I know better than this. I held out longer than almost all of you. Amidst claims of going to the promise land, the SuperBowl, all that, I maintained a wait and see attitude.
But last week, I bit the cheese. Romo had done well, played consistently and I just felt like it was all coming together. The Cowboys had it going their way. NFC East title was within reach. The #2 spot in the playoffs was within reach, albeit with some outside help. Someone had to beat the Saints. The Cowboys had cinched the playoffs, now it was just a matter of jockeying for position.
But there was a minor problem. The Philadelphia Eagles. Not only that, it was the Philadelphia Eagles coming to Texas Stadium. Here at the end of the season, when the Cowboys should be building momentum to go into the playoffs, they started losing home games. And not just any home game. No, they lost home games that were critical to playoff posturing. New Orleans came to Texas Stadium and just had their way with the Cowboys. The Philadelphia Eagles did the same thing yesterday.
The odds are that Dallas will finish the season 10-6. The should beat the Detroit Lions. But don't put your money on it. This is the inconsistent Cowboys. Change the score on two games and the Cowboys basically win every other game. They had a 4 game streak after Romo first became the starter, but since then, it's been win one, then lose one, repeat.
I posted an article back on Nov. 6th and said:
"Seeing half a season go by with the pattern of up one week, down the next, and seeing our record at this point being exactly where it should be based on performance, 4-4, one can only come to the conclusion that the Cowboys are mediocre, average. . . .bordering on bad. Yes they can improve. Yes, they can get worse, too. It's a wash."
I guess I left off the fact that they could just stay like they were, middle of the pack. Oh sure, they had the 4 game winning streak, which improved them from a 50% team after game #8 to a 60% team where they are now.
60% . . . Let that one soak in.
I don't know about you, but where I went to school, anything less than 70% was failure. And before anyone comes up with the argument that if it hadn't been for that freak play at the end of that Washington game, the numbers wouldn't be the same. The bottom line is it wasn't different at the end of that Washington game and the numbers are the same. There certainly was no freak play in the New Orleans game. Or in the Philly game yesterday. The Philadelphia Eagles kicked asses and took names. When someone asks the Cowboys "who's your daddy", they can collectively say "The Eagles are my daddy!" It sucks, but it's reality.
Also reality is the inconsistency. In training camp and preseason, the expectation was that Dallas would have a great defense this season. At no point in this season could you have claimed the Cowboys had a great defense. The best game they played, in my opinion, was against the Colts. One game does not a great season make. They won't be a great defense this season. The playoffs aren't the time of year to begin learning how to work as a unit. If a defense hasn't learned it by the time the playoffs begin, they won't be learning it this season. No pass rush, poor secondary play, giving up too many long plays and plays across the middle will send them home early from the playoffs. They haven't played well enough to deserve to be there and they won't be there very long. Again, it's reality.
As for the offense, the first half of the season, Drew Bledsoe's immobility was a factor. Most folks blamed him on the four losses in the first half of the season. This second half has shown us that even Romo's excellent mobility and decision making isn't enough to overcome a porous offensive line. It's hard for a quarterback, regardless of how mobile he is, to dodge 4 defenders simultaneously. Danny White had the same problem. The poor play of his front line kept him from being the SuperBowl winner he surely could have been. A quarterback cannot win games flat of his back. Period. Another reality.
Terrell Owens proves one more time that he's going to make sure everyone knows it's all about him. Wasn't it convenient that there was a camera crew there to film him visiting all of his former Eagles buddies. He did his talking before the game. The Eagles did their talking on the field. TO was hardly a factor in the game. One touchdown, when the opposing team is having their way with you, is hardly a contribution. But TO got his name mentioned on TV and that's what's important. If Parcells decides to stay, and if Jones and Parcells decide to keep TO in Dallas, I think they have both left their senses. It's a team sport and you simply cannot have one guy that spends every waking moment of his life trying to make sure that everyone knows the sun, moon, planets and stars orbit around him, regardless of method or consequence. Terrell's play is not good enough to make up for his lack of team spirit. There are other receivers out there that don't come with the financial cost or the distraction cost. They need to find one and let TO go play elsewhere.
The only person who can possibly find something to be happy about on the Cowboys is possibly Gramatica. At least they can't blame this one on him. I'm sure that's great comfort for him. NOT!
I cannot see any team going into the playoffs without momentum, with a defense playing as poorly as they have basically all season, with an offensive line being as porous as they are, and with all the distractions this team has and almost certainly will have to tolerate so long as TO is on the roster, going very far in the playoffs. To even consider they are legitimate SuperBowl contenders this season isn't founded in reality. If, by some freak circumstance, they make it to the SuperBowl, the AFC has so much better teams, they'll eat them alive. The playoffs are big games. Important games. And the 2006 Cowboys haven't shown they are consistent in those games. And you don't get but one inconsistent game in the playoffs. Then you go home.
No, it won't happen this year, folks. There'll be no 6th trophy on the shelf at Valley Ranch after this season.
I screwed up and bit the cheese, drank the kool-aid and looked around for more. My deepest apologies to those that expected better of me. It won't happen again. As Parcells said, "you are what you are". The Cowboys are at the moment 9-6. That's a 60% team. And lucky to be there with the problems that they have to get corrected.
Now, how do i get the taste of bad cheese out of my mouth. . . . . .
Posted on http://www.dallascowboystalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7573#post7573
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