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Foles shows promise, and weaknesses
Paul Domowitch, Daily News NFL Columnist

Mel Evans/AP
Nick Foles threw for 345 yards against the Redskins Sunday.

Athletes often are defined more by their failures than their successes. That may be unfair, but it's just the way it is.

The Super Bowls they didn't win. The fourth-quarter comebacks they didn't engineer. The final out they didn't get. The home run they didn't hit. The last-second shot that didn't go in.

So it is with Nick Foles right now. Considering the chaos going on around him, the third-round rookie has played pretty well since replacing Michael Vick as the Eagles' starting quarterback last month.

Notched his second 300-yard passing performance in 3 weeks in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Redskins. In six starts and 27 quarters of action, he's completed a respectable 60.7 percent of his passes, has thrown just five interceptions in 265 attempts and has a 79.1 passer rating, which is better than fellow rookies Ryan Tannehill, Andrew Luck and Brandon Weeden, who all were taken well ahead of him in last April's draft.

But as Foles attempts to prove that he has the right stuff to be the Eagles' starting quarterback for the next 10 years, his season has been defined by two plays. One was that badly underthrown deep ball to Jeremy Maclin that was intercepted by Leon Hall in the Eagles' 34-13 loss to the Bengals on Dec. 13.

The other was another underthrown pass to an open Maclin late in Sunday's game.

With the Eagles trailing 27-13, Foles engineered a six-play, 61-yard scoring drive that helped his team close the gap to seven points. Completed three of four passes for 41 yards, including a 10-yard completion to Damaris Johnson on third-and-7 and a 25-yarder to running back LeSean McCoy that set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Dion Lewis with just under 9 minutes left in the game.

After the defense forced the Redskins to punt, the Eagles got the ball back on their 15 with 4:15 left. Foles proceeded to complete eight straight passes, the last an 8-yarder to McCoy that gave the Eagles a second-and-2 at the Washington 17 with 28 seconds left.

With no one open, he threw his next attempt out of the end zone. On the next play, Maclin, who caught an earlier 27-yard touchdown pass from Foles and finished with eight catches for 116 yards, was open in the end zone between cornerback Richard Crawford and safety Madieu Williams. Foles saw him, but his throw was short.

Foles completed a 12-yard pass to McCoy on the next play that gave the Eagles a first down at the Washington 5 with 11 seconds left. But they had squandered their best scoring opportunity. A pass to tight end Evan Moore almost was intercepted and fell incomplete.

The game ended one play later when Foles was pressured and was called for intentional grounding as he tried to throw the ball away and buy one more shot at the end zone.

"I just have to drive the ball, continue to drive it out there," Foles said of his underthrown end-zone pass to Maclin. "Maclin ran a great route and I have to take advantage of that and get the ball out there to him. Give him an opportunity to make a play."

Foles suffered a contusion on his throwing hand in the first half. It was X-rayed at halftime, and coach Andy Reid said it was "pretty sore." But the rookie didn't use the injury as an excuse for the poor throw.

"It didn't affect my throwing at all," he said.

Said Reid: "You're going to have that at that position. You're going to have those things that you have to work through, and it's important as a young guy that you do that. I thought he handled everything for the most part very well in that second half. I thought he played better in the second half than he did in the first half. So he battled through that thing."

Foles completed 32 of 48 passes for 345 yards. He was 18-for-26 in the second half and 12-for-19 in the fourth quarter. But he also had two costly turnovers that the Redskins turned into 10 points.

Late in the first quarter, after the Eagles drove inside the Washington 30, he was flushed out of the pocket and had the ball knocked out of his grasp from behind by linebacker Ryan Kerrigan. The Redskins eventually cashed that in for the first of two Kai Forbath field goals.

Later in the second quarter, with the Eagles clinging to a 7-6 lead, Foles had a pass for Maclin deflected by nose tackle Barry Cofield and picked off by linebacker London Fletcher. The Redskins converted that turnover into a touchdown when Robert Griffin III hit Josh Morgan with an 11-yard scoring pass.

"I have to eliminate mistakes," Foles said. "I fumbled and threw an interception and it's the quarterback's job to make sure that we get more points on the board than the other team, and I didn't do my job today.

"It's frustrating because I'm hard on myself and I want to win. But I'm going to keep working hard and we're going to stay together. It's been a tough year, but we still have each other and I know we're going to keep going to work."

With one game left, the organization has liked much of what it has seen from Foles. But there's no way to know for sure this soon whether, going forward, he can be to them what Griffin is going to be to the Redskins and what Luck is going to be to the Colts.

But he is making believers of his teammates.

"He's so poised, man," McCoy said. "His attitude in the huddle and his leadership. You really can't tell that he's a rookie. It's his attitude. Everything is always positive and he's motivational all the time. I can see in the future he can be an outstanding quarterback. I can definitely see that in the future."

DID YOU NOTICE?

* Guard Danny Watkins was a healthy scratch for the first time since early last season. That's right. Matt Tennant, who was claimed off waivers in late October, was activated instead of the team's 2011 first-round pick.

* LeSean McCoy, who had missed four games because of a concussion, touched the ball on the Eagles' first two offensive plays. Ran for a 7-yard gain, then caught a 6-yard pass. The guy who both Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg said was going to play limited snaps, 22 touches. That was his most touches since Week 4, when he had 26 against the Giants.

* Robert Griffin III wore a brace on his injured right knee. He ran the ball just two times, which was his second fewest carries of the season. He had just one rushing attempt against the Falcons in Week 5.

* The nice recognition and play by safety Colt Anderson to break up a fourth-and-2 pass to Santana Moss on the Redskins' first possession. Unfortunately for him, he later got beat by Moss for a 22-yard touchdown.

