by Trevor Fik (Staff Writer)
Email: cascade.arts[at]ufv.ca
What happens in week 10 to an NFL squad that has taken a beating for the greater part of the season, consistently losing players and fans, and effectively becoming the laughing stock of the entire National Football League? Well, if you are the Dallas Cowboys or Buffalo Bills, you play like your contract is on the line (which it very well could be) and function at such a high level that it is tough to glean any recognition from the team that took to the gridiron last week, compared to the one that dominated this week. And if you are the Miami Dolphins, who lost their first two starting quarterbacks in the game, you end up winning the game with an inexperienced third string player anyway.
Under interim coach Jason Garrett, the Dallas Cowboys finally looked like they were supposed to at the beginning of the year, operating as a high functioning, well organized unit that appeared to be unstoppable in the face of a New York Giants team that was riding a 4 game winning streak. The game, which featured two electrical failures and blackouts in the new $1.6 billion New Meadowlands stadium, saw the 1-7 Cowboys move up to 2-7 with a 33-20 win over the home team. Filling in for the injured Tony Romo, veteran quarterback Jon Kitna took control of the down and out squad early, going 13 of 22 for 373 yards and two touchdowns. Whether it was the new coach, a new attitude, or just getting sick of being the laughing stock of the NFL, the Cowboys looked nothing like the squad that essentially gave up last week in Green Bay.
Speaking of teams that could have given up, the NFL’s only winless squad finally came up with one this past Sunday, as the Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 14-12. Sure, the victory came against a Detroit Lions’ squad that has been unable to look like anything resembling an NFL team on the road, having gone 0-6 when not in their own stadium this season, but it was a victory nonetheless. For a Bills team that said goodbye to any shot at the playoffs after their first week of play, the win was a huge sigh of relief for a squad that had lost a couple of heartbreakers in the previous weeks. With the loss, the Detroit Lions have claimed the longest losing streak on the road in the history of the NFL, reaching the 25 loss mark.
It was not a good game to be a quarterback on either side of the ball in the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans game, as both squads lost a combined three quarterbacks in the Dolphins’ 29-17 victory. Miami quarterback Chad Pennington suffered a potentially career ending shoulder injury, while starter Chad Henne went out of the game with a knee injury. The Dolphins resorted to their wildcat offence and third string quarterback Tyler Thigpen to seal the victory. On the other side of the ball, Titans’ quarterback Kerry Kollins left at the end of the second quarter with a calf injury, forcing the recovering Vince Young to take to the field. Despite Young leading a 73-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter to rally the Titans, and with running back Chris Johnson rushing for 117 yards, Miami quarterback Tyler Thigpen held strong in the fourth quarter and inevitably sealed a victory with a nine-yard touchdown pass with five minutes remaining.
