Post by MR. COWBOY on Nov 30, 2014 8:39:59 GMT -7
Cowboys Corner
Have the Cowboys been exposed? Answer is clear
BY RANDY GALLOWAY
Special to the Star-Telegram
Picking through the leftovers from the Thanksgiving thud in Arlington, even two days later, there was simply nothing there for the Cowboys to use for small consolation or grab-bag optimism.
I quickly called off the search for any remnants of minute positives, although I will, with hesitation this morning, point to one lesson from this NFL season.
Even the best teams, of which the Cowboys are not, have thrown in a stinker of a performance at some point. Judgment has to come over weeks, not one 60-minute stretch.
Otherwise, what the Philly Eagles accomplished was a shocker, basically because it was thorough domination in every area. The Cowboys haven’t been this exposed since those dirty Jerry pictures hit the Internet.
With December coming, a surprisingly successful season is now on the brink. At 8-4, making the playoffs as a wild card is now an issue. Heck, even escaping the 8-8 rut suddenly becomes a shaky proposition. Can they win on the road against a bad Bears bunch Thursday night?
No, they won’t. Not based at least on what was seen against the Eagles. But again, each game in the NFL is a whole new world, and the Cowboys’ world now centers on the Bears, then a trip to Philly, then the Colts here and, finally, the Redskins on the road.
Two of those four, of course, beat the Cowboys in Arlington.
Current worries? Yes, there are a few. Or many.
The Eagles’ blowout win marked consecutive games where the Cowboys’ defense has been trashed. To begin with, this was an iffy group of NFL boat people and minimum-wage types who had performed far above football pedigree.
Talent-wise, maybe it’s a defense quickly sinking to its legitimate level. But if that’s the case, it’s still not the Cowboys’ biggest concern, at least not based on the Philly debacle.
Going into the Thanksgiving game, if a win against the Eagles was going to happen, the offense had to put 30 points on the board. Had to do it.
They could still be playing this morning in Arlington, going on three days later, and the Cowboys would not have reached 30 points against a so-so, at best, Eagles defensive unit.
Blame Tony Romo? Yes. Sure. Why not?
Tony reverted to his history of big-game blunders.
But while the Romo haters had their first told-ya-so moment of the season, I’d put Tony’s tank job down the list on the blame-game board.
Ahead of Tony, but not at the top of the board, would be the receivers. Dez Bryant needs to be reminded that “open” doesn’t mean his mouth on the bench. The big-money wideouts, of which Dez thinks he’s one, beat coverage on a consistent basis.
Dez is good, one of the best, when it comes to the muscle game with cornerbacks, but separation from those corners? There is not enough of that if you want to be paid like Calvin and them.
Another thing about the receivers. Whatever happened to Terrance Williams?
But despite all of that — defense, QB, receivers, etc. — far and above all other malfunctioning areas against the Eagles was the Valley Ranch pride and joy. That offensive line.
Tyron. Travis. Zack. What the heck happened? This had been the most celebrated area of the team. When Eagles nose tackle Bennie Logan had the quote last week of “I don’t see anything spectacular” about the OL, I thought Bennie, a journeyman type, was getting ready to get his butt kicked.
Hate to admit it, but Mr. Jones was thinking right along with me.
In a pregame radio interview Thursday, Jerry jumped right in there with this quote on Bennie: “He’s gonna get his you-know-what knocked off.”
Actually, it was Travis Frederick, the center, who got his butt whipped. Well, him and guard Ron Leary. It was also a very poor game for the other guard, rookie Zack Martin.
I asked my friend, The Man Who Watches Film, to explain the OL problems against the Eagles. He was blunt:
“Leary was awful. Frederick wasn’t any better. And Martin was right there with them. I’m not saying the tackles [Tyron Smith and Doug Free] shouldn’t share in the blame, but the interior of the line had, collectively, just a miserable day.”
It was so bad that Bennie Logan wasn’t even gloating afterward, which is very un-Eagle like. “I just said what I saw [on film],” he explained. “I didn’t mean for it to blow up that big.”
But I’ve got to think the OL just had a bad day at the wrong time. If not ...
To paraphrase Mighty Merle Haggard: Can the Cowboys make it through December?
The answer would be no.