(more…)

First and foremost, about the 49ers – Giants game and something I wrote last week: 

‘…after I watched Alex Smith’s play against the New Orleans Saints, I might be done laughing.  It’s like the Wizard of Oz (in this case, Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) gave the Cowardly Lion (yes, Alex Smith) the courage he’d been missing the last 6 years.  A first round QB with confidence and courage befitting the first over all pick and a hard hitting (they punctured Romo’s lung) aggressive Defense and we better all watch out for Alex Smith and the San Francisco 49ers!’

Boy, was I wrong! - Not about the 49ers D, but the same old Alex Smith came back with a vengeance!  In the Giants case, I was right about what happens when a team gets on a roll.  Much to my annoyance, Eli Manning (not Alex Smith) played.. well.. with courage and confidence befitting the first over all pick.  Now the insult to injury of watching Eli play in his second Superbowl before Tony Romo plays in one. 

Now that I got that out of the way, I can talk about the Cowboys again. (more…)

The lowliest commentator on ESPN isn’t Mark Schlereth.

It’s not Jim Rome.

It isn’t Keyshawn Johnson, Ron Jaworski, Emmitt Smith or even Stephen A. Smith, though he tries to make my ears bleed everytime he takes the mic.

No. That ignoble title goes to ESPN newbie Trent Dilfer.

Dilfer, the former Buccaneer, Raven, Seahawk, Brown and 49er, retired this year after 14 lackluster seasons in the NFL.

Now, he’s ESPN’s go-to guy for NFL analysis.

And that analysis includes commenting on our beloved Dallas Cowboys, who are in control of their own destiny when it comes to making the playoffs and fresh off of their 20-8 win over the Giants.

Dilfer seems to think that the Cowboys, winners of four of their last five, have no chance at being a serious title contender because they lack a strong coaching staff and because Jerry Jones has a media circus on his hands.

Really? Come on now, Trent. Look at the Cowboys’ win in 1995. Was this year not under bumbling imbecile of a coach Barry Switzer, while the Cowboys employed Deion “Prime Time” Sanders?

Didn’t the Giants win it with a bum of a coach last year and controversy swirling around quarterback Eli Manning? Oh, that’s right, the Giants shrugged off the media pressure and came together as a team to secure a playoff berth when everyone had counted them out.

And in this, one of the oddest football seasons I can remember, isn’t it a little early to say that there’s no chance for anything?

I want to know what qualifies Trent Dilfer as an expert on what a team needs to win a Super Bowl.

I know that Dilfer won it all with the Ravens. But honestly, did Dilfer not do as little as any quarterback has ever done in the history of the NFL to win a Super Bowl?

In Dilfer’s Super Bowl winning season, he went 7-1 with the Ravens.

Not bad, right?

Wrong. Dilfer averaged 136.5 passing yards per game, tossed 12 touchdowns and 11 picks and had a quarterback rating of 76.6. He was 12 of 25 for 153 yards and one touchdown in the game.

Dilfer’s touchdown and a 3-yard run from Jamal Lewis were the only offensive touchdowns in a 34-7 win over the Giants.

The strengths of that Ravens team were their defense and their run game. Trent Dilfer is the man for whom the term “caretaker quarterback” was coined. All he had to do was go out and run Jamal Lewis right or left and when called on to pass, not throw a pick-six.

With the way that this season has gone, I’m only counting those mathematically eliminated from making the playoffs as teams that have no chance of winning the Super Bowl.

But I especially wouldn’t rule out the Cowboys because of our defense. The defense has been outstanding in the past two games, especially against the run and with the pass rush. Those two factors can severely limit what opposing offenses can do against us. There isn’t a team in the playoff picture that I would be worried about against our defense.

Of all ESPN’s analysts, Trent Dilfer should understand the value of a good defense.

But all he seems to care about are the off-field incidents for the Cowboys, which are now under scrutiny thanks to Terrell Owens’ disputation of Ed Werder’s reporting of an incident between the receiver and tight-end Jason Witten.

Dilfer is trying to grab ratings for ESPN right now. But instead, he sounds like an idiot. He was an awful quarterback, and he’s an even worse analyst.