Two Scenarios - Cowboys vs Colts

Scenario #1:

The Cowboys lose the coin toss and the Colts elect to get the ball first. With the crowd noise at an all time high, the Cowboys kick off high and deep, forcing the returner to back up and ultimately signal for a fair catch at the 11 yard line. The Cowboys defense come on the field and line up. The ball is snapped, Manning drops back only to find the line is already collapsing, so he hands it off to his RB, who gets snuffed for a 2 yard loss. On second down and 12 to go, Manning takes the snap, drops back only to see a virtually untouched Roy Williams coming at full speed towards him. He ducks to his knees and is sacked for a loss of 5 more yards.

The crowd is wild as Manning tries to signal a change of play at the line of scrimmage .The ball is snapped, he takes a three step drop and fires one to his tight end on a crossing pattern. A violent hit just as the ball arrives causes it to leave the TE's hands, falling to the carpet and is promptly pounced on by the Cowboys. The ruling on the field is that it's an incomplete pass so it's now 4th down and 17 yards to go at the 4 yard line.

From inside the endzone, the Colts barely get the kick away. The ball is returned by the Cowboys to the Colt's 44 yard line.

Beginning there, the Cowboys offense moves onto the field and systematically marches down the field using an equal mix of runs by Julius Jones and passes to four different receivers, plus one short scramble for 5 yards by Romo himself. The scoring play is a five yard bullet from Romo to Witten. The extra point is good and the Cowboys have the lead.

For the rest of the first half, Dallas' defense stays in Manning's face, allowing him some short passes, but taking away the big plays. One fumble by Manning causes a turnover and Anthony Henry puts an end to Manning's tendency to pick on him by taking an interception to the bank for Dallas' second touchdown and the second turnover of the game by the Colts.

The Colts get a break with a reception and 38 yard run after catch to get to the 14 yard line. Dallas' defense holds and forces the Colts to settle for a field goal. The half ends on the score of Cowboys 14, Colts 3. Only two penalties have been charged to the Cowboys for the entire first half and the Cowboys had no turnovers.

Coming back onto the field after halftime, the Cowboys find themselves staring at a stadium full of fans giving them a standing ovation. The noise level is deafening in Texas Stadium. Tony Romo is caught on camera as he's being talked to by a Coach Parcells with a very stern face. Tony is nodding his head and smiling. The announcers have a field day with this for a few minutes, then ball is kicked off to the Cowboys.

The Cowboys kick returner catches the ball, scrambles for a few moments then is down at the 17 yard line. Romo and company walk on the field. Players have to signal the crowd to quieten down so they can hear what they're doing on the field. The crowd cooperates and on 1st down and 10 at the 17, Romo fakes a handoff to Julius Jones who causes the defense to pursue, only to see Romo loft one up towards Terrell Owens. TO becomes airborne between two defenders and snatches the ball from the air, hangs onto it, hits the ground running and never looks back until he's at the 5 yard line and heading into the endzone. Vanderjagt's extra point is good, making it a 21-3 game in favor of the Cowboys.

The Colts are again smothered deep in their own territory by Dallas' special teams. Roy Williams has already spent half the game pressuring Manning and gets another sack on third down as the Colts are not able to move the ball. The Colts finally get a touchdown towards the end of the third quarter, going into the fourth quarter with a score of 24-10, Cowboys leading. Tony Romo spreads the ball around between receivers and running backs during the fourth period and manages to get the ball to Terry Glenn at the 22 on a short pass. Glenn evades tacklers and takes it to the endzone, making the score 31-10. Dallas' defense tightens up even further, allowing short yardage, but no big plays and the Colts are only able to get one more field goal before the final buzzer goes off with the Cowboys winning 31-13. Manning is held to 178 yards passing with two interceptions, three sacks, one fumble and one touchdown. Romo finished the day with 323 yards, one interception no fumbles, one sack and three touchdowns.

A shot from one of the cameras catches Manning shaking hands with a smiling Vanderjagt as the teams exit the field. Another shot shows a smiling Bill Parcells walking into the tunnel.Yet another camera shot catches a jubilant Jerry Jones with a huge smile as he hugs Terrell Owens that proves that today would be a great day for anyone to go ask Jerry for a raise.

