NN NFL Tournament of Badness Elite Eight: Dallas Cowboys, America's Team and The Prevent Defense

We've come a long way in the Niners Nation NFL Tournament of Badness, and we've now reached the final eight entrants, the "Elite Eight", if you will. Elite in badness and general ridiculousness alike, these eight entrants are some of the very worst in the National Football League. You can view how we got to this point by checking out the full bracket here, and you can, of course, peruse the "NN Random Brackets" section to view past matches and polls. Some matches have been close, some have been blowouts, and three number one seeds remain.

One such number-one seed is in action today, as "Cowboys Being America's Team" takes on the horrifically overused "Prevent Defense." It's a huge matchup, the former has been dominating left and right and the latter has been dispatching opposition with relative ease. My money is on the former, but anything can happen at this point. I can certainly see voting for the latter.

This is a tournament of badness and as such, you need to be voting for the absolute worst of the two in any given matchup. I don't think I need to be saying it at this point, but just so there isn't any confusion ... I know that people have been confused by ballots and instructions before.  Vote for which one you think is more awful than the other, so in the end, we can truly have the worst thing in the NFL. Jump for a description of the two entrants in today's matchup and a look at the rest of the elite eight.

(1) Cowboys Being Referred To As "America's Team"

Very few things in the National Football League incite as much anger, malice and downright disgust in San Francisco 49ers fans than the very mention of the Dallas Cowboys. It's a reciprocating relationship, mostly because the two titans of football did battle for many years and robbed each other of more than one Lombardi Trophy. I saw a Cowboys fan get dropkicked at Candlestick Park. During a St. Louis Rams game.

They've an owner full of himself, a team full of themselves and a fanbase to go with it all. At one point, somebody started referring to them as "America's Team." I'm sure I could look it up and see who exactly started it, but it's really inconsequential to the point: that people use it still. The fans think it's true and the team thinks it's true. They really enjoy being called "America's Team", when in reality, the majority of America hates them. Ask a random person on the street if they hate the Dallas Cowboys, chances are the response will need to utilize [site decorum].

There is no reason for this moniker, and no excuse for using it. If you use it, please never return to Niners Nation again and maybe even set yourself on fire. Thank you.

(3) Prevent Defense

There are conflicting opinions on the prevent defense, and as is the case with most things that people feel passionate about, what appears to be the correct stance is somewhere in the middle of either opposing train of thought. Some people will say that it's a completely useless formation that has no modern usages, while others feel that it is, in fact, very useless and even perfect. Both sides are more than a little confused on the matter, and my one middle ground is simple:

Using the prevent defense too early or in the wrong situation is one of the stupidest things you can do in the game of football.

Yes, it's true ... the prevent is awful in that sense. Seeing it in action is like watching your team lay down and accept that the opposing team is going to gain yardage. Seeing it in action when your team is only up by one touchdown with plenty of time left is one of the most mind-numbingly horrible things in football. There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a team go to prevent with seven minutes remaining in the final quarter. When used as such, the prevent defense prevents you from winning.

Elite Eight

(1) Cowboys Being America's Team versus (3) Prevent Defense
(1) Brett Favre's Media Whoring versus (6) Blackouts

(12) Tanking The Season To Draft Andrew Luck versus (3) New Kickoff Rule
(1) The Brady Rule versus (2) Score, Commercial, Kickoff, Commercial