* Bryce Brown replaced Brandon Boykin as the Eagles' kickoff returner. Didn't make any difference. He averaged just 18.5 yards per return.

* Both of Nick Foles' first-half turnovers came on third down.

* The costly holding penalty on left tackle King Dunlap on a first-down play at the Washington 12 late in the first half. It effectively killed the drive and the Eagles ended up having to settle for an Alex Henery field goal.

* Brandon Boykin got credit for his first NFL sack on that backward pass to Santana Moss in the third quarter that RGIII ended up recovering at his own 3.

* Nick Foles tripped over right tackle Dennis Kelly's feet stepping up in the pocket on a fourth-and-2 play in the third quarter.

* The nice cutback by Dion Lewis on his 17-yard touchdown run.

* The Redskins' unsuccessful attempt to get the Eagles to jump offsides on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter. They ended up taking a delay of game and punting the ball away.

BY THE NUMBERS

* The Eagles scored on their first possession for only the third time in 15 games.

* In 15 games, the Eagles have scored just 38 points on their first and second possessions and have committed nine turnovers and had a punt blocked.

* The Eagles have lost 10 fumbles in the last five games. They have lost at least one fumble in 13 of their 15 games.

* The Eagles have a league-high 36 turnovers, which opponents have converted into 133 points (3.7 points per turnover). They have just 13 takeaways, which they've turned into 40 points (3.1).

* With his 345-yard performance, Nick Foles has 1,699 passing yards, passing John Reaves for the Eagles' rookie record. Foles also holds the team's rookie record for attempts (265) and completions (161).

* LeSean McCoy's 77 receiving yards were his most since an 86-yard receiving performance against Houston on Dec. 2, 2010.

* Nick Foles completed just two of six passes in the red zone against the Redskins. For the season, he's 10-for-30 for 76 yards, four TDs and no interceptions in the red zone and has been sacked two times, including once Sunday.

* Nick Foles was 12-for-19 for 106 yards in the fourth quarter. For the season, he has a 70.9 fourth-quarter passer rating. He has completed just 53.1 percent of his passes and has averaged 5.3 yards per attempt in the fourth quarter.

* Jeremy Maclin was targeted a team-high 14 times (8 catches). In the last three games, he has been targeted 36 times for 21 catches.

* LeSean McCoy, who was targeted 11 times and had a team-high nine receptions, has been targeted 61 times this season and has 49 catches.

* The Eagles have just 27 offensive touchdowns in 15 games. Only two of those 27 touchdown drives have been less than 61 yards, and both of those came in the second week, against Baltimore.

* Brandon Boykin posted his first career sack and forced fumble. The Eagles have 29 sacks this season by 11 different players.

No surprise as Eagles drop another one to Redskins
LES BOWEN, Daily News Staff Writer

Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer
Andy Reid walks off the Linc possibly for the last time.

IF THE COURSE of the 2012 season had taught us anything, it had taught us that Andy Reid's final game at Lincoln Financial Field was not fated to end in some sort of miraculous comeback to win in overtime, with giddy fist-pumps and fireworks and adulation. You felt that in your bones, even as Nick Foles drove the Eagles downfield for what would have been the tying score in the final seconds Sunday.

So when Ed Hochuli's crew gathered to discuss the ball Foles tried to throw away as he was hit by Stephen Bowen, on second-and-goal from the Washington Redskins' 5, with 1 second remaining on the clock after the ball bounced off the turf nearest right tackle Dennis Kelly, there could only be one outcome, the one Hochuli eventually announced: intentional grounding, 10-second runoff on the penalty, game over, Eagles lose, 27-20.

Reid was off and running to a midfield congratulation of Redskins coach Mike Shanahan before the Linc crowd fully grasped what had happened. Then Reid was churning toward the tunnel, surrounded by an armada of photographers. Somehow, Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett broke through the escort and Reid pulled up for a hug - a poignant moment between the two finalists for the Eagles' head-coaching job 14 years ago next month. Then Andy was under the south end-zone stands and gone, as some hardy loyalists in the seats nearby chanted his name.

"We have great fans. I've always said that we're kind of on the same page," Reid said, apparently not making a joke. "When you stink, they let you know you stink, and when you're doing good, they're going to let you know you're doing good. I got it. I understand. I understand the situation. I appreciate everything."

Asked about speculation that this was his final home game, with his team 4-11 and out of the playoffs for the second year in a row, both times having been touted as a contender, Reid said: "I don't know that. I have nothing to tell you on that. I'm the coach right now, and I'm just coaching. That's what I'm doing, the best that I possibly can."

No thoughts of auld lang syne?

"Those are good stories, but when you're in the process of getting ready for a game, and then you're playing the game, your mind doesn't go there - especially a game like that, which comes down to the last second. That's not where I'm at," Reid said.

That is where the rest of us are "at," though. So what did Sunday's game tell us about the players the next coach will inherit?

Foles, the rookie QB, again offered a mixed bag. He showed enough promise to make you think he could be a franchise quarterback in the making, while making enough terrible mistakes to keep you from being sure he will be such a rare and precious entity. Foles finished 32-for-48 for 345 yards, a touchdown, a deflected interception, an 85.9 passer rating and a killer fumble that turned momentum after the Eagles had seized it early. Also, there was the final-play intentional grounding, which should have been a safe throwaway a second or 2 earlier, and a play three snaps before that when Foles had Jeremy Maclin wide open in the end zone and threw it short. (In between there was a touchdown drop by new tight end Evan Moore, playing on 2 days of practice and somehow targeted with the game on the line.)

Foles suffered a bruised throwing hand in the first half, got halftime X-rays and stayed in the game. He was sacked five times behind an offensive line that seemed to misplace the synchronization it has found lately, particularly in blitz pickup. Foles stood tall under pressure, for the most part, made some strong plays.