==========================================

Scenario 2:

The crowd is wild and loud as the Cowboys win the toss and elect to receive the ball. The Colts kick off to the Cowboys and the kick returner is brought down after a 6 yard runback to the 21 yardline. A penalty for holding against the Cowboys moves the ball back to the 11 where Romo and company take over. On first down, Julius Jones gains 6 yards out to the 17. On second down, Romo hits Witten on a crossing pattern for a 6 yard gain and a first down. On first and 10, Romo fires a bullet to Terry Glenn who is hammered by a defender, but hangs onto the ball for a 12 yard gain. The next play is a pass to Terrell Owens on the left sideline which rolls off his fingers for an incomplete pass. On second down and 10, Romo hands the ball to Julius Jones who jukes and jives for a 5 yard gain, bringing up 3rd and 5. A flag for movement on the line brings a five yard penalty, making the play a 3rd and 10. On 3rd and 10, the ball is snapped, but all receivers are covered. Romo spots an opening and scrambles for six yards, but not enough for a 1st down. The Cowboys kick to the Colts.

The Colts begin by trying a running play to the right which is stopped at the line of scrimmage. On 2nd down, Manning rolls to the left and hits Harrison for a 15 yard gain. On the next play, Manning hits the TE on a fade route for another first down. A couple more pass plays and the Colts on a short touchdown pass take the lead.

The Cowboys offense takes the field again after the kickoff and under Romo's guidance, move the ball down to the 7 yard line of the Colts where they are stymied. A field goal by Vanderjagt makes the score 7-3, Colts leading.

The rest of the first half is similar to the previous, with the Colts scoring two more touchdowns, and Dallas scoring one touchdown and missing a 46 yard field goal attempt after a 15 yard facemask penalty had pushed the Cowboys back on the previous play. After Vanderjagt's miss, the camera pans the Colts' sideline showing all the laughing and high fiving going on over there. Parcells is shown clutching his clipboard to his chest with a look of disgust. Halftime ends with a score of 21-10, Colts leading.

The Cowboys come back to the field and kick off to the Colts. A holding penalty adds 10 more yards to the Colts runback, putting them on the 36 yardline. On first down, Manning again hits Harrison, who runs out of bounds at the 48 for a 1st down. Two more plays and the Colts are on the 27 yard line of Dallas' with a 1st and 10. Manning decides to go for it all but is intercepted by Roy Williams on that same type play the sportscasters have belittled Williams' about this season.

Dallas takes over at the 12 yard line and moves the ball down the field for a score on a 32 yard pass to Hurd. The score is now 21-17, Colts leading. On the ensuing kickoff, the Colts get a long return out to the 49 yardline of Dallas. Manning marches the team down to the 11 yardline, but is again stymied by Dallas' defense and the Colts settle for a field goal, bringing the score to 24-17 Colts leading.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Dallas gets the kickoff from the Colts and after another poor runback, takes over at their 16 yardline. Romo comes out firing, with a 12 yard pass to Glenn, a 6 yard pass to Witten, and a 27 yard pass to TO. With the ball on the 39 yardline of the Colts, Romo hands the ball off to Julius Jones who breaks through the line and is finally brought down at the 2 yardline of the Colts, a 37 yard run. Two plays later, Marion Barber bulls his way into the endzone for the touchdown. Vanderjagt nails the extra point and the stadium crowd goes crazy.

With 8:32 left on the clock, the Colts take the ensuing kickoff and the returner is hammered immediately, putting the ball on the 13 yard line. Manning and company comes on the field and attempt a couple passes. One falls incomplete, the second is batted away by the defender. Roy Williams looks like he has set up permanent camp in the Colts' backfield. The Dallas defense is fired up and prevents the first down. With 4:48 left in the game, the Colts kick off to a fired up Dallas specials team unit. After the first good runback to the 39 yardline by the Cowboys, a holding penalty moves the ball back to the 29 where it's 1st and 10. The Cowboys quietly start moving the ball down the field with running plays.
A reverse sweep gets the ball to Terry Glenn who gains 17 yards on the ground. The clock continues to run, with neither team wanting to give extra time to the opponent. At the two minute warning, the clock stops with the Cowboys on the 46 yardline of the Colts and 2nd down and 6 yards to go. Marion takes the handoff and gains 4 more yards, leaving it at 3rd and 2. The clock continues to run. A short pass to Witten barely gets the 1st down, but he's stopped before getting out of bounds, so a time out is called with 47 seconds left in the game. The ball is snapped, but Romo can find no receivers open so he scrambles for a 5 yard gain, leaving the ball on the 31 yard line. Two more failed running attempts leave the Cowboys with a 4th and 5 at the 31. And 9 seconds left on the clock.

Vanderjagt lines up for the field goal attempt. A time out is called by the Colts. So the waiting continues. The noise level has reduced dramatically. The announcers in the booth analyze what this kick means to both teams while we all wait.

Finally, we hear the signal from the referee to start the play. The linesmen get into their stances. Vanderjagt gets into position. The ball is snapped. The holder catches it, plants it perfectly just in time for Vanderjagt's foot to strike the ball. The kick is up and it's . . . . . .



time to find another writer. This one's tired. :-)

Rod