4 Quarters

Let's talk about football...

1) Tony Romo is going to be fine. He had a nice solid game leading the Cowboys to victory over the Redskins. Two interceptions, one that was bad throw and the other just bad luck as it popped out of Terrell Owens' grip and fell into the hands of a Redskin defender. Otherwise he did complete 19 of 27 passes, a sturdy number even when you don't have a bum pinky finger. Only a few passes seemed to be affected by said finger which should continue to heal and stay out risk of re-injury when Romo gets the protection he was getting last night from the offensive line. Even when the Redskins did get some pressure on him he was getting rid of the ball quickly and smoothly.

2) Jay Ratliff should be in Hawaii this February celebrating his first trip to the Pro Bowl. I even think All-Pro honors are in order if he stays as strong down the stretch as he has been the first part of the season. His two sacks of Redskin QB Jason Campbell were huge momentum shifters and his constant hustle all season long as has been a driving force of the Cowboys D-Line.

3) Stud receiver Roy Williams, a mid-season acquisition from the hapless Lions, saw his first game action with Romo last night and while there wasn't much spectacular about it; there will be plenty of good to come from this combo in the future for the Cowboys which should make Jerry Jones realize there's only room for one Roy Williams on the team so it's time to part ways with the other Roy Williams, former Oklahoma safety, who's currently on the Injured Reserve list and out for the entire season. At this point in his career, Williams the Sooner, is injury prone and a liability on pass coverage.

4) The San Diego Chargers would have already won a Super Bowl if they had decided to re-sign Quarterback Drew Brees after the 2005 season instead of anointing their 2004 #1 Draft pick Phillip Rivers as the once and future starter.

Brees himself was the first overall pick of the second round of the 2001 Draft by the Chargers, the same year they selected their sure-fire Hall of Fame running back LaDanian Tomlinson in the first round. Brees did not get much time on the field his first few years with the Chargers and when he did the results were mixed. So the team all but gave-up on Brees and drafted Rivers; who then held-out during training camp and didn't sign his contract until shortly before the season began.

That gave Brees another chance to show what he had and he turned in a fantastic Pro Bowl 2004 season, even leading the Chargers to the playoffs. That was followed up by another strong season in 2005 even though the Chargers just missed the playoffs that year. After that season, San Diego decided they could do just fine with letting Brees go and put their quarterback eggs in Rivers basket. Brees signed with New Orleans Saints and led them all the way to the NFC Championship in first season in 2006.

Rivers has played well in San Diego but the Chargers have come up short in their playoff appearances. This season they are sitting at 4-6 and will most likely miss the playoffs entirely. The QB change can not be entirely put at fault for the Chargers woes, there have been numerous coaching changes and while LT was at his dominant best in a 2006 MVP season, his productivity has started to fall, as is the case with most running backs at this point in their careers.

Meanwhile, Drew Brees has over 3,200 yards passing through ten games this season for the 5-5 Saints, which has him on pace to break the single season passing yardage record. One can only imagine how things would have turned out for the Chargers had they retained Brees services after that 2005 season. I believe they would have more than just contenders, I think they would have won it all at least since 2005.