back to Niagara Falls Reporter main page

back to Niagara Falls Reporter archive

COWBOYS, REDSKINS FILL BAD FOOTBALL QUOTA WITH BILLS ON BYE

By David Staba

And you think the Buffalo Bills stink?

Just wait until Monday night.

Sure, Buffalo is 0-4, the franchise's worst start since Hank Bullough roamed the sidelines. And the Bills haven't been especially competitive in any of their losses, save the first half of the season opener against New Orleans.

Buffalo is off this weekend, but aficianadoes of lousy football take heart -- the National Football League's weekly prime-time showcase features two of its other four winless teams when Washington visits Dallas.

The Bills have unquestionably been one of the league's worst teams so far. If they're not THE worst, either the Redskins or Cowboys deserve that dishonor. Egotistical owners and salary cap mismanagement have turned two of the league's most storied rivals into hopeless losers with little cause for optimism.

The Cowboys opened the season with Tony Banks as their starting quarterback, but cut him midway through the preseason in favor of rookie Quincy Carter, who got knocked out of his first start.

Washington's experiment melding the strong-armed but weak-hearted Jeff George with Patton wannabe Marty Schottenheimer blew up quickly. To replace George, the Redskins snagged Banks off the waiver wire.

Neither quarterback shuffle has led to anything approximating improvement or even a facsimile of an NFL passing game. But both aerial systems have a chance to pump up their stats a little -- each will be going against a highly permissive passing defense. Carter and Anthony Wright have combined to throw for exactly 100 yards per game, while Washington has piled up 103.5.

The Redskins make up for it by not being able to run the ball either, managing just 70.8 yards per game despite the presence of Stephen Davis.

If there's any area in which either team has approached decency, it's Dallas running the ball and stopping the run. Thanks to Emmitt Smith, and the necessity of sticking with the ground game even when hopelessly trailing, the Cowboys have run for 122.3 yards per game, while givin up 108.3.

Of course, when you can throw as easily as teams have on Dallas (including Doug Flutie's 356-yard day), there's not much reason to run.

The oddsmakers either figure the numbers cancel each other out, or have disregarded them altogether. Dallas is favored by three, the standard advantage accorded to the home team.

But as skewed as the statistics for both teams might be, when you add them up, you get two lousy teams. And one lousy game.

Cowboys, 16-6.

San Diego (-3) at New England: Thanks to the notion that a preponderance of Western New York football fans are still suffering from Flutie withdrawal, television viewers will be treated to this one instead of a possible Super Bowl preview between Green Bay and Baltimore. For those who tune in expecting Flutie Magic, keep this in mind -- The Little Guy Who Just Wins posted an average of 12 points against Bill Belichick's defenses in five starts since 1998. Patriots, 15-12.

Baltimore (-1) at Green Bay: If anybody's going to do anything against the Ravens' defense this year, it figures to be Brett Favre and Ahman Green. The Packers have enough offensive balance to score, say, two touchdowns. Packers, 17-14.

Tampa Bay at Tennessee (-3): Despite their 2-1 start, the Bucs are struggling on offense. And Tennessee has to win one sometime. Titans, 18-13.

Arizona at Chicago (-7): The Bears have one of the league's top young defenses, an improving offense and a feeble opponent coming off a freakish upset. Bears, 27-16.

Cleveland at Cincinnati (-2): The Browns are arriving, while two straight losses hint that the Bengals are finding their level. Browns, 23-20.

Detroit at Minnesota (-10): Learned my lesson about double-digit favorites other than the Rams last week. Vikings, 30-27.

New Orleans (-4 1/2) at Carolina: The Saints got it going on both sides of the ball last week. Carolina's season-opening upset of the Vikings seems like an awful long time ago. Saints, 33-17.

N.Y. Giants at St. Louis (-11): It's a lot of points to spot a 3-1 team, but the Rams have been toying with the Giants since Kurt Warner's arrival. And their defense is playing better than it did during their Super Bowl run. Rams, 38-20.

Pittsburgh at Kansas City (-3): Pittsburgh's defense is shutting people down and Jerome Bettis is rolling. Bad combination for Dick Vermeil's Chiefs, who are already 0-2 at Arrowhead Stadium. Steelers, 20-13.

San Francisco (-3) at Atlanta: For anyone who thinks young teams can't win -- the 3-1 49ers have seven first- and second-year players starting on defense. 49ers, 34-14.

Miami (-3) at N.Y. Jets: The Dolphins return to the stadium where they blew a 23-point fourth-quarter lead last year. It won't come down to that this time. Dolphins, 20-10.

Denver (-6 1/2) at Seattle: The Seahawks pulled themselves from the winless depths against Jacksonville last week, but they're not near Denver's level. Broncos, 30-16.

Oakland at Indianapolis (-3 1/2): Bet the honchos at ABC/ESPN really, really wish they could flip their Sunday and Monday evening games. Raiders, 27-24.

(Last week: 9-6 overall, 4-10-1 against the spread; Season: 38-20 overall, 26-29-3 against the spread).


David Staba is the sports editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter and the editor of the BuffaloPOST. He welcomes email at editor@buffalopost.com.