NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREVIEW 

By Mark Halpern

        Few matchups in the NFL are considered legendary matchups. One of those matchups this Sunday is the Dallas Cowboys take on the San Francisco 49ers. No love is lost for these teams as they have faced off plenty during the regular season, but their matchups in the playoffs set this rivalry apart from others. Overall, the record between these two teams is 19 and 19. Cowboys points wide over these matches by 39 total points.

      The Cowboys vs. 49ers is the Game of the day this season, and it’s on Sunday Night Football. After the Cowboys win last Sunday against the Patriots, Dallas Owner was asked about his thoughts on the upcoming 49ers game, and he said, “They are the best team in the NFC to go to the Super Bowl. However, they have to beat us twice to do it.) It’s not as Bold as Jimmy Johnson saying, “We Will Win The Game,” but Jones didn’t sugarcoat it and said the only way the 49ers go into the Super Bowl is that they will have to beat them to do it.

    What can’t be said about this San Francisco team that hasn’t been said all season? They are currently the best team in the NFC, with Philly, Dallas, and Detroit not far behind. The running game that Christian McCaffery displays is pure brilliance. Since he was drafted, he has been one of my favorite players in the NFL to watch. He is the key to winning this Game for the 49ers; however, Dallas knows this, and when you try to take one guy away, more targets emerge. I am sure Dan Quinn has a plan to try and contain him, but then you talk about the Wide Receiver/TE core of Samuel, Aiyuk, and Kittle. You can key on one guy. The Dallas Defense has to get to Purdy and often in this Game and try to rattle this kid’s cage. Purdy has been exceptional to start the year and has been meticulous in how he passes not, forcing it into defenses and being given time by their excellent offensive line. The Dallas defense faces its most formidable challenge of the first half of the schedule in this Game. The name that is going to be tested again is Deron Bland. Even though he had a stellar game last week, he has to prove again why the Cowboys should not try and make a trade for a cornerback with the trade deadline rapidly approaching.

     Let’s flip the coin to the other side. The Dallas Offense is as good if not better than the 49ers offense, but the 49ers Defense is almost as good as the Dallas Defense. Dak Prescott has to have an errorless game like last week. The Dallas offensive line has to slow down this fast 49er defense and give Prescott at least 3 seconds to get rid of the ball and find Lamb and Gallup. I have supported the move to sign Brandin Cooks, but Cooks has yet to show us love. He has had a tough time to start the year, and if there is any game for him to kick it into the next gear, this is it. Tony Pollard will also get a heavy workload this week, as I suspect he will surpass 20 carries and tack on 4-5 receptions. Jake Fergusson needs to keep doing what he is doing and giving Dak a wide target when most needed on short downs and some play actions. Cee Dee Lamb will have a Hufanga time this weekend as the Conor Back has been great to start the season. Time of Possession and pushing drives will be crucial in winning this Game.

     I expect this Game to garnish the biggest audience of any game yet and expect a rough and tough matchup on the field.

THE KING OF THE DEN

BY MARK HALPERN

      The jungle, known as the NFC North, has a new leader. The Detroit Lions this past Thursday faced off with a Divisional Battle against the Packers. Once again this season, the Lions have proved it is not a joke, and everyone is starting to take notice of that 3-1 record.

     The Lions offense got a vital piece back this week with the return of Running Back David Montgomery. Montgomery left in the second game of the season due to a deep thigh bruise that kept him out of week three but not week 4. Montgomery, who regained the #1 status, didn’t waste any time rushing 32 times for 121 yards and 3 TDs. What was an almost 60/40 split between Montgomery and Gibbs? Gibbs only saw eight carries but didn’t waste them, as he averaged 5 yards per carry. Jared Goff was good but not errorless as he threw for 260 yards and a 24-yard score to Amon-Ra St.Brown but also threw an interception. Goff has had a great start to the season, even though he throws interceptions every game. When you have a high-power offense that can take shots down the field, balls will be tipped, dropped, or just plain intercepted. As long as you are winning and winning big, you can look past the interception. If the offense keeps rolling like this, there will be some surprises come playoff time.

    When I wrote my pre-game article on this game, I said there was one particular person on defense who was going to have to come up big, and did he ever. Jerry Jacobs had a career day with five tackles, 4 Pass Deflections, and two interceptions. Love had a favorite target on the day; he was on the wrong team. The defense did everything to stall this Packer offense, and it did so by keeping them under 300 total offense yards for the game. They also got 5.5 sacks in the game as well. This team is complete and should not be taken lightly from now on. Next week, we will see the Battle of the Jungle Cats when the Lions take on the Panthers.

