A grateful Thank you to the New York Jets for finally ending the Dallas Cowboys' playoff hopes, and quieting the Dallas Hype Machine for hopefully the rest of the season. It's been painful to listen to ESPN, the NFL Network, and other sports outlets continually beat the dead horse of Dallas playoff chances for weeks and weeks. As Michael Irvin was quick to say on Saturday night after the 'boys 19-16 loss, it's been over for quite a while. But you wouldn't know it by the stories every day leading up to the Jets game. They've been pitiful for several games, but it's still "What do the Cowboys need to do to win?" blah blah blah....
Why is it such a crisis that the Cowboys are missing the playoffs? Because Jerrah paid for more air time? Or for the Cowboys to play in playoff games this year? What other 4-10 teams are these channels advocating? None! Where are the stories about the Chargers, Titans, Browns, 49ers? Nowhere. Now I know Skip Bayless, Deion Sanders, Jimmy Johnson, and Michael Irvin are big Dallas fans, but come on, do they pick all the featured topics for their channels?
God forbid that "America's Team" doesn't maintain TV ratings for the last couple weeks of the season, or don't keep selling Dez Bryant jerseys into Week 17. It's OK, though the Patriots are still winning, the Giants still have somewhat of a chance, and the Steelers are still in the mix. They have the biggest revenue sources - I mean fan bases - in the league. You would think I would mention Carolina at 14-0, but their market share is inferior and therefore irrelevant to the mass media. Want to hear about the battle for the division between KC and Denver? Good luck. How about the dominance of Arizona or Cincinnati this year? Not gonna happen. All you'll hear is more rehashing of "Tom Brady is God", Big Ben leading Steeler Nation, and how bad the NFC East is this year because Dallas and New York probably won't make it, so you can't give any respect to Washington for being in first place.