Butcher blows away the blowhards

Finally, the Dallas Cowboys are terrible and they aren’t going to come close to the playoffs at the end of the season. As a native of Buffalo, New York, I couldn’t be more pleased.

Unfortunately, Dallas’ demise is linked to former Bills quarterback and all-around good guy Drew Bledsoe, who was yanked during Monday night’s half-time break after he threw an interception near the goal line at the close of the second quarter.

That did it for the former Cougar as Bill Parcells sent Tony Romo into the game to give the Cowboys a shot in the arm. Things didn’t exactly work well at the start as Romo’s first play of the game was an interception, but the quarterback did make a few plays that worked.

Though he threw three picks in his debut, Romo didn’t get banged up nearly as much as the statuesque Bledsoe, who was hammered with four sacks in the first half thanks to a porous front line that let the New York defense run free in the backfield.

Further east there was a potentially devastating injury to the defending Super Bowl champions as the Steelers lost their quarterback in the third quarter when Ben Roethlisberger was sidelined with a concussion, thanks to an Atlanta threesome.

Unfortunately for Big Ben, the trio was not from the Gold Club, and Charlie Batch was summoned to finish the game for the Steel City squad. Roethlisberger just completed his first practice with the team since the bell ringing and a number of analysts think that the groggy, motorcycle crashing, spleen-less quarterback will be able to go on Sunday. Coach Bill Cower said that his quarterback call will be a game-time decision, but the smart move is to let Batch start in Oakland against the 1-5 Raiders.

Pittsburgh can have Big Ben running the show for the next 10-12 years if they play their cards right, but this is his second concussion this year. The guy almost died in the bike wreck, lost his spleen a few weeks ago, and saw stars against the Falcons. Message to Dan Rooney, let the boy rest!

The Steelers slipped to 2-4 despite one of the most memorable games from the season while Mike Vick led his dirty birds to a 41-38 overtime win and improved their record to 4-2.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also 2-4, but coach Chucky was thrilled when kicker Matt Bryant split the uprights to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Florida. Kickers rarely receive fanfare, but Bryant’s 62-yard boot was the second longest in the history of the National Football League.

Only Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos and a stubby shoed Tom Dempsey did Bryant one better with 63-yarders, and the Bucs will bring their hero with them when they look to slay the Giants in New York.

The kick and their chances against the G-men are improbable, as was last week’s win for Kelly Butcher as she spanked her counterparts on the local prognosticator scene. Butcher went 8-5 thanks to off-the-wall picks like the Packers over Miami, Atlanta over Pittsburgh, Oakland over Arizona, and Minnesota over Seattle.

Are you kidding me? Nope. Butcher is all business and she was the only one with a winning record as her 8-5 was head and shoulders above the upper crust. John Blanco still has the overall lead at 69-31, but he managed a paltry 5-8 slate last week, along with Will Hunter, the Lil’ Mahi, big Keith Nabors, and Sue “Powder Puff” Knecht. The closest one to Butcher was second place overall Jon Cramer who went 6-7 to improve to 66-34 on the season.