This animated GIF is probably my favorite of the week. It is Bills’ defensive back Drayton Florence making an obvious flop attempt, which would have made it perfect for this post I did last week on flopping in professional sports.

GIF source: MockSession via Cosby Sweaters

If Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had been watching this, he might have responded thusly:

GIF source: SBNation

Instead, Ryan had to watch his own defense play in the first half Sunday night, which induced this outburst. Dallas trailed 21-0 at the half, with Ryan’s defense looking totally out of sorts. It led to this classic image of Jerruh Jones:

Image source: MockSession

But there may yet be hope for Jerruh and Rob. As I type this, the Cowboys are down 21-7 and driving with the 3rd quarter near its close. Could they complete the comeback? One team that couldn’t was the Jets, coached by Rob’s brother Rex, whose Jets couldn’t find a way to sneak into the playoffs and reel off another improbable run to the AFC Championship Game.

You’re done Rex.

Image source: Reddit

But you know who is not done? The Green Bay Packers, who won today despite sitting superstar starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Superstar backup quarterback Matt Flynn started in his place, setting franchise yards for yards and TDs in a single game. File that away for trivia use later in life.

Before the game, Rodgers continued his weekly tradition of photobombing the Packers’ team captain photo. Happy New Year!

Image source: NFL.com

But back to people who are done…how about this streaker, who gets taken to the turf by the Packers’ Brad Jones.

Image credit: Morry Gash/AP via Reddit

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Those are my favorites from Week 17. What are yours? If I missed any classic images/GIFs/videos, feel free to post in the comment section.

Now, apropos of nothing, let’s let Chris Bosh take us out.

GIF source: Reddit

And in related news, the Cowboys just scored another TD and are only down 21-14 to the Giants. Time to go watch the finish.

Update: Never mind. It’s been all Giants since I hit ‘publish’ on this post. Just ask Jerruh.

Image source: SBNation

This video shows the reactions of some of the fans who got screwed out of watching the Super Bowl live due to “TicketGate” – otherwise known as Jerry Jones’ Monomaniacal Quest to Set a Super Bowl Attendance Record That No One Cares About.

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Way to go Jerry. You jackwagon.

And way to go NFL for allowing it to happen.That’s a great way to treat your fans with the threat of a lockout looming ominously on the horizon. (Oh, and Peter King’s right, NO ONE WANTS THE 18-GAME SCHEDULE!!!)

If you ask me, considering the terrible response to the weather, the lack of foresight that caused people to be injured by ice falling off of Cowboys Stadium, the poor event management, and TicketGate, I say keep the Super Bowl out of Dallas until the city, and Jerruh, can prove its better equipped to handle it.

Watching it from here in Dallas, this really was as big a debacle as the media is making it seem, and much of it was avoidable if fans had been put first – as they should be.

So here we are.

The Dallas Cowboys are quite possibly the most disappointing team in NFL history. That’s not hyperbole. A team many people thought would go to the Super Bowl is inexplicably 1-7, with only one key injury to speak of (though, granted, it’s their QB).

After last night’s national TV shellacking at the hands of the injury-riddled Green Bay Packers, many people expect that Jerry Jones will fire Wade Phillips. Jones was expected to meet with his coaches today to explain what he meant when he said, “There are a lot of people here who are certainly going to suffer and suffer consequences.”

Phillips has a press conference this afternoon, where we may or may not find out Jerry’s plans for the coaching staff. Lucky for you, I snuck into Valley Rance with my camera, a recorder, and Photoshop to get the details of Jerry’s conversation with Wade before anyone else.

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Let’s take a look back then move ahead and look at four more QBs who could be fun to watch this weekend.

1.  After last night, I almost have as much credibility as Mel Kiper.

Not that I did anything, other unleash my master predictions via twitter of course, but Mel Kiper really made himself look foolish. He had Jimmy Clausen as not only his top ranked quarterback, but as his 3^RD BEST PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE DRAFT! (In case you missed the draft, Clausen is still available 32 picks later)

I watched the NFL Network coverage of the draft because I actually like to enjoy it, but I can imagine ESPN did anything they could to cover up that little mistake.

2. Good job Raiders? Good enough.

One of my few correct predictions yesterday. Is this the right pick? Maybe not. Is it better than taking Bruce Campbell or another quarterback that they would have to pay Top 10 money to? Absolutely.

