Tony Romo is the most overrated player in the NFL, bar none. He's not even in the top half of QBs in the league.

Russell might be the one guy who surpasses Ryan Leaf on the all-time bust list.

1st, a 3rd and a 6th actually.

Yea, pretty much. Hes got some real raw talent, but i dont believe he has the discipline to work hard to become truly great.

Nah. Leaf's meltdown on and off the field was classic. Russell is just this football generation's Akili Smith/Andre Ware.

The guy has no business being a quarterback in the league, but you don't turn down the money if it's thrown at you. Raiders simply didn't do enough, if any amount of research on the guy other than watch him throw end over end 80 yarders at his pro day.

Denver has gotten away with being a dirty team for years. Why should the NFL hold them accountable now. Also Orton is not a good QB a lot of those completions are due to Brandon Marshall and Royal being such badass recievers. That one big reception where Marshall caught over the Cowboy CBs head was way too high but Marshall is such a freak of an athlete he was able to pull it down.

He's not that talented. He has decent size and ok footwork. Other than that, his other tools are marginal.

He has a mediocre arm, he's decently mobile, he can't read a defense well, he makes poor decisions, he has average pocket presence, he's not a locker room leader, and he's not that accurate.

The only thing I didn't like about the play was it wasn't somebody from our team laying him out.

I was wondering the same thing. That's pretty much the definition of an unnecessary hit on a player in a defenseless position. You can't even see the ball at any point of the clip.

Who was the cheap shot thug who made the illegal hit?

There have been alot less talented individuals succeed more than he has. Like i said, he doesnt seem to want to become truly great.

All of the things he could work on to be a better QB in this league are correctable. When Parcells was on his ass he was improving. Now he's got a non disciplanarian type of coach in Wade Phillips and he's regressed. I honestly think he's bought in to his own media hype and is unwilling to put in the work. Instead of studying his future playoff opponent a couple of seasons ago, he takes off on vacation with Jessica Simpson a week before the game.

Lots of candy-assing going on in this thread, whining for a penalty call on a clean hit. Its football, you expose your rib cage over the middle you are taking a hit. The only player who should have been flagged on that play is Romo for hanging his WR out to dry.

That's why intangibles are so important to the QB position. Romo would rather be a golfer than a QB, and he's not nearly talented enough to overcome that lack of drive.

I'm not a Matt Cassel guy whatsoever, but if you put him on Dallas, that's probably an 11-12 win team. With Romo, it's a .500 team.

That's funny. Try actually watching guys play instead of talking out of your ass. Buckhalter is a Running Back, by the way. I figured you wouldn't know.

<!--<td>17</td> <td>2</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>3</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>4</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>4</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>4</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>2</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>1</td>--> <!--<td>5</td> <td>0</td>--> <!--<td>17</td> <td>0</td>--> <!--<td> </td> <td> </td>--> <!--<td> </td> <td> </td>--> <!--<td>G</td> <td>S</td>--> <table id="statsReceivingView" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="581"><tbody><tr class="header"><td>Receiving</td> <td>REC</td> <td>YDS</td> <td>AVG</td> <td>LG</td> <td>TD</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">B. Marshall</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">16</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">219</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">13.7</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">51</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">2</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">J. Gaffney</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">11</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">154</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">14.0</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">49</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">0</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">D. Graham</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">9</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">112</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">12.4</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">24</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">0</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">E. Royal</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">8</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">58</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">7.3</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">12</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">0</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">C. Buckhalter</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">8</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">96</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">12.0</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">30</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">0</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">T. Scheffler</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">6</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">71</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">11.8</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">29</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">B. Stokley</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">6</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">157</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">26.2</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">87</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">K. Moreno</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">4</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">33</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">8.3</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">11</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">1</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">P. Hillis</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">6</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">6.0</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">6</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">0</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">TEAM</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">69</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">906</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">13.1</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">87</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(242, 244, 247);">5</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">OPP</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">76</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">724</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">9.5</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">53</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">0</td></tr></tbody></table>

Owners adopt four safety-related rule changes
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
March 24, 2009


Dana Point, Calif. -- It's nothing akin to the introduction of instant replay or the "K" ball, but the NFL owners have approved four minor rule changes submitted by the league's competition committee.

All four rules were made with the safety of players in mind.

Rule Change No. 1: No blindside blocks in which there is contact to the player's head.
It will now be a 15-yard penalty if "the initial force of the contact by a blocker's helmet, forearm or shoulder is to the head or neck area" if the blocker is moving toward his own endline and he approaches the opponent from behind or the side.

In simple terms, no crackback blocks to the head. Examples are receivers blocking down on linebackers and defenders blocking back on interception or fumble returns. Under this rule, it still appears that Warren Sapp's block on Chad Clifton was legal, but I'll check later with vice president of officiating Mike Pereira when he has his officiating seminar later today.

Rule Change No. 2: No more kickoff wedges.
It will be a 15-yard penalty if players intentionally form a wedge of three or more players on a kickoff return. No more than two receiving team players can join together shoulder-to-shoulder within 2 yards of each other and block for the returner.

Rule Change No. 3: Unnecessary roughness has been expanded to include shots to a defenseless receiver's head.
The amendment states, a penalty will be called "If the initial force of the contact by a defender's helmet, forearm, or shoulder is to the head or neck area of a defenseless receiver who is catching or attempting to catch a pass." This would presumably cover the hit Steelers safety Ryan Grant had on Baltimore running back Willis McGahee in the AFC Championship game.

Rule Change No. 4: No bunch formations on kickoffs.
There must be at least four players on each side of the kicker and at least three of those must be lined up between the hash mark and the out of bounds line, one of which must be outside the yard-line number.

What the rule does is prevent teams from bunching up players on onsides kicks.

Look for an update to this story later in which I"ll have remarks from Pereira.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archiv...ate=03-31-2009