Romo Clutch! My 5 Points: Cowboys vs Giants

My 5 Points: Cowboys vs Giants
By William C Walker Jr.

September 14, 2015

Finally FOOTBALL is back!!! So without further adieu here are my 5 points from the Cowboys vs Giants. What a way to start off the season.

My 5 Points

5. Run by committee Not Bad: Everyone to know how the Cowboys would replace the league's leading rusher in DeMarco Murray.  But the combo of Randle, McFadden, & Dunbar weren't bad.  Yes they only gained 80 yards rushing. But overall the RBs contributed 211 yards of offense. With Dez out look for they're workload to increase.

4. ODB held in check: Last year if you didn't see a single Giants game. You probably saw rookie WR Odell Beckham Jr's 1 handed TD grab vs Dallas. In fact you saw it you would've thought that the Giants won the game. Well ODB was a non-factor. It wasn't until the last Giant drive when he made a play of any significance. If the secondary can play like this they'll be in good shape.

3. Defense hangs despite T/Os: Dallas was trying to give this game away.  After dominating time of possession & yards. 17 of the Giants 26 points came off of 3 Cowboys turnovers. The Cowboys defense made the Giants offense look pedestrian at best.  Sean Lee looked good in his return leading the team in tackles. The pass rush was ok but should get better I'm looking forward to see what this unit can do.

2. Dez & Gregory Hurt: As happy & euphoric I was for Dallas to pull of this win. I was equally bummed to see the Cowboy's passionate leader Dez Bryant leave the game with a broken foot. The prognosis not good out 4-6 weeks with the chance it could be more. If that weren't enough the Cowboys 2nd round steal Randy Gregory also was injured with the dreaded high ankle sprain. A lot of times Dallas has had to face adversity at the end of the season. These injuries put the challenge on the front end. The good news if they can survive it plenty of juice left for the back end.

1. Romo Clutch: Tony Romo has over the course of his career been saddled with the stigma of faltering in crunch time. Whether it be the muffed snap in Seattle in '06. The interception in the divisional round in '07, or the shoot-out vs Peyton Manning where he threw for 5 TDs and over 400 yds yet all people remember was his costly interception. Last year was Romo's best and if the last two drives he orchestrated in Sunday's game is any indication 2015 should be just as nice.  Down by 10 with 8 minutes to go Romo lead Dallas on 2 masterful drives. Thanks to Droopy aka Eli Manning's insane decision to throw the ball out the back of the end zone leaving Romo 1:37 to work with. The last drive was a thing of beauty. With lightening speed & precision Romo operated like a surgeon slicing apart the Giant D. But of course he saved the best for last. With 13 seconds left on 3rd & 2 Cowboy's fans witness something that's become common place a bad snap! Yet not an ounce of panic Romo calmly picked up the ball as if he dropped a dollar stood in the pocket & delivered a dagger to his BFF Jason Witten for the game winning score. With the win Romo leads the league with the most 4th quarter comebacks since 2006 with the number of 28. Not bad for someone who's not clutch.

Comic Book Movie Madness: The Championship

Comic Book Movie Madness: The Championship

 VS

I'm keeping it brief since I was so late in getting the Final 4 out!  But here it is for all the Marbles.  The Avengers vs Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  So if you want go back revisit what's been said, or better yet go watch these great movies again and pick who you think should win it all! Voting will be open until Monday August 24th.

1 The Avengers vs 1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier

Comic Book Movie Madness: THE FINAL 4

Comic Book Movie Madness: THE FINAL 4

After 68 movies 4 grueling rounds we're down to the FINAL 4 in our first ever Comic Book Movie Madness tournament.  No major surprises as 3 of the 1 seeds made the final, while some breezed through with little comp some had a slightly tougher road.  Marvel Studios continues to show it's dominance as 3 of the four all come from the studio.  Spider-Man 2 the sole film outside that studio but still falls under that Marvel umbrella. So instead of me writing up a quick little blurb, I decided to let some of my fellow fans get in on the action.  Each was given a Final 4 opponent and give the reason why it deserves to win it all.  So here we go with the Final 4.

