There is quite a bit of news to report about tomorrow game, and most of it is good.
* Terrell Owens is reportedly near 100% healthy, which is much, much better than what we heard early in the week. Here is the story from AP.
* Marion Barber will start instead of Julius Jones tomorrow, according to ESPN.
* Linebacker Greg Ellis was selected as the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. NFL.com has more.
* Former Cowboy Larry Allen is expected to announce his retirement, according to reports.
Nostradamus Quatrain Generator
The Dallas Morning News had a post about various superstitions of some Cowboys fans. Of mine, my new one is to run the Nostradamus Quatrain Generator. Dallas was 4-0 during weeks that I ran it. The Cowboys were 0-2 during the weeks that I didn’t.
(Question: Will the Cowboys beat the Giants to advance to the NFC Championship Game?)
Response:
When the lamp burning with an inextinguishable fire
Not of your walls, of your lifeblood and substance
The fields watered will come to shrink
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck
My guess: Dallas shortens the field on offense and is blessed will good luck. Let’s leave good enough alone.
AccuScore
AccuScore assumed the Terrell Owens would play at 70% due to his ankle injury, and the Cowboys still won 67% of the simulations. We believe now that Owens is more healthy than that. Average score: Cowboys 27, Giants 21.
A month ago 99 percent of people would rather have had the Cowboys passing and running game than the Giants offense. While Tony Romo is forecasted for 35 more passing yards and is averaging 0.5 more TD passes, Eli is holding his own. The Giants combo of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw are averaging 5 ypc for 115 yards which is more than Marion Barber and Julius Jones who combine for 100 yards and just 4 ypc. The simulations expect Terrell Owens to be playing at 70 percent which is still good for 80 yards and a 85 percent chance of 1 TD reception. The game is definitely coming back to the QBs. In 10000 simulations Romo has the edge, but on any given Sunday, Eli Manning could pull off the shocker.
Dallas Morning News
Of eight Dallas Morning News staff members, all predict a Dallas win.
When the lamp burning with an inextinguishable fire
This signifies that Terrell Owens, the lamp burning with an inextinguishable fire, is going to play despite his recent injury.
Not of your walls, of your lifeblood and substance
This just further points to Owens because he wasn’t drafted by the Cowboys, but brought in as a free agent late in his career. This tells me he will have a big game and rejuvanate the offense.
The fields watered will come to shrink
This refers to Patrick Crayton’s comment after the second game against the Giants of how they basically went into the Giants’ house and urinated on them. The field will indeed seem to shrink as the Cowboys score all over the Giants, pissing on them again.
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck
A reference to Marion Barber, both because of the obvious name similarity and because Mars is the god of war, refering to Barber’s violent running style. And Barber will “reign” both before, because he is starting, and after because he will have a great day running the ball, especially putting the Giants away in the fourth quarter, and by good luck, scoring a couple of TDs off of Giants turnovers.