Jerry Jones: Cowboys “running out of time” for playoff run

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You don’t get as rich as Jerry Jones without being good at math.

So when the Cowboys owner looks at his 5-6 team, he realizes time is drawing short if they’re going to make the postseason.

But on his weekly radio show on KRLD-FM, Jones also suggested there are other goals at play as well, goals which sound vaguely Shanahan-ian in meaning.

“Getting it right? We do, yes,” Jones said when asked if the Cowboys have time to fix their season (via ESPNDallas.com). “We’re running out of time as to the playoffs. Do we have enough time? It’s numerically possible, but you got to really step out here this week and do the right things to win a ballgame on the field. You have time to do that.

“Certainly you want to be going into the final weeks of the season, . . . [and] playing at an uptick to play well in the playoffs. But there’s another reason why you want to be playing well, too. You want to be playing well so you can basically look at your core and see where you are with your core and evaluate your core as far as seasons to come.”

While not as blatant as Redskins coach Mike Shanahan’s “evaluate” comments after their loss to the Panthers, it does illustrate an eye toward the future.

In the offseason, all the talk was about “windows,” and if this team doesn’t make a push, Jones may come to the realization it’s already closed.

“I thought we’d be better than this,” said Jones, “although I do realize the kind of competition we have in the league. We got nine teams that are 5-6 or 6-5 in the NFL right now. I knew we were in a league that has a lot of competition, but I thought we would be better.”

He always does. And they haven’t been. Which makes you wonder how long a leash this core has.

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When Charles Woodson signed with the Raiders before this season, he was coming off an injury-marred season with the Packers and it seemed like the veteran safety might have been setting himself up to play a final season with the team that originally drafted him into the NFL.

Woodson has turned in solid work for the Raiders this year, though, and that’s led to questions about whether or not he’ll be returning for another go in 2014. Woodson said he thinks the organization is moving in the right direction and that he’s been “happy and proud” to be part of it this season. He’d also be down for one more year if the Raiders feel the same way.

“I want to play again,” Woodson said in an interview with 95.7 The Game, via CSNBayArea.com. “I think this is the only place that I would play. I do plan on coming back and playing for the Raiders. If that didn’t happen, then I think I would have to decide if I want to go somewhere else for another year. If I’m wanted here, I’m coming back.”

With the long-awaited return of cap space and a full complement of draft picks, the Raiders are expected to be one of the league’s busiest teams this offseason. Woodson would provide the team with leadership and continuity through that process, assuming, of course, that Oakland feels he’s still talented enough to merit a roster spot.

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For the time since Boomer Esiason quarterbacked the Bengals, the Steelers are poised to be home underdogs against visiting Cincinnati on Sunday night.

Various Nevada sports books have AFC North-leading Cincinnati (9-4) as a 2.5-point favorite at Pittsburgh, which is on the fringes of playoff contention at 5-8.

We have go all the way back to Oct. 8, 1989 to find Cincinnati in the role as favorites in Pittsburgh. On that day, the Bengals (-3.5) defeated the host Steelers 26-13 on the AstroTurf at Three Rivers Stadium.

Since then, it’s been the same story: the visiting Bengals are underdogs, and usually big underdogs at that. In the last 23 matchups between the clubs in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have been favored by an average of about 7.3 points, according to data from the Jim Feist and Marc Lawrence point spread archives.

The Bengals have played the Steelers tough in Pittsburgh in recent years, winning five of the last 10 matchups, including last season’s meeting. They have been underdogs of 5.8 points on average in those 10 games, according to Lawrence data. By contrast, the Bengals were underdogs of an average of 8.6 points in Pittsburgh from 1990-2002, per Feist archives.

A season ago, the Bengals were 3.5-point underdogs at Pittsburgh. Now, it’s the Steelers who will try to be upsetters on their home field for the first time since a truly golden age of music was captured via the magic of cassette tape.

AP

It had all the makings of becoming a full-bore controversy.

But other than Jay Cutler saying there’s no debate about who the starting quarterback is, the biggest help toward that end might be coming from the backup.

It’s not that Josh McCown hasn’t played well, he has. But the veteran human being has said from the start that he understood his place with the Bears, and that has kept some of the flap to a minimum.

“You want guys on your team that want to be on the field,” McCown said, via Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. “But also, you want guys on your team that know their roles and understand that. And so for me, I understand my role on this team. It’s the backup quarterback. So, that being said, if Jay is healthy, he’s ready to go. I’ll support him and help him as much as I can.”

That help extended to spending Wednesday night at Cutler’s house, helping him go over the game plan for Sunday’s game against the Browns, getting him ready to take the job back which McCown had performed so admirably in.

“He’s been probably Jay’s biggest support in this process,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “No doubt.”

