Dallas Cowboys: America's Team

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Last game of the season, I went out in tip-top fashion as I took down the Eagles 43-17, and I clinched home field advantage through the playoffs as we had the tiebreaker with the Saints, both finished 14-2. Its gonna be a wild playoff picture. This is my first season, so it was awesome seeing the playoff version of the Extra Point, man it was a nice change of pace. The playoff teams are:

AFC
Steelers
Colts
Patriots
Texans
Chargers
Dolphins

NFC
Cowboys
Saints
Eagles
Cardinals
Bears
49ers

Its shaping up to be an awesome playoff picture. I just hope we can keep our momentum up from the last game, we had 521 yards of offense. Felix had 114 yards rushing, and Barber had 122 rushing, Romo Threw for 285 and 2 td's. The key to the win was 7 defensive sacks, Spears had 3, Ratliff had 1, Igor had 1, Sensabaugh had 1, and McAlister had 1. Update will be posted soon of the playoff picture and how I end up doing in the playoffs.

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So last night I simmed the first round of playoffs since I had a first round bye, and then played my first round, and it narrowed down like this:

Texans and Dolphins were both eliminated in first round, and then Colts beat the patriots, chargers beat the steelers, and Colts and Chargers will be playing for the AFC Championship game.

On the NFC Side, 49ers and Bears both lost in the first round, and then the Saints beat the Cardinals, and in an over-time thriller, I beat the Eagles 47-41, so it will be Cowboys vs Saints for the NFC Championship, we are both 14-2 and last time we met, I beat them 40-27, but only after 2 kr td's. I changed the difficulty back to All Madden last night, and then made some slider adjustments for CPU skill, and damn did the game play AWESOME. It was sooooooooo hard, and I was actually not getting cheated, when I was breaking away from the computer, it didnt slow me down so the defenders could catch me, it played out like real life? I was winning by 17 points in the 3rd quarter, but could not hold them off, as Romo went down in the 1st half and Stephen McGee had to come in to replace him. We had it rolling on the ground, racking up over 260 yards of total rushing between 3 backs and Romo. McNabb was on fire, throwing for 454 yards and a few td's, but their rushing game was non-existant.