LeSean McCoy, in his return from a four-game concussion absence, showed heart, grit, and those dazzling cuts that make him elite. McCoy caught nine passes for 77 yards, ran 13 times for another 45 that were accomplished without benefit of much blocking.

Brandon Graham continued to show that former defensive-line coach Jim Washburn deserved to be fired - wide-nine aside - simply for not starting Graham and playing him at least two-thirds of each game. Graham got no sacks Sunday, but he led the Eagles with six solo tackles and he surprised Robert Griffin III in the backfield, Griffin bouncing a shovel pass off the defensive end, who wasn't supposed to be between the QB and the receiver.

Griffin, wearing a brace on the left knee that caused him to miss last week's game, ignored the Eagles' corners to work the middle of the field to lethal effect, like a boxer bypassing the jaw to work the ribs. The Eagles' safeties and linebackers couldn't stop the pounding, even with Nate Allen benched, as Griffin piloted the Redskins to their sixth win in a row, putting the NFC East title within their grasp.

Colt Anderson did manage the first Eagles interception in nine games, on a ball that bounced off the intended receiver, but Griffin, often afforded excellent field position, completed 16 of 24 passes for 198 yards, two beautifully thrown touchdowns and the one pick. His passer rating was 102.4, which is plenty good, but 55.9 points under his perfect score in the previous meeting, a 31-6 Redskins victory. The knee seemed to make him more of a pocket passer than usual.

That earlier game, Foles was 21-for-46 with no touchdowns, two picks and a 40.5 rating, so you could chart the progress he has made in a month, against the first defense he has seen twice.

"I gotta eliminate mistakes," Foles said. "I fumbled and I threw an interception, and it's the quarterback's job to make sure we get more points on the board than the other team. I didn't do my job today. It's frustrating, because I'm hard on myself and I want to win . . . It's been a tough year, but we still have each other and I know we're going to keep going to work."

Reid said Foles "was better than he was the last time. We came up short, and obviously, it's not all the quarterback's fault. I thought the guys battled. I thought he did some good things."

Foles said Reid wasn't any different Sunday, amid the end-of-an-era atmosphere.

"He stays the same. He stays the path. He's a great head coach to play for," said Foles, who went through something very similar last year at the University of Arizona, when Mike Stoops was dismissed during the season. "He cares a lot about this city and he's done a lot of great things here . . . He doesn't change. He's solid. That's something I'm always going to respect about him."

Graham said: "It's a business. Coach Reid is fighting his butt off right now . . . today was just one of those days, I wish we could give it back to him, but you can't."

Could Graham have played the whole year the way he's playing now, had he been given the opportunity?

"Who knows?" he said. "I can only talk about what I'm doing now, and right now I've made sure I just stayed at it. Every week, you're going to get 100 percent from me. My teammates know that, and I know they'll do the same."

McCoy, who converted a crucial fourth down and then got out of bounds at the 5 to set up the final sequence, said the Eagles did a lot of good things, made a lot of good play calls on the final drive, as they moved from their 15 to Washington's 5.

"Another situation where we just don't capitalize," McCoy said. "That's kinda how the season went this year."

Eagles fans bid adieu to home season and maybe Reid
Jeremy Roebuck, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer
Tom Gearhart poses in his Eagle van before the start of the game. Fans are questioned about this season and the possible departure of Andy Reid

Tom Gearhart has parked his family's Eagles-green Ford E-350 - complete with interior stadium seats and matching Astroturf - in the same spot in Lot F of Lincoln Financial Field before every home game for the last nine years.

But Sunday, the diehard season ticket holder proclaimed himself ready to break with at least one long-held tradition: Cheering on the coach who has led the team as long as Gearhart's van has occupied the lot.

"Andy Reid needs to go," the 40-year-old Newtown resident said, eyeing a poster-size photo of the mustachioed coach plastered inside his van's interior wall. "It's been a rough season. It's time to make a switch."

And if the cheers his comments elicited from fellow tailgaters offered any indication, Gearhart wasn't alone in his thinking.

Speculation regarding Reid's future with the Eagles continues to mount after yet another disappointing season. But at the team's last home game Sunday - a bitter 27-20 loss to the Washington Redskins - many fans spoke of the man who has led the team for the past 14 years as if his fate had already been sealed.

Chants of "Fire Andy," which erupted after previous losses this year, were replaced Sunday by sober valedictory musings.

Though fans hardly acknowledged the coach when he took the field, he left to calls of "Andy! Andy!"

Barry Macort, 53, of Ambler, credited Reid with leading the team to an early string of NFC Eastern Division titles and a 2005 Super Bowl appearance.

But no amount of reminiscing could erase two years of dashed expectations or this year's losing record going into the season's final game next week, he said.

"They need to win," shouted Leslie Cuthbertson in response, hardly breaking what she called her traditional pregame "dance trance" - a superstition that appeared to consist mostly of bobbing to jock rock tunes blaring from nearby car stereos.

North Philadelphia resident Jerry Morris blamed Reid's difficult personal life for much of this year's disappointment.

The coach's son, Garrett Reid, died of a heroin overdose in August after a years-long addiction to the drug.

"I know it's been a hard year for him," the North Philadelphia resident said. "But the fans want to see the Eagles win, and that's all that matters."

But for Gene "The Face" Olewink, nicknamed among Lot F's tailgating crowd for his elaborate facial art each week, no excuse could make up for performance on the field.

Sunday, Olewink's face bore a traditional green and black. But last week, he said, he plastered a green-tinted homage to the Joker across his mug, a reference to the Batman villain's penchant for chaos - a word he said best described the Eagles as a team this year.

"We've had some lean years before, but this year it just seems like there was no heart," he said. "And that ultimately comes from the coach."

