Something about the Monday night game really made me feel good. I t was one of those old fashioned shootouts that you could tell wasn’t
going to be decided until the last seconds ticked off in the fourth quarter. As abrasive as Tony Kornhiser is, he seemed to have called it correctly early in the second quarter when we started seeing McNabb and Romo taking turns leading their respective offenses up and down the field. Interesting
how otherwise solid defenses seem to get pushed around when the elite players of the league decide to crank it up a notch and go after each other, the
way Romo was trying outdo McNabb and McNabb was trying to show up T.O. with Jerry Jones up in the booth looking like he was getting ready to offer Emmit a one day contract to suit up in the second half and help his team win this particular game. Forget about tomorrow just win this game tonight. Don’t let those damn Eagles show me up again in my own house.
And the human psychological dramas that continued to play out throughout the game were great. Anyone who follows the NFL couldn’t help but notice the ironies of how the same patterns of performance that have marked the careers of the principles in this show, the way T.O comes through
with huge plays in a game he puts his two cents in beforehand to stir up a fuss. And the way Romo plays with an overall brilliance and yet he shows us those erratic and inexplicable moments that have thus far defined his short yet star-crossed career. And the way McNabb put on his superman cape
and almost single handedly pulled this one out. ‘Almost’ being the key word. He played as if getting this one done could have purged the demons of a Super Bowl loss of a few years ago. A game in which he came so close and would have been the crowning point of a stellar career. But much like the
end of that Super Bowl, this game ends up with the same result. Something tells me that this season if he stays healthy he is going to play like a man
possessed and we’ll see him in the playoffs. Maybe this time he might be able to get it done. At this point nothing short of a Super Bowl victory would be seen as a success for him for this season, and his career. Like Marino and Staubauch before him, lack of a world championship will keep
his otherwise hall of fame career incomplete.
The NFL has changed in many ways since I started following it, (over four decades ago). Yet some things never change. Rivalries among top teams are priceless. The way the Snake and the Raiders would battle the powerful Oilers and Steelers defenses in the seventies, with the Steeler defense keeping their offense in the game until the fourth quarter when Bradshaw would finally hit a couple of plays to pull it out. The way two field generals would deploy their troops whether its Theismann battling Montana for NFC superiority, or Staubauch and Tarkenton. These were the conflicts that drew us in emotionally and spiritually. And most of us would pick a side and rise and fall depending on the success, or failure of the teams we
chose. But even if you’re not a fan of those particular teams, you can still appreciate and enjoy the drama and conflict of the ongoing wars and chess
matches that we know as the NFL. And the more proficient a team is, the more it enhances the rivalry. This is why a game like tonight’s makes
me feel good. And look forward to the rest of the season. Game on.