Anyways, fast forward to the 4th quarter, I was up 34-24 and our offense just could not do anything as Eagles kept holding me 3 and out. So Mcnabb gets the ball, drives down the field, and scores a touchdown to make it 34-31. I get the ball, I drive and drive, but then 2 big holding calls in a row pushed me back and I am forced to punt. Eagles then get the ball, drive down the field, but defense swells up a bit and I hold them at the 34 yard line, they line up kick the field goal, but the wind catches it and it falls just short, no good. At this point, I am feeling good I have momentum and a touchdown will seal the deal. So I drive down the field rushing the ball only as I try to run down the clock with about 6 minutes left. I drive and drive and drive, and on 1st down, I get a 9 yard rush to make it 2nd and 1 at the 32 yard line. Next play, I line up, run a strong blast to the right with barber, bust a few tackles and I am off to the races for a touchdown...but wait, whats this? A penalty on the field, and the announcers say if its a holding call, the ball is coming back. Sure enough it is and it shows barber shaking his head in disappointment. So now its 2nd and 9. I line up again, this time with choice, he gets hit in the backfield, breaks a tackle, and then is tripped up but momentum takes him forward, over the first down marker, HELL YEAH another few minutes coming off the clock, but wait, another penalty and its holding again, NOOOOO! 2nd and 19 this time from my 50. I call a screen play to barber, he is wide open with 3 linemen infront of him, no defenders. I drop back and off the edge their linebacker blitzes, crushes mcgee, the ball is released high, but some how barber jumps up in the crowd and catches the ball, brings it down and he is off, but I cross over behind my lineman, and as I do, their cornerback dives and grabs my ankle to trip me up short, 3rd and 13 from the 43 yard line. Next play, I line up, send ogletree across the middle on a slant, hit him in stride, but where its wet, the ball slips out, incomplete! So they have to point, now I am feeling ok, this is game over, all they gotta do is score a td. So with 3 minutes and 30 seconds, Mcnabb takes the field from the 20 after I couldnt get the ball downed before it went in the endzone on the punt. He drives them right down the field and with a minute and 56 seconds left, I let Westbrook take it in the endzone, knowing that if they run off anymore time, i wont have a chance. 38-34 with 1 minute and 56 seconds left I get the ball with allen rossum, and take it to the 33 where I am brought down. McGee comes out, and in hero fashion, I drive right down the field, hitting some nice out routes, some nice slants to barber, and some other nice pass plays. We drive down to their 6 yard line with 42 seconds left. I throw a crossing route pass, but its almost intercepted in the endzone, so I regroup with 35 seconds left and take a deep breathe before I call the play. 5 wr no back shotgun. I sent everyone on a slant, and barber comes open behind the backers and catches it for the score, TD TO GO AHEAD!!!!!!!! 41-38 with 32 seconds left!!!! But, Eagles had 3 time outs left, so this was gonna be no easy task. They get the ball, and get an awesome return, up to their 42 yard line. McNabb hits kevin curtis on a slant for a first down up to my 48 yard line, time out. After a huge pass to DeSean Jackson at the 35, they call another time out with 22 seconds. They call another play, they hit Westbrook in the flats, but Spencer makes a huge tackle at the 38 before he can make it anywhere, and they hurry to the line to spike it. But, they do a fake spike, throw it to an uncovered westbrook in the flats, and he jukes past jenkins, and brooking comes over and pushes him out at the 32 with 2 seconds left. They line up, and I try to ice them with a TO. Then they line up kick it and camera goes into dramatic view...and the ball just falls over the upright and its good, 41-41 going into OT. I was soooo pissed. Then, they win the toss, and get the ball. On the kick return, they get to the 28, but I get called for a facemask, and just like that, ball is at the 43 yard line. They run it 2 times, and get stuffed each time. Next play, McNabb bombs it to Jeremy Macklin and he makes a leaping grab over my defenders and goes down at the 35 yard line, ****TTTTTTTTTT! If they run it once its over! Next play, they hit the tight end for about 5 yards, and definately in field goal range. Going all out on the next 2 plays, I end up sacking mcnabb twice and make them punt the ball, thank god. I get the ball, run it alot, then I try one pass play, and its picked off at the 34 yard line by their linebacker, oh man, game is definately over now. First play, mcnabb does a playaction and bombs it down the seam, Sensabaugh is waiting in the endzone, and jumps over Kevin Curtis to catch it, but the ball slips, incomplete. Next play, mcnabb play fakes it, rolls around in the pocket, is about to get smashed and he dumps it off to the right towards Desean Jackson. I take control of Terrance Newman and I close in on him as the ball arrives. This is where it gets good...the ball goes in DeSean's hands, but I arrive the same time the ball does with Newman, and I take it right out of his hands for an interception, and my momentum takes me forward and I am off to the races, one man to beat and that's mcnabb. I head towards the sideline and he goes in low and I juke left, he falls and I take off down the field, and im on my feet screamin the whole way, TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!! Cowboys win 47-41 in OT, and I sweep the Eagles 3 times this season for the first time ever, what a damn game!!

Next game vs Saints will be a barn burner, I am sure Drew Brees is out for revenge from the last loss as I held him without a touchdown. I will post the results tonight.

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So I start the game against the saints last night, first play of the game, I smack Pierre Thomas and make him fumble on the kickoff, injuring him. 3 plays later, I am shut down on all 3 plays, kick field goal, go up by 3. Saints gets ball and my god here comes Brees. I hold them to a field goal on my 3 yard line, 3-3. Not gonna go too in detail, but I will summarize. 2 minutes left in first half, I am winning 27-10, I had picked off Brees 3 times, the last one came right inside 2 minutes, and I had the ball at their 42. First play, I drop back to pass and I see a wide open ogletree, I throw it and BAM.........the entire game cuts offf!????????? I turn around and my mom had accidentally hit the switch on the wall that controls power to the outlets on one side of the room and completely cut my game off right before half time after my defense was playing lights out against the Saints in a playoff game....nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

So tonight, the rematch will ensue, and hopefully they show up like they did in the game I was playing last night. Defense had 3 sacks, 3 int's, and a fumble recovery, eventhough Brees had 192 passing yards in the first half to this point with a touchdown.

