Sad ending to a sad season – Cowboys go down in flames
It has taken me awhile to be able to talk about the Dallas Cowboys and their complete and total failure this year. In a must-win game against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, you shouldn’t need a game plan. You play this team twice a year. As a matter of fact, the Philadelphia Eagles have used the same formula for victory for over 15 years. 15 years ago the dynamic quarterback was Randall Cunningham. Now it’s Donovan McNabb. Both quarterbacks are streaky and they’re surrounded by average receivers. The engine that runs the Eagles is their defense. Punts are victories and turnovers are self-inflicted stab wounds. It’s that simple. So, what ever you do, don’t turn the ball over.
I didn’t really have to watch the game in order to know what happened (I did watch every freaking pitiful minute). If someone would have told me that the Cowboys lost 44-6, I would’ve told them that Tony Romo had several turnovers. Someone else fumbled the ball once or twice. The offensive line looked like Swiss cheese. Our defense look good for a quarter and a half and then it was as if the offense broke down. That is in fact what happened. Why? I don’t play football and haven’t since ninth grade. I’m not some high-paid football analyst. Yet, I knew the keys to victory so why didn’t the Dallas Cowboys?
I’ve complained all year about the offensive line. Without Kyle Kozar, what was a good offensive line became extremely average. During the Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl run in the early- to mid-90s, offensive linemen got hurt but there was a competent backup to step in his place. There was no competent backup this time. Four years ago, with Drew Bledsoe as quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys were playing these very same Philadelphia Eagles at home when Flozell Adams blew out his knee. Instantaneously, we went from being able to do whatever we wanted to on offense to being stuck in the mud.
The offensive line is the Cowboys’ chief problem, but it is not the only problem. Let’s look at the high-profile acquisitions that we’ve had over the last 12 months. There’s Adam “Pac Man” Jones. Early in the season he seemed to have some sort of positive impact. A combination of injuries and a well-publicized fight at a Dallas hotel got him sidelined for around six weeks, making him completely useless. He was released today. How about Roy Williams? Here’s a big, tall gifted receiver who has no work ethic. He’s completely useless. It may be that over the summer he’ll be integrated into the offense but the problem with the Cowboy offense was not a lack of receivers. Instead, the problem was quarterbacks running for their lives because of a lack of offensive blocking. Take Zach Thomas. Zach Thomas will be in the Hall of Fame someday. Thankfully, his career does not depend on this year. He was completely invisible as a Dallas Cowboy. I guess he was supposed to bring leadership but that didn’t happen. I would like to add a bit about Tank Johnson. With the Chicago Bears, Tank Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew. He is big and strong and extremely athletic. Yet we’ve seen none of these properties as a Dallas Cowboy. [Read more →]