1 The Avengers vs 1 Guardians of The Galaxy
1 The Avengers

Why it should win, according to William:

When the seeds of the MCU were first planted in Iron Man visions of the Avengers danced in our heads.  How could any movie that was so ambitious payoff?  Yet that's exactly what The Avengers did!  If we were to correlate this tournament to the NCAA tournament The Avengers would be undefeated Kentucky.  Joss Whedon crafted a story that gave each actor a moment to shine!  Tom Hiddleston's turn as Loki as turned him into a superstar.  The action off the charts! The witty dialogue a home run.  It was the creation of all these studios scrambling to create shared universes.  The Avengers has created on film what we've been partaking for years in comic books. A whole world filled with amazing characters that take part in fantastic adventures on a galactic scale.  The Avengers changed the game for comic book movies and for that it definitely deserves to win.

1 Guardians of The Galaxy

Why it should win, according to Joe:

GOTG is greater than the sum of it's parts. What on paper was a huge gamble, and existed merely for Marvel to slowly transition Thanos into the big bad for Avengers 3, turned out to be a pretty good film! With odd casting choices and even odder characters, nothing would have lead most people to think this would be a blockbuster. However, tight editing, smart writing, a cast that got into and enjoyed their characters, and a director that had fun and remembered "Hey, this is based off of a comic book that has a talking raccoon in it." lead to everything just clicking into place. The only bad thing I can say about this movie is I can't NOT think about it when 'Hooked on a feeling' plays on the radio.


1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 2 Spider-Man 2
2 Spider-Man 2

Why it should win, according to William:

Spider-Man 2 is a glorious movie! Before we even ranked our field I was ready to fight for this to be a 1 seed.  This movie captured everything that made you fall in love with the character of Spider-Man when you first picked up his comic.  One of the best qualities of Spider-Man had always been he's just a regular guy.  He's not invincible, he's not rich, he has to balance everyday life along with this great power. This was on highlight from the very opening scene, where saving lives cost him in real life.  The action off the charts in the movie with the inclusion of Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus bringing the sinister. This movie hit on every beat it made you laugh, it hit you emotionally, and it made you CHEER!  Spider-Man is a guy who got blessed with great power, and after being irresponsible it cost him dearly so he embraced his Uncle Ben's mantra. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.  No movie left fully embodies why we love comic book movies more than Spider-Man 2. That's why it deserves to take home the gold.


1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier

Why it should win, according to Cory:

Captain America The Winter Soldier is the best comic book movie for a number of reasons. First, the fim's cast was outstanding. From the already established characters, to the newly introduced supporting cast, the actors chosen couldn't have been better. Second, the fights/stunts were awesome and believable. Cap's escape from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the final action sequence were executed to near perfection. Finally, the most important reason CATWS should win this tournament is the plot. This was a classic story of espionage and betrayal. Had this movie been totally unrelated to the MCU, it still would have been a great film. Unlike Spider-Man 2, there was no wasted motion. CATWS was a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end, and should be this tournament's champion.

Comic Book Movie Madness: Elite 8

Comic Book Movie Madness: Elite 8

The Elite 8 is here a few major shockers to be sure but most of the 1 seeds are still standing.  I hope everyone that's been participating has been enjoying the tourney thus far.  Will we have all 3 1 seeds remaining make the Final 4, can Spider-Man 3's Cinderella run keep going?  We'll find out in the next couple of days.