Reid has refused to speculate about his future, saying his focus was on Sunday's game and the team's final matchup next week against New York Giants.

Team owner Jeffrey Lurie has likewise said little about his head coach's future prospects.

But after Sunday's disappointing loss and countless beers, 53-year-old Gary Reed was willing to read more into that silence than most, offering a bold prediction amid his bout of inebriated postgame peacocking.

"Andy Reid will be back," he crowed. "At least, I want him back."

The coach's son, Garrett Reid, died of a heroin overdose in August after a years-long addiction to the drug.

"I know it's been a hard year for him," the North Philadelphia resident said. "But the fans want to see the Eagles win, and that's all that matters."

Irn-Bru wrote:This meltdown couldn't happen to a better group of fans. I'm really hoping they flop around for a few years trying to find the right coach and vision, and take up residence in the basement of the East in that time.

Irn-Bru wrote:This meltdown couldn't happen to a better group of fans. I'm really hoping they flop around for a few years trying to find the right coach and vision, and take up residence in the basement of the East in that time.

welch wrote:Foles might be OK...but Reid is a good coach. Fools if the team lets him go, but another team will sign him quickly. I think Buddy Ryan's son has worn out the welcome and everything else in Jets'-ville.

Maybe Reid does TV commentary...although he seems to have too much dignity to go to Fox. (Jimmy Johnson????)

Bob 0119 wrote:

welch wrote:Foles might be OK...but Reid is a good coach. Fools if the team lets him go, but another team will sign him quickly. I think Buddy Ryan's son has worn out the welcome and everything else in Jets'-ville.

Maybe Reid does TV commentary...although he seems to have too much dignity to go to Fox. (Jimmy Johnson????)

Oh please, please, PLEASE let Rex Ryan go to the Eagles!

That would be TOO perfect!

cvillehog wrote:I also don't think they fire him unless they have someone better on deck

cvillehog wrote:I don't think Reid deserves to be fired. I also don't think they fire him unless they have someone better on deck (and who would that be?).

Tony Romo: 'I feel as though I let our team down' after 3 INT performance
Dallas Cowboys shut out from playoffs once again
Staff and wire reports

After throwing three interceptions in his latest make-or-break defeat, Tony Romo shuffled across a silent locker room, grimacing and looking at the floor.
He dressed creakily. Merely putting on his dark socks appeared to be an ordeal.
Now comes a tougher task for the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback: processing his performance in a season-ending 28-18 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday night with the NFC East title on the line.

"I feel as though I let our team down," Romo said at his postgame news conference, his words deliberate, his stare blank.

"Your legacy will be written when you're done playing the game," said Romo, whose three interceptions matched his total from the previous eight games combined.

"It's disappointing not being able to get over that hump," he added, "but I also know that football is the ultimate team sport and I need to continue to improve, and our football team does, to get there."

Needing a victory over the rival Redskins (10-6) to reach the playoffs, the Cowboys (8-8 ) finished at .500 for the second season in a row. They'll miss the postseason for the third consecutive year.

And this is the third time in the past five years that Dallas lost its regular-season finale when a win would have allowed it to keep playing.

"We have a big challenge ahead of us. (The Redskins) are, of course, in the tournament, and we have to sit at home and think about how to get in the tournament. This is very disappointing. We have players that have fought hard all year, but it did not end up the way we wanted," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "And one of my jobs is to evaluate and analyze and make decisions in the offseason that can help us be in better shape."
He can look at Washington to see how quickly things can change.

Rookies Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris needed only four months to give the Redskins their first division title since 1999.

Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner drafted second overall, ran for 63 yards and a touchdown. Morris, the sixth-rounder from Florida Atlantic, ran for 200 yards and three TDs. He set the franchise single-season rushing record for the Redskins, who turned around the season behind their quarterback's talent and leadership to win seven straight games, becoming the first NFL team to make the playoffs after starting 3-6 since the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars.

After the final whistle, team captain Griffin walked off the field with a big smile, holding up his left index finger in a No. 1 gesture. Washington, which set a franchise record with only 14 turnovers this season (zero on Sunday), will host Seattle next Sunday.

Romo, meanwhile, was intercepted on each of Dallas' first two possessions. His last turnover was the one that bothered him the most: A poor throw was picked off by Rob Jackson when the Cowboys had a chance to drive for a winning score in the final minutes.

"That'll eat at me for weeks now," Romo said.

He almost became the first Dallas quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards in a season, but his career is instead further tainted by late-season disappointments. He also had Week 17 losses to the Philadelphia Eagles (44-6) in 2008 and the New York Giants (31-14) last year, along with a 1-3 record in playoff games (who can forget the botched hold?).

"There's been a couple of these games towards the end of the year that are critical games and we haven't gotten it done as a football team — and Tony's certainly a part of that, but everybody's a part of that," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.

On Sunday, Morris' 32-yard scamper gave the Redskins a 21-10 cushion with 10½ minutes left. Trying to play catch-up, Dallas pulled within three on a 10-yard TD pass to Kevin Ogletree and a 2-point conversion with 5:50 to play. But Morris' third touchdown, a 1-yard run with 1:09 left, sealed the outcome.

It didn't help matters for Dallas that receivers Dez Bryant (back) and Miles Austin (left ankle) got injured. Bryant, who Garrett said "really couldn't even walk," left after four catches for 71 yards.

"Missing those two guys is crucial," said Ogletree, who got a talking-to from Romo after the QB's first interception.

In the end, Dallas also was hurt by missing five injured starters on a defense that simply could not stop Morris.

But what will be remembered mostly will be the play of Romo, who completed 20 of 31 passes for 218 yards, often facing pressure from what Garrett described as the way the Redskins "just kind of rolodexed those blitzes through."