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AND WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! A minute and 45 seconds left in the game after Saints had burned 2 time outs and stuffed the run twice, 3rd and 14, I hit Witten across the middle on an inside corner route to get the first down and seal the deal!! First down, kneel the ball 3 times, and its game over, we are headed to the Superbowl!!!! I took down the ol' mighty Saints 37-30. What a game!!

Drew Brees showed up this time, getting 3 td's and going 27 for 42 for 442 yards through the air and 1 interception! Pierre Thomas added 72 yards on 26 carries on the ground.


Major turning points:

• Right before half, the game is tied up at 17, Saints had just drove down the field and grabbed a touchdown after a methodical drive. I get the ball, go 3 and out quickly, and they get the ball back with around 2:40ish in the game. They hit a big pass play and get into my territory, but my defense comes up big on a few plays and I shut them down, getting the ball back on a punt and getting a 30ish yard return with Allen Rossum to their mid field. I put together a nice drive, driving down to their 22 yard line. 2nd down, I tried a pass play and I get sacked, knocking me out of field goal range with 30ish seconds left. I call a screen play on 3rd down and I hit Felix Jones in the flats, and he picks up a nice 18 yard gain, as I get down to their 14 yard line, 4th and 2 with 10 seconds left, I let the clock tick down and I call a time out. Kick the field goal, go up 20-17 going into half.
• On the ensuing kickoff coming out of the locker room, I put together a decent drive before I stutter and I am forced to punt. I get a hellacious punt by McBriar and I pin them deep at the 7 yard line. The whole game I had been running mostly man coverage. On first play, Brees calls a play action pass, and I have cover 3 press on, all my db's slam the receivers at the line, Ratliff and Spears comes through in the face of Brees, so he is forced to dump it off to the right quickly as it looks like Devery Henderson is coming free inside of Newman. As Brees releases it, the ball gets a little air and I take control of Newman and I jump, and I get the edge on Devery and I take the ball out of his hands in mid-air for an interception!! A few plays later, I grab a touchdown and go up 27-17.
• Next drive, Saints get a field goal, making it 27-20. On a desperation drive after a few 3 and outs a piece, I hand the ball off to Barber on a mis-direction, their d-end comes off the edge and Barber lowers the shoulder, and then Darren Sharper is coming for a huge hit and about that time I break free from the d-end, Witten comes across and blind sides Sharper and pancakes him, as I bust to the outside and off to the races for a 39 yard touchdown run to lengthen the gap, 34-20.
• A few drives later, after I had grabbed another field goal and saints then scored a touchdown, Saints drive 91 yards down the field to my 1 yard line. 3 plays in a row, my defense comes up HUGE as I hit Brees before he hands off once, then I gang tackle Reggie Bush short on the inches line, and then on 3rd down, I bust through and crush Pierre Thomas in the backfield, and hold them to a field goal, 37-30, in which was the game changer and the would-be final score!

Next up, the Superbowl!

• Dallas Cowboys (14-2) vs. Indianapolis Colts (14-2)

They said my keys to winning was controlling the game clock, getting penetration, and pressing the receivers. Its gonna be a dog fight, but we shall see I can't wait.

Sad part is, after this game, I am not going into the offseason, I am just going to let it stay stagnant until the patch drops, then I am going to start a new season, more than likely sim it, and start on the 2nd season, when I have my now graduated class from ncaa '10 ready, so I can pick up some nice draft picks

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And it happened...Cowboys (14-2) fall to the Colts (14-2), 45-44 on a hellacious game and one of the most controversial calls of Superbowl History.

