Dein erstes Forum » inst Eric Molina

Realism is a small, lonely island in the roiling sea of 2016 sports discourse. Yeah, but isnt what anyone wants to hear. Especially where the still-embryonic career of Dak Prescott is concerned.The Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback has so far been poised and smart and nimble of both mind and body. Hes third in the league in Total QBR, fifth in yards per pass attempt. The Cowboys are 6-1 with him starting in place of an injured Tony Romo. They were 1-11 without Romo last year.But Prescott played a bad game Sunday. He just did. He looked like a rookie, ruffled by the Philadelphia Eagles attacking defensive front, making questionable decisions and poor throws when things started breaking down. He delivered a victory in overtime in spite of his 19-for-39 fire drill, and that says a lot about a young player. But he is, very obviously, a young player with work to do if hes to spin his hot start into sustained success.The quirky note that Prescott was the first rookie to lead a fourth-quarter comeback from a double-digit deficit since Nick Foles in 2012 is packed with warning. Eagles fans once saw Foles as the answer to their prayers. Hes now Alex Smiths backup in Kansas City. Not that theres anything wrong with that, but its not the fate Eagles fans imagined for him in 2012-13. And its surely not the fate Cowboys fans currently imagine for Prescott.This column is called What we learned and didnt learn, and I dont think we learned much about Prescott on Sunday night. On some level, everyone must have already known that (A) he has what it takes to win his team a close game and (B) hes a rookie who was not going to paint 16 flawless masterpieces. Even the most entrenched Team Dak loyalist must acknowledge that theres at least a chance itll make sense to give the job back to Romo at some point.But while none of that necessarily falls under the heading of What we learned, its nice sometimes to be reminded of how much we still have to learn. Here are some other Week 8 lessons:Cam Newton has a pointNo one weeps for (or with) Goliath, so when a player of Newtons physical stature talks about not feeling safe on the field, there is surely plenty of eye-rolling around the NFL and its fan base. But this isnt Newton pouting after a loss. (They won.) This is a real concern, articulated previously by teammates, coaches and relatives and now by the league MVP himself.Newton has been hit 212 times since the start of the 2015 season -- 27 more than any other quarterback. The Panthers are one of only two teams in that time whose opponents have not been penalized for roughing the passer. Thats an embarrassing statistical anomaly that can only be explained by a double standard. He runs more than other quarterbacks, sure. But hes not the only one running.Its indisputable that defensive players are targeting Newton. Its indisputable that theyre getting away with it. We learned Sunday that hed like both of those things to stop. But the first one wont until the second does.The Raiders season is Mario KartSeriously, Oakland is standing on the gas and doesnt care what it runs into on the way to the finish line. The Raiders committed 23 accepted penalties Sunday and still beat the Bucs because Derek Carr threw for three-tenths of a mile on 59 attempts, not one of which was intercepted. The defense had 12 men on the field twice on Tampa Bays game-tying drive in the fourth quarter, then just nine for the two-point conversion. Think about that. The Raiders literally dont care how many players they use on defense, so bent are they on getting back to watching Carrs weekly first-person shooter game.The Raiders are 5-0 on the road, 1-2 at home. Their six wins have come by a combined total of 25 points, only one by more than seven. They have outscored their opponents by 12 points for the season and, if the season ended right now, they would somehow be the No. 2 seed in the AFC. The Raiders make as much sense as David S. Pumpkins. You have no idea whats going on or whether its actually any good, but you cant stop watching.The divisions arent what we thought they wereBefore the season started, the NFC West and the AFC North looked like monsters. Seattle and Arizona were co-favorites in the NFC. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati expected a Baltimore resurgence. These were power divisions, on paper.But the games arent played on paper. Theyre played on iPad screens. And on Twitter, on Thursday nights. No team?in the NFC West has won since Oct. 17, and only the Seahawks in that division are over .500. The Steelers are a so-so 4-3 and are dealing with a banged-up?Ben Roethlisberger. The Bengals streak of five straight playoff appearances looks to be in jeopardy, and the Ravens have faded after a 3-0 start. Meanwhile, the entire NFC East is over .500 and the AFC West could put three teams in the playoffs. Long way to go, but the chances of Seattle, Arizona, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh all living up to their lofty preseason expectations are fading by the week.The Jaguars found a scapegoatLets see ... Your franchise quarterback has regressed to the point that he cant even give his receivers a chance to catch the ball, and your defense gave up 27 points in the first half to the Titans. Fire the offensive coordinator and replace him with the quarterbacks coach? Not feeling this one, Jags. Hey, it worked for Buffalo! someone may or may not have said in Jacksonville after Gus Bradley threw Greg Olson overboard Saturday. And sure enough, the Bills did win four straight after firing their offensive coordinator earlier this year. But even that has faded, and odds seem good that Olson wont be the last one out the door in Duval.Relax -- there is nothing wrong with a tieI can understand why coaches and players would be unsatisfied with a tie. And I get why, as a fan, youd be upset that your team failed to win. But what I dont get is this idea that a tie is some sort of abomination that should be stamped out with yet another unnecessary change to the NFLs overtime rules. Washington and Cincinnati tied. So what? It was an excellent game between two teams that have a lot of really good players and were operating out of at least some sense of desperation. We complain about blowouts, but a tie is literally the closest possible game, and yet something is wrong with this as an outcome? Are we that obsessed with winning and losing?In spite of the fact that one has happened each of the past two weeks, ties are rare enough in the NFL that we can view them as a cute aberration rather than a flaw in the system. They add a different flavor come playoff-scenario time. And given what we know about the toll the game takes on players bodies, 15 extra minutes is surely more than enough time to ask these guys to play. Let there be ties. No harm done here.Short passes are the new blackFour receivers had at least 10 catches in Week 8. Three of them -- Green Bays Davante Adams, Philadelphias Jordan Matthews and Arizonas Larry Fitzgerald?-- failed to reach 75 receiving yards. Yes, those three dudes averaged a combined 6.45 yards per pass. Pretty electrifying, right? Its the second week in a row the league has seen three players with 10 catches and fewer than 75 yards.?Don Coryell is rolling over in his grave, but in a league with only about four good offensive lines, its tough to run the ball and its tough to get enough time to throw downfield. Short passing games arent going away anytime soon. Anthony Joshua has mocked heavyweight rivals Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte over the violence which marred Wednesdays news conference to promote the pairs British title bout.The British Boxing Board of Control are set to convene an emergency meeting on Thursday at which possible sanctions -- including the possibility of scrapping the Saturday night contest in Manchester -- will be discussed.Joshua resisted the temptation to follow Chisoras example and overturn a table during a relatively good-natured press conference to discuss his IBF title defence against Eric Molina on the same card.Joshua said: People like entertainment and people like boxing so I think were covering the full package -- both the WWE [World Wresting Entertainment] part and the old-school fighting part.Questioned about his own relatively low-key demeanour, Joshua added: Im not holdding back from anyone, Im not hiding under the radar.ddddddddddddIve still got my old school friends around me and we are all moving on the same wave.Joshua will start an overwhelming favourite to make a successful second defence of his title against the 34-year-old Texan, who suffered a ninth-round stoppage to WBC champion Deontay Wilder last June.Joshua added: Im getting more experience now and I understand the importance of training hard as well as smart, and physically Im in the best shape I could be right now.Now its about fine-tuning the mind. I could sit here and say I will knock Eric out in a round but thats not my style. It is two warriors coming together and the better man will walk away with his hands in the air. ' ' '