Quarterbacks are not Sissies? Are they?

The Brady rule. This is crazy! It's hard to enjoy a decent game of football when your team is flagged for this ridiculous rule. Its one thing if a guy is deliberately making a dirty hit that could injure a player or place his career in jeopardy. Its a whole different ball game when you flag a guy for touching the QB.

Even though I'm reacting like this based on a few non-hits made on Brady, for who the rule was put in place, this past week against Baltimore, it is spilling over into other games. Namely, teams with star QB's are getting the benefit of lousy calls because the league is afraid that it will lose another superstar for a year like it did with both Brady and Carson Palmer.

These guys get paid to play the game of football. This is a man's sport! You're telling me they have to be untouchable during the whole game? Just my two cents, but I believe in penalties that prevent injury but not penalties that prevent the game from being played.

What's Wrong with the Cowboys? - Start the List

What's wrong with the Dallas Cowboys? On paper they are one of the most if not the most talented rosters in the league. Seriously, who has a better roster the Colts (4-0) or the Cowboys (2-2)?

There's a lot of things to talk about but we can narrow it down to a list of iniquities:

5. Defense - The Boys have not done a consistent job of pressuring the QB. DeMarcus Ware had 20 sacks last year and has exactly 0 by week 4 this season. The result? Their secondary is getting beat for big play. I don't necessarily see good discipline either. Last night I saw Anthony Spencer try to jump a route and intercept a ball meant for Buckhalter instead of batting it down and/or making the hit. The result? A big play for Denver. Did anyone watch that Carolina game? I haven't seen such poor tackling since my son's Middle School game. I'm assuming Wade has not taken over play calling duties from the Defensive Coordinator like he did last year, but he may need to soon. If he is calling the plays, then this really needs to be addressed.

4. Receivers - Romo is getting plenty of time in the pocket. But the fastest guy we have is Miles Austin who is our #3 receiver I believe. Our #1 is Roy Williams and he is big and slow. Patrick Crayton is a good, maybe slightly above average receiver. In a nutshell, Romo gets 4 seconds or so, but no one is getting open consistently. The result? Usually a sack, interception or incompletion because we all know Romo will not just throw the ball away. Jason Witten is the only real receiving threat and every team knows it

3. Tony Romo - Okay, Romo's been taking a lot of heat and most people would probably rank him #1 on this list. I refuse to do that. He is a very, very talented QB with so much potential. He is playing abnormally bad even for his standards. I mean, you don't expect to see him play this bad unless its a playoff game or a late December game. His biggest problems? He relies to much on his talent, he won't throw the ball away if no one's open, he forces the ball too much...all sound like the same problem right? Here's the kicker; he's not a leader. If we haven't seen it before, we're seeing it now. There can't be any leadership there because this team is underachieving, plain and simple. I like Romo, but he needs to toughen up mentally. He CAN be a franchise QB, but he's not playing like it right now.

2. Play Calling/Jason Garrett - I hate to put this at the feet of Jason Garrett, but the offensive play calling is his responsibility right? This team's personnel dictates that it be a run oriented, blitz oriented team. Do they play that way? No. With Barber, Jones and Choice there's no question we should be running, running, play-action, running, play-action...and a few passes sprinkled in. But that's not what's happening. In fact, during the game against the Broncos I saw a fairly successful 1st half of running the football. In the 2nd half they only ran in run situations. The results? Three and outs and an overall ineffective offense. Do you credit the Broncos defense? Somewhat. You can't argue the talents of Champ Bailey. However, look at Denver's defensive roster and then look at the Cowboys' offensive roster. Need I say more?

1. Coaching/Wade Phillips - I've got to start at the top. I don't even know if I need to make this point. Is there anyone who doesn't recognize that Wade Phillips is a very nice guy who runs a very good defense but is a complete push over? I feel like I'm jumping on the poor guy. So instead of listing the reasons why he can no longer be the head coach, I will put out a short wish list for his replacement. Guess what? Jason Garrett is not on the list. He's shown me nothing to suggest he would be a good coach for this team. Another team? Maybe. But not the Dallas Cowboys. Choice #1 would be Bill Cowher..I know, I know - some Cowboys fans would protest because of his Steeler affiliation, and Bill would probably refuse for the same reasons. But you've got to try when it comes to a coach of that caliber. Choice #2 would be Mike Shanahan. With his zone blocking schemes and undisputed success in the running game along with his knack for developing QB's he would be the perfect choice. The problem there, of course, is that Shanahan would want more control than Jerry Jones would be willing to give. Hmmm....maybe problem 1a should be Jerry Jones? That is for another article.

The Best NFL Teams as of Week 4

Who are the best two teams in the NFL right now? Its early in the season, week 4, so this is subject to change. And I'm sure I'll take some flack for this, but I don't care. Its only week 4. I reserve the right to change my opinion later, say around week 8.

I believe the best team in the NFC is the New Orleans Saints. Not because they are 4-0, but because their defense is finally showing up to support the stellar offense they've had for a couple of years now. They look pretty tough. I have the NY Giants as 2nd best in the NFC right now...and in about 2 more weeks I might even be willing to push the Giants into that number 1 spot, it just depends how it goes. But right now, I would not want to face the Saints. Even when Drew Brees is not putting up outrageous numbers (which has happened a couple of times already, I know because he's on my fantasy team) they still put a beat down on their opponents.

I believe the best team in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, I know they lost yesterday to the Patriots. Yes, I know the Colts are 4-0. But its almost the same thing as the Saints in reverse. Now they finally have a great offense to go along with that stellar defense they've had for all these years. I'd probably list the Colts as 2nd best in the AFC right now.

I'm not saying that these 2 teams will meet in the Super Bowl...I'm just saying that as of week 4 these are the 2 teams I would least want to play if I was an opposing coach. We'll see how the rest of the year plays out.