“I don’t look at it as trying to take a leadership role,” McCown said. “I just look at it as trying to serve my team. If all 53 guys approach this as trying to serve your team, good things will come out of it. For me, that’s it.”

Good things have come out of McCown already. The Bears have flopped magnificently without Cutler in the past, but McCown was able to help them win three of the five games the starter missed (with a 109.8 passer rating and 13 touchdowns). But the humility and team-first attitude he’s showing while losing his job might be the thing that helps the Bears the most.

AP

When we mentioned during Sunday’s Football Night in America the possibility that the NFL will centralize replay review, also mentioned was that the NHL currently uses a similar system from its headquarters in Toronto.

As it turns out, the NFL has been studying the NHL’s system.

According to John Kryk of the Toronto Sun, an NFL representative spent the evening of November 30 in the NHL’s “Situation Room,” studying the manner in which hockey handled from one location the review of disputed goal calls and non-calls in 10 games that were played that night.

Making the trek to Rob Ford’s town was Jay Reid, who works in the NFL’s officiating department.

“He came in and watched us — and we’ve been communicating back and forth via email probably for about a month, about different things we do,” NHL senior V.P. of hockey operations Mike Murphy told Kryk.

“Jay came in and actually sat with us for probably three hours and watched how the whole room functions — how we operated at individual stations, how we operated in real time.  And he saw how we do it.  He asked people questions.”

Advances in technology have made the process more efficient, with “cyber-optic” video feeds allowing the images from the various arenas to be studied instantaneously.

As a backup to the NHL’s Situation Room, the league has one person at each game who can review the images and make decisions consistent with the habits of the central replay location.  For both the NHL and the NFL, consistency is the key.

“We do 1,230 games,” Murphy told Kryk.  “The same group of people work here every night.  They make the same decisions night in and night out.  We like to think we’ve brought more accuracy to it, which I think we have, because our technology has improved so much.”

The NHL’s situation room has become a popular place of late.  Per Kryk, the NBA and an Australian rugby league have visited in recent weeks.

But what about Canada’s equivalent to the NFL?  There’s no need for the CFL to stop by.  That football league adopted centralized replay review in 2006.

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Bills LB Kiko Alonso has played every defensive snap for the Bills this year.

Coach Joe Philbin said the Dolphins have to play better at home.

Patience has paid off for Patriots DT Sealver Siliga.

Jets WR Stephen Hill appears set to miss his second straight game.

LB Elvis Dumervil is confident he’ll return to the Ravens lineup this week.

The Bengals haven’t run the ball 30 times in a game against the Steelers since 2000.

RB Edwin Baker is eager for a chance to show the Browns what he can do on the field.

WR Emmanuel Sanders may be nearing the end of his run with the Steelers.

Texans QB Case Keenum has been doing extra work in the red zone during practice.

Recovery has come slowly for Colts CB Greg Toler.

Jaguars RB Jordan Todman is in line for his first NFL start.

Said Titans RB Chris Johnson of facing the Cardinals, “It’s going to be tough. But just like any other team we play, if we do what we’re supposed to do, and we get on our guys and handle the small things, we’ll be OK.”

Said Broncos QB Peyton Manning of WR Wes Welker’s absence, “Hey, Wes is a great player. We certainly knew it was going to be a challenge without him. But I thought guys were ready for that challenge, so I don’t think it was a reason we didn’t play as well on offense. We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be.”

S Eric Berry has done well with chances to rush the passer for the Chiefs.

Raiders DT Vance Walker is unlikely to play this week because of a concussion.

Rookie WR Keenan Allen continued his strong first season in Thursday’s Chargers victory.

Cowboys DT Jason Hatcher doesn’t have much use for critical members of the fanbase.

Will S Antrel Rolle return to the Giants in 2014?

Eagles coach Chip Kelly doesn’t want his team to overlook the Vikings.

Everyone’s focused on the quarterback, but the Redskins defense and special teams have been dreadful this season.

Bears QB Josh McCown is taking his trip back to the bench in stride.

Jeremy Ross has quickly proven his ability as a returner with the Lions.

It’s looking good for Packers RB Eddie Lacy’s chances of playing this week.

Vikings WR Cordarrelle Patterson has developed into one of the league’s top offensive rookies.

New coordinators could be in the Falcons’ future.

The Panthers will wear black jerseys and black pants for the third time in history this weekend.

Cam Jordan and Junior Galette have become a strong pass rush duo for the Saints.

Buccaneers DT Akeem Spence has altered his diet since entering the NFL.

Cardinals defensive tackles Dan Williams and Alameda Ta’amu have weekly bets on who plays better with the loser buying the winner a steak dinner.

WR Tavon Austin and CB Janoris Jenkins remained out of practice for the Rams.

