owen Daniels) but Jones-Drew drubbed Houston in the second half scoring two touchdowns to give Jacksonville the win. Houston can stack the line on a running play, but when a runner gets into the open field the tackling becomes shambolic. Houston late in the game did put the ball in the endzone but it was negated by offensive pass interference. Chris Brown for some reason got the carry from the 2 and the ball went into the endzone. Unfortunately for Houston Brown didnt go in with it and the Jaguars recovered the ball for a touchback. Steve Slaton is clearly their best runner, so I have no idea why they took the ball out of his hands at such a crucial time, but Gary Kubiak has to live with that decision that cost them a chance to at least take the game to overtime.
 
Redskins 14 Lions 19
 
What is the saddest fact for the Washington Redskins? The fact they became the first team since 2007 to lose to the Lions, or the fact that no-one is particularly surprised that this was where the streak ended? I think the biggest surprise will be if Jim Zorn still has his job when the Skins host Tampa Bay on Sunday. In his defense, two unfortunate decisions by Zorn really cost them in this one. On their first possession Zorn went for it on 4th and goal from the one yard line. He did the right thing by putting the ball in Clinton Portis hands but he didnt make it. Detroit responded with a 99 yard drive for a touchdown when Stafford hit Bryant Johnson. On this one Zorn enforced a 10 yard penalty on a failed 3rd down to push the Lions out of field goal range. On the next play (3rd and 13) Stafford scrambled for 21 yards. Detroit led 13-0 at the half after 2 second quarter Jason Hanson field goals.
 
Washington started the second half well when Jason Campbell found Santana Moss wide open and Moss did the rest for a 57 yard touchdown. Moss had an impressive 10 catches for 178 yards in the contest. With the score still 13-7 in the 4th, Stafford led a brilliant drive and when a pass interference call put Detroit on the 2 yard line, Maurice Morris made it 19-7 (2 point conversion failed) with 5 minutes to play. Detroit fell into the prevent defense which allowed Campbell to easily take Washington down the field to make it a one score game, but Detroit managed to all but run out the clock, giving the Skins the ball back deep in their own half with 35 seconds to play. Surprisingly from Detroits 36 yard line Washington opted for a hook and lateral rather than a hail mary and Ladell Betts was tackled at the 23 for Detroits first win in 20 games.
 
Saints 27 Bills 7
 
New Orleans offense scuffled for 3 quarters against a staunch Buffalo Bills team. Thankfully for them their vastly underrated defense (Im going to keep harping on about this!) held firm and allowed them to hold a 3 point lead before they went berserk in the 4th quarter to make the win look more comfortable than it really was. New Orleans started with Lynell Hamilton at tailback, but it was the introduction of Pierre Thomas in the second half that wrapped this one up. Thomas didnt have a touch in the first half, but he ran for 126 yards on just 14 carries. His two 4th quarter touchdowns moved the Saints to 3-0.
 
While there wasnt too much going on in this game, there were two noteworthy Bills moments. Their lone score came on a fake field goal when holder (and punter) Brian Moorman took the snap, rolled left and found defensive end Ryan Denney for the score. Also, Terrell Owens had no catches for the first time since 1996. His 185 consecutive games with a reception is third all time behind Jerry Rice and Marvin Harrison. The media are somehow reporting that Owens criticised the play calling in his press conference. What actually happened was that the media came forward with a ridiculous set of questions baiting Owens to criticise the offensive gameplan. TO did a good job of swerving and not causing a controversy. Not to be outdone, the media just reported it anyway. Im not one to defend TO at the best of times, but this was pathetic from the media.
 
Bears 25 Seahawks 19
 
Seattle has some throwback jerseys, and while throwbacks are all the rage in the AFLs 50th anniversary season (I know they werent an original franchise, but thats not the point) why did they bring out some awful neon shirt for this game? Its not as if the lights failed. It looked like the most expensive cycling safety jersey of all time. The Bears were clearly worried about touching the plutonium on Julius Jones jersey as no-one bothered to tackle him despite numerous opportunities and Jones took the reception from Seneca Wallace for a 39 yard touchdown. Seattle had a 13-0 lead before Jay Cutler and the offense bothered to show up, and even when they did show up and start moving the ball, Matt Forte fumbled the ball on the one yard line. Luckily for the Bears, Lovie Smith challenged the play and won. Two plays later Greg Olson caught Jay Cutlers pass on 4th and goal.
 
