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  Down to 4 teams now in the chase for the Lombardi Trophy – could anyone have imagined that neither the Saints nor the Packers would be in the NFC Championship game?  The Giants are like a bad dream happening all over again – did we hit a wormhole and go back to 2007-2008?  Like last time, they seem to be getting healthy and peaking at just the right time.  They didn’t get the Packers best effort by any means, but they beat the team that just about everyone already had penciled in for Indianapolis.  “Greg”, the resident Giants fan in my office can barely contain himself.  Time to work from home…

• Although it disappoints me greatly that the Cowboys are nowhere involved, the Saints -49ers game last weekend was maybe the best game I”ve ever watched.  Before Drew Brees and the Saints could even start celebrating their last score, Alex Smith (no, that’s not a typo) drives the 49ers the length of the field with only 2:09 remaining and scores the go-ahead touchdown with 9 seconds left.  Alex Smith – the same guy most 49er fans wanted to run out of town as recently as this last off season after 6 pretty awful seasons (albeit surrounded by some awful teams).  That goes to show you that if you give Romo that kind of supporting cast, he could take us a long way.  Does anyone think Alex Smith is a better QB than Romo?  I don’t. (more…)

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The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the most successful losing franchises of all time.  They won back to back championships in 1948 and 1949 when there were only 10 teams in the entire NFL.  The last won in 1960 when there were 13 teams in the NFL.  In the Super Bowl era, they are 0-2 in the final game of the season.  Why bring all of this up?  Because Peyton Hillis beat out Mike Vick for the cover of Madden 2012.

Not only did Hillis win, it was practically a landslide victory.  Hillis garnered 66% of the vote which is one of the biggest landslide victories since Ronald Reagan was picking out furniture for the Whitehouse.

Hillis had a breakout season in 2010.  He rushed for 1177 yards, with a 4.4 yards per carry average, totaling 13 touchdowns.  Hillis is a tough runner who had an entertaining highlight reel, but it isn’t anything out of the ordinary for a power back like Marion Barber or Rashard Mendenhall.  Jerome Bettis has a more entertaining highlight reel, though his career spanned a much longer period of time.

The question has to be raised.  Is Hillis worthy of gracing the cover of Madden?  Is this a concerted effort by the fans of the Cleveland Browns to finally win at something… anything!  Is this Hillis being a modern day great white hope (in regards to running backs)?  Or is this the residue of EA Sports fanegeling the final vote tally because they have reservations about placing a convicted felon and dog fighter on the cover of one of their most popular titles.  This is the same organization that put a yellow flag on the cover of Tiger Woods 2012 shortly after Woods’ fall from grace.

I doubt there is a racial component to EA’s involvement, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a company did not want to stamp someone still controversial on the cover of their game.  PricewaterhouseCoopers is directly involved in tallying the votes for the Oscars to give the presumption of legitimacy.  I’d like to see if EA has the same level of presumed legitimacy.

We’ll review the 2008 draft to see whether the choices made by the Cowboys were the correct ones or whether the Cowboys missed horribly.  Unfortunately, the answer may be a yes to both depending upon your viewpoint.

1st round Felix Jones at 22

Pro-Bowl: No

Starter: No

Still on the team: Yes

Player(s) you could have had instead:  Rashard Mendenhall, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, DeSean Jackson, Ray Rice

Analysis:  The 2008 NFL draft will be considered the year of the running back.  With several 1000 yard backs and one 2000 yard back in the draft class, the Cowboys seemingly made a less than ideal decision taking Felix Jones.  My criticism at the time of the draft was that you don’t take a complementary player when there is a do it all back available.  Jones’ 40 time was comparable to several running backs in the draft to include Mendenhall.  Jones was slower than Chris Johnson who ran a 4.2 40 time.  However, Jone was explosive in 2008 with an average yards per carry of 8.9.  That has since decreased to 5.9 and 4.3.  The Cowboys offensive line may be partly to blame, but it does not appear that Jones will be able to carry the entire offensive load that Mendenhall does for Pittsburgh, or be the truly explosive presence that Chris Johnson is for the Titans.

At the time of the 2008 draft, the Cowboys were considering Mendenhall.  They were concerned that he was not as effective in a two back system, whereas Jones was productive and effective at Arkansas with Darren McFadden.  This swayed their decision and Jones was the pick.  Considering Mendenhall’s statistics, you cannot say that they were prescient with their analysis.  Mendenhall was injured in 2008.  In 2009, he ran for over 1000 yards behind a much maligned offensive line with an average of 4.6 yards per carry.  In 2010 he averaged 3.9 yards per carry for 1200+ yards.  He had a good season until he fumbled the ball in the Super Bowl.

Outside of a running back, the Cowboys wanted a playmaker on special teams.  It is a broken record with the Cowboys.  They draft a multi-purpose talent in the first round only to minimize their contribution on special teams.  The franchise has done this with Terrance Newman, Felix Jones, and now Dez Bryant.  The Cowboys management either has no gumption, or no direction in this regard.  The point being is that DeSean Jackson would have fit the role of offensive weapon and special teams dynamo.  Jackson reportedly failed his drug test at the combine which then caused the Cowboys to take him off of their board.  Jackson has not had any reported instances of failed drug tests since, however, he has had bouts of immaturity on the field and off.

Considering the potential productive talent available at the time of this pick, the Cowboys cannot have a high grade.  Jones has been productive in stints.  Behind a rebuilt offensive line, he may have a breakout season.  However, Jones looked slow last year, rarely made any defender miss, and is at best an explosive complementary player.  Cowboys management seemingly will force him into the role of an every down back, which will probably fail.

2010 20/20 hindsight grade: C-

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