3. How soon before we move Jerry Jones into Al Davis territory?

I’m not saying that the Dez Bryant pick was bad, but was it right? Yes it is flashy much like his stadium and his bar talk, but did Jerry Jones actually watch the Cowboys final game last year? Considering the fact that both the Giants and the Eagles spent first round picks on pass rushers, I think a lineman would have been smart there.

Granted this is a deep draft and a lineman could be available in round two, I still think this pick was for Jones to prove people wrong about passing on Randy Moss 13 years ago.

And speaking of the Eagles….

4. Brandon Graham over Earl Thomas?

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t the Eagles secondary struggle last season after losing Brian Dawkins to the Broncos? Wouldn’t the logical solution to having a need in the secondary be actually drafting a top 10 guy who fills that need?

I realize some teams loved Graham’s versatility as a linebacker/defensive end, but neither of those two things include playing safety.

5. For as much as I love Tim Tebow….

….I think the Broncos did a terrible job drafting players in the first round. They did a good job maneuvering around, trading pick after pick and getting into position to get their players, but couldn’t they have taken better players?

Both Thomas (who I wrote about last week) and Tebow are two or three year projects at best. Not the way I would spend my money, but that’s why I don’t run the Broncos.

Vikings fans consensus on Tebow going to Denver? “Thanks Denver! We never liked him anyway!”

6. “What do you mean I didn’t get picked? Was it something I said?”

Ohhhhhhhhhh Jimmy. Look at this little mess you’ve created.

Teams were reportedly scared off by Clausen after his appearance with John Gruden on ESPN last week. After being called out on missed assignments and taking too many timeouts in a game, Clausen placed blame on his receivers and coaching staff. He also seemed to not be paying attention and looked annoyed when Gruden ripped into him a little bit.

Now I’m not quite old enough to remember this as well as others, but wasn’t that the big problem with Ryan Leaf? Criticism problems and maturity level?

Not good Jimmy. Not good at all. At least you throw a perfect spiral. That still counts for something right?

7. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Congratulations Seattle and Green Bay. You both picked up great draft picks without giving up anything but your own time and patience. Good things come to those who wait. Except Jimmy Clausen.

Looking Ahead to Day 2 and Day 3

I originally thought I there were going to be four quarterbacks taken in round one, and I was going to drop some of my knowledge about four other quarterbacks I am keeping an eye on this weekend. Unfortunately I was wrong about the first part, but that isn’t going to stop me.

Jarrett Brown, West Virginia
With a 4.54 40 and natural over-the-top delivery as well as very strong arm, Brown helped himself a lot at the Combine. The biggest knock on him is that he only started one year at West Virginia and is considered a project, like most day two and three picks. It is very likely he will be the next quarterback taken after the big four. Teams love his mobility and potential. If he doesn’t end up as the fifth quarterback taken, the next guy on the list sure will be.

Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan
LeFevour hurt his stock draft back in February after his agent suggested he didn’t throw during the combine, and that decision didn’t sit well with scouts and coaches. We haven’t really heard much from him since. He is a guy who is projected as a second or third rounder, and much like Brown has a great mix of mobility and passing skills. LeFevour is the only player in NCAA history with over 12,000 passing yards and 2,500 rushing yards and sits 2nd all time in total offensive yards.

Max Hall, BYU
Hall is the all time win leader at BYU. That means he won more games than Ty Detmer, Jim McMahon and Steve Young. He is a player who tries to make the case that production leads to more production, something the NFL can either verify or completely destroy. He is 24 years old which at any other position could be a negative, but at quarterback could actually help him (See: Warner, Kurt and Favre, Brett). He has great leadership skills, but can be considered a system-type quarterback, which definitely doesn’t help the draft stock unless your name is Bradford or Tebow.

Jevan Snead, Ole Miss
Remember him?  Snead was the leader of the pre-season #8 team in the nation, once ranked as high as #4, and was a projected Heisman winner at the beginning of the college season. So what happened? Well Ole Miss finished 9-4 and Snead finished fifth in the SEC in passing yards (among those ahead of him was Jonathan Crompton from Tennessee who wasn’t even invited to the Combine in February) and had an embarrassing 1-1 TD to INT ratio. Though he could be a day three pick, Snead might find his way into a solid backup role later in his career.

This week, I think it’s safe to say that there is only one.

While there were certainly plenty of highlights yesterday, as there always are on Sundays, no play was more impressive or important than Ray Lewis’ amazing 4th and 2 stop of Darren Sproles.

