But I love NFL football. Hence a conversation I had recently with a good friend. Our talk centered on the fact that of the 46 Super Bowls played to date, an astounding 24 have been won by a mere 5 franchises!

The Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, Packers and Giants being the culprits. At the same time about half the league has yet to win their first (I could give you the exact number but it is too depressing to fans of these deprived cities).

Of these five fortunate cities/franchises, only three, the Steelers, Packers and Giants have won this decade.

My point; some teams deal with parity better then others.

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It is really hard to evaluate the middle of the NFL pie each year. The Cowboys were 8-8 in 2011 and in the playoff race until late in the 2011 season. A year ago they were 6-10 and that means they were two games better. That means they are probably getting better. However, they still need a little something to get over the hump and be a legit playoff contender. They may be on that road already, but the numbers will paint us a clearer picture.

The Cowboys offense scored 369 points or 23.1 points per game on average. That was 15th best in the NFL, and is a pretty good number. They ranked 11th in total yards, 7th in passing yards, but just 18th in rushing yards. If there is room for improvement it surely could come in the running game. Since the Offensive line gave up 39 sacks, and was inconsistent in opening holes up for the running game the concern may lay there. Age is a concern at the Guard positions where three of the four guards on the roster are over 30 years old. Tony Romo takes a lot of heat, but he did complete 66.3% of his passes for 4,184 yards and 31 TD’s. Anyway you slice that it looks pretty good. The Cowboys did not have a 1,000 yard rusher, but in todays pass happy league that is not a great concern. I would like to see them improve the running game to help keep drives alive. The passing game could also use some more talent to pair with Dez Bryant and TE Jason Whitten.

The defense gave up 347 points or 21.7 points per game. That was 16th best in the NFL in 2011 and a pretty good number. However being in the top 50 percentile is probably not the goal they had in mind. A great defense is always a solid way to be a contender, and the Cowboys right now have a pretty good defense. They ranked 14th in total yards, but 23rd in passing yards, and 7th in rushing yards. That seems to indicate that the problem with this defense is in the secondary. Since they had 42 sacks and just 15 picks that definitely seems to be the case. The simple fact here is today’s NFL is a heavy passing attack and every team needs elite defenders at all four DB spots. Beyond Terrance Newman and Safety Gerald Sensabaugh I would like to see more talent back there or a tweak to the scheme that makes this unit more effective.

Related Links:

• Dallas Cowboys news and notes
• Joshua Lobdell.com

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By CARY WALDMAN

I started to get very nervous last night as my plane descended to land at Logan International Airport.

My flight from New York City to Boston, an incredibly tradition-rich place I love and adore, was a smooth one, but it was the stressful anticipation of landing and then living in enemy territory for three days that frazzled my nerves.

As a Miami Dolphins and New York Giants fan, this awesome city is presently no place to be or to show off my true NFL colors, especially with the Giants ready to do battle with Tom Brady and his quick-scoring Patriots in the Super Bowl tomorrow in Indianapolis.

So you must be asking yourself why in the world would I pick this weekend to visit good old Bean Town?

I guess I didn’t have much of a choice when my lifelong best buddy Paddy “Flay” Flavin surprisingly bought me a round trip ticket Thursday night to join him in Lynn, Mass, AKA, “The City of Sin”, for the weekend and THE BIG GAME.

And get this, his family and friends have rented out a neighborhood movie theatre to show the game on the VERY BIG SCREEN.

AWESOMENESS, even if I will secretly be pulling for the Giants.

Go Big Blue!!!!

Guess those two delicious racks of baby back ribs I bought Thursday morning, and who my girl rubbed to death with her famous-cooking-touch-of-love, will have to wait until Monday night.

Flay is a big Patriots fan dating back over four decades when they really sucked.

Now, his snobbish ear-to-ear, sometimes-annoying smile really tells it all.

“I love my Pats, dude,” Flay always says, many times to an annoying want-to-kill-him point.

OK Paddy, we get it, they are now always pretty darn good, with Brady averaging 12 wins and just four losses per season during his illustrious career.

Flay and I then continued our conversation this morning that we started earlier in the week on the phone when I was in the Big Apple and he was home in Atlanta about who are the greatest retired NFL players of the modern era who never won a super bowl.

Our top three were pretty easy selections, with quarterback Dan Marino, running back Barry Sanders and linebacker Dick Butkus leading the way.

Here is my first-team list.

I am certain your’s will no doubt vary.

So try me!!!!

OFFENSE:

QB: Marino

RB: Sanders, Earl Campbell

WR: Randy Moss, Terrell Owens

TE:  Kellen Winslow

OL: John Hannah. Anthony Munoz, Bruce Mathews, Randall McDaniel, Dwight Stephenson

K: Morten Anderson

 DEFENSE:

DL: John Randle, Bruce Smith, Jason Taylor, Alan Page

LB: Butkus, Junior Seau, Derrick Thomas

DB: Ken Houston, Lem Barney, Aeneas Williams, Paul Krause

P: Reggie Roby

STP: Steve Tasker

KR: Gayle Sayers

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Two teams with a great football tradition with one more chapter about to be written.  PRICELESS NFL PICKS had a great regular and post-season record of picking the winners of each NFL game and this week’s Super Bowl pick will be no exception.