NOTHING BLAND ABOUT THIS WIN

By Mark Halpern

     The Cowboys hosted the New England Patriots at AT&T Stadium this past weekend. The Cowboys seasoned the Pats to 38-3, and Daron Bland proved to be the spice that this team needed in a big way. 

    Bland, a second-year cornerback, came on the scene fast last year in Dan Quinn’s scheme, was the primary backup to Diggs, and played in the nickel and dime sets. Bland got the call when Diggs went down with the ACL injury and flourished on Sunday. The defense owned the second quarter, and right after a Leighton Vander Esch fumble recovery for a TD, Bland picked off Mac Jones for a pick-six and, throughout the game, had a few pass deflections and played great coverage. He will be tested in the upcoming battle between Dallas and San Francisco next weekend. The Dallas defense and the rest of the Cowboy Nation can rest that Micah is okay after a brief scare that saw him limp off towards the end of the first half.

     The offense had a complete day. Dak had 261 yards, one TD, and no turnovers (YAY!!!!!!!) and spread the ball nicely. Jason Fergusson had a big game with seven receptions for 77 yards, and Cee Dee got his first TD of the season in the first quarter. I am disappointed in the running game, as even though Dallas was up, they abandoned the run and kept the game through the air. Pollard had 11 carries for 43 yards and tacked on three receptions. Rico Dowdle did leave in the second half, and Dallas might not have wanted to risk an injury to Pollard and be down two running backs they might have elected to go this way. The offensive line returned to form but not complete form as Tyron Smith missed today’s game, but Zack Martian and Tyler Bidaz returned. The O-Line will have an arduous game next Sunday at San Francisco and will need all hands on deck to try and contain a defense built like theirs. This moves Dallas to 3-1 on the season and second in the NFC East behind the 4-0 Eagles. 

NOTE: THE COWBOYS DID SET A RECORD DURING THIS GAME WHEN THEY CONVERTED A TWO-POINT PT CONVERSION FROM THE 15-YARD LINE.

Week 4 Giants Vs Seahawks

By Jeff Knapp

The Giants were at home with a sense that this game could either propel the team forward or expose them as a team that will leave the fans waiting for the 2024 draft. Well, after the o-line gave up 11 sacks, yes, ELEVEN SACKS, the defense forgot that tackling is allowed in the NFL, and our 2019 1st-round pick QB, Daniel Jones, who is a tough SOB but fumbled twice, only threw for 203 yards on 24 attempts and threw two ints, one of which was run back for 97 yards by rookie Devon Witherspoon.

I understand that Barkley is out, but if your name isn’t Lamar Jackson, how can our QB also be our leading rusher? Jalin Hyatt and Darren Waller, who can be explosive, were only targeted five times between them. That is not acceptable.

The Giants were in the game as long as they were because of the eight penalties on the Seahawks. The Giants, at times, either forgot how to tackle or were too scared to tackle. Don’t start on the horrible Noah Fant reception and run where the Giants looked like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.

If Brian Daboll didn’t go off on the team like Robert Loggia’s character in Necessary Roughness, then I’m not sure what to say. Giants ownership should have gone into that locker room after the game and read them the riot act.

I say something positive after a loss, and I was going to mention Bobby Okereke and his ten tackles, including his two tackles in the backfield. Still, I’m taking that away for his horrible attempt at tackling Noah Fant on that 51-yard gain.

Fans are already talking about what to do with Jones next year. Guess what? He’ll be our QB next year, too.

Next week, the Giants head into Miami, where they must face Tua Tagovailoa, who has only been sacked five times and has 1306 passing yards, 9TDs, and 3 INTs (Jones, who has 765 passing yards, 2 TDs, and 6 INTs) and the dynamic combination of Waddle and Hill. By the way, they go into Buffalo the following week. I’m saying they will go 0-2 over those two games.

COWBOYS NEED REDEMPTION

BY MARK HALPERN

     This Sunday at 4:25 p.m., the Dallas Cowboys will host the New England Patriots in Arlington, Texas. After last week’s debacle against the Cardinals, the Cowboys need the Defense to play like it did the first two weeks of the season. The Offense has to show what it’s capable of. On paper, this team is top five in the league, but we only count reality, and right now, they’re 2-1.