The stop sealed the road win for Baltimore over San Diego, which moved Baltimore to 2-0 on the season, and proved that Ray Lewis still has at least a little bit of gas left in the tank.

Something tells me that this was not the look on Philip Rivers’ face as Ray Lewis stuffed the Chargers’ chances of winning.

Follow the link to StubHub for great deals on all 2009 NFL tickets.

The video is below.

Video: Ray Lewis Stuffs Darren Sproles on 4th and 2

Coming in a close second for Play of the Day has to be Jerry Jones, who dug hard but probably did not go deep enough to get what he was looking for (booger or victory, you decide).

Honestly, this video is not really all that big of a deal, and wouldn’t even merit a mention if it weren’t for Jerry Jones. For a guy who is so obsessively consumed with his own image, and that of the Cowboys, I can’t imagine he’ll be happy to see this video floating around.

Add in the fact that it came on perhaps his most important night as an owner — the opening of his immaculate shrine to himself (where the Cowboys will also play their home games) — and the irony makes it funny.

Hat tip to MoonDog for his video:

Video: Jerry Jones Picks His Nose as Cowboys Lose to Giants

After a royal butt whipping at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in a Win-and-In game Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys are saying everything but the right thing.

The Cowboys had an opportunity to reach the playoffs with a win at Philly, but all they accomplished was wasting 3 hours of my day (actually about 2, because I couldn’t stand to watch any more) and costing me another point in my football pool.

The frustrating part of this is the fact that I have yet to hear anyone stand up and say, you know what, Philly played a great game and that we didn’t deserve to win. Instead, all I am hearing is that it’s so and so’s fault, or listening to T.O. cry again because his quarterback played terrible when it matters.

I do think that Jerry Jones needs to look in the mirror a little and understand that money doesn’t buy championships. The Cowboys lack unity and toughness. When the chips are down, the finger pointing begins; yet when things are rolling well, the cocky Cowboys think “we are the best team in football.”

It’s apparent that Jerry Jones is going to bring Head Coach Wade Phillips back next year. I guess I have to respect that decision, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I truly believe that the attitude and mental toughness of a team comes from a coach that has a strong personality and demands the best out of his players. It’s an attitude, and it starts at the top. There’s no doubt the Cowboys have the talent to be an elite force in the NFL, what they lack are the guts and passion to go out and make it happen.

I don’t mean to slam on Dallas, and I have been a Cowboy fan for many, many years now. But more than anything, I am a football fan. I follow the Chiefs, Rams and Cowboys. I guess that’s maybe where my frustration is coming from, because the first two are terrible and the Cowboys were the only hope this year. Oh well, I will still enjoy watching the playoffs and Super Bowl.

The Cowboys will move into their new $1.1 billion dollar stadium next year, and the question is whether or not they will field a team worthy of this commitment. I for one will be interested to see what, if any, changes are made during the offseason.

coop92 is a contributing author to Midwest Sports Fans, as well as the editor at Midwest Sports Junkies. Check out his site for additional analysis of the St. Louis Cardinals, the BCS, and Missouri Tigers football.

(Hopefully I throw it into the wind a little better than Tony Romo, or another blog may intercept this post and run it back for a link on Deadspin.)

Gotta love the mixed metaphors.

Anyway, back to our discussion of Jerry Jones. We all know about the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and many of you have probably heard by now that Jerry Jones basically called out Marion Barber for being a wuss and not playing with his injured pinkie toe. Yes ladies and gentleman, a grown man who has gotten a face lift and danced in public with Steve Urkel insinuated that one of the toughest running backs in the NFL is a wuss.

He of course backtracked off of those comments once they caused a stir in the media, but you tell me how this is taken out of context (from the Rick Herrin story in the Fort-Worth Star Telegram):

“He can play with that injured toe,” Jones said. “He can play with the soreness and a combination of those things. I see nothing that led us to believe he couldn’t.”

Seems pretty cut and dry to me: Jerry Jones thinks Marion Barber should have been able to play, yet Barber did not even make the trip to Pittsburgh. I’m confused though by how there was not better communication about this injury within the Cowboys organization leading up the game. Hell, I posted in the middle of the week last week that Marion Barber most likely was not going to play, and I’m just a schmuck blogger for a Midwest site who’s lived in Dallas for less than a year. Yet somehow I was more up to date on the status of Marion Barber than the Cowboys owner.

