From: joel@cs.utexas.edu (Joel Daniel Just)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Cowboys vs. Redskins -- my thoughts
Date: 15 Dec 1992 03:24:57 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: langtry.cs.utexas.edu


I am a Cowboys fan, but the Cowboys deserved to lose this one.  They made too
many mistakes to win.  Ultimately, this game won't make much difference.  The
Cowboys will get a bye week in the playoffs and win the NFC East if they win
either of their last two games.  The 49ers were headed for home field advantage
throughout the playoffs anyway.
The only way this game will make a difference (IMHO) is if the Cowboys face the
Redskins in the playoffs.  In this case, Sunday's game will work in the
Cowboys' favor.  They will be upset about the loss, especially about the way
they lost.  They will want to prove to the Redskins and to everyone that they
are the better team.

OK, now about Sunday's game...Which Cowboys player made the biggest, most
costly mistake in this game?  E. Smith?  No.  Irvin?  No.  Aikman?  Maybe.
Kelvin Martin?  Probably.
-------------
K-Mart is my favorite Cowboys player, but he made a terrible mistake when he
slipped on a punt return which the Redskins recovered.  The Redskins scored a
touchdown on the next play.  K-Mart's mistake led to 7 Redskins points.
There's no excuse for simply falling down when receiving a punt.

Aikman's biggest mistake was not on "the play," but rather the interception in
the end zone.  Aikman said that he didn't see the linebacker.  According to the
Dallas Morning News, he didn't see the linebacker because he didn't look.  In
any case, this was a mistake that cost the Cowboys dearly.


About "the play"...While I was watching it on TV, I thought it was an
incomplete pass by Aikman.  I was surprised to see E. Smith pick up the ball
because I thought the play was over. 
I heard a statement from Jimmy Johnson today which I will paraphrase.  He made
three claims:
1)  "If the ball comes loose when the quarterback's arm is going forward, it is
an incomplete pass."
I'm not sure about this one, but it looked like an incomplete pass to me.

2)  "If the running back's knee goes down in the end zone, it's a safety."
Agreed.  Replays show that Smith's knee was probably down, but this would have
been a hard call to make on the field.  If I had been the ref, with the view
I had on TV before replays, I probably would have thought the ball came loose
before he was down.

3)  "If the running back in the end zone attempts a shovel pass to the tight
end to avoid loss of yardage, it's a safety."
I disagree here.  If he tries to get it to a tight end, it's an incomplete
pass.
I haven't seen anyone else say this yet but it's true:
Smith said that he was trying to make a shovel pass to tight end
Alfredo Roberts.
With the view I had before replays, I thought he was just
trying to pass the ball out of the end zone to avoid the safety.  If this was
the case, then the play should have ruled a safety because of intentional
grounding in the end zone.  It definately looked to me like he was trying to
get the ball forward.  He didn't just fumble the ball.  He pushed it forward.


So now it's on to Monday Night Football in Atlanta, where the Cowboys will
finally clinch the NFC East (unless the Redskins do it for us by beating the
Eagles on Sunday!).  The magic number is now 1.

-Joel


Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro