Tag: 2022 playoffs

Cowboys injuries: Parsons, Kearse give positive updates; team ‘certainly concerned’ for Jason Peters

Micah Parsons and Jayron Kearse brushed off Monday’s in-game injuries, but Jerry Jones voiced concern for 40-year-old Jason Peters’ hip. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys went into Raymond James Stadium feeling very good about their team’s health, with several marquee players back in the lineup.

After silencing the cannons in a dominant 31-14 win over the Buccaneers to advance to the next round, they left Tampa with a few new questions about who’s going to be available in next weekend’s divisional matchup.

Three notable Cowboys players either left the game early or were obviously dinged during the Monday night win. Two of them gave encouraging updates on their own health following the team’s first road playoff victory in 30 years.

Safety Jayron Kearse was a significant contributor to the clampdown on Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, recording three tackles, defending three passes, and intercepting an end zone strike to kill a Tampa Bay scoring drive. And in a defense that promised to show some new looks after a few weeks of late-season tinkering, Kearse found himself lining up at several different positions on the field.

But he was forced to exit the contest in the third quarter after suffering an apparent left knee injury. Kearse needed considerable assistance from team trainers just to get to the sideline, and he did not return to action.

On the first series with him off the field, Tampa Bay went 95 yards on 10 plays and scored their first touchdown on the night.

Despite what looked to be a severe injury, though, he hinted that he’ll be fine to face the 49ers on Sunday.

“It’s feeling all right,” Kearse told reporters at his locker following the win. “I’ll be good. It’s feeling all right. It’ll be all right.”

Newly-named All-Pro Micah Parsons also gave fans a scare.

After the final play of the first half, the linebacker/edge rusher was slow to get up with what appeared to be a leg injury, eventually limping toward the tunnel and stopping en route to massage the area around his right knee.

Replays seemed to show Parsons’s shin taking a hit, although some reports classified it as an ankle issue. Either way, Parsons played on, missing only three defensive snaps on the night and turning in a massive stat line.

He, too, gave a positive update to reporters afterward.

“I’m feeling good,” Parsons said. “I feel I finished the game well. Continued to get my pressure, continued to keep going, understanding the circumstances I was faced with. I’m excited for next week, excited for the matchup.”

Offensive lineman Jason Peters, however, may be less of a sure thing.

The veteran got the wild-card start at left tackle, but hobbled off the field in the second quarter. His absence, judged to be a hip injury, caused a shuffle along the line as rookie Tyler Smith slid over from the left guard position and Connor McGovern was forced to abandon the backfield blocking role he had been filling to take over at guard.

At halftime, Peters was ruled out for the rest of the game.

By Tuesday morning, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was trying to stay optimistic about the 40-year-old’s status.

“I certainly am concerned. I don’t know any more than we knew when we left there last night. We’ve got a little hope that it might not be serious,” he told 105.3 The Fan in referring to Peters. “But it’s important to realize that he’s not sitting here in his rookie year.”

Jones commented on the offensive line that started the game for Dallas, noting that Peters, Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, and Tyler Smith made for a formidable front… for the four series they were together.

“You can make the case that you’ve got four Hall of Famers there by the time it shakes out, at various stages of their career. That’s pretty solid to be there at this time of the year.”

Tuesday could be an important day, though, in determining whether that foursome will be there when the Cowboys take the field in San Francisco on Sunday.

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Report: Cowboys DC Dan Quinn scheduled to interview with Broncos on Friday

Quinn will be 1 of 4 candidates Denver speaks to this week; the interview would fall about 48 hours before a Cowboys/49ers playoff game. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys hope they’ll be spending the week recuperating (quickly) from a wild-card win over Tampa Bay and then prepping (quickly) for a trip to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC divisional round.

If that comes to pass, Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn might be adding an extra bit of business to an already-short week.

Mike Klis of Denver’s KUSA-TV and NFL insider Adam Schefter are both reporting that Quinn is set to interview in person for the Broncos’ head coaching vacancy on Friday.

The club has already spoken virtually with University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, as well as face-to-face with former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, former Stanford head coach David Shaw, and current Denver defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Now the Broncos have four more interviews on the schedule for this week: Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and ex-Saints head coach Sean Payton on Tuesday, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans on Thursday, and then Quinn to close out the work week.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport claimed over the weekend that Harbaugh, Payton, and Quinn appear to be the “three main candidates” for the job.

Should the Cowboys beat Tampa Bay in the wild-card round Monday night, they will face the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Sunday evening, with Quinn’s interview taking place less than 72 hours before kickoff.

Quinn was said to have been a finalist for the Broncos’ head coaching position last year; Denver chose to hire Nathaniel Hackett, while Quinn returned to Dallas for a second year as defensive coordinator.

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Bucs’ Pro Bowl center activated from IR, set to make season debut vs. Cowboys

Ryan Jensen suffered a severe knee injury during Tampa Bay’s training camp, but he’s expected to return in time for Monday’s wild-card game. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Things may have just gotten a little more difficult for the Cowboys defense as they prepare to face a Buccaneers offensive line that’s been hurting all season.

Tampa Bay center Ryan Jensen was activated from injured reserve on Monday and is expected to make his season debut against Dallas in the wild-card round.

Jensen was a key piece to the Bucs’ Super Bowl-winning season in 2020 and was named to his first Pro Bowl for the 2021 campaign. But a severe knee injury suffered on the second day of the team’s training camp has kept him sidelined for the entirety of 2022.

The 31-year-old had his practice window activated in late December, and he took practice reps with the Bucs’ first team last week.

Given that development, as per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Jensen’s return had been expected by the Cowboys.

According to Bucs Wire, the extent of Jensen’s injury had not been revealed all season long; the team had only called it “serious.” Only now has Carmen Vitali of Fox Sports explained that Jensen “partially tore multiple ligaments in his knee, including his ACL.”

Five months later, he’s expected to reclaim his spot in Tampa Bay’s starting lineup.

Second-year man Robert Hainsey had been playing center for quarterback Tom Brady this season, but a hamstring injury forced him to withdraw early from Tampa Bay’s Week 18 loss to Atlanta.

Now Brady gets back a ten-year veteran who handled 97.4% of the team’s offensive snaps last year. And while the Bucs’ patchworked offensive line allowed just 22 sacks during the season-fewest in the NFL- that’s more a product of Brady’s quick delivery of the ball.

Overall, Tampa Bay’s line had been seen as a potential weakness for the Cowboys defense to exploit. The Buccaneers ranked last in the league in 2022 in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and yards per carry.

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NFC Playoff Confidence Rankings of all 7 teams at every position

Ranking each of the 7 NFC playoff teams at each position. Where do Dak, Tony and Zeke, CeeDee and company all rank in the conference? | From @KDDrummondNFL

It’s playoff time, finally. The AFC and NFC are just over 24 hours away from starting their bracket-style eliminations to see who stands alone. After 18 weeks and 17 games, each conference has sent seven teams to their own little single-elimination tournament. In the AFC, it’s a collection of young star quarterbacks and their supporting casts built around them. In the NFC there’s more of a mixture between veteran savvy and youthful exuberance competing for top-dog status.  We know what the seedings are, but who stands the best chance of emerging?

Confidence Rankings is a bit I’ve borrowed from Mike and Mike, the now-defunct ESPN radio simulcast from years back. Points are awarded to a team based on how confident one should be in individual position groups and facets of the teams.

If Dallas’ quarterback situation inspires the most confidence compared to the rest of the NFC field, Dallas would get 7 points, the next team 6 and so on and so forth.

Calculate across all of the position groups and then tally up the scores. The team with the highest score wins three internets.

You can look at the rankings for each individual category, and then at the end there are summaries for each of the seven teams.

 

Cowboys legend Jason Witten surprises award-winning HS player, talks playoffs and Hall of Fame

Witten presented Denton’s Jackson Arnold with the nation’s most prestigious award in high school sports, then talked playoffs and Canton. | From @ToddBrock24f7

For all the accolades and superlatives, former Cowboys tight end Jason Witten has downright pedestrian numbers when it comes to one category. Sure, he played in more NFL games than any man ever at his position. He ranks second all-time among tight ends in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. He missed just one game in 17 seasons. He went to 11 Pro Bowls. He’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer.

Yet Witten played in just eight playoff games over his illustrious career. And he walked off the field victorious in a paltry two of them.

The Cowboys legend sat down with Cowboys Wire to preview the current team’s chances in Monday night’s wild-card game in Tampa, but he also talked about that gold jacket that’s proven elusive thus far for three of his former Dallas teammates.

And he introduced Cowboys fans to a Metroplex youngster who’s ready for big things at the next level, having just surprised the emerging player with the most prestigious award in high school sports.

Chiefs Wire Mailbag: Answering playoff, free agency, 2023 NFL draft questions

Our @goldmctNFL answered your #Chiefs questions on the playoffs, free agency, the 2023 NFL draft and more.

The Chiefs Wire podcast is also taking a first-round bye week ahead of the playoffs, so we’ve moved our weekly mailbag to written form. Below you’ll find answers to Chiefs Kingdom’s questions about the playoffs, free agency, the 2023 NFL draft and more submitted on Twitter.

Cowboys activate practice window for Johnathan Hankins ahead of wild card round

The big DT says he feels ready to go after a pec injury held him out for 4 weeks; he’ll look to keep the Bucs’ run game grounded on Monday. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Johnathan Hankins was missed.

Granted, it’s hard not to miss a 6-foot-3-inch, 340-pound man when he’s suddenly not where he’s supposed to be. But when Hankins went down with a pectoral injury against Houston in Week 14, the big man’s absence was felt.

The Cowboys activated the defensive tackle’s 21-day practice window on Wednesday, clearing the way for him to work with the team and perhaps even be back on the field Monday night for the first round of the playoffs.

“I feel good,” Hankins told Patrik Walker of the team website. “I feel like I could’ve been back out sooner, but with the [injured reserve] rules, I had to be out four weeks. But I’m not mad about it; it just gives me more time to get my body right and ready for the playoffs. The time is now.”

Hankins came to the Cowboys in late October after a trade with Las Vegas and hasn’t logged more than 33 defensive snaps in a game since he joined the team. But he proved quite effective in late November and early December, helping to hold Dalvin Cook, Jonathan Taylor, and Dameon Pierce to 72, 82, and 78 rushing yards, respectively, in his last three outings.

“I thought the first couple weeks with John, we were getting him ready to go,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said this week. “Then I thought it just clicked: his space and how to fit in and how we play. … I’m definitely looking forward to having the big fella back inside. However a team wants to play, you have to have the big guys, have to have the rushers who cover. That’s the chess match on defense. Make sure: Do you want to go wide open? You’ve got to have the guys to do that. Want to close them down, get bigger? Have to have enough to do that. That’s the game within the game and having guys like [linebacker] Leighton [Vander Esch] and Hankins back will make that job a lot easier.”

In the Cowboys’ first game after Hankins’s injury, Jacksonville’s Travis Etienne ripped off 103 yards as the Jaguars totaled nearly 200 on the ground in their overtime win.

If he is, in fact, active for Monday’s tilt, Hankins will look to help sink a Tampa Bay rushing attack that’s already been stuck in the harbor for much of the season.

The Buccaneers rank dead last in the NFL in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and yards per carry.

After gashing Dallas in the season opener for 127 yards on the ground, Leonard Fournette hasn’t come within 50 yards of that in any contest since. He ranks 40th leaguewide in rushing yards and is averaging just 41.8 yards per game.

Rookie Rachaad White could be more of a problem. The third-round draft pick out of Arizona State logged just six carries for 14 yards back in Week 1, but he’s amassed 771 yards from scrimmage over the course of the season and has been listed as the team’s starting running back since Week 10.

Tampa Bay leads the league in passing attempts, and Tom Brady may well continue with that approach.

But having Johnathan Hankins back on the Cowboys’ interior defensive line could go a long way in making sure that the Bucs’ running game, which has hit triple digits just three times all year as a team, remains missing in action Monday night.

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Cowboys lose backup center to waiver wire

Dallas looked to re-sign Shepley to the practice squad until Indianapolis claimed him Tuesday; Tyler Biadasz is expected to return soon. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Even after the regular season officially concluded on Sunday, the Cowboys continued making their usual personnel moves as they gear up for what they hope is a long postseason run.

But their latest bit of roster shuffling has backfired, leaving them just a little bit thinner at a position that’s had some issues of late.

Backup center Dakoda Shepley was claimed by the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday, one day after being waived by the Cowboys and just three days after he had been promoted to Dallas’s active roster.

The 28-year-old had been signed by the Cowboys in early September and spent most of the season on the practice squad. He earned three gameday elevations; in Week 8 versus Chicago and Week 10 at Green Bay, he saw just a handful of special teams snaps. He got into Week 11’s rout of Minnesota for his first action on offense.

Shepley was signed to the 53-man roster this past Saturday as insurance depth at center, with Tyler Biadasz out and Connor McGovern filling in. Shepley again made it in the game for a small number of offensive plays in the 26-6 loss to the Commanders.

The Cowboys officially waived Shepley on Monday, ostensibly with the intention of re-signing him to the practice squad, but he had to last 24 hours on the waiver wire first.

The Colts didn’t allow that to happen; they claimed him Tuesday.

Due to league rules regarding waivers during the playoffs, Shepley must wait until after the Super Bowl to join his new club, even though Indianapolis is not part of the tournament.

Shepley loses out on postseason play as well as the extra earnings that come with being on a playoff club.

Biadasz is expected back in time for the Cowboys’ Monday night game in Tampa. Reserve lineman Matt Farniok could also be making a return soon.