"We know Romo doesn't like pressure in his face, so that was our big thing," Redskins linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said. "We had to get pressure up the middle. Not so much on the outside; keep him in the pocket. That's what we were able to do."

Notes: Cowboys KR-WR Dwayne Harris was on crutches after the game. Garrett said he had a lower leg injury. ... Dallas is 128-128 in regular-season games since the start of the 1997 season.

Cowboys’ only penalty of game a very costly one; Rob Ryan: ‘We had a questionable hit on the quarterback, whatever’
By Brandon George / Reporter

LANDOVER, Md. – The Cowboys finished with a season-low one penalty at Washington on Sunday, but it was a costly one.

The Cowboys came into the game tied for the league lead with St. Louis with 116 penalties.

Ahead, 21-18, late in the fourth quarter, the Redskins faced third-and-7 on the Cowboys’ 12-yard line. Washington quarterback Robert Griffin threw an incomplete pass, but Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher was called for roughing the passer. Hatcher hit Griffin high after he threw the pass, drawing the penalty that gave the Redskins a first-and-goal at the 6. Three plays later, Alfred Morris scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run to put the game away at 28-18.

“We had a questionable hit on the quarterback, whatever,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said. “You know, hell, they were grabbing receivers all day, too, but that’s the way it is in this league. It was unfortunate we gave up that last touchdown. I would have liked to have seen our offense with the ball down by six and the chance to go win it.”

Jason Witten discusses the end of another season: ‘It was a heck of a year all the way around’
By Rainer Sabin / Reporter

Cowboys tight end Jason Witten’s 10th season closed the same way the nine previous ones had ended: With a defeat.

“Just empty feeling in your stomach,” he said after Washington’s 28-18 victory over Dallas on Sunday. “Obviously you can’t describe it. You feel like you’re right there. You can’t seem to get over the hump. It’s going to have to take more. It’s just going to have to take more. We have good players. But it’s going to have to take more playing better and finding a way finish those games. It’s a tough league. It’s a bottom-line business and we just have to find a little more to go out there and execute and find ways to win those games.”

Witten was invited to his eighth Pro Bowl last week and finished 2012 with 110 catches, a new NFL single-season record for a tight end.

“It was a heck of a year all the way around,” Witten said. “Guys came to work and worked their tail off every day. We just came up short.”

Jerry Jones: Cowboys have big challenge ahead after ‘disappointing’ loss
By Jon Machota / Special Contributor

Richard Lipski/AP

Jerry Jones said he didn’t want to talk about coaching or personnel decisions after the Washington Redskins defeated the Cowboys 28-18 Sunday night, eliminating Dallas’ chances of winning the NFC East and making the playoffs.

And the Cowboys owner and general manager didn’t have a definitive answer when he was asked how close his 8-8 team is to being a playoff club. But Jones did say he would be immediately getting to work on the roster and structuring for the future.

“I’m impressed with the way the Redskins are put together across the board,” Jones said. “They’re going to be formidable as the Cowboys look to the future, and we have to look where we are within our division and we’ll look and see just exactly how to approach a team that has some of the players they’ve got and good coaching they’ve got.

“We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us. They’re of course in the tournament and we get to sit at home and start thinking about how to get in the tournament. This is very disappointing. We have players that also have fought hard all year, but it DID NOT get it done and one of my jobs is basically evaluate, analyze and make decisions in the off-season that can help us be in better shape when I’m standing here going into the playoffs.”

National analysts: Don’t blame Tony Romo; he's still an elite quarterback

NFL Network analysts Marshall Faulk and ex-Cowboys Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin discussed the Cowboys’ loss to the Redskins Sunday night. Some highlights of the broadcast:
Sanders: Tony Romo is known to start off games like that but we all thought, “OK, he's going to settle down and put the team in a situation where the team is going to win or lose. And, as the enormity of the game approaches, you feel it, man, and you shouldn't feel like that with an elite quarterback like Tony Romo. But, oh no, here it comes. And it happened. He did what Romo would do.
Faulk: Tony is elite, but has he gotten over this, in these moments? It's the defining moment of games for the Cowboys. All the way back to that snap in Seattle, this is what's it’s been like for Tony Romo. They haven't escaped him. He hasn't gotten out of his own way to use his talent, and he has a lot of it, to do what he does in regular games.
Irvin: Jerry Jones said it earlier, if you're not in the playoffs, it's not a successful season. I'm never going to say 8-8 is a success, not a guy who holds three rings. Playing hard is good. Winning is better. You watch all these guys, Robert Griffin III, Eli Manning, Michael Vick -- these are top quarterbacks, drafted in top spots, they know and feel like they belong in that situation. Tony Romo is the only undrafted QB in the East and sometimes, in those moments, he feels like, “I have to prove to everybody I belong here,” and tries to do so much and that's gets him into trouble.
Faulk (on Cowboys having the 18th pick in the draft, should they keep Romo): If you're going to go get rid of a Tony Romo, you better have a direction you're going into. What Jerry Jones has to ask himself, at what point are these games going to stop being games that Romo has? … It’s hard to find a QB in this league, you watched Arizona juggle QBs.
Sanders: (The Cowboys) have some of the best fans and some of the meanest fans. How many times are we going to sit here as fans and say, “here we go again?” ... I love to win at all costs. 1-6 in elimination games, that's telling me something is not getting better around here. The kind of person I am, I need to jump off and try to correct this thing. You can blame it on Jerry, but then you can't. If you blame it on Jerry, Jerry is getting the talent and the talent is good. There are some good pieces of the puzzle around there. You can blame it on Jason (Garrett) if you want to. When I looked there at the last drive, I didn't see Dez (Bryant) and (Miles) Austin, they were out. And I saw a half of defensive end DeMarcus Ware playing like he was injured and baffled all day with RGIII, so I can't put this one thing all on Tony. But Tony brings me to the same situation at the conclusion of every year. Take a picture, this date, and see if we're playing the same picture next year. We always think it's going to get better, but it's the same old same old.
Irvin: RGIII threw nine completions, Tony Romo threw the ball 40 times. If the Cowboys are going to win, it's going to be through Tony Romo. It's not Tony Romo is the worst thing in the world. You gotta get someone to help him. There is nothing helping him. DeMarco Murray gave him a little spark, but he's not doing it consistently, and it's too much pressure on Tony Romo with his style of play to make plays consistently, it's not going to happen.