The second half started disastrously for Seattle as TJ Houshmandzadeh fumbled on Seattles 30 and the Bears didnt waste the opportunity. Cutler hit Johnny Knox on 3rd and 4 and Knox took it into the endzone after making a defender look ridiculous with a brilliant juke move. Wallace then threw the ball away in his own endzone to avoid a safety, unfortunately he threw it right into Lance Briggs arms. Chicago went backwards this time and settled for a field goal. Seattle added a field goal of their own and took the lead when Cutler fumbled on his own 40 and Seattle kicked another field goal. Just when it looked like Seattle may win the game Cutler led a big drive and on the first play after the two minute warning, Devin Hester took the reception and raced past everyone for the game winning touchdown. Seattle replied with an 11 play drive that bogged down at the 30 yard line of Chicago and on 4th and 2 a throw to the running back fell incomplete and the Bears went to 2-1. Julius Jones had 98 yards on 21 carries and Nate Burleson had 109 receiving yards, but Cutler was really good, connecting on 21 of his 27 pass attempts for 247 yards, 3TDs and a pick in Chicagos first win in Seattle since 1976.
 
Steelers 20 Bengals 23
 
Before we get to the actual outcome, the clock management of the Cincinnati Bengals was horrific on their final drive. Theyre on the 15 yard line with a first down, 40 seconds left and two timeouts. Take a timeout? Get to the line quick and make a play? No lets spike the ball! What an absolute waste. To make matters worse, after the 3rd down pass went incomplete, Marvin Lewis burned the second timeout, meaning that when they completed the pass for the first down just short of the goalline, they couldnt take a timeout and had to spike the ball again! The Bengals cant seem to have a normal final minute this year, but this time it was all Cincy as they picked up a huge win to go to 2-1 at the Champs expense. Ben Roethlisberger was the polar opposite of what you expect from him as he was good for 3 quarters before going AWOL in the 4th. Carson Palmer clearly stole Big Bens cape as he led two great 4th quarter drives to condemn Roethlisberger to his first loss in Ohio since coming into the NFL (He was previously 11-0 in Cincinnati and Cleveland). Cincinnati are 2-1 (and would be 3-0 if not for a miracle Denver play) and will be 3-1 next week when they drub Cleveland.
 
Cincinnati though pretty much played like Cleveland in the first half, with a field goal as time expired on the half being their only score. Pittsburgh led 13-3 as Cincy were anaemic offensively. Thankfully their defense which spent way too much time on the field held the Steelers to 13 with Roethlisberger to Parker on a broken play the lone touchdown of the first half. The Bengals had two holds on first and goal to force two field goals. The Bengals defense again got it done on the first series of the half, this time Jonathan Joseph picked off Roethlisberger and took it back to the house. Unfortunately for the second time this season Bengals long snapper Brad St Louis snapped the ball over the holders head and the extra point was no good. Pittsburgh took an 11 point lead midway through the third quarter as they drove down the field and Roethlisberger went in on a QB sneak. The Bengals ran a fake punt on 4th and 2 which Chris Crocker converted easily, but the resultant 52 yard field goal attempt was shanked by Shayne Graham. Cedric Benson capped of his good day with 9 minutes to go when he went in on the ground from 23 yards on the ground. The two point conversion was awful and no good. Ive already covered most of the final possession, but to clarify on 4th and 10 from the Steelers 15 Palmer connected on an 11 yard pass to Brian Leonard, and on the next play (after the spike) Palmer hit Caldwell for the touchdown and the win. Dont sleep on the Bengals. Their defense is very good and Palmer is starting to heat up.
 
Broncos 23 Raiders 3
 
I hope I dont start every Raiders report like this in 2009, but JaMarcus Russell is horrific. Sure the system is flawed and his receivers are far from elite, but when one of the receivers gets wide open and Russell misses him by a mile, then can we really blame the system or the wideouts? Theres only so long people can blindly defend Russell as a #1 overall pick before they have to admit that he just doesnt have it and they have to go in another direction. Whether Al Davis will let it happen is another thing. Russell will have the odd decent game, but overall hell never ever be anymore than a bad starting quarterback in the NFL. Russell was 12/21 for 61 yards and 2INTs.
 
Denver even had enough time in this one to turn the ball over on downs at the goalline as LaMont Jordan was stuffed at the line. On the resulting possession Russell threw his first INT (which wasnt his fault as Darrius Heyward-Bey fell over) to Reynaldo Hill and Denver scored on the drive when Orton found Marshall in the endzone. Russell then threw a horrible interception to Andre Goodman but Denver could only kick 3 from the resulting possession. Denver led 13-3 in the third quarter when Knowshon Moreno scored his first NFL touchdown on a 7 yard run. Darren McFadden had 3 fumbles in this game, but they one he lost was recovered by Brian Dawkins at the Denver 5 and any slim chance of a comeback was wiped out.
 
Correll Buckhalter had his first 100 yard game (14, 108) since Week 4 of 2007 with the Eagles in a game highlighted by the Giants 12 sacks of Donovan McNabb. Oakland could only manage 137 yards of offense in a dreadful performance.
 