Maybe the fact that Jerry Jones seems out of touch is because he has something a little more pressing on his mind that regular season football. Something like…a $1 billion stadium for which he is currently short about $350 million.

I actually did some Photoshop work for an article that was written on this topic last week. Entitled “Dallas Cowboys Stadium Shortfall: Bailing Out Jerry Jones“, I learned that a little over five weeks ago Jerry Jones hosted a variety of banks to try and secure the final $350 million that he needs to complete his ridiculous stadium in Arlington. The article itself is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at what some of Jerry’s options might be to get the financing he needs, including whether a federal bailout would be a worthwhile use of tax dollars. Because honestly, if the Dallas Cowboys suffer, don’t we all?

Just to give you a little taste, here is one of the images from the article. This one was produced as an illustration of the possibility of Barack Obama funneling some money Jerry’s way, in an effort by Barack to have a better chance at winning the state of Texas in 2012. My favorite part is the expression on Jerry Jones’ face as he is forced to shake hands with a Democrat, and the sobbing Tony Romo in the background:

You can click on the image for a full-size view. To view the other images, including “Jerry Jones Field at He Loves Him Some Him Stadium” which features Jerry Jones grinding up next to a shocked Tom Landry, you’ll have to go check out the article.

It will be interesting to see what actually happens with the new stadium, and with the Cowboys team, leading into the 2009 season. There is absolutely no question that Jerry Jones fully expected to be heading into the new stadium in 2009 riding a wave of momentum from a Super Bowl win in 2008. It was all I heard on the radio this offseason and during training camp.

Now, after 13 weeks of up and down football and an 8-5 record, Jerry Jones is:

• Calling out his star running back
• Short of funding for his new stadium
• Has to be wondering if he has a QB with the stones to win once the games really matter
• Frustrated with his head coach, Wade Phillips

(By the way, after you go read the article about the new Cowboys stadium, check out the link above. It is from 1310 The Ticket here in Dallas, and is a regular bit they do every Monday called Fake Jerry and Fake Wade. It is hilarious.)

Anyway, with the Cowboys taking on the Ravens, Giants, and Eagles in their final three games, and needing to win at least two just have a prayer at a playoff berth, the rest of 2008 is not shaping up to give Jerry Jones much relief. And to be quite honest, his unnecessary comments about Marion Barber’s injury make me think that Jerry may be coming unraveled and starting to feel the pressure of the enormous stadium budget and the reality that his team is merely good, but not elite.

I realize that this is a rant about the Dallas Cowboys on a Midwest sports blog, but if I do not get this out of my system, I might break down into tears. Can someone please tell me why Adam “Pacman” Jones is still inthe National Football League? I am at a complete loss. It is astounding how many chances this man (and I use the word extremely loosely) has been given by Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones.

A quick review of Adam “Pacman” Jones’ rap-sheet shows a laundry list of bad decisions, arrests, and more bad decisions. And while I am in no way saying Adam is responsible for it, someone stole my Ipod from my local gym last year, so…

My point in all this is to ask why Roger Goodell is not setting an example for the rest of the league. The time of second chances is over, and has been for a long time. The National Football League has to take a stand at some point. Meaningless suspensions simply are not getting the message across. The Dallas Cowboys are in my mind the epitome of greatness in sport, whose feats of might and athletic prowess are only surpassed by the likes of Hercules and Samson. However, after this debacle, I am beginning to wonder how a football genius like Jerry Jones can make such a tragic blunder.

Adam Jones has had his chances. I do not mean to sound harsh, because I truly believe in the power of second chances. Jerry Jones made the right call of bringing Tank Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys. Tank seems to have learned the error of his ways. The same goes for Terrell Owens… ok maybe he still has an ego that makes Jerry Jones look like Mother Theresa, but at least he has simmered somewhat. However Adam “Pacman” Jones has crossed the line too many times.

This is not so much a problem for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys as it is for Roger Goodell and the entire National Football League. Eventually, players will begin to realize that Roger Goodell’s promises of punishment for infractions are hollow and are worth about as much as Confederate money. When that happens it won’t be too long before we see more Adam Jones’s.

There, I said it and now I am at peace. Of course, if Adam “Pacman” Jones were to run back a punt or two this week against the Steelers or get a game winning pick-six, I might be back next week accusing Jrod of hacking my account and writing this post, but we’ll just have to wait until Sunday to see if that is the case.