The 49ers are healthy heading into their date with the Buccaneers.

TE Zach Miller missed practice for the Seahawks on Thursday.

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Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware wasn’t one of the players mentioned by name by team vice president Stephen Jones.

But Ware knows his name hasn’t been called nearly enough this season, and vows to change that the last three weeks as they fight for a playoff spot.

“What’s my name?” Ware said, via Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “All right. Ain’t nothing changed. I don’t feel like nothing has changed.”

Well, the production has. Ware’s posted a career-low 6.0 sacks, after seven straight years in double-digits.

Injuries have been a factor, as he missed three games with a quadriceps strain, and said he didn’t feel completely well until last week. But he’s confident he’ll turn things around now.

“I see a guy who is close,” Ware said. “People can say what they want to say. Tell them to get in front of me and see if they can block me. Then we’ll go from there.”

That’s been easier to do than ever this year, and if he doesn’t deliver, the Cowboys chances of improving a defense that’s leaking at record rates isn’t good.

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Jets coach Rex Ryan is a fairly confident character when it comes to his defense, but the prospect of facing Panthers quarterback Cam Newton gives him a little pause.

Before the 2011 draft, Ryan said that Newton could throw a strawberry through a battleship and he remains full of wonder about the physical abilities of a quarterback who is almost the same size as one of the Jets’ outside linebackers.

“This guy’s a scary athlete,” Ryan said, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “And when you meet him, he’s scary because it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I just remember that when we were in the preseason. I’m like, ‘Who’s going to tackle that guy?’ He’s about as good looking an athlete at quarterback as I’ve ever seen, and he can throw. He’s got a bazooka for an arm. The kid’s just ridiculous. It’s Calvin Pace back there.”

It would help to have all hands on deck when dealing with such a player and the Jets took a step toward that on Thursday when cornerback Antonio Cromartie returned to practice. He was in a no-contact jersey because he hasn’t progressed fully through the league’s concussion protocol at this point, but his presence was a good sign for his chances of playing this Sunday.

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The Broncos offense has carried them all season, but the yards and points didn’t come so easily against the Chargers on Thursday night.

Denver had three straight three-and-outs in the second quarter, they earned eight fewer first downs than their season average and put up just 20 points thanks to a strong defensive effort from the Chargers. Their own defense could not do the same, leading to a 27-20 loss that sent the inside track to home field advantage in the AFC to New England.

The Chargers held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, converting 6-of-12 third down opportunities and going on long, methodical drives that ate time even if they didn’t result in any points for the visiting team. On top of that, the Broncos committed several blunders that led to penalties for being offside and having too many men on the field. Coach John Fox said after the game that the Chargers did a better job of preparing on a short week, but linebacker Wesley Woodyard doesn’t think that the abbreviated prep time is any excuse.

“They made a lot of plays on third down, and that’s the tale of this game, not getting off the field on third down,” Woodyard said, via ESPN.com. “Thursday night or not, it shouldn’t matter. Any time you step out on that field, you have to put out your full effort, and we fell short of that.”

No one is expecting the Broncos defense to suddenly start carrying the team, but they’ll need to do more than they did on Thursday night for the team to realize its goals this season.

AP

The Patriots may be the biggest beneficiaries of the Broncos’ loss to the Chargers on Thursday night.

With the loss, the Broncos fell to 11-3. That means the 10-3 Patriots, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Broncos, now just need to win their last three games to clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots are at Miami on Sunday and at Baltimore next week before closing the season at home against the Bills.

The AFC West race also just got closer: Denver still leads Kansas City and will clinch the division by winning its final two (at Houston and at Oakland), but now the Broncos can’t afford another slip-up, or else the Chiefs would be able to win the division by winning out.

And the Chargers’ upset kept their own slim playoff hopes alive. At 7-7, San Diego still trails both 7-6 Baltimore and 7-6 Miami for the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC, but the Chargers can at least hope that if they win out and get to 9-7, they’ll get enough help to get to the playoffs.

Ultimately, the Chargers’ win over the Broncos made the AFC playoff race more interesting, and made it more likely that all the contending teams will have something to play for in Week 17.

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Very few gave the Chargers a chance last night against the Broncos, but few in the Chargers room had a doubt such wins were coming.

While the Chargers improved to 7-7, it was a statement win for first-year coach Mike McCoy, whose conservative demeanor undersells his ability to reach his team.

“They bought in from Day One,” McCoy said last night, via Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego.

But it wasn’t simply an act of players, as the Chargers aren’t so full of talent that immediate improvement was a given. McCoy inherited an odd mix of veterans and kinds, and enough of the old guys threw in with McCoy from the start.

