Cowboys' Miles Is Getting There

Maybe it's way too early to start breaking out the annointing oil for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin—who is beginning to emerge as Tony Romo's favorite go-to receiver.

He may not be on the same level as a Terrell Owens just yet, but the numbers that he's put up in the last two weeks for the Cowboys says a lot about his potential as that game-breaking receiver that the team was hoping to find in Roy Williams.

In the Cowboys 37-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday, Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The Falcons could do nothing to stop the speedy, 6-foot-3, 214-pound receiver out of Monmouth. Whether it was a comeback pattern or a crossing route, Austin had a penchant for turning big gains into big plays.

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No-Huddle Predictions

The Guru is going to try something different today, and the main reason is because we are less than three hours away from kickoff of the 1 p.m. games. So this is my version of the no-huddle offense, and I'm even going to break protocol this one time when it comes to the Dolphins.

Without any further delay, let's get the ball rolling:

Cleveland at Buffalo -- Ugh. Two teams headed in the same direction -- DOWN. Playing at home gives the Bills the edge in this never-to-be-seen-in-prime time match up.

Bills 16, Browns 13

Dallas at Kansas City -- Back-to-back losses to two AFC West non-juggernauts? Not in the cards for the Cowboys. Romo will snap out of it and DeMarcus Ware will make Matt Cassel wish he never left New England.

Cowboys 31, Chiefs 7

Minnesota at St. Louis -- Trap game? I think not. This one could get REAL ugly.

Vikings 45, Rams 14

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NFL Sensory Overload

What an incredibly busy two weeks these have been, with cross-country flights, short weeks coming off and leading up to Monday Night Football games and a season-ending injury to the 2008 runner-up for NFL MVP.

So with that being said, this mid-week post will be a lot shorter than my usual posts, and I will start out by sharing the results of my Week 4 picks. I went 10-3 on the week, missing the Denver upset of Dallas, the Jacksonville win over Tennessee and the Patriots holding off the Ravens at home. For the season the NFL Guru is 28-15 for winning percentage of .651, and that is without any picks in Week 1 as I simply previewed each team, division and conference.

Now for a few more quick observations and comments:

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Romo, Defense Come Up Short for Dallas

You can't blame Terrell Owens for this one.

The Cowboys 33-31 loss to the New York Giants in what was a very winnable game came down to a couple of malingering problems from the last couple of seasons—Tony Romo's penchant for mistakes and having one of the worst secondaries in football.

For starters, I don't want hear from any Cowboys fans who say Romo is a better quarterback without the melodramatics of Owens. All three of Romo's interceptions against the Giants led to 24 points. What should really bother Cowboys fans about Romo's miscues was that it wasn't like the Giants were bringing a whole lot of pressure on the quarterback.

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Eli, Giants Crash Jerry Jones' Party

Conventional thinking got thrown for a loss around the NFL on Sunday when five of the top six teams in the Grill Room's NFL 100-PROOF RANKINGS went down in flames.

No matter, all that's true and blue about America still stands today after the N.Y. Football Giants went deep in the heart of Texas to christen Jerry Jones' billion-dollar death star by presenting him his fat head on a silver platter.

Giants' quarterback Eli Manning (330 yds, 2 TDs) got revenge against greedy oilmen for Eli's everywhere when he engineered a last-minute drive that resulted in Lawrence Tynes' game-winning, 37-yard FG as the clock expired.

After their 33-31 victory, the No. 3 Giants' were the only top team to survive an unpredictable day around the NFL.

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Week 2 Could Be a Snoozer

With less than three hours to go before kickoff of the 1 p.m. games and this being a rare Sunday when the NFL Guru actually can kick back and watch all of the games since the Dolphins play tomorrow night, let's dive right into some bonus analysis.

One quick glance at the schedule reveals six potential blowouts, four nondescript games and five games that on paper should be compelling. That is definitely not music to the ears of television networks, although ESPN and NBC have two of the games I believe will be entertaining.

Unfortunately for those of us who enjoy a full day of football that keeps our eyes glued to the television if we're not actually at the stadium, seven of the nine games kicking off at 1 are likely to be snoozers. So if you haven't played golf in a while or gotten to the beach on a Sunday, this might be the day to do it, and then make sure you are back for the 4 p.m. games and the Sunday night showdown in Dallas between the Cowboys and the Giants.

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Bucs Must Handle Two Big Losses

Raheem Morris called it a "huge loss," and he wasn't talking about the Sunday afternoon defensive fiasco that cost his team immensely in that 35-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Losing to the Cowboys was bad enough, losing his best offensive lineman made it all the worse.

Morris confirmed Monday that center Jeff Faine is lost for what could be four-to-six weeks with a torn bicep tendon. "It depends on the pain and when he can go," Morris said of Faine's projected return.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

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No T.O.? No Problem for Cowboys

All the questions about how the Cowboys passing game would fare without Terrell Owens were answered, at least for one week, by their receiving corps in Sunday's 34-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Quarterback Tony Romo passed for a career-high 353 yards and three touchdowns while completing 16 of his 27 passes. He completed passes to six different receivers Three of his touchdown passes went for more than 40 yards.

"They are playmakers, and we knew that going in," Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. "But until you do it, the naysayers are going to say: 'Hey. You don't have this or that.' But I think we do."

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The NFL's Dark Secret

If you are looking for further signs of the unraveling economy it's probably best not to visit an NFL stadium this year. If you are looking at another reason to hate Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys, you'll want to peek at this release from Team Marketing Report .

According to this excellent piece of work by TMR, the average price for an NFL ticket rose 3.9 percent this year to $74.99 a docket.

TMR attributed most of the overall increase to Jones soaking his Texan pards in order to pay for the $1.2 billion amusement park he built for Tony Romo this year. You know, the place where the scoreboard is too low?

The average price of a Dallas seat this year grew to a whopping $159.65, or more than double the average cost of a ticket league wide.

"How 'bout them Cowboys!"

Even without the Cowboys' ridiculous increase, TMR reports the average ticket price still would have risen across the league by 0.6 percent.

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Pressure on Cowboys, Not Bucs

Come Sunday at 1 p.m., the pressure's on the Dallas Cowboys.

No pressure on the Buccaneers.

High expectations for Cowboys, low expectations for the Buccaneers.

Looming over Dallas is that 600-pound gorilla of an owner -- Jerry Jones. He expects more out of quarterback Tony Romo, he expects more out of head coach Wade Phillips, he expects a Super Bowl.

Not too much pressure.

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