First, let me say that the Giants are the ‘easy’ pick to win this year’s Super Bowl.  I watched the Giants – Patriots game Week 9 and the Giants who were not playing well at the time went into Foxboro and beat the Patriots nicely.  There is no reason that the Giants will not do that again this week.  Or is there?

Beating a team twice in one season is never easy.  Many good teams have gotten tripped up by a divisional foe that they should have beaten.  But even with that I still think that the Giants are the ‘easy’ pick.  They are on a roll and seem to be limiting their own mistakes enough to take advantage of the other team’s mistakes.  But again the Giants were 9-7 which at minimum means they were inconsistent at best during the 2011 season.  Even with that the Giants are still the ‘easy’ pick.

There is one thing that prevents me from saying it will be the Giants.

Don’t bet against Brady.

Brady is the type of QB who can and will take over a game like this to find a way for his team to win.  He can’t play defense but if he turns it on the Patriots may not need to play much defense at all.

Don’t bet against Brady.

Patriots in a shootout.

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Kitna played well in 2010 after starting QB Tony Romo was injured early in the season.  Kitna played for many years with the Detroit Lions before he came to the Cowboys.

This may add the Cowboys to the list of many teams that will be looking to add a QB this off-season.  You have to expect that the Cowboys’ priority to be a cover safety or corner-back but no team wants to be caught without a viable back-up to Tony Romo. 

Stephen McGee has not showed the level of development you want to see in a backup QB.  Will the Cowboys look to draft a QB in the first round?  There is great hype around Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III would Jerry Jones be crazy like a fox and try to move up in the 2012 NFL to get one of these guys?

Probably not but the Cowboys will now be looking so watch out.

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McNabb has stated publically several times that he wanted to enter the world of broadcasting after his QB shoes were hung up.  One now has to now speculate if we have seen the last of McNabb in an NFL uniform. 

I’m sure that there may be one NFL team that may be desperate enough to give him another shot.  Who wouldn’t want a veteran QB to back-up some young arm as the team develops a new QB especially if they can get him cheap on a one year deal.  The Carolina Panthers come to mind.  As Cam Newton enters his second year would you want a true veteran behind him to help with his development?  It’s possible that a team will take a chance if the money is right. 

I recommend that McNabb get back into the gym and get ready for the 2012 season.  His performance on ESPN was mediocre at best and ex-football QBs are a dime a dozen including one that have won a Super Bowl.

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Join us for our live show on Thursday nights at 9:00pm EST or on replay on MTRRadio.com.

Listen to MTR Radio on your Android by clicking here or on your iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Blackberry, Palm,  and Samsung Bada by clicking here for the FREE app. Search for MTR Radio and add it to your presets.

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MTR Sports Report 1-6-12

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Hurd was arrested Dec. 14 outside a Chicago steakhouse after authorities said he agreed to buy a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover agent. The Chicago Bears cut the former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dec. 16, two days after his arrest.

If convicted, both could be sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. 

What a waste!  Looking from the outside Hurd was a guy who was a solid NFL WR who made good money and I’m sure could date almost any woman he wanted.  His career was on the upswing and he was doing well in Chcago after leaving the cowboys in the offseason. 

What a waste!

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Join us for our live show on Monday’s at 2:00pm EST or on replay on MTRRadio.com.

Listen to MTR Radio on your Android Device by clicking here,  on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod by downloading our FREE new app from the iTunes Store (search for MTR Radio), or on your Windows Phone, Blackberry, Palm,  and Samsung Bada by clicking here for the FREE app. Search for MTR Radio and add it to your presets.

Triple Coverage 1-2-12

Triple Coverage 1-2-12-2

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The Cowboys did not come prepared to play the NY Giants on Sunday Night Football, at least not in the first half.  All the pre-game talk was about QB Romo’s hand but he does not play defense.  The Cowboys defense has looked dreadful the entire first half and when they have had to chance to make a play or recover a fumble they have found some way to hand it right back to the Giants.

Romo and the offense have been dreadful and have not been able to stay on the field.  They only have 96 yards of total offense and most of that came in the drive just before the half where the Giants were playing soft defense.

The Cowboys have looked unprepared as they have had a series of penalties again in this game which have killed them just when they seemed to get some momentum. 

Romo makes a great play to avoid a sack and then steps over the line before he throws a nice pass.

Special Teams make a nice play to pin the Giants within their own 5 yard line only to be called a touchback because the Cowboy stepped out of bounds.

CB Terence Newman has been made to look silly as two Giants just jumped over his weak attempts at tackles.

It almost looks like the Giants know what the cowboys are going to do on both sides of the ball.

TERRIBLE 1^st half performance by the Cowboys.  They need a miracle to keep their season alive.  Stats don’t lie it is that bad.

Team Stat Comparison

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