New York Region

1 The Avengers vs 3 Spider-Man

It's no surprise to me that the blockbuster that is The Avengers would make the elite 8.  The Spider-Man trilogy is definitely proving to be a force to be reckoned with, seeing how all 3 have made the elite 8.  Before The Avengers brought true comic book action to life it was done by Spider-Man.  Not and steeped in shadow, like The Avengers Spider-Man was bold and in your face.  While director Sam Raimi's webhead didn't quite nail that snappy Spidey dialogue it was full of action and effects that truly brought the character to life.  The Avengers was an incredible gamble that had a massive payoff.  No one had even tried anything as ambitious as Marvel's The Avengers 5 different movies by different directors all culminating with one ensemble film.  The most insane thing was that they were able to pull it off, finally we got to see Captain America interacting with Iron Man and Thor.  It took you to that moment when you would read a comic book and imagine what a crossover would feel like, then to actually see it GREATNESS!

1 The Avengers vs 3 Spider-Man
Gotham Region

4 Iron Man vs  2 Spider-Man 2

This was a match-up I just didn't see coming.  Look I love Spider-Man 2 it doesn't surprise me it's here without question my favorite of the original trilogy.  But Iron Man taking down The Dark Knight absolute craziness!  Honestly I pictured an epic throwdown between Batman's greatest movie and The Avengers, but to everyone's shock The Invincible Iron Man won out.  I've said it before Iron Man deserves tons of praise for giving birth to Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The success of which has taken us into this fantastic shared universe of films that come out yearly now.  But can ole shell-head take down what to me is by far the greatest Spider-Man movie to date?  Look I've had this debate with one of my younger brothers Spider-Man 2 was a masterpiece.  By adapting Stan Lee's classic Spider-Man No More, Spider-Man 2 captured the essence of what makes Spider-Man so great.  He's not a rich billionaire with the world as his oyster he's a hard working guy trying to make ends meet all the while trying to save the world!  He can't get the girl not because he doesn't want her but because he can't put her at risk what he want's is irrelevant as long as he's Spider-Man because with "Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility"!

2 Spider-Man 2 vs 4 Iron Man

Xandar Region

1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron

We just passed the 1 year anniversary of the release of Marvel Studio's surprise smash Guardians of The Galaxy.  A surprise to even the director himself James Gunn that he detailed this week in an awesome heartfelt letter to the fans.  Guardians was that movie that had that sweet balance of action, laughter, and heart.  All the while setting the stage for even bigger thinks to come in Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU).  The next stage for those bigger things started with this year's Avengers:Age of Ultron!  Which was flat out amazing! If you didn't lose your mind at the sight of Vision I'm going to need someone to check your pulse because you must be dead.  I mean from the Scarlet Witch's crazy powers.  To Hawk-Eye stealing the show, to Captain America showing why he's the leader of Earth's mightiest heroes. This movie was off the charts for me.  The scale of it was fantastic while it took place on a global scale and just like Guardians laying the groundwork for the future of the MCU, with even more thrills to come.

1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron

Metropolis Region

1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 7 Spider-Man 3

I've said it before I've never really been a fan of Captain America.  I always compared him to Superman big corny boy scout but even worse because he didn't even have cool powers like Superman. That was at least until Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out last year. While I know my expectations for the film were low after seeing some of the trailers and hearing early reviews of how Cap 2 was the best Marvel movie yet.  It still didn't prepare me for how great this movie was.  I mean just taking the movie on it's own forget that it's Captain America.  If was a spy action thriller it'd fit in good company with other spy films like Jason Bourne or Tom Cruise's Mission Impossibles.  You can a conspiracy thriller loaded with action that would make any action junkie lose their mind.  Throw in even more cool Marvel Easter Eggs and you've taken it to another level. CORRECTION: The fact that I forgot that Spider-Man 3 actually won it's Sweet 16 match-up just shows how unlikely it was for this movie to be here! The least likely of the Spider-Man trilogy to make it here to me was Spider-Man 3 yet here it is. And after watching it again I've gotten a new found appreciation for this movie!  Yet here's Emo Peter Parker still standing going through the toughest road taking down the 2 seed 300 and the 3 seed Sin City.  I still see The Winter Soldier slaughtering it but Spidey 3 has been defying the odds.

