The Dallas Cowboys’ 27-20 loss to the New York Giants was ugly enough on its own, what happened on the sidelines was even worse. Shortly after the Giants scored what proved to be the winning touchdown on a kickoff return, the cameras caught Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy getting into a heated argument with team-mate Dez Bryant.
Bryant, it turns out, was actually attempting to calm Hardy down and later footage would show the defensive end knocking the clipboard out of the hands of the Cowboys’ special teams coach. After the game, Hardy deflected all questions with offered a brusque “no comment, next question”.
"No comment, next question." Greg Hardy was NOT in the mood to talk to the media after the 'Boys loss. https://t.co/iXMfKlOqA4
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 26, 2015
Were this a different player in a different situation, maybe this wouldn’t be a huge deal. It’s an open secret that NFL players get into it all the time. Yes. even sometimes with coaches, although ideally it doesn’t happen on the field. To treat Hardy’s temper tantrum as a major crime against the sport would be pushing things.
This, however, is Greg Hardy, and there might not be another player in the league who deserves less benefit of the doubt. There is a pattern of behavior here. Hardy entered the year under a four-game suspension following a domestic violence conviction which was overturned on appeal. In his first game back, he drew further negative attention to himself by making disreputable comments about women and showing no semblance of remorse.
At this point, the question of whether Hardy is worth having on one’s team must be raised. The Cowboys signed him to a one year, $11.3m contract, none of it guaranteed, in what was considered a ‘low risk, high reward’ move during the off-season. The whole reason one makes these sort of moves is that it allows teams to cut their losses at the first sign of trouble.
It’s hard to imagine how Sunday’s events would not fall under that category.
Maybe keeping a player like Hardy, who has had three sacks in his two games as a Cowboy, would make sense if Dallas were a legitimate contender. It’s easy for a team, and its fans, to accept a player they otherwise wouldn’t if they could be a key part of a championship run.
That’s not this team.
The Cowboys are 2-4. Sunday’s loss to their division rivals, their fourth defeat in a row, puts them dead last in the NFC East, making it increasingly unlikely they will even sniff the postseason. They will have to start either Brandon Weeden or Matt Cassel at quarterback until Tony Romo comes back, which is weeks away. Bryant is still week-to-week with his foot injury.
This should make Hardy’s presence on the team even more precarious. Hardy alone isn’t going to be enough to turn this team into a playoff team, if he’s already a public relations nightmare and clearly a disruptive presence in the locker room, why should the team keep him?
Will those in charge of this franchise realize just how morally bankrupt and flat-out stupid they will look if they don’t Hardy continue to act out without consequences? Or will they instead continue to blithely offer excuses for a player whose actions have already been excused far too often?
Quote of the week
“He’s of course one of the real leaders on this team. He earns it. He earns it with respect from all his teammates. That’s the kind of thing that inspires. I have no problem with him being involved in motivating or pushing any part of the football team. He plays and walks the walk.”
– Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Greg Hardy
Oh. Well I guess that answers that, then. Jones apparently thinks this whole embarrassing debacle was a net positive. Somehow he managed to come up with an opinion even more delusional than when he said “you won’t see a more gifted passer.”
Stat of the week
8. That’s the combined amount of wins in the AFC South after Sunday’s games. It was a bad day for the worst division in football. The only team to win a game was the Jacksonville Jaguars, and even they blew a 27-3 first half lead before rallying to a 34-31 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Houston Texans lost 44-26 to the Miami Dolphins, a blowout loss made even more painful when Arian Foster suffered a season-ending Achilles injury while playing in garbage time. The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Tennessee Titans by the astoundingly unexciting score of 10-7. The New Orleans Saints held back an attempted comeback by the Indianapolis Colts to win 27-21, but the good news is that their 3-4 record is still good enough for them to be solidly in first place.
Fantasy player of the week
Would you believe Kirk Cousins? After Washington fell behind 24-0 early, Cousins had no choice but to chuck the ball and hope for the best, eventually putting up 317 passing yards while throwing for 3 TDs and rushing for a 4th. More importantly than helping those foolish or lucky enough to actually start him on their fantasy team, Cousins helped engineer a 31-30 comeback win for his actual reality team over the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the largest comeback in team history.
How did the New England Patriots cheat this week?
The Patriots must have played some mind games to get New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw to the middle of the field with only 10 seconds remaining in the game. The ill-advised pass, combined with a penalty, ended the game after the Jets had scored a field goal to cut the Patriots lead to seven points and then recover their own onside kick.
I mean, that has to be the answer, right? There’s clearly no explanation as Fitzpatrick is well-known for his intellect, to the point where NFL announcers’ obsession with his Ivy League education is now officially a running internet joke.
Or maybe it’s something else. Maybe only the person responsible for this enigmatic message knows the real truth:
Someone paid money to fly this banner above Gillette Stadium pic.twitter.com/M1aGwUzX28
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) October 25, 2015
Gif of the week
With the NFL’s crackdown on Twitter earlier this month, it seemed possible that there simply wouldn’t be one. For the moment, at least, we’re still treated to such instant classics as “Cam Newton, Master Thespian.”
Cam Newton brilliantly faked his own death, fooling the Eagles and leading to a TD. https://t.co/9WQ6xRrb8d pic.twitter.com/UgREgdclKI
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) October 26, 2015
ACTING!
Elsewhere around the league
• This week’s London game, where the Jaguars just barely staved off the Bills, was only aired in the US on the teams’ respective home markets. The only way viewers outside of Florida and the general New York state are could watch the early morning game was through a Yahoo! live stream. This was the first step towards an exciting new future where, one day, Jaguars games won’t be broadcast at all.
• This week in airline mishaps, part one: In what ended up being a warning sign of the terrible weekend to come for Houston, Texans backup quarterback Ryan Mallett missing the team flight and had to fly commercial just to make it to Miami. Unfortunately, he made it in time to catch the game.
• This week in airline mishaps, part two: Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was downgraded to questionable before Sunday’s game, reportedly after accidentally swallowing chewing tobacco on his flight on Sunday. Peterson refused to blame the chaw instead fingering the culprit as bad shrimp. It didn’t end up mattering, Peterson ended up starting, and the Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 28-19.
• Ryan Tannehill went 18-for-19 in passing attempts while the Miami Dolphins manage to put up 44 points on the Houston Texans. Derek Carr threw three touchdowns and the Oakland Raiders defeated the San Diego Chargers, 37-29. With so many promising quarterbacks regressing – ask a Colts or 49ers fan about that trend – it’s refreshing to see signs that two young quarterbacks might be actually developing.
• All five teams that were undefeated coming into Sunday remained perfect. With their wins on Sunday, the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers joined the 6-0 club. It’s three other members, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers all were on their bye weeks. My expert prediction: not all of these teams will remain undefeated.
