The Cowboys, Kolb and the NFC East
The Cowboys will come to town next week fresh off a 34-7 win over the Rams.
DeMarco Murray piled up a franchise-best 253 yards on the ground. The rookie running back wasted no time taking advantage of the holes in the Rams' run defense, scoring on a 91-yard run on the Cowboys' first drive of the game. An Eagles run defense that had struggled before the Redskins game will face another test on the ground in Week 8.
The only other NFC East team in action was the Redskins, who dropped their second straight, falling to the Panthers, 33-20.
Cam Newton and Steve Smith did most of the damage for Carolina. Newton completed 18 of 23 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown (127.5 QB rating). Smith had seven catches for 143 yards.
John Beck, taking over the starting job from Rex Grossman, completed 22 of 37 passes for 279 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Beck also lost a fumble. Here's what the NFC East looks like, with each team having played six games:
As you can see, the four teams are separated by two games. Next week's matchup is going to be a big one. Who's ready for Dallas week?
Some other notes from today's games:
* Things have gone from bad to worse for Kevin Kolb and the Arizona Cardinals. They went down, 32-20, today to the Steelers and are now 1-5, having lost five games in a row. I'll admit I had the Red Zone Channel on and was not focused solely on this game, but it didn't seem like Kolb played as well as the numbers (18-for-34 for 272 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) indicate. Having said that, the Cardinals have issues on the other side of the ball too as Ben Roethlisberger torched them for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Considering that the 49ers are 5-1, the Cardinals' season appears all but over.
* Aaron Rodgers is playing on a different level than the league's other 31 starting quarterbacks. He completed his first 13 passes against the Vikings and finished 24-for-30 for 335 yards and three touchdowns (QB rating of 146.5). The Packers are 7-0, and Rodgers has 20 touchdowns against three interceptions on the season. On the other side of the field, rookie Christian Ponder looked OK early, but ended up completing just 13 of 32 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
* Plaxico Burress hadn't scored since the opener before today, but he found the end zone three times as the Jets came back from a 21-10 halftime deficit, scoring 17 unanswered points for a 27-21 victory. Strange moment at the end of the game. San Diego was facing a 4th-and-3 from its own 49, and for some reason, Philip Rivers threw the ball away, ending the game.
* There was a lot of bad football today. In an absolute thriller, the Browns beat the Seahawks, 6-3. In Miami, the Tim Tebow-led Broncos trailed the Dolphins, 15-0, with 5:23 left, but they came back for an 18-15 overtime victory.
* The Lions started off the season 5-0, but dropped their second straight, losing to the Falcons, 23-16. And in London, the Bears held off a Bucs comeback, coming away with a 24-18 victory and improving to 4-3 on the season.
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