Fastforward to the 4th Quarter, we have the ball, and the lead, 38-31 with around 9 minutes left in the game. I am driving on them until I get in the red zone, and then Colt's D raises the iron curtain and starts shutting down everything I throw at them. We are at the 14 yard line, on 3rd and long and I call 5 WR shot gun and put slants across the middle with Witten on an underneath drag. I hike the ball, Witten takes his drag, when he does, the safety comes up to cover them as they have man coverage on. He steps up, Miles Austin drops in behind where the safety left and I hit him in stride at the 2 yard line. At this time, the cornerback playing man coverage on Patrick Crayton has inside, and he pursues to Austin after the pass is caught, and he hits austin, Austin spins around to break the tackle, and then Dwight Freeney hits Austin, Austin tries to slip out of his grasp, but Dwight grabbed the ball and POP, the ball goes flying in the air over a helpless Austin, and falls in the endzone where Antonie Bathea pounces on it to recover the pass for a touchback. Had I scored the td, it would have been the nail in the coffin.

So Colts get it at my 20, and Peyton Manning wastes no time driving down the field and getting a 49 touchdown pass to Dallas Clark who leaps over top of Gerald Sensabaugh in the endzone. 38-38. I get the ball with around 5 minutes left, but they shut me down 3 plays in a row, I am forced to punt. Peyton gets the ball, and again, leads right down the field and they score a touchdown with around 3:20ish left in the game, 45-38.

So I get the ball at my 31 after a decent Allen Rossum return, and I am shut down 2 plays in a row. On 3rd and long, I hit Witten in the flats and get a decent gain for a first down, which got the momentum going on the drive. By this time, we are under the 2 minute warning. I string together a few other nice pass plays, hitting Witten, Felix Jones, Austin, and even Roy Williams to get some nice gains. I eventually get a long gain down to the 6 yard line after a slant hot route. 34 seconds left, I run it once and get tackled at the 2 yard line. I call a time out. On the next play, i do the same and get a 1 yard gain, time out, 23 seconds left. On the next play, Barber busts through for the touchdown, 45-44 with 19 seconds left. I press pause and I consider my options. The announcers were talking about barring a miscue on the hold, this game should be tied up with the extra point. I thought about it for a minute, and I thought okay, Peyton has 426 yards passing and 4 td's, he has had no problem ripping us apart, if I go to overtime with the Colts, this game is over. Earlier in the 3rd quarter, I got a 2 point conversion to tie it up at 31 after we was losing 31-20...got a fieldgoal and a touchdown. So I then resume to the game and decide I am going to go for the 2 point conversion to try and win the game in memorable fashion, and call a safe slant route play to Miles Austin. The announcers are in shock that I am going for 2, they clearly voice their confusion. I hike the ball, Austin comes free inside the cornerback, but they had masked their play before I hiked, as it looked like man coverage, but they had called cover 3, and the safety drops down and linebacker knocks Austin off his course as I released the ball, and Mathea dives and bats the ball to the ground, incomplete, losing 45-44. With 19 seconds left and 2 time outs, I call onside kick, I hit it about perfect to get some height on it, I bring over Martellus Bennett and the ball is heading right for his hands, when Reggie Wayne dove and snatched the ball out of the air right infront of Bennett, and sealed the deal, game over, Colts are the 09 Super Bowl Champions.

Such a heart-breaking loss, after such a great season and play off run, but it falls directly on my shoulders for going for it on the 2 point conversion. Still a great season, and the reprocussions are minimal, as I am starting my franchise over after the new patch comes out so I can upload new rosters, upload my draft class, and then sim the first season so I can then draft my graduating class from NCAA.

09 Cowboys (14-2), NFC Champions, Superbowl Runner-Ups.

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I will not post anymore until Patch #2 comes out and I can start a new Franchise, sim the first season, and then upload my draft class so I can draft some people from class of 09.

Stay tuned

[Hushroom]

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