Romo, Cowboys do what they do best ... fail
BY RANDY GALLOWAY

STAR-TELEGRAM/PAUL MOSELEY
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo leaves the field after the Cowboys loss to the Redskins, ending the Cowboys 2012 season. The Dallas Cowboys lose to the Washington Redskins 28-18.


LANDOVER, Md. -- Bring it on. Bring on the Romo hate.

But that's what Tony does. That's what Tony did again Sunday night. He brings down the hate on himself.

Let another season end for the Dallas Cowboys. Also let another loud round of Romo howls begin after a win-to-get-in situation came to a disastrous conclusion on a cold evening down the road from old D.C.

Between a gimpy but game RG3 and his rookie sidekick, Alfred Morris, the Washington Redskins didn't exactly need much help in storming into the playoffs, via a 28-18 decision before 82,000-plus rejuvenated and giddy Skin-ettes.

Romo, however, was also a Redskins ally.

One. Two. Three. Interceptions.

And the third one? Oh, gawd. The third one.

With plenty of clock time remaining, and even a little momentum on his side, Tony put the finishing touches on the Washington victory by attempting to feather a fourth-quarter sideline throw to running back DeMarco Murray.

But it was more feathers than arm involved.

The coverage matchup was excellent for the Cowboys, with linebacker Rob Jackson on Murray, who was in the left flat near the sideline. Except with the slight underthrow, Jackson got to the ball, fell to the ground, and held on for the pick of the year in Washington.

What had been a slim 21-18 lead for the Redskins, and a bit of a stadium sweat suddenly prevalent at Fed-ExField, well...

The celebration was on again after the Jackson play. And again after his interception resulted in a short-field clinching touchdown for RG3 and the offense.

With Robert Griffin and with Morris, the Redskins are a franchise on the move up, and by winning their last seven games to close the regular season, they shockingly moved all the way up to an NFC East title and right into next week's playoffs. From 3-6 to 10-6. That's big-time.

Meanwhile...

The Cowboys continue to do what they do.

What they do is fail.

They fail, and fail, and fail.

The Cowboys are a franchise going nowhere.

They've been failing since 1996. The history of failure is well-documented. One playoff win, and still counting in 16 years.

On this night, they failed mainly because the quarterback made two stupid mistakes resulting in interceptions, and the other one was some kind of mixup between the quarterback and receiver Kevin Ogletree, killing at least a prime field-goal opportunity.

You know the story by now. Players and coaches come and go. Jerry Jones is the only constant in this sad, sad tale of woe. And, of course, Jerry is going nowhere. Same as his team. They go nowhere together, linked in failure.

The only ongoing debate of note is can the Cowboys win again -- win consistently enough to make the playoffs, and be a postseason threat -- with Romo at quarterback.

I always say ... yes.

But nights like this tell us -- actually, they scream at us -- no-no-no.

Nights like this, the no-no-no voices strongly prevailed.

But Romo, the same as Jerry, is going nowhere, at least until the Cowboys become realistic about making a true effort to draft and begin developing a young quarterback. And this NFL season, of all NFL seasons, tells us teams are winning and going to the playoffs with rookie QBs or young, developing QBs.

Coach Jason Garrett is also going nowhere, even with another 8-8 season on his ledger, because Jerry is convinced Garrett is the head coach who will someday soon make a difference.

Based on what was heard and said over the past month, these are supposed to be the good times at Valley Ranch, good times because Jerry thinks he has the head coach and the quarterback and the overall talent to bring the franchise back from the depths of mediocrity.

It's laughable, but true.

Yes, Mr. Jones was flashing some postgame locker-room anger on Sunday night, but, believe me, he'll get over it. By this morning, I'd bet, he'll be over it, despite Jerry stating up front after the game that he would not talk about the coaching situation.

But if Jerry is now remotely thinking about firing Red J, which he isn't, then the heavy lifting should have come in this area when a Sean Payton was still on the street, unsigned by the Saints. As of this past weekend, however, Payton re-upped with the Saints, apparently sensing that Jones was not interested in changing head coaches.

Obviously, the Cowboys' loss here shocked no one. This was not a real playoff team or a real divisional winner. Real divisional winners and real playoff teams don't lose last week at home to a down-and-out New Orleans outfit.

But the numbers and the tiebreakers told us that Sunday night was a showdown situation for the divisional title and a playoff berth.

One. Two. Three.

Those, however, were the only numbers that mattered in this loss. Three interceptions charged to the quarterback were the lowest of the lowlight moments for the Cowboys' offense.

It wasn't exactly a secret the Cowboys needed around 30 points to win here. Credit goes to the Redskins' defense for snuffing that goal, but that doesn't take the blame off the two guys most responsible for offensive production.

Of course, that's Romo, and that's the play-caller, Garrett.

But the Cowboys did what they do best.

They failed. They always fail, at least going on two decades, and counting.

The poster child for this particular failure is Romo.

Let the haters be heard.

Loss to Redskins more of same for Dallas Cowboys
BY CLARENCE E. HILL JR.

LANDOVER, Md. -- The seasons change.

Some of the names are different.

But the result remains the same for quarterback Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys.