1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 7 Spider-Man 3

Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 Gotham & Xandar Region

Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 Gotham & Xandar Region

As promised here we go with the Sweet 16 in the Gotham & Xandar regions.  So the full 16 movies left standing are up for vote the next 3 days.  A few surprise match-ups but mostly not too many surprises with who's left standing.






Gotham Region

1 The Dark Knight vs 4 Iron Man

Billionaire vs billionaire while these two face off!  The teaser alone for The Dark Knight that just had a voice over of characters talking about the Joker got people pumped.  So this trailer that gave the first taste sent people hyped!  Iron Man's trailer embodied everything that was fun and cool about the movie.  It's fitting that these two are going against each other seeing how these movies both sparked the direction for which the studios would take with their films. Warner Bros definitely follow that Dark Knight blueprint playing down the fantasy element, while Marvel Studios seems to fully embrace the source material with a few tweaks.  Great match-up to get to the Elite 8.

 

1 The Dark Knight vs 4 Iron Man

 11 The Mask of Zorro vs 2 Spider-Man 2

 Truly this is a David vs Goliath match-up while The Mask of Zorro is looking like the Butler of this tourney.  But if there was truly a giant to take down it'd be Spider-Man 2 which before The Dark Knight and Avengers you could argue was the best comic book movie out.  The trailer fantastic giving a taste of Dr. Octopus and even more action!  As a kid I've always loved Zorro and this movie was a ton of fun.  Even if it doesn't make it past the Sweet 16 Zorro has definitely left it's mark.

2 Spider-Man 2 vs 11 The Mask of Zorro
Xandar Region

1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 4 X2:X-men United

The freight train that is Guardians of The Galaxy keeps on rolling.  From the very first trailer which was just a re-issue of the Comic-Con sizzle reel that got fans fired up for this group of misfits. X2 falls into the same realm that only a few sequels fall into, surpassing the original.  X-Men United topped it's predecessor in every way.  The action was better the story more grand, and you didn't have any horrid lines that were so bad it made your brain hurt like "you know what happens when a toad is struck by lightening?" NO! I'll just stop right there. Point is X2 was great.

1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 4 X2:X-Men United
3 Blade vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron

Another colossal throw down between two worthy opponents.  No surprise that these two would meet in the Sweet 16 though the roads have been slightly different.  Blade breezed through the first 2 rounds and initially Age of Ultron had a shaky start to round 2.  It's funny to me as soon as something reaches a certain status like The Avengers you'll always have detractors trying to tear it down.  Blade was at the very infancy of comic book movies golden age.  I don't think it'd be crazy for Blade to get an upset here, but if you really break Age of Ultron down it's definitely the superior.

2 Avengers:Age of Ultron vs 3 Blade

So the full Sweet 16 is out and ready to vote upon!  Getting down to the creme de la creme make sure you vote and share to see who'll make the Elite 8.

Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 New York & Metropolis Region

Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 New York & Metropolis Region

Here we go down to the Sweet 16 for this go round instead of showing posters or clips, I figured I'd let the trailer represent the films.  For many these were our first taste at seeing our comic book characters brought to life for the first time.  Granted trailers can sometime be incredibly misleading (I'm looking at you Iron Man 3), but for most of these the trailers sent our minds into a fanboy frenzy.  Who'll make the Elite 8 make sure you vote and share with your friends.

New York Region

1 The Avengers vs 4 Kick-Ass

 

Honestly I don't even think the trailer for The Avengers properly gave justice to how awesome this movie was.  But after the constant teases and the building to this powerhouse team through the solo movies this was our first taste to The Avengers. Marvel Studios closed out phase 1 with a massive explosion with this movie.  I never read the Kick-Ass comic, knew very little about it, but this trailer told you this wasn't going to be a normal super-hero story.  Matthew Vaughn that has established himself as a comic book movie rock star left the X-Men:First Class sequel to do this movie, so it had to be good.  While initially I thought Kick-Ass was seeded to high it's made it to the Sweet 16 can it pull an upset?

