Marion Barber

Even beyond Forte and Knox, Marion Barber won’t see the field at all as he re-aggravated his calf injury from earlier in the season. That leaves Kahlil Bell as the starting tailback. I have NO idea where the Bears’ offense is going to come from, and neither do you. That’s not even mentioning Green Bay’s blitzing scheme that’s going to expose Mike Tice’s sub-par offensive tackles. Clay Matthews is going to see McCown in the backfield often. Oh, and if McCown’s injured or REALLY stinks? Caleb Hanie is the back-up. That’s right. Nathan Enderle can’t even make it on the active roster over a guy that will not return next year. High hopes for that “project.” (That was dripping with sarcasm, by the way.)

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to… make throws??? That deserves a long, drawn-out, Darth Vader-like “NOOOOO!!!” Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell are going to get their carries, but Chicago can’t win unless Hanie gets passes to his wide receivers. Johnny Knox, Early Bennett and Devin Hester must show up. Corner Brandon Browner is extremely underrated and is beginning to make a name for himself in the secondary, adding to the ball-hawking skills of Earl Thomas. If that was bad enough, defensive end Chris Clemons is a monster coming off the edge. Mike Tice better have plans to take him out of the equation or Hanie’s in for another rough day.The Odds:

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Everyone is going to point at Marion Barber for his two colossal errors and rightly so. His failure to understand the situation and keep the ball inbounds in the fourth opened the door for a comeback in regulation. The fumble on the first drive overtime (while on his way to what seemed to be a touchdown) was unacceptable. Barber cost his team the game TWICE. But he’s not the only one to blame. How about putting it on the offense, who had a chance to convert on third and five after Barber’s out of bounds blunder and keep the ball?

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(I think.) Without Matt Forte, Marion Barber must take the bulk of the carries on offense, supplemented by Kahlil Bell. Lovie Smith will have to keep an eye on Barber’s number of carries early on or the back’s bruising running style will tire him out before he can take advantage in the fourth. With limited production coming from the wide-outs in recent weeks, the offensive line has to pound on the Denver defensive front from the first snap on. It’ll be another low-scoring day.

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Sure, Marion Barber came in and played pretty well, but he’s not enough to keep this offense going for four quarters. Hanie’s three interceptions (I do include the final toss-up) were too costly for a team missing their top two offensive talents.

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A high pass from Jay Cutler to Marion Barber tipped off the running back’s hands and into the mitts of Tanard Jackson for a 42 yard return. On the VERY next play, Josh Freeman throws a ball deep over the middle that Chris Conte simply removes from Mike Williams’ grasp for should have been a momentum-changing interception. Instead, a Matt Forte run on the following play was held up in the endzone by Ronde “Old Man” Barber for a safety, getting the Bucs two points and the ball. It was a frantic and freakish series of plays that gave the Bucs the opportunity to jump ahead with a score. Thankfully Chicago’s defense kept the Buccaneers in check for most of the afternoon.

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ffensive line is a tremendous running back combination of the versatile Matt Forte and the bruising Marion Barber. After failing to reach an accord regarding a new contract, Forte will risk injury this year as the Bears attempt to ride him once again. Forte is shiftier than you’d think and has a set of afterburners that can compete with anyone. He’ll be a key cog in this Bear offense each and every week as he can run inside, outside and is an expert pass-catcher. Replacing the near-useless Chester Taylor is former Cowboy

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You saw Forte start the game, Marion Barber finish out the first half and then Kahlil Bell and Harvey Unga get the action in the second half. If Chicago keeps only three running backs on the roster (last year they kept 4), Taylor seems the odd man out.

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 Signings: Marion Barber, Sam Hurd, Roy Williams, Chris Spencer, Amobi Okoye, Vernon Gholston, Adam Podlesh, Matt Spaeth

There’s a lot to take in on this front, but let’s take it one at a time.

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ed fairly well against the run last week, but the Cowboys have three solid runners on their roster. Marion Barber is getting older but he still punishes would-be tacklers, something the Bears' speedy but small defenders have trouble with. Safety Chris Harris will be integral in stopping Barber's runs. Felix Jones is the real issue, since his speed could make things ugly.

