AP, or Angry Viking I was referring, obviously, to the Dallas Cowboys. It was around the time that they had incurred a penalty (false start?) and then were force to punt and incurred another penalty for delay of game.
On a punt.
The entire time they would show Wade Phillips on the sidelines with a Ho-Ho stuck in his jowls, hemming and hawing at the referees about the price of cabbage and where he should eat after the game.
The Dallas Cowboys are ridiculous. They're 1-4 ridiculous and officially cooked. C-O-O-K-E-D. Like the Thanksgiving Day turkey.
Honestly, it was a very entertaining game because it was relatively well played, close and the Cowboys are comical like a Buster Keaton film. I do hope you're ready for a classic Wade Phillips press conference on Monday. The press will be ornery. Asking about mistakes, penalties, lack of execution and ... well, a win. But Phillips can legitimately come back and talk about all the good things. The Cowboys did run the ball. They scored points and had the opportunity to win late. It didn't work out at home.
One interception wasn't his fault. The kick return was just good execution on the part of the Vikings. And Brett Favre. How are you supposed to stop a future Hall of Famer.
I simply can't wait. Vikings 24, Cowboys 21. Let's rock this party.
Quarterback -- D
On one of those pre-game network NFL shows, someone (Shannon Sharpe?) said that we need to start disregarding Tony Romo's fantasty-fantastic stats and simply looking at the results. The results, this season, is 1-4. It's five pretty great games. During four of which his team has lost. If the quarterback is your field general and he lost four out of five wars, you'd probably get a new general. The first interception wasn't "his fault," but how many of his passes will be deflected for it to be a trend? The second interception ... there are good high school quarterbacks that pick up on that one. How many times does a NFL linebacker feign blitz and fall back into coverage?
Running Back -- D
Hey, I don't fault them for trying. They ran the ball 27 times and Felix Jones caught another 10 passes. He got 24 touches in all. Unfortunately, the Cowboys were overmatched up front on offense and couldn't get anywhere running the ball. As for the screens, they could not have been executed more poorly. Never could they get a block down. On one play, Kyle Kosier swung out to throw a block and the Minnesota cornerback dashed by him and tackled Jones for no gain.
Wide Receiver -- C
All the Cowboys receivers do is catch touchdowns. They caught six passes. Three were for touchdowns. Romo was forced into checkdowns the entire day. Receivers never made an impact. By the way, isn't the most disheartening aspect of the Cowboys' penalties issues that there are quite a number penalties by top players. Miles Austin had two big penalties: The excessive celebration and the pass interference that negated a touchdown. When Alex Barron holds, it's because he's bad. But getting penalties from Austin or Jason Witten is even more killer.
Tight End -- D
Zero impact.
Offensive Line -- D
As noted above, they were able to create zero room in the running game. Tony Romo wasn't sacked, but he was hit all day. Doug Free actually let Jared Allen dash at Romo, half standing in his stance as if the play hadn't started yet. The good news: No one was benched.
Defensive Line -- B
A really quiet game. One of those when you seem unimpressed until the fourth quarter and you realize that they've kept the best running back at bay. Adrian Peterson was a non-factor nearly the entire game and they got enough pressure on Brett Favre to keep him in pain for four quarters.
Linebacker -- B
Visanthe Shiancoe -- a Brett Favre pet -- was held catchless. They collected a sack and a fumble recovery. Obviously, the coverage was great and they were superb at run support.
Secondary -- F
It wasn't the type of game that Favre was going to throw for 300 yards. He had just 118 yards passing. But he threw it 19 times, completing 14. He had an efficient day. Cowboys secondary kept everything in front of them. They were not going to get beat. However, they weren't going to beat anyone. A good way to beat Favre is to cause turnovers and there was no chance of that happening because the cornerbacks and safeties were perpetually 30 yards off the ball.
Special Teams -- F
It is unbelievable how poor the Cowboys' kick coverage is. Especially considering their kicker is the best athlete on the field. I don't foresee Joe DeCamillis staying with the team too much longer. Also, is Akwasi Owusu-Ansah going to do anything returning kicks? Twenty-four yards as a long?
Coaching -- F
It's surreal that owner/GM Jerry Jones has to come out every week and tell the media that he's not firing Wade Phillips. That he would "never do that mid-season." As if it's coming. Just not mid-season, before a lockout. If Jones is smart (!), he fires every coach and starts anew.