1 The Avengers vs 4 Kick-Ass

3 Spider-Man vs 2 X-Men:First Class

I remember seeing the teaser trailer for Spider-Man the one they had to remove after the tragedy of September 11th because it included the Twin Towers. But seeing this had me so fired up, especially since Spider-Man is my favorite character of all time!  X-Men:First Class was better than I thought, while I thought the trailer was sweet it didn't prepare me for how good the movie actually was.  Now Spider-Man may be the lower seed but I definitely have this as the winner in my book.  First Class revived the X-franchise but Spider-Man was the Godfather of these super-hero movies!

2 X-Men:First Class vs 3 Spider-Man

Metropolis Region

1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 4 Captain America:The First Avenger

Cap vs Cap! Look I could argue that of the phase 1 solo projects Captain America:The First Avenger was the best of the bunch.  But I'm sorry it's nowhere near close to the awesome that was Captain America: The Winter Soldier! The trailer for Cap 1 did a decent job getting you ready and it pretty much fit with it.  The Winter Soldier's trailer was pretty awesome but again this was one that still didn't adequately indicate how great this movie really was. I've got Cap 2 moving on to the Elite 8.

1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 4 Captain America:The First Avenger

3 Sin City vs 7 Spider-Man 3

One of the surprise match-ups of the Sweet 16.  It's hard to call a movie that's made close to a billion dollars worldwide a Cinderella, but Spider-Man 3 seems to fit that bill. While in a lot of circles Spidey 3 seemed to have garner a negative stigma re-visiting it now reminds me of how great I thought it was when it first came out. The trailer for it sent me up the wall with joy with the small glimpse of Venom VENOM!  Now Sin City I will say is the better film in my book, but I'm not writing Spidey off I used one Sin City trailer for the last round, but they were saw awesome here's another.  Can't wait to see how this one shakes out.

3 Sin City vs 7 Spider-Man 3

So here we go who'll make the Elite 8!  Make sure you vote and share the more involved the better this tournament gets!  The Gotham & Xandar regions Sweet 16 match-ups will be up sooner than expected so stay tuned!

Comic Book Movie Madness: Round 2 Gotham & Xandar Regions

Comic Book Movie Madness: Round 2 Gotham & Xandar Regions

Gotham Region

1 The Dark Knight vs 8 Wanted

The Dark Knight was a tremendous movie.  A film so good it was so heavily considered for an Oscar the very next year they expanded the Best Picture category from 5 to up to 10.  From this opening scene Christopher Nolan was taking superhero movies to a whole new level.  The 8 seed Wanted didn't have too tough a time getting past the first round.  While director Timur Bekmambetov definitely had a unique style as displayed with this action sequence.  This action movie doesn't have what it takes to take down this juggernaut.

1 The Dark Knight vs 8 Wanted

5 The Rocketeer vs 4 Iron Man

Some may consider this an easy pick, but The Rocketeer is a legit contender.  Yes the effects don't quite hold up especially with how far special effects have come, but the fun still remains.  You can't argue that without Iron Man there'd be no Marvel Studios. But I'll go a step further if Iron Man wasn't successful you'd have no Avengers & if you didn't have any Avengers you wouldn't have all these studios creating these shared universes.  The Rocketeer may seem over matched by this modern wonder, but don't count the flying man out yet.

4 Iron Man vs 5 The Rocketeer
11 The Mask of Zorro vs 3 Thor

While Zorro pulled off the upset over the 6 seed Batman can his blade handle the might of Thor's mjolnir?  I definitely think Mask of Zorro was under-seeded it's going up against a serious heavyweight in Thor. But Zorro told a sweet origin story with Anthony Hopkins playing the original passing the mantle onto Antonio Banderas.  It was a definite surprise to me at how good Thor was, again it's a character I never had a lot of love for, but have definitely been brought over thanks to the cinematic version.  Hemsworth a complete unknown hit the scene in a major way with his great portrayal of the God of Thunder.

