Around the NFL: Cowboys take on Patriots for good measure
The early candidate for the NFL’s game of the year comes today in Irving, Texas, where the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys will take identical 5-0 records into their glitzy matchup at Texas Stadium.
The game has all the trimmings. There are glamorous quarterbacks, in Tom Brady of the Patriots and Tony Romo of the Cowboys. There are pass catchers who double as controversy magnets, in Randy Moss of New England and Terrell Owens of Dallas. It is only the fifth meeting in NFL history of unbeaten teams with at least five victories each.
The game will be a severe test of whether the imposing Patriots have the wherewithal to chase an undefeated season. It will be an indicator of whether the Cowboys really are as good – and as charmed – as they’ve looked so far in the season after Bill Parcells walked away from them and from coaching.
But this game also is about a bigger issue: Could this be the season in which, finally, the NFC can stack up to the AFC?
Many of those who know the game well doubt it, which gives the Cowboys something extra to prove.
“It’s early in the season,” Charley Casserly, the former general manager of the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans, said this week. “I don’t know if we have enough of an indicator yet. But I think New England and Indianapolis are better than anyone in the NFC. They’re better than Dallas. Anything can happen in one single game. Anything can happen Sunday. But I think most people would pick New England in this game.”
The NFC once was the sport’s bully. Its teams played tougher and better football than their AFC counterparts. Between the 1984 and ‘96 seasons, NFC franchises won 13 straight Super Bowls. The San Francisco 49ers won four during that span. The Cowboys won three, and the Redskins and New York Giants won two apiece.
But the turnaround since then has been striking. AFC teams have won eight of the past 10 Super Bowls, including three by the Patriots. AFC clubs have won the last four Super Bowls. And the dominance has extended to the regular season. The NFC hasn’t won more interconference games in a season since 1995 (though it did manage to break even with the AFC in 2000 and 2001). Last season, AFC clubs had an overwhelming 40-24 advantage in games matching teams from the two conferences.
Around the league
Carolina Panthers quarterback David Carr was downgraded to questionable for today’s game against Arizona after his sore back stiffened on the team’s cross-country flight. Carr had been listed as probable after practicing Friday, but he experienced pain on the flight later that night. If he can’t go, coach John Fox will have to decide between 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde or undrafted rookie Matt Moore. … The NFL has fined Tennessee Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch $7,500 for a low hit on Atlanta quarterback Joey Harrington. … The Atlanta Falcons waived defensive end Josh Mallard and signed linebacker Travis Williams from the practice squad.