The Sleeping Bear Awakens

I won't go into the myriad of things that have kept me from blogging this year, but I will state emphatically that I have kept up with the Dallas Cowboys as I always do in spite of those things. While there have been minor occurrences that have caught my attention, none of them have been big enough to turn my attention away from where it was focused previously.

But it's time you hear from me now.

I've stated in the past that I'm out of the prediction business, so you're not going to hear me declare how this season is going to end for the Cowboys.

But you are going to hear my opinion on a few issues.

First of all, what has happened to Tony Romo? This is his first full season and he played like a maniac the first half of the season. The last half, and particularly in December, his numbers just dropped from week to week for the most part. If you look only at his December stats, you see a very average, if that high, quarterback. You certainly don't see the saviour of the Dallas Cowboys. With the numbers Romo put up early last year, the fever began. Then his production fell off, or other teams figured out how to defend against him or something happened that shut him down for the last 5 games of the season. This year, he looked great for the first half of the season. Then adequate for the next few games. Then the clock tolled at 12:00 AM December 1st, and the world changed. He became Bad Tony. And the Cowboys became Bad Cowboys. In case you've forgotten, Romo is 0-1 in the playoffs.

Second of all, what has happened to the offensive line? One yard of rushing in a whole game? I don't care if you were starting the waterboys and playing them the whole game, even they should have gained more than one measly yard. This is shameful. There is no other word to describe it.

Third of all, is this offense incapable of scoring when Terrell Owens is not on the field? When he does come back to the field, are you going to be surprised when teams just unload on him with hopes of putting him back on the sidelines? It looks like the formula is simple, No TO=No Cowboys offense. Knock TO out of the game, you've eliminated the effectiveness of the Dallas Cowboys offensively.

Fourth of all, what's with Coach Phillips and this head in the sand routine he's doing? Yes, we all want to have the warm fuzzies and the guys need to be positively motivated. And I have no problem with that, so long as the guys are positively positive they just flat out royally sucked and are positively embarassed because of it. Smack talk from players is great until they don't back up their talk. Then they look like idiots. Coach Phillips can talk all day long and he won't convince me how great the Cowboys played in December. He might as well be trying to convince me that I like liver. He won't get very far there either.

Fifth of all, speaking of December, the Cowboys are well into their 2nd decade now of not having a winning record in regular season in games played after December 1st. While other teams are getting pumped and finding their groove heading towards the playoffs, the Cowboys convinced us, yet again, that they're closer to a Marx Brothers impersonation than an NFL team.

Sixth of all, running backs. After the last game of the season, I'm convinced there is a major problem at this position. Yes, the offensive line provided nothing to help those guys this past weekend, but one yard of rushing through an entire game is, as stated above, shameful. Both the running backs and the offensive line should be ashamed to be seen in daylight after such a poor performance. Julius Jones has proven this season, beyond any doubt, that he is what I've been saying for several years now. He's not the running back this team needs and frankly, I don't think he's capable of being a starting running back for any team that has serious playoff aspirations. At best, he's Plan B. On the other hand, I don't think Marion Barber is the "every down" running back the Cowboys need. Oh, he's a load for the opponent to have to contend with, no doubt. But I believe he's a situational player. He has excelled as that in the past and continues to do so. And he's one of my favorite Cowboys. He hasn't achieved Robert Newhouse status in my eyes, but he's working on it steadily. Julius Jones should not be wearing a star on his uniform next year. I've said it in years past and I'm saying it again. Someone listen to me this time.

Seventh of all. December. I've said in the past as I've harped on this subject, and I'm saying it again, until the Cowboys figure out how to get around this December Curse, they will be relegated to anonymity. SuperBowl winning football teams do not crater in December. The Cowboys do crater in December. It's business as usual at Valley Ranch yet again. If the Cowboys should somehow manage to get to the SuperBowl this season and then of all things, win it, they would defy reason, logic and common sense. Yes, I've heard the axium that "anything can happen in the playoffs". And yes, it can. But put your warm fuzzies and homerisms aside for a moment and tell me honestly. Do you think the Dallas Cowboys have a snowball's chance in hell of being competitive throughout this postseason?