3 Thor vs 11 The Mask of Zorro
7 X-Men vs 2 Spider-Man 2

Before Marvel Studios existed Marvel had sold the rights to their most popular titles to other studios. The results Fox's X-Men franchise and Sony's Spider-Man.  While there's been good and bad from both.  These two got off to strong starts right in the growing age of comic book movies.  I haven't even tried to hide my love for Spider-Man 2, this was just one scene that told you this was going to the next level. X-Men brought characters we never thought we'd see on the big screen to life.
2 Spider-Man 2 vs 7 X-Men
Xandar Region


1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 9 Thor: The Dark World

It's still insane to me that Guardians worked. I mean you were banking on relatively unknown characters to the general public. Where your biggest stars in Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel were never going to be seen, playing a talking raccoon and an alien tree that on days "I am Groot". Yet it was magic! Thor:The Dark World was good to me not great but decent. This scene made me laugh out loud. I loved the exposure of the infinity stones. It's fitting that it's post credits tease is what led us to Guardians. Now you have two out there properties going at it.

1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 9 Thor:The Dark World
5 Hellboy vs 4 X2: X-Men United

Another good slug fest Hellboy is a one of a kind character.  All the great qualities of this big red ape were on display in this early action beat.  Guillermo Del Toro seems like a master of taking on the fantastical. Character actor Ron Perlman known as mostly the tough no nonsense guy, was right at home with his take on Hellboy. The X-Men were Stan Lee's stand-ins for what was going on in the world around him during The Civil Rights era.  X2 was a clear symbol of that vision while Bryan Singer used the story God Loves Man Kills for the basis of X2.  While mutants are constantly being persecuted for being different, that's something many of us can relate to.  While it was heady stuff to be sure, this scene was just one of the coolest moments.

4 X2:X-Men United vs 5 Hellboy

6 Incredible Hulk vs 3 Blade

So many great scenes I could've chosen from Blade but I had to go with the opening club scene.  Off the wall crazy, this adrenaline fueled sequence started the movie off with a bang.  While Wesley Snipes oozed the slick coolness of a complete bad mother in every scene, Blade remains to me an underrated gem.  Speaking of underrated gems I don't get why Marvel Studios is hesitant to give us the Planet Hulk movie fans want, but if it could even equal the Incredible Hulk that's not bad at all. This scene not only gave us awesome Hulk action but Tim Robbins Emil Blonsky gave us a taste of how awesome a super solider could look on the big screen. Gonna be a good match-up but I like Blade here.

3 Blade vs 6 Incredible Hulk
7 Hellboy 2:The Golden Army vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron

Our first real dilemma came from Hellboy 2's first round while it tied with Batman Returns.  After conversing with the judges panel (me & my brothers) we decided the tie breaker this go round would be based on critics rating.  Seeing how Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic both gave the edge to Hellboy 2.  This scene from the Troll Market reminded everyone of Star Wars cantina scene and with the colorful creations that's hard to argue. Age of Ultron was better than The Avengers in my book, while for some reason people complained with how the Black Widow was handled (which makes no sense to me).  You can deny how awesome this opening scene was! From Cap's rebuke "Language" to the introduction to the twins Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Age of Ultron started off with a bang and never really slowed down in my book.  I freaking loved this movie it was a visual feast that almost made my mind melt, with promise of greater things to come, bring on Phase 3.

2 Avengers:Age of Ultron vs 7 Hellboy 2:The Golden Army
So there you have it Round 2 setup for the Gotham & Xandar Regions, these guys making up the remainder of the Sweet 16.  Make sure you vote and spread the word to get more to vote.  Also feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think, and how the competition is going.