    Dak Prescott has to take all his chances this weekend to show Dallas fans he can do it. Jerry wasn’t messing around and made a statement by trading for Trey Lance. Whether Dak will be in Dallas next year will be up to him. The interception in the fourth quarter last week was just an ill-timed pass, and that’s what many Dallas fans, analysts in the NFL, and many other people have come to associate Dak with other than being a decadent version of Tony Romo. This weekend, Dak needs to run a smooth, turnover-free game, and this is a little to ask, especially with this team. Dak needs to start finding Brandin Cooks (who was said to be the game changer), whom the Cowboys traded a 5th-round pick in 2024 and a 6th-round pick in 2025 this past offseason. Cooks was supposed to take much pressure off Cee Dee Lamb, but it has been different. The running game has been a huge bright spot for the Cowboys, with Pollard, Dowdle, and Vaughn have been a solid three-headed running game. This group is one of the most robust running games in the NFL. The offensive line last week was missing three who were deactivated, and Tyron Smith dressed but did not play either (excuses, excuses. We all make them for our team, so listen.) So, it was a rookie line, and you could see the sync wasn’t there at all. So that forced a lot of false starts and constantly made it more than 12 yards on second down. The Cowboys are expected to have most of their offensive starters active for this game, so we will see what Dak and Company have in store for us.

    The Defense, what wrong can you say of this squad? Yes, they let the Cardinals tune them up, but was it because they were tired? The Dallas offense needed to be on the field longer and couldn’t make plays. To say the Defense underestimated this team is the proper term, and they didn’t take them seriously, and instead of being 3-0, they lie at 2-1. What can’t you say about Micah Parsons that hasn’t been said already? I love to watch his competitiveness and his energy in every play. However, by the middle of the third quarter, you could see that he was tired, but he still got a huge, crucial sack in the fourth when Dallas needed it the most. The secondary and linebacker core just seemed lost and tired. If they go like this into this game, Belichick will expose it. Also, defensive penalties were another thing that cost the Cowboys. You can’t give up over 120 yards in penalties and be expected to win.

     Dallas needs the Defense to play at a high level, as there is nothing that the great Belichick has seen, and the Offense has to win this game by putting points on the board more than the Defense scoring themselves.

Showdown Sunday

By Mike Rifkin

The Dolphins take their undefeated record on the road to Buffalo to play division rival Bills. The Dolphins are coming off a 70-20 win over the Broncos last week, while the Bills are coming off a 37-3 thrashing over the Commanders. The two teams met three times last year, including the Wild card round of the Playoffs. The three games were decided by eight points combined. 

Tua Tagovailoa was phenomenal last week, throwing for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Tua had more touchdowns than incompletions last week. The Dolphins run game was also huge, running for 350 yards as a team, and both De’von Achane and Raheem Mostert had four touchdowns. Tyreek Hill also had a big day with 157 yards and a touchdown on nine catches, but this week, Jaylen Waddle returns after missing last week with a concussion. 

For the Bills, the star last week was the defense, which forced five turnovers and had nine sacks. The Bills defense so far this year is second in yards allowed, third in sacks, and third in turnover differential. Over the last two weeks, the Bills have scored 75 points. 

In 10 games against the Dolphins, Josh Allen has 27 touchdowns and five interceptions with a passer rating of 106.1. Stefon Diggs has three touchdowns in six games against Miami. Tua Tagovailoa has four touchdowns and four interceptions in five games against the Bills. Tyreek Hill has 226 yards and a touchdown in five regular season games against the Bills. 

Both teams will be without a significant defensive presence. Jordan Poyer will be out for the Bills, and Jaelan Phillips will be out for the Dolphins. Yes, the Dolphins are 3-0 and are a serious contender in the AFC, but a win over the Bills in Buffalo would be a big confidence boost as we advance in the season. 

Brutal Blow

By Mike Rifkin

It was announced on Thursday that Tampa Bay Lightning Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy underwent back surgery and will miss the season’s first two months. Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the World, and the one guy the Lightning could not afford to lose. 

Over the last five seasons, Vasilevskiy has a record of 178-75-20 with a 2.48 Goals Against Average and a .919 save percentage. He’s played in 270 games, which only trails Connor Hellebuyck. But these stats don’t include the 77 playoff games he’s played since 2019, including leading the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cups and three consecutive final appearances. 

Because the Lightning is to remain compliant with the salary cap, it seems unlikely that they could trade for a goalie. They better have their fingers crossed that it is only two months since Vasilevskiy is out. But the real kicker is the Atlantic Division is better, and you want to avoid getting buried in the standings early in the season. The Lightning are a battle-tested team, and while they’ll miss Vasilevskiy (who wouldn’t), they’ll remain in the race and ready to go upon his return.

