Anthopoulos looks to have, at a minimum, positione...
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Anthopoulos looks to have, at a minimum, positioned
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2014/06/27 01:10AM
Latest post: 2014/06/27 01:10AM, Views: 329, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2014/06/27 01:10AM, Views: 329, Posts: 1
lili
ARLINGTON, Texas - Win big, win small; win pretty, win ugly. Tony Romo learned a long time ago that victories are the only thing that matter in the NFL. So on a day when he was sloppier than hed been in months, and when his defence was giving up plenty of long drives but only one touchdown, Romo had one chance to make it pay off -- and he did. He and DeMarco Murray led an efficient final drive, setting up rookie Dan Bailey for a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Dallas Cowboys a 20-19 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday. Dallas (7-4) won its fourth straight, and fourth this season decided by a kick by Bailey in the final two minutes or in overtime. Heck, it was the second time in five days that he ended a game with a winning field goal. "Were just finding ways to win," said Romo, who offset a pair of interceptions with a pair of touchdown passes. That plucky formula will send the Cowboys into December leading the NFC East. Theyre a half-game ahead of the New York Giants, pending their game at New Orleans on Monday night. If New York wins, the clubs would be tied; a Saints win would keep Dallas on top alone. "There is no favourite," Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman said. "Ill tell you what happens at the end of the season. We just have to keep on plugging and get some wins." The Dolphins (3-8) had four drives that got within 10 yards of the end zone, yet settled for field goals every time. Their only touchdown came on a 35-yard pass from Matt Moore to Brandon Marshall. However, Miami still nearly pulled it out. In the second half, the Dolphins scored on all but their final drive, and that was all it took to end a three-game winning streak. "When you come into somebody elses place, those (deep drives) have got to be touchdowns," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "Theyve been touchdowns the last few weeks and thats why you win." Eighteen years after these teams played another Thanksgiving game decided on a last-second field goal -- one best remembered for Leon Letts gaffe on snow and ice -- conditions were so balmy that the glass end-zone doors at Cowboys Stadium were opened for the first time all season. Maybe thats what caused both teams to play so sloppy for so long. TV viewers, especially anyone fresh off a huge holiday meal, mightve dozed off watching the first half. But things got plenty interesting after halftime. Moore led Miami on three straight scoring drives of at least 70 yards, the last putting the Dolphins up 19-17 with 7:14 left. Dallas punted on its ensuing drive, then Moore was finally stopped, too. Miami punted and Dez Bryant made a rare appearance as a returner, taking it 20 yards. Romo took over at the Cowboys 36-yard line with 2:59 left. Jason Witten went into the huddle and told teammates, "We need this W, whatever it takes. No penalties. Weve got to get it there," left guard Montrae Holland said. Witten caught consecutive passes to put Dallas at the outer edge of Baileys range. Then it was up to Murray to drive the ball closer. With blood streaked across the white numbers on his blue jersey, Murray churned out 27 yards on the next five carries. His constant gains -- between three and nine yards, including one where he went down rather than stretch for more and risk going out of bounds -- took the clock from 2:41 to :17. After a kneel-down to waste more time and centre the ball between the hash marks, Bailey split the uprights. "Thats what they are paying me to do, I guess -- to go out there and make kicks," said Bailey, who has made 26 in a row, one shy of the club record. Romo ended a streak of 128 straight passes without an interception, but he completed 22 of 34 for 226 yards. Many of those came while scrambling and some while also being hit or grabbed. He was patient waiting for a five-yard touchdown pass to Laurent Robinson to develop, and the pair were in sync on an 18-yarder made with Romo moving to his left. "He just kind of kept hanging in there," Garrett said. "I thought he moved in the pocket really well. In critical situations, he ... allowed us to make plays." Murray ran 22 times for 87 yards, and caught four passes for 41 yards. Robinson caught seven passes for 79 yards. Witten had four catches for 43 yards and Bryant caught three balls for 35 yards. Moore was 19 of 32 for 288 yards and a touchdown. He took four sacks and had trouble handling several snaps; one went through his hands and was recovered by Dallas only five yards from the end zone. That set up the first Romo-to-Robinson touchdown, with 55 seconds left in the half, ending Miamis streak of 13 quarters without allowing a touchdown. Reggie Bush ran 16 times for 61 yards and had 35 more on three receptions. Marshall had 103 yards on five catches, including the TD pass hauled in while Newman had him in a headlock for about five yards. "We felt like we played a good game all day, but we didnt make enough plays and they did," Miami safety Yeremiah Bell said. "Thats the price you pay, so if we would have made more plays, we would have won the game." NOTES: The Cowboys improved to 28-15-1 on Thanksgiving. Romo is 5-0 on the holiday; he missed last years game -- which Dallas lost -- with a broken collarbone. ... The Dolphins are 3-4 on Thanksgiving. ... Miamis Shayne Graham, who was among Baileys competition for the Dallas job in the pre-season, made FGs of 23, 26, 27 and 28 yards. cheap jerseys from china free shipping .S. -- The St. cheap jerseys from china paypal . The Mariners made the moves on Tuesday before their game against Toronto. Seattle was down two pitchers in the bullpen after trades Monday night that sent Steve Delabar to Toronto and Brandon League to the Los Angeles Dodgers. http://www.cheapjerseysfromchi... . For the longest time, there was a sense of inevitability about Woods when he was in front going into the weekend at a major championship. [url=http://www.cheapjerseysfromchinashop.us.com/]cheap jerseys from china . But a six-run third inning off Randy Wolf proved to be plenty Friday night, and the Pirates pounded the Brewers 8-2. "I think it has a lot to do with how the games have gone here in the past," Correia said. "A five-run lead doesnt feel like much here.What started modestly with the signing of a middle-of-the-road utility infielder, has quickly turned into a winter to remember for Jays fans, with general manager Alex Anthopoulos making a series of ground-breaking moves, culminating in the acquisition of the reigning National League Cy Young winner, R.A. Dickey. Counting utility-man Maicer Izturis and back-up catcher Josh Thole, eight new faces have been added to the Blue Jays 25-man roster, including three each to their projected opening day lineup and starting rotation. Lets take a look at how the new faces will fit into the Jays lineup and how the team compares with the one that took the field to open last season. 2013 Projected Lineup 2012 Opening Day Lineup SS Jose Reyes SS Yunel Escobar LF Melky Cabrera 2B Kelly Johnson RF Jose Bautista RF Jose Bautista DH Edwin Encarnacion 1B Adam Lind 1B Adam Lind DH Edwin Encarnacion 3B Brett Lawrie 3B Brett Lawrie CF Colby Rasmus LF Eric Thames C J.P. Arencibia C J.P. Arencibia 2B Emilio Bonifacio CF Colby Rasmus Despite being without Bautista for 70 games last season, the Jays still finished in the middle of the pack in runs scored in the American League. Additionally, Lawrie and Arencibia missed time due to injuries and Lind was demoted and then placed on waivers, before being recalled. Without factoring in the additions, the Jays should simply be better if they are able to get full seasons from any or all of the four mentioned above. If you add in the new faces, Toronto has a chance to be one of the top scoring teams in the American League, as Reyes, Bonifacio and Cabrera all represent upgrades over their predecessors. Looking at wins above replacement, Reyes was nearly three wins better than Escobar, (according to fangraphs.com) while Bonifacio was of equal value to Johnson despite having less than half the plate appearances. The big trade-off should come with Cabrera however, as the combination of Blue Jays left fielders posted a combined WAR of -0.1, while Cabreras 4.6 mark was amongst the best at his position. Even if you drop Cabrera down to four wins considering his breakout year, and double Bonifacios number since he is expected to play a full season, the trio should still make Toronto about eight wins better in 2013. Combine that with a bounce back season from Bautista, who was good for more than eight wins in 2011 and full seasons from Lawie and Arencibia and it is realistic to think the Jays – just on the strength of their offence — should be at least 10 wins better over last season. 2013 Projected Rotation: 2012 Opening Day Rotation: RHP R.A. Dickey LHP Ricky Romero RHP Josh Johnson RHP Brandon Morrow LHP Mark Buehrle RHP Joel Carreno RHP Brandon Morrow RHP Henderson Alvarez LHP Ricky Romero RHP Kyle Drabek While Toronto had a respectable offence last season, their pitching staff was a huge disappointment, finishing with the sixth most runs allowed in all of baseball.dddddddddddd The starters combined for a WAR of just 5.1, as Morrow made only 21 starts and Romero suffered through a disastrous year, falling from a wins above replacement mark of 2.9 in 2011 to 0.5. Realizing their pitching shortcomings, Anthopoulos moves have added three new starters that combined to throw over 627 innings last season. After being forced to hand the ball to 12 different men in 2012, the consistency and ability to pitch deep into games is what makes Dickey, Johnson and Buehrle all that more valuable. If Johnson and Buehrle can duplicate the success they had with Miami and Dickey can produce somewhere in the neighbourhood of the 3.3 WAR he averaged over his last three years with the Mets, the Jays should be looking at between nine and 10 wins from the three hurlers. Likewise, if Morrow manages to post a number near the 3.2 WAR hes averaged over the last three years and Romero bounces back to become the pitcher that averaged better than 3.0 wins over his last three seasons in Toronto, then the Jays starting five should easily combine for around ten more wins than they had last season. 2013 Projected Bullpen: 2012 Opening Day Bullpen: RHP Casey Janssen RHP Sergio Santos RHP Sergio Santos RHP Francisco Cordero RHP Steve Delabar RHP Casey Janssen LHP Darren Oliver LHP Darren Oliver LHP Aaron Loup LHP Luis Perez RHP Brad Lincoln RHP Jason Frasor LHP J.A. Happ RHP Carlos Villanueva Unlike his lineup and rotation, Anothopoulos hasnt made any major moves to add to his bullpen, thus far in the off-season. Part of the reason for that is because he was very active during the year making trades to add a number of power arms that he felt would be an upgrade over what the team started 2012 with. On paper, having the new arms available over the course of a full season should make Toronto a better team in its ability to close out games. Only two of the six members finished the season where they started it and the Jays were forced to use a patchwork pen to get through games. The relievers would end up posting a WAR of just 2.5 in 2012, which was good for 20th in baseball. If they are able to, at the very least, get back to the middle of the pack – and on paper, the arms they have now should easily allow them to do this – it would mean adding another win to their total last season. So, what do all the additions mean? Are the Jays positioned to be a playoff contender in 2012? Well, if you add up the 10 win increases that the starting lineup and rotation should provide, along with the one more win the bullpen should easily achieve, it would be realistic to think Toronto should be 21 wins better in 2013. Add 21 wins to last seasons 73-89 mark and you have a 94-68 record. That would be one win better than the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers achieved last season in claiming the ALs two wildcard spots. So, on paper, Anthopoulos looks to have, at a minimum, positioned his club to be in the midst of the playoff race in 2013 -- exactly what he set out to do at the start of the off-season. ' ' '
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