Disappointment, mediocrity and ultimate failure.

It's no longer important that the Cowboys rallied from a 3-5 start to put themselves one win away from the NFC East title and their first playoff berth since 2009.

It matters not they overcame the loss of six starters on defense and endured the death of practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown.

It was all for naught after Romo threw three interceptions in a 28-18 loss Sunday to the upstart Washington Redskins and former Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III before a crowd of 82,845 at FedExField.

"It's very disappointing for our team," coach Jason Garrett said after coming out of an emotional postgame locker room. "You come up here with the intention of winning the game. At the end of the day, we didn't get the job done. We didn't get the job done."

For the second consecutive season and third time since 2008, the Cowboys (8-8 ) failed to deliver in a win-or-go-home battle for the division title and the playoffs.

In 2008 and 2011, the Cowboys failed on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.

The Redskins won the NFC East title for the first time since 1999, thanks to the courageous play of the gimpy Griffin, who played despite a knee injury.

Running back Alfred Morris led the way for the Redskins with a monster game on the ground, totaling 200 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries against a depleted Cowboys defense.

The Cowboys are out of playoffs for the third consecutive year while adding more fuel to Romo's reputation of failing in big games.

The Cowboys are now 1-6 in win-or-go home games, including the playoffs since Romo became quarterback.

The much-maligned Romo took full responsibility after what proved to be another horrific ending.

"I feel like I let my teammates down," Romo said. "It's on me. It just hurts a lot right now and it's hard to think about and talk about."

Romo, who had just one interception in the past four games combined and just three over past seven, began the game with two interceptions on his first five throws.

The Cowboys were able to overcome that and the loss of receivers Dez Bryant and Miles Austin to injury as well as endure the big game for Morris to put themselves in contention to win the game late in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 21-10 and seemingly left for dead, they got back in the game thanks to a 39-yard punt return from Dwayne Harris.

Romo tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ogletree and converted a 2-point conversion to Harris to make the score 21-18 with 5:50 left in the game.

The defense got a stop on the next series, courtesy of a sack by Anthony Spencer.

But any hopes of the Cowboys completing their sixth comeback win of the season were dashed when Romo tossed his third pick of the game.

A pass in the flat to running back DeMarco Murray was read perfectly by linebacker Rob Jackson, who peeled off his rush for the interception.

And now a team that entered the season talking about having a different outcome than the disappointments of the past and making a Super Bowl run for the first time since 1995 is again left wanting.

It was owner Jerry Jones who put the onus on the Cowboys to come into 2012 with a sense of urgency to make a Super Bowl run.

"As far as I'm concerned, we're as far away as you can measure, because we're at home and not in the tournament," Jones said. "We've got a big challenge ahead of us."

Romo and the Cowboys Choke; Redskins Take NFC East Title

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is helped up by referee Walt Anderson (66) during the second half of play at FedEx Field in Landover, MD on Dec 30, 2012.

An epic battle in Washington, D.C. Two foes, long rivals in the annals of the National Football League, go head to head on the last day of the year to determine who reigns as NFC East Champions and who falls into 2012 obscurity. A cold and clear night in Ron Jon Stadium solidified Robert Griffin the Third (forever known as RGIII) as a winner, and placed undrafted Tony Romo as a gigantic loser.

Now, simply looking at this opening paragraph, one would think there is a huge body of work from each quarterback from which to draw such a dramatic conclusion. In today’s social media-based reality, one win or loss can doom a player, team or coach into a less than ideal nickname, meme or stereotype based on nothing more than the mood or snapshot of a single well-placed zinger.

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys are the product of the media, and the team’s owner would have it no other way. Romo does not go out of his way to be a public figure, and indeed is somewhat vanilla and boring in this era of end-zone dances and Victor Cruz-type silly flamboyance. Jason Garrett, the head coach, is about as exciting as Bill Belichick after taking a few shots of NyQuil and chasing it with a few double bourbons. DeMarcus Ware? The sack machine of the defense carries himself like a gentle giant, honoring the grit of his opponents more than his God-given gift of attacking the quarterback.

The Washington Redskins went from a joke in arguably the NFL’s toughest division to champions of the NFC East by savvy drafting and a focused game plan. Robert Griffin the Third’s skill doesn’t lie in his passing ability, nor his devastating footwork in planned or unplanned open field runs. The much maligned Kyle Shanahan, accused of being the benefactor of nepotism from his head coach father, learned to adapt his offense to RGIII rather than make the tried and true mistake of forcing an athlete to conform to a system to which they are less likely to succeed.

There is no better example of this type of narrow vision than in Carolina for the first half of the season, where Cam Newton was the square peg being forced into a round hole. This adaptation to the players and talent around him is what has made RGIII successful. Conversely, it is the lack of adaptation and seeming pig-headedness that has led the Dallas Cowboys to mediocrity.

The quarterback of the Cowboys is one of those positions that offers little in the way of reward, but much in the way of ruin. The position requires an acceptance of the title head of “America’s Team,” and all benefits and defects that accompany that title. From day one, you are the face of the team, thus you ARE the owner Jerry Jones by proxy. This fact is not lost on anyone, despite the spin and well-coiffed "interviews" on sports networks.

An RGIII campaign in Dallas would be quite different. Griffin would be locked into the offensive philosophy of Garrett, which seemingly hasn’t changed in years despite vast offensive line, running back and wide receiver changes. In Dallas, Jerry demands the head coach also be the offensive coordinator. Despite Jason Garrett being overwhelmed (and some would argue humiliated with some choices), Jones maintains Jason Garrett is the best person on the planet to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl win.

