SMOKIN'
Tony Stewart kept up his hot streak in the Chase with a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. The victory clinched "Smoke" his third Sprint Cup title. Carl Edwards finished second and led the most laps. Edwards had a three-point lead going into the final race, and since he led the most laps and finished second, the only way Stewart could have won the Chase was by winning the race, and he did just that. Edwards started on the pole and Stewart started 15th. Stewart fell back as far as 40th in the beginning of the race when there was a hole in his car's grill, which was replaced by his crew. Stewart fought his way up through the field and then would lose positions after coming out of the pits. Each time, though, Stewart was able to fight his way back to the front. Crew chief Darian Grubb, who, ironically enough, was told he would not be retained next season at the beginning of the Chase, made a great call to let Stewart stay out longer and stretch his gas mileage in order to to get out in front.
Stewart held Edwards off for the final 40ish laps, keeping the margin between he and Edwards at about 1.1-1.3 seconds. They actually ended up tied in points but Stewart won the tiebreaker by virtue of his five wins to Edwards' one, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards was consistent, and actually did well enough to where he would have beaten Jimmie Johnson in the previous five Chases, but Stewart put on a performance for the ages as he won 5 of the 10 Chase races. Edwards was great, but Stewart was phenomenal.
Stewart won five races but still almost lost the Chase. Is it fair? Perhaps the system should reward Chase wins more, but then we would not have had the drama of the final race. Stewart would have been in the Chase lead and by more than three points. Besides, NASCAR got exactly what it wanted when it implemented the new Chase system -- a final race that really mattered. Edwards had been rewarded for his consistency throughout the year and in the Chase, so I am ok with the system.
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Cowboys 27, Redskins 24, OT
The Cowboys earned a hard-fought win over the Redskins on Sunday in overtime in Washington. Some people were expecting the game to be a blowout in the Cowboys' favor. Dallas was coming off a 44-7 drubbing of the Bills while the Redskins had lost five in a row and had scored a combined 20 points in their past three games. But you can always throw the records, streaks, and stats out when these two rivals clash. After the second game of the 2009 season, which Dallas won 17-0, these teams have played four very close ball games:
2010: 13-7 Redskins (Cowboys throw game-winning touchdown only to be called back by a penalty)
33-30 Cowboys (Dallas builds big lead only to almost lose at the end)
2011: 18-16 Cowboys (Six Dan Bailey field goals push the 'Boys over the 'Skins)
27-24 Cowboys (Game goes into overtime, where Redskins kicker Graham Gano misses a 52-yarder. Dallas then drives the ball and Bailey makes a 39-yard field goal to win it)
Tony Romo was not always sharp in the first half, but he didn't make any big mistakes. And in the second half, he made some great plays and throws, and was able to evade the Redskins' blitz. He ended up with a stat line like this: 23 of 37, 292 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs.
Redskins QB Rex Grossman had a good game, too. He still threw an INT to Dallas CB Orlando Scandrick, but moved the offense better than it had been moved in weeks. I'm not sure whether he had a good game, or I should be concerned about the Cowboys defense. Probably a little bit of both.
Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray managed only 73 yards on 25 carries. The Redskins defense did a good job of swarming Murray and not giving him any small holes to slash through like he has in recent weeks. Felix Jones saw his first carries in several weeks, and had 18 yards on five carries.
TE Jason Witten had three catches for 85 yards and had perhaps the play of the game. With the score tied at 17 in the fourth quarter, Witten broke off his route as Romo scrambled to his left. Witten pointed to the wide open area where he wanted Romo to throw the ball, and Romo did just that. Witten caught it and ran for a 59-yard touchdown, which put the Cowboys ahead 24-17 at that point.
Dez Bryant had three catches for 68 yards and had the first touchdown of the game, an acrobatic catch near the pylon where he was barely inbounds. He also had a big reception on 3rd-and-15 in overtime that kept Dallas' drive alive and set up the Bailey field goal. During the first game this season against the Redskins, Bryant also had a big catch in overtime, on 3rd-and-21, that set up Bailey's game-winner.