“He had a plan early on,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “Veteran players can see through it if the guy is feeling his way around. He had a definite plan. So whether we always agreed with every little thing, it was like, ‘Well, we don’t have a choice but to buy in.’ ”

“This is not the most talented team I’ve played on,” tight end  Antonio Gates. “But this is the best team I’ve been on, in terms of playing together. . . . When you have a change, especially with the situation we’ve had in the past, people wanted something to believe in. He was like a new movement. He brought this way about him. He made us believe we had to play for one another. When you watch us, you see we play for each other.”

That’s the kind of shift that’s philosophical more than anything to do with Xs and Os. They’ve had guys in the job that are good at those.

But McCoy has his Chargers looking like more of a team than any recent versions, and that takes leadership that transcends drawing football plays.

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Denver Broncos cornerback Kayvon Webster will require surgery to repair an injured thumb suffered during Thursday night’s loss to the San Diego Chargers.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, Webster will have surgery on Friday.

The Broncos don’t believe the injury is season-ending and believe he could just miss next week’s game against the Houston Texans.

Webster has been playing in place of starting cornerback Champ Bailey, who has missed 11 of the Broncos 14 games this season. Webster has 41 tackles, 10 passes defensed, an interception and a forced fumble this season.

The scene in Denver following the conclusion of Thursday night’s game between the Broncos and San Diego Chargers has apparently shifted from collective disappointment to something much worse.

The Denver Police Department confirmed via their Twitter account that quadruple stabbing occurred outside Sports Authority Field at Mile High following the conclusion of the Chargers 27-20 victory over the Broncos. The incident was initially called into police just before 10 p.m. MT. Officers have suspects in custody and are not currently searching for any more perpetrators.

According to Daryl Orr of FOX 31 in Denver, one victim is in critical condition with the remaining three victims in stable condition.

Denver police say there is no word on what led to the incident in the aftermath of the game.

UPDATE 3:15 a.m. ET: Denver police say there are only three confirmed victims at this point. There is a possible fourth victim that is still missing after the altercation.

[Photo credit:  Daryl Orr, FOX 31]

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The notion that Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is “extremely angry” over being shut down for the last three games of the season is compelling.  It may not, however, be accurate.

Per a source close to Griffin, the second-year quarterback is disappointed but not angry.

“Where they got that I don’t know,” the source said of the report that surfaced Thursday night on NFL Network.  “No competitor would be happy but to say he’s angry makes for good TV, I guess.”

The source added that Griffin has “accepted the decision,” even though Griffin still wanted to play.

“He feels like he let his teammates down and he wanted to finish the season with them,” the source said.  “Now he will just do it from the sideline and through practices.”

This assumes that coach Mike Shanahan will even let Griffin be on the sidelines for the final three games.  The next move in the protracted game of checkers/chess/chicken could be to pull a Josh Freeman-style banishment of Griffin to a luxury suite away from the many cameras covering the on-field action.

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Peyton Manning spent this week railing against the narrative that he can’t win games in cold weather.

Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers, Peyton Manning again lost in cold weather.

The usually high-powered Broncos’ offense was held to less than 300 yards of total offense by the Chargers on a chilly night in Denver. With temperatures into the 30s, Manning went 27 of 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns. However, a late interception led to a field goal by Nick Novak to give the Chargers a two-score lead with 2:36 left to play.

Manning’s pass for Julius Thomas was deflected by Corey Liuget and picked off by Thomas Keiser at the Denver 33-yard line. San Diego managed one first down before a 35-yard field goal from Novak gave the Chargers a 27-17 lead.

Manning led the Broncos to a 42-yard field goal from Matt Prater to pull within a touchdown but an onside kick attempt failed to travel the required 10 yards and the Chargers were able to run out the clock.

The Broncos scored a touchdown on their opening possession but were held to just a field goal until the fourth quarter.

San Diego scored 21 straight points with two touchdown passes from Philip Rivers to Keenan Allen to give the Chargers a 24-10 lead.

Manning hit Andre Caldwell for a 5-yard touchdown, his second of the night, to pull within a touchdown. The Broncos defense held to give Denver a chance to tie before Manning’s interception ended those hopes.

Ryan Mathews had one of his best games for San Diego in the win. He carried 29 times for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers.

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Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos offense did what it’s done most of the season in marching down field for a touchdown on their opening possession. Since then, the night has belonged to the San Diego Chargers.

San Diego has scored 21 consecutive points in taking a two touchdown lead over the Broncos midway through the third quarter.

Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen hooked up for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter – a 19-yard and a 14-yard touchdown, respectively – in taking a 17-10 lead into halftime. The Chargers continued to move the ball against a struggling Broncos’ defense to open the second half. An eight-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a 23-yard touchdown run from Ryan Mathews to extend the San Diego to 24-10.

The Broncos high-powered offense has managed just one first down since late in the first quarter.