Think about that for a minute. Any owner would obviously seek out in their opinion the absolute best football mind and motivator to lead their team to victory. Of everyone available, Jones chose Jason Garrett as that leader. Two years into his guidance and philosophical imprint, Garrett’s leadership has only demonstrated clock mismanagement, a fundamental lack of awareness and woeful drafting for the future.

To counter the limp, vanilla head coach, Jones has employed Rob Ryan to run the youth-oriented defense. Football fans identify Ryan by his boisterous nature and hair, not by his defensive successes. Should any of those traits be sought after for defensive coordinator jobs, Ryan would be a shoo-in.

As it stands, Ryan’s tenure in Dallas has blossomed with boring, resulting in mediocrity and player confusion. The defense is laughable at creating turnovers and, over the last half of the season, has given up more yards per game than any other team. The defensive “guru” has taken his middle of the road results and applied them to a new generation. The Redskins have arguably less talent but are achieving more results.

This latest failure of the Cowboys in yet another pivotal game is not surprising to anyone who has watched the team with interest over the years. A decade of miserable drafting, coupled with coaching moves designed to complement an owner and clueless general manager rather than facilitate grit and success. Romo is merely a product of the Cowboys' machine, impulsive and stubborn to the point of failure.

Like Jerry Jones, this team is incapable of adapting on-the-fly, rather is stuck mired in a tired philosophy annoyingly aware of its position with flashes of competence, yet doomed to fall back into hopeful exhaustion year after year.

44diesel wrote:

Romo and the Cowboys Choke; Redskins Take NFC East Title

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is helped up by referee Walt Anderson (66) during the second half of play at FedEx Field in Landover, MD on Dec 30, 2012.

An epic battle in Washington, D.C. Two foes, long rivals in the annals of the National Football League, go head to head on the last day of the year to determine who reigns as NFC East Champions and who falls into 2012 obscurity. A cold and clear night in Ron Jon Stadium solidified Robert Griffin the Third (forever known as RGIII) as a winner, and placed undrafted Tony Romo as a gigantic loser.

Now, simply looking at this opening paragraph, one would think there is a huge body of work from each quarterback from which to draw such a dramatic conclusion. In today’s social media-based reality, one win or loss can doom a player, team or coach into a less than ideal nickname, meme or stereotype based on nothing more than the mood or snapshot of a single well-placed zinger.

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys are the product of the media, and the team’s owner would have it no other way. Romo does not go out of his way to be a public figure, and indeed is somewhat vanilla and boring in this era of end-zone dances and Victor Cruz-type silly flamboyance. Jason Garrett, the head coach, is about as exciting as Bill Belichick after taking a few shots of NyQuil and chasing it with a few double bourbons. DeMarcus Ware? The sack machine of the defense carries himself like a gentle giant, honoring the grit of his opponents more than his God-given gift of attacking the quarterback.

The Washington Redskins went from a joke in arguably the NFL’s toughest division to champions of the NFC East by savvy drafting and a focused game plan. Robert Griffin the Third’s skill doesn’t lie in his passing ability, nor his devastating footwork in planned or unplanned open field runs. The much maligned Kyle Shanahan, accused of being the benefactor of nepotism from his head coach father, learned to adapt his offense to RGIII rather than make the tried and true mistake of forcing an athlete to conform to a system to which they are less likely to succeed.

There is no better example of this type of narrow vision than in Carolina for the first half of the season, where Cam Newton was the square peg being forced into a round hole. This adaptation to the players and talent around him is what has made RGIII successful. Conversely, it is the lack of adaptation and seeming pig-headedness that has led the Dallas Cowboys to mediocrity.

The quarterback of the Cowboys is one of those positions that offers little in the way of reward, but much in the way of ruin. The position requires an acceptance of the title head of “America’s Team,” and all benefits and defects that accompany that title. From day one, you are the face of the team, thus you ARE the owner Jerry Jones by proxy. This fact is not lost on anyone, despite the spin and well-coiffed "interviews" on sports networks.

An RGIII campaign in Dallas would be quite different. Griffin would be locked into the offensive philosophy of Garrett, which seemingly hasn’t changed in years despite vast offensive line, running back and wide receiver changes. In Dallas, Jerry demands the head coach also be the offensive coordinator. Despite Jason Garrett being overwhelmed (and some would argue humiliated with some choices), Jones maintains Jason Garrett is the best person on the planet to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl win.

Think about that for a minute. Any owner would obviously seek out in their opinion the absolute best football mind and motivator to lead their team to victory. Of everyone available, Jones chose Jason Garrett as that leader. Two years into his guidance and philosophical imprint, Garrett’s leadership has only demonstrated clock mismanagement, a fundamental lack of awareness and woeful drafting for the future.

To counter the limp, vanilla head coach, Jones has employed Rob Ryan to run the youth-oriented defense. Football fans identify Ryan by his boisterous nature and hair, not by his defensive successes. Should any of those traits be sought after for defensive coordinator jobs, Ryan would be a shoo-in.

As it stands, Ryan’s tenure in Dallas has blossomed with boring, resulting in mediocrity and player confusion. The defense is laughable at creating turnovers and, over the last half of the season, has given up more yards per game than any other team. The defensive “guru” has taken his middle of the road results and applied them to a new generation. The Redskins have arguably less talent but are achieving more results.

This latest failure of the Cowboys in yet another pivotal game is not surprising to anyone who has watched the team with interest over the years. A decade of miserable drafting, coupled with coaching moves designed to complement an owner and clueless general manager rather than facilitate grit and success. Romo is merely a product of the Cowboys' machine, impulsive and stubborn to the point of failure.

Like Jerry Jones, this team is incapable of adapting on-the-fly, rather is stuck mired in a tired philosophy annoyingly aware of its position with flashes of competence, yet doomed to fall back into hopeful exhaustion year after year.

Deadskins wrote:Not really a TLP article, but still a good read.