This win was not pretty by any means and you would have liked for the Cowboys to blow out the Redskins if they are going to truly try and show some muscle in the NFC East race (the Giants lost to the Eagles so the Giants and Cowboys are tied in first at 6-4 while the Eagles are 4-6 and the Redskins are 3-7). But the win was a real solid gut check for a team learning to win these tough games, which they have not always been known to do. Better yet, Romo was pretty good in leading the Cowboys to a comeback in the second half and orchestrated two TD drives in the fourth quarter and a drive to set up the game-winning field goal in overtime.
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| Tony Stewart in Victory Lane after winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. The victory clinched his 3rd Sprint Cup championship. Getty Images |
Stewart held Edwards off for the final 40ish laps, keeping the margin between he and Edwards at about 1.1-1.3 seconds. They actually ended up tied in points but Stewart won the tiebreaker by virtue of his five wins to Edwards' one, which came in April at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards was consistent, and actually did well enough to where he would have beaten Jimmie Johnson in the previous five Chases, but Stewart put on a performance for the ages as he won 5 of the 10 Chase races. Edwards was great, but Stewart was phenomenal.
Stewart won five races but still almost lost the Chase. Is it fair? Perhaps the system should reward Chase wins more, but then we would not have had the drama of the final race. Stewart would have been in the Chase lead and by more than three points. Besides, NASCAR got exactly what it wanted when it implemented the new Chase system -- a final race that really mattered. Edwards had been rewarded for his consistency throughout the year and in the Chase, so I am ok with the system.
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Cowboys 27, Redskins 24, OT
The Cowboys earned a hard-fought win over the Redskins on Sunday in overtime in Washington. Some people were expecting the game to be a blowout in the Cowboys' favor. Dallas was coming off a 44-7 drubbing of the Bills while the Redskins had lost five in a row and had scored a combined 20 points in their past three games. But you can always throw the records, streaks, and stats out when these two rivals clash. After the second game of the 2009 season, which Dallas won 17-0, these teams have played four very close ball games:
2010: 13-7 Redskins (Cowboys throw game-winning touchdown only to be called back by a penalty)
33-30 Cowboys (Dallas builds big lead only to almost lose at the end)
2011: 18-16 Cowboys (Six Dan Bailey field goals push the 'Boys over the 'Skins)
27-24 Cowboys (Game goes into overtime, where Redskins kicker Graham Gano misses a 52-yarder. Dallas then drives the ball and Bailey makes a 39-yard field goal to win it)
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| Dallas QB Tony Romo dallascowboys.com |
Redskins QB Rex Grossman had a good game, too. He still threw an INT to Dallas CB Orlando Scandrick, but moved the offense better than it had been moved in weeks. I'm not sure whether he had a good game, or I should be concerned about the Cowboys defense. Probably a little bit of both.
Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray managed only 73 yards on 25 carries. The Redskins defense did a good job of swarming Murray and not giving him any small holes to slash through like he has in recent weeks. Felix Jones saw his first carries in several weeks, and had 18 yards on five carries.
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| Dallas TE Jason Witten dallascowboys.com |
Dez Bryant had three catches for 68 yards and had the first touchdown of the game, an acrobatic catch near the pylon where he was barely inbounds. He also had a big reception on 3rd-and-15 in overtime that kept Dallas' drive alive and set up the Bailey field goal. During the first game this season against the Redskins, Bryant also had a big catch in overtime, on 3rd-and-21, that set up Bailey's game-winner.
This win was not pretty by any means and you would have liked for the Cowboys to blow out the Redskins if they are going to truly try and show some muscle in the NFC East race (the Giants lost to the Eagles so the Giants and Cowboys are tied in first at 6-4 while the Eagles are 4-6 and the Redskins are 3-7). But the win was a real solid gut check for a team learning to win these tough games, which they have not always been known to do. Better yet, Romo was pretty good in leading the Cowboys to a comeback in the second half and orchestrated two TD drives in the fourth quarter and a drive to set up the game-winning field goal in overtime.
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