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panxing18 · Registrato: Nov 17, 2018 Messaggi: 132

s weekend So www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com , the NFL season officially started last night. The reviews are in and, well, let’s say folks weren’t particularly impressed. In short, neither the Eagles, or the Falcons, or the referees impressed many Thursday night. It was an embarrassing opening game for the NFL. But none of us should be surprised by this. Expect more bad football this Sunday. The reason is what we now witness in the early weeks of the NFL is little more than what once passed for preseason football. Most of the players on the field last night have played almost no real football in nine months. Teams have become so frightened of injuries to their best players that they sit them the entire preseason. Add that tackling is virtually unheard of in practice and we witness what we saw last night. The NFL’s best players now get into “game shape” during the regular season because they simply don’t have the opportunity to do so at any other time. Thus we see dropped passes, missed tackles, confusion, blown assignments and players gasping for air because they’re simply not in condition. We also see penalties, lots and lots of penalties. There was a time this wasn’t so (grumpy old man alert). I attended the Cowboys’ 1992 training camp. Teams practiced twice a day back then; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. And they tackled each other. Every day. Jimmy Johnson’s training camps were famous for what was known as the “middle drill”. So after weeks of that in the hot Austin sun when that Cowboys’ team took the field on opening night against the defending champions this happened. That Cowboys team was playing at peak form from the very first play of the first game of the season. Now, I imagine the players that had to go through those middle drills probably wish they hadn’t today. Professional football players put their bodies through tremendous abuse. Doing that sixteen times a year is enough; no need to do it in dozens of practices as well. So the rationale is sound.But it doesn’t change the fact that that what we see in the opening weeks of the season is little more than glorified preseason football. That’s why what’s important this time of the season is results and not form. Both Philadelphia and Atlanta looked like poor teams last night; but each of them will look better a month from now. So, I’m not expecting high quality play from the Cowboys or pretty much any team this weekend.But the games do count so and the results matter. An ugly Cowboys’ win would be perfectly acceptable. When Kyle Shanahan was looking to get into the NFL as an assistant coach more than a decade ago Dallas Cowboys Womens T-Shirt , his father, Mike, called Jon Gruden and asked him to hire his son for an entry-level job in Tampa.Shanahan joined the Buccaneers as a quality control coach in 2004 on Gruden's staff and got his introduction to pro football on a staff that featured five assistants who have gone on to get head coaching jobs in the NFL."It was such a good place for me to go to because Jon was doing everything," Shanahan said. "It wasn't just his stuff. He was always on top of it with the film, which everyone is now because of the computers and everything, but he was one of the first guys doing that stuff, probably being a little bit younger than most guys at that time and just introduced me to pretty much every play known to man."Now 14 years later, Shanahan gets his first chance to coach against his old boss when the San Francisco 49ers (1-7) host Gruden and the Oakland Raiders (1-6) on Thursday night.Gruden said he took great pride in that staff that featured Mike Tomlin, Rod Marinelli, Jay Gruden and Raheem Morris during Shanahan's two seasons there in 2004-05. The Bucs won just five games the first season before winning the NFC South with an 11-5 record in 2005."We had a lot of fun back in those days. The woodshed, I called it," Gruden said. "People are going to take me to the woodshed here pretty soon Dallas Cowboys Hats , if we don't get this thing going."Both the Raiders and 49ers are struggling heading into this matchup, with Oakland losing three straight and San Francisco on a six-game skid.Shanahan has struggled without starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, while Gruden's return to the NFL has been rocky after nine seasons as a broadcaster at ESPN.But Shanahan believes Gruden will turn the Raiders around if given time and sees no signs that the game has passed him by."Jon lives and dies football," Shanahan said. "He never got away from it. He probably had even more time to sit and look at everything, and not get so caught up in his own team. The whole league's evolved since then. It evolves year to year. But, you watch his system, he has a foundation of what he used to do and things like that, but he's kept up with everything."Here are some other things to watch:BEATHARD'S HEALTHThe 49ers could be forced to go with their third-string quarterback this week. Garoppolo went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 and backup C.J. Beathard is questionable this week with an injured right wrist. The next man up is Nick Mullens, who has never taken a snap in the NFL. Mullens spent last season on the practice squad and was promoted after Garoppolo's injury this year. He has impressed his teammates with strong play in the preseason and practice."He's a baller," running back Matt Breida said. "He doesn't let the game get too big for him. I think he'll do a great job if he has to play this week."DRIVE THE CARRRaiders quarterback Derek Carr is coming off perhaps his best game of the season, throwing for three touchdowns and running for a fourth score in last week's loss to the Colts. Carr completed 17 straight passes at one point and thrived in his first game after leading rusher Marshawn Lynch went down with a groin injury and No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper was traded to Dallas. Receiver Brandon LaFell, who wasn't targeted at all in his previous two games for Oakland Dallas Cowboys Womens Hoodie , had three catches for 39 yards and a TD after getting the start in place of Cooper."He's friendly to the quarterback," Carr said. "He always runs friendly routes. He can play with anybody. I'm glad that we had some time to work and all those things, but he's the kind of guy that you can just throw him in and just play."SAFETY DANCEThe Niners go into this game thin at safety. Starting free safety Adrian Colbert is on injured reserve with an ankle injury and San Francisco could be without its top two strong safeties as well. Starter Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder) and backup Antone Exum (concussion) are out this week. Jimmie Ward fared well last week at free safety after moving over from cornerback. San Francisco is thinner at strong safety with Tyvis Powell, who has never started a game, and rookie Marcell Harris, who could be activated from IR to make his debut, the main options.DYING RIVALRYThis will be the final scheduled meeting between these Bay Area rivals before the Raiders move to Las Vegas in 2020. The teams have rarely been successful in their 36 seasons as NFL neighbors here with both making the playoffs in the same year only four times in that span (1970, '72, 2001, '02). The teams have combined for a winning record just once in 2003 and are on pace for the worst record for a two-team market since the 1970 merger. Custom Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys