Second guesses: Tuck Rule should be revisited - New York Jets News at Jetsground.com

If Raiders owner Al Davis was watching, I'm sure he hollered out, "that's a fumble!"

But, no, the Tuck Rule saved Dallas quarterback Tony Romo in the end zone.

NFL Week 6

Week 6 action

Falcons 22, Bears 20

Texans 29, Dolphins 28

Colts 31, Ravens 3

Vikings 12, Lions 10

Saints 34, Raiders 3

Jets 26, Bengals 14

Bucs 27, Panthers 3

Rams 19, Redskins 17

Jaguars 24, Broncos 17

Cards 30, Cowboys 24

Eagles 40, 49ers 26

Packers 27, Seahawks 17

Chargers 30, Patriots 10

Giants at Browns

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Instead of being sacked for a potential safety, Romo brought the ball and his arm down while the Cardinals were knocking it loose and recovering for an apparent touchdown. But Dallas challenged and the touchdown was nullified and the Tuck Rule reared its ugly head once again.

I don't like this rule because it appeared to save Romo another ugly turnover. He was stuck in a disaster and bringing the ball down was his last hope. He averted disaster because of some silly rule. It sure looked like a fumble, fans.

At the end of this same game, Arizona linebacker Travis LaBoy, his dark hair dropping to his shoulder pads, had the sad face of a goat. Injured and unable to move and the clock running down, LaBoy was stuck in the Dallas backfield. Even a stretcher crew couldn't have run onto the field and carried him to the sidelines.

But LaBoy's injury and his inability to move gave the Cowboys the five extra yards they needed to put Nick Folk into field goal range. The referee called it "unabated to the quarterback."

Sure, it was — two plays ago.

I hate to say it. This was a cheap penalty, and I don't think LaBoy was faking it. Had the Cowboys won in overtime, LaBoy would have been the poster boy for tough luck losers. There must be a better way to call this when a defensive player is hurt.

I mean, what if LaBoy had a serious injury that required medical attention. What would the officials have done then? Still, penalize the Cardinals five yards? I say, the fair thing is to give the Cowboys 10 more seconds on the clock but not five more yards. Let them earn those yards fair and square. I mean, LaBoy was so far behind the play that he wasn't even on the FOX television screen — even with a wide-pan shot. The league should re-think both of these penalties.

'Skins make wrong turn in loss to Rams

The Redskins laid an egg against the Rams. I guess they couldn't deal with the role of a front-runner. Outcomes can be so fragile in the NFL, but you can bet that Washington guard Pete Kendall will second-guess himself all week.

Kendall caught a lucky break. One of Jason Campbell's deflected passes sailed right into Kendall's arms. Repeat after me, 300-pound offensive linemen are not tailbacks. But Kendall had dreams, I guess, of being Clinton Portis.

Instead of falling on the ground with the football, playing it safe, Kendall took off running like he knew what he was doing. Well, after two strides, Kendall was stripped of the football and Rams safety Ohsiomogho Atogwe scooped it up for a touchdown, and it was a huge reason why the Redskins were upset.

So, any offensive linemen who watched Kendall's silly moves, please remember it makes a whole lot of sense to simply fall down and protect the football. There is no glory in attempting to gain two or three yards. Only heartache.

Eagles should pursue Gonzalez, Williams

I was talking long and hard to Jimmy Johnson about what the Philadelphia Eagles should do. Well, any team for that matter, especially with Pro Bowl caliber players like Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez and Lions receiver Roy Williams available for Tuesday's trading deadline.

I think the Eagles should use their draft choices to pursue both of these players, and Johnson agrees. The Eagles have two first-round picks in the 2009 draft, theirs and Carolina's. You can't tell me right now that the Eagles can guarantee themselves two better players with those picks than Gonzalez and Williams.

And, believe me — they won't have to use both of those top picks to make those trades. The Eagles are getting old, and that's why they should make these moves. Donovan McNabb is ready to win now. Brian Westbrook, their best offensive player, is banged up and who knows how many more years he'll be in top form?

The NFL is all about winning right now. The Eagles have the salary cap room to absorb both players. Heck, Williams' cap number is $2.4 million right now. It even makes sense for the Cowboys. How would their offense look with Jason Witten on one side and Gonzalez on the other?

Winning in the NFL is all about having more weapons than your opponent. The Eagles don't make such deals like this, but I really think they should change their attitudes. Their key veterans aren't getting and younger, including their offensive tackles, and their time in now and next season. It would surely give McNabb more offensive options.

Lions give valiant effort in loss to Vikes

The moral victory of the day belonged to the Lions and head coach Rod Marinelli. Yes, the Lions put up a valiant fight in the Metrodome. They sacked Gus Frerotte five times and created three Minnesota turnovers.

Still, they couldn't prevent Frerotte from throwing for 296 yards and Adrian Peterson rushing for 111 yards. But they definitely inflicted some pain. But what can we say about Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky? Stuck on his own 1-yard line, Orlovsky rolled out and threw from his own end zone like he was playing in the CFL, like the end zone was twice as deep. It was amazing to watch.

On his first drop back, he almost ran out of the end zone while looking downfield. Disappointed, I guess, he tried it again. And sure enough, Orlovsky rolled to his right and ran a good three yards out of bounds for a safety.

Well, that safety proved to be Minnesota's winning points in a 12-10 victory. I know, we shouldn't rip Orlovsky because he doesn't get to play that much. And maybe this is why he doesn't play that much. He doesn't know the rules or the boundary limitations. Why the Detroit coaching staff had him throwing from his own end zone is beyond me, so blame them as well as the quarterback.

The Lions don't have a very talented team, but they gave a great effort in another losing cause. Rod Marinelli can go back to work at least feeling good about his team's effort.

Cutler a little too high on himself

Like many other NFL writers, The Sporting News sent me a few outrageous quotes from Denver quarterback Jay Cutler. I've only been around Cutler twice, and he's always struck me as a pretty humble young man. He has fought back from diabetes and proved that he's one of the game's finest young quarterbacks. But this quote blew me away.

"I have a stronger arm than John (Elway), hands down," Cutler reportedly told Steve Greenberg. "I'll bet on it against anybody's in the league. Brett Favre's got a cannon. But on game days, there's nobody in the league who's going to throw it harder than I am at all."

I can't believe Cutler was bragging like that. And he's wrong. His arm is strong, but there's no way that he even knows if his arm is as strong as Elway's was when John was 24- or 25-years-old. Elway was a special talent and I saw him throw a 75-yard pass across the field, from one corner to the other.

Also, Favre is 39 right now. When he was 25 or 26, he could throw with Cutler or anybody I've ever seen. Bert Jones had an arm, too. And Troy Aikman. I could list some more, but it was good to see Cutler eat some humble pie in Denver Sunday. David Garrard finally played like we thought the Jacksonville quarterback would this season. Garrard passed for 276 yards and a touchdown, or 84 more yards than Cutler did in a 24-17 loss.