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Cowboys look to break curse, record first playoff win in navy jerseys

Dallas is 0-3 in postseason games wearing navy-colored jerseys; they’ll pair them with white pants Monday, a combo that went 2-0 this year. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys will look to break a few streaks on Monday night if they can topple the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs. A win would mark the club’s first postseason victory since 2018 and their first tournament road win since the 1992 postseason.

But if the Cowboys can escape Tampa with a victory, it will be their first playoff win wearing navy-colored jerseys… ever.

The team has announced that they will wear their navy jerseys and white pants to face the Bucs. It’s the same combo they wore in Week 5’s 22-10 win over the Rams and Week 8’s 49-29 victory against Chicago. (On Thanksgiving Day, the Cowboys did wear their throwback jerseys with white pants. While navy is the primary color, the “double-star” scheme on the shoulders makes those jerseys different than the regular navy set.)

The Cowboys first unveiled true navy-colored jerseys for the 1981 season. Prior to that, the team’s “road” jerseys were royal blue, and they were worn with the team’s regular light blue pants, and gray pants years before that.

The last on-the-field appearance for those uniforms (which many fans believed were cursed) was the 20-7 NFC Championship loss to Philadelphia in January 1981. The last postseason win in royal blue? The 1978 conference championship that put Roger Staubach & Co. in Super Bowl XXIII.

The Cowboys have played plenty of other road playoff games along the way: 11, to be exact. But thanks to the tendency of most teams to sport their colored jerseys in front of their home fans, the Cowboys were left to wear their traditional white-top set for those matchups.

Since switching to navy, Dallas has worn colored jerseys in three prior postseason games: 1982’s NFC title game loss to Washington, the 1996 divisional loss to Carolina, and 2003’s wild-card loss to, again, Carolina. All of those postseason losses came in grey pants.

As the home team, Tampa Bay got to select their jersey color for the upcoming Monday night contest. The Cowboys, forced into wearing colored jerseys, have opted to go with white pants rather than the silver pants they wore under navy in Weeks 3 and 18.

Using data compiled from The Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cowboys first used the navy-on-white pairing in 2017 and have worn it a total of eight times since then- including the two games earlier this season- but they’ve never before worn navy-on-white in a postseason game.

Their overall record in that uniform combo: 6-2.

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Safe Returns: Jones says McCarthy job as Cowboys HC not in jeopardy as playoffs begin

The owner says there is no outcome Monday versus the 8-9 Buccaneers that would put McCarthy’s status as Cowboys head coach at risk. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Mike McCarthy wasn’t hired to rack up 12-win seasons.

He was brought in as head coach to turn the Cowboys into a team that is, to borrow the phrase owner Jerry Jones used back in July, “viable in the playoffs.”

Now, with a second straight postseason berth, questions have once again surfaced about McCarthy’s future with the organization if the Cowboys don’t make- at the very least- a deep run through the NFC bracket.

Jones, though, isn’t ready to make Monday night’s wild-card showdown with Tampa Bay any sort of make-or-break moment for his third-year head coach.

“No. I don’t even want to- no. That’s it,” Jones told Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan during a Tuesday morning call-in when he was asked if McCarthy’s job could be at risk with a playoff loss to the 8-9 Buccaneers. “I don’t need to go into all the pluses or minuses, but I’ve got a lot more to evaluate Mike McCarthy on than this playoff game.”

Despite a 12-5 regular-season campaign, the confidence of Cowboys Nation has wavered in recent weeks. There was the blowout of a poor Indianapolis squad that actually wasn’t a blowout at all over the first three quarters. That was followed by a four-point squeaker over a one-win Houston crew. A mistake-filled overtime loss to Jacksonville. Two consecutive slugfest wins over teams starting backup quarterbacks. And, of course, the top-to-bottom terrible showing in Sunday’s finale against a depleted Washington roster that had zero left to play for.

Dallas’s recent body of work is concerning enough that the Cowboys opened as favorites by only three points to a sub-.500 team.

But Jones expressed belief that the team will rally around each other as well as their coaching staff.

“I have real confidence, all the confidence in the world in Mike and our offensive line coaches and our offensive personnel, our coordinator. I have all the faith in the world that we can make the kind of adjustments we need to make this week,” Jones explained. “I can see us playing better. Got to play better at Tampa, but I have a lot of confidence in our coaches to get that straightened out.”

The constant hot-seat whispers seem to always surround this team, even after an overall successful season. But until the Cowboys can get over this 27-year speed bump and finally make it back to the NFC title game, the questions will linger.

And despite this latest dismissal of the topic from Jerry Jones, nothing will definitively answer those questions- at least for another week- quite like actually being viable in the playoffs and notching a win in Tampa.

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