Dolphins 13 Chargers 23
 
Chad Pennington went down in the third quarter with as shoulder injury that is likely to end his season. Pennington is what he is as a passer, but he was hardly the problem. Chad Henne is unlikely to kill the Dolphins season any more than their shoddy tackling or their general miscues are. Pennington is a free agent this offseason and has likely thrown his last pass as a Dolphin. Nothing much really went on in a first half that ended 3-3. Miami did have a golden opportunity to score a touchdown but Ronnie Brown fumbled the goalline carry through the back of the endzone for a touchback. Nate Kaeding pushed a 36 yard field goal wide right as time expired on the half.
 
Miami led 6-3 late in the third quarter when after Phillip Rivers hit Malcolm Floyd on a deep ball, Rivers scored on a QB keeper. On the next San Diego drive Rivers again went deep, this time to Vincent Jackson, but had to settle for a Kaeding field goal. With Miami down 10 after another field goal, Chad Henne tried to force a pass to Davone Bess, but Eric Weddle jumped the route and took the interception back to the house. Henne did lead a good drive to end the game that culminated in a Ricky Williams TD run, but it was too little too late. San Diego struggled to run the ball without LaDanian Tomlinson. Sproles had 41 yards on 18 carries and Michael Bennett could only gain 18 yards on his 8 touches. They need LT back in a big way as Sproles limitations have been shown up as an every down back.
 
Colts 31 Cardinals 10
 
This game was easy to analyse. Arizona right tackle Levi Brown struggled with Robert Mathis, and left tackle Mike Gandy got destroyed by Dwight Freeney. Kurt Warner looked like he was going to explode as he got no time in the pocket. He was only sacked four times, but he barely had a clean pocket all night and never had a chance to get in any sort of rhythm. Indianapolis struggle to stop the run, but are built to rush the passer, and when they can get an early lead, they can pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. The Colts took a 21-3 first half lead, and then spent the rest of the night killing Kurt Warner. Ive never understood why head coaches are so against giving their tackle help when they are getting destroyed. Too many times when a tackle is clearly overmatched, the HC acts as if its not happening and just let him get on with it. Its all well and good letting Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston run patterns, but when Warner is getting slaughtered before he can dissect the coverage, then theyre never going to be successful.
 
Sticking with defense, Gerald Hayes made two marvellous tackles on 3rd down as the ball was caught inches short of the marker and he blew up the receiver without an advance both times. Hayes on third downs was one bright spot in a disappointing Cardinals defensive performance where their secondary didnt bother to cover anyone. Peyton Manning was 24/35 for 379 yards and threw 4 touchdown passes. Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon (who failed to win Pierre of the week for the second week in a row due to Pierre Thomas second half destruction of the Bills), Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai were the recipients of the TD passes. Addai had a nice game, but there is one big reason Donald Brown will take Joseph Addais starting job in the very near future. Brown hits the hole with conviction and picks up positive yards. Addai dances around in the backfield and ultimately gets stuffed at the line. Brown is also a better receiver, which bodes well for the Indy offense. Adam Vinatieri missed a 32 yard field goal (off the left upright) with the score at 21-10 but it was never going to cost them. Arizona had 54 passing plays and 12 running plays, but this was mainly because they were behind big early.
 
Panthers 7 Cowboys 21
 
This was one of the most shambolic Monday Night Football games I can remember and Dallas have a lot of work to do based on this showing before people will believe they are a contender. Offensively they were disorganised and lacking leadership. Pretty much all of their drives in the first half were highlighted by dumb penalties which ruined any momentum they had. Due to this Carolina were able to shut them out in the first half despite their inability to tackle a ball carrier. Dallas ran the ball brilliantly for the second game in a row, but Carolinas tackling was dreadful. Jason Garretts play calling can be ridiculously predictable sometimes in the redzone and he could probably get his redzone offense written down on a stamp. When theyre in the shotgun itll be a draw and when Romo is under centre itll either be a delayed draw or a fade. Dallas were imposing their will on the ground, so why Garrett went to two fade plays in a row on the one yard line Ill never know. Predictably it didnt work. Defensively the Cowboys were feast or famine in stopping the run game, either stuffing the runner 2 or 3 yards in the backfield or giving up a huge play. They were regularly in the backfield, but did allow DeAngelo Williams to convert a 3rd and 16 with a 17 yard rush. For me, nose tackle Jay Ratliff was the star of the game. He regularly ruined many a Panthers drive by being a disruptive force in the middle.
 
The Dallas offense were much better in the second half as Delhomme and the Panthers offense completely went in the toilet. Dallas scored a field goal and then a touchdown on a Tashard Choice run to make it 10-7 on their first two drives of the half. Dallas had to settle for a field goal again after their two previously mentioned fade farce, but luckily as time was winding down and Carolina were a touchdown away from a win, Steve Smith and Jake Delhomme had a breakdown in communication and Terrence Newman had a pick six to finish this one off. Terrence Newman had safety help all night on Smith, but that shouldnt take away from his performance. He did a great job of taking away the underneath from Smith and shading him all night while allowing him the step over the top when he had safety help. The Cowboys defense still has a lot of question marks but if DeMarcus Ware gets going, they could get dangerous in a hurry.