DIVISIONAL THROWDOWN

By Mark Halpern

    So, after the first three weeks in football, we got a prime-time nuclear explosion. The Detroit Lions are preparing for a Narnia-like battle between the Lions and the Packers. This new look for both teams will face off for the first two battles, becoming much more critical as the season draws on.

      Jared Goff has had this team rolling with a record of 2-1. He has limited the number of turnovers, which has helped keep them closer in the game. The running game has its challenges, but both the top 2 running backs on the Lions, Gibbs & Montgomery, could be the Lion’s #1. Of course, Montgomery will regain his elite status, but his carries might be less with the successful start of Jahmyr Gibbs. St.Brown and the wide receiver core must keep short routes to open the running game more. Last week, Sam LaPorta had his first big game and will be put into defensive study for the Packers. The offense beats the Packers by playing small ball for as long as they can to try and control this game.

      As for the defensive side, the Lions have been bringing the pressure. Last week, Desmond Ridder took seven sacks but needed more time to set a throw. The defense needs to continue the pressure. They need to come at Love with all their hate and force him to make rookie mistakes, and hopefully, that will lead to turnovers.

     The players beside Goff who need to have a big game are Gibbs, Josh Reynolds (get some heat off of St. Brown), defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, and Jerry Jacobs, as they will be busy all afternoon. The Packers should be getting back Christian Watson and Aaron Jones tonight. It should be a great game happening tonight. Ultimately, The Lions win in a low-scoring game 24-10. If the Lions win, it would be the Lions’ fourth consecutive win over the Packers.

NOT WHAT WAS EXPECTED

BY MARK HALPERN

This past weekend, the Cowboys went to Arizona, and especially what happened between the Giants and the Cardinals the week before, all signs pointed to a Dallas win. Well, that’s not what happened. 

If you didn’t see well, the Cardinals, the team said “to be tanking,” has shown life over the last two weeks, and teams shouldn’t always think the tank is on because it indeed wasn’t. I am a loyal Dallas fan and will be, but sometimes, instead of stats and facts, you need Color Commentary, and emotions get the best of you. That performance was unacceptable. Scoring one touchdown in the Red Zone. As a team, they committed 13 penalties. The defense gave up 400 yards to the Cardinals, and there’s one word to describe this game: UNACCEPTABLE.

   That said if there were any bright spots, here they are. Kevonte Turpin’s 53-yard punt return showed why he is becoming a significant offensive threat for the Cowboys, and Tony Pollard ran for 123 yards. Gallup and Dowdle showed why they are more helpful than they were in the first two games. Micah is Micah, and he will bring the intensity every week. I called for him to have a sack in each game, and so far, at least, that is coming through.

We move on from this disaster to take on the Patriots next Sunday at 4:25 pm EST.

PRIDE MAULS FLOCK OF FALCONS

By Mark Halpern

      This past weekend, the Lions took on the young and upcoming Atlanta Falcons, a game predicted to be a rookie running back showdown between Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. It didn’t happen, as the Lions showed why they should be feared going forward.

       Jared Goff has a team to work with, and it’s starting to come together for him, like in Los Angeles. Goff threw for 243 1td/1int and ran for a touchdown. Gibbs had a decent day with 80 yards on the ground. This was Gibbs’s first complete game day as David Montgomery was sidelined with a thigh bruise. St. Brown had another 100-yard reception game, but today was about another rookie who showed why the Lions spent a second-round pick on: Sam LaPorta. LaPorta went off for eight rec and 80 yards with his first NFL touchdown. We have heard the names of Mayer with the Raiders and Kinkaid with the Bills but only a little from Laporta. He was Goff’s second favorite target on the day, and he showed good route running and got open for a 30+ yard TD. LaPorta will make it easier for Goff to find his #1 and #2, and yes, this was just one week, but he made a name for himself.

    The Lion’s Defense was all over Desmond Ridder, sacking him seven times and hurried him more than a dozen more. The Defense didn’t record an interception because Ridder was too busy running for his life like Zach Wilson and Daniel Jones over the first few weeks of the season. This Defense I said when I did my preview was hungrier than last year and showed why they should be feared going forward.

   The Lions have a divisional matchup against the Green Bay Packers this Thursday night. Jordan Love has the Packers’ offense moving, but can the Defense stop this potent offense? We shall see. The two teams saw each other in week 18 last season when the Lions knocked the Packers out of the playoffs.