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sted Felix Jones broke off a 73 yard run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach at 34-7. Marion Barber came into the game injured and only carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards, then chilled on the sidelines because of the insurmountable lead and Felix Jones' success. That rest could pay dividends next week. Corner Mike Jenkins played a phenomenal game, supported by a solid secondary.

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Tony Romo has never been better, bolstered by a three-headed running attack fronted by the bruising Marion Barber. Miles Austin is a game-changer at receiver, Jason Witten is an-all purpose and All-Pro tight end and Roy Williams is finally starting to mesh in this Dallas offense. The real strength of this Cowboy team is Wade Philips' defense. DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff and Anthony Spencer have been harassing QB's all season, but they have a special affinity for hitting McNabb.

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Dallas @ Pittsburgh:  The Cowboys will travel to Pittsburgh short-handed this week.  Marion Barber was left behind to heal his toe, as he did not make the trip to the Steel City.  The Steelers are sporting the No. 1 defense in the league, so Romo will have his work cut out for him.  Not having Barber may be a blessing in disguise, as it will force the ‘Boys to come out with all their guns blazing.  Pittsburgh will pound the rock, as they will try to dominate the line of scrimmage.  The ‘Boys will find a way to win, because they must!  Dallas 24, Pittsburgh 23.  

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           Yesterday, the Cowboys defeated Tampa Bay 13-9.  The Cowboys were under a lot of pressure the past few weeks.  On and off the field issues fueled the fire.  Every news media outlet is looking through a microscope to see if and when the Cowboys will combust!  Sorry…ESPN…not this week!  We all know that you need the ratings and the material.  How else would you fill your pre and post-game shows?  Look elsewhere; there are 31 other teams with storylines. 

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Roy Williams, All-Pro tight end Jason Witten, and Marion Barber. There will be an odd man out each week, and every once in a while it will be Owens. I can’t wait to watch the post-loss explosions from either receiver when they aren’t seeing the ball enough. Though when T.O. is done, he will leave a core of young established players behind.

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his receivers can get open.

Dallas racked up over 400 yards of total offense, behind running back Marion Barber’s 146 yards on the ground. Barber always gets talked about as a guy who should look to avoid more contact so he can stay fresh late in the game. He seemed pretty fresh last night in the final quarter, despite every bruising run. Delivering more pain than he takes, Barber will be just fine this season. He has rookie Felix Jones to back him up and deliver those home runs on the ground. Their production set up the pass last night, as Tony Romo found Miles Austin on two deep throws after fakes to the running back. Terrell Owens only had 2 catches for 17 yards, but had some impressive blocks on some of Dallas’ key running plays. Tight end Jason Witten was instrumental as well, often being asked to block defensive linemen, which he did to perfection.

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Its been said for the past 2 seasons. Marion Barber needs to get more touches. He has been in a time share with Julius Jones for the past 2 seasons, but has shown that he is obviously the better running back. He is a powerful, hard hitting runner who is almost impossible to bring down especially in the 4th quarter. This year will be different. Barber is finally the #1 running back. Julius Jones has left the team and will be running for Seattle now. Barber will see the touches that he deserves. The running game will be much improved. With Barber as a starter, the Cowboys will strike fear into the opposing team’s defense. It just becomes a different game when Marion the Barbarian is on the field. The Cowboy’s did draft two other running backs in this year’s draft. Felix Jones out of Arkansas and Tashard Choice out of Georgia Tech. Expect Jones to cut into Barber’s carries a bit, but Barber will still see most of the action. I am loving the Cowboy’s rushing attack this year.

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Sure, Marion Barber is a freak, but Jones had all the carries in the world (plus a decent line in front of him) and he only managed to fall off his horse riding into the Texas sunset.

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ffinity for fellow ‘Hogs is well known.

To obtain that selection, Jones could possibly send Marion Barber, who is a restricted free agent, to Miami for the rights to McFadden.  If I was Parcells, and I am clearly not, I would not do this deal unless one or both of the Cowboys current 1st round picks are packed with Barber.

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ating over Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.  He could be interested enough to trade Marion Barber and possibly additional picks to Miami so he could select the Razorback as his first overall selection.  

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