On Sunday I watched a bunch of guys wearing Cowboys uniforms get beaten every which way including up by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The game was not even close. I mentally wrote "game over" in my notebook by midway through the third quarter.
If the guys on the field were Cowboys impersonators, they should have been replaced at half time, on the grounds that they failed the audition. Sadly, we are pretty certain that these guys were the Dallas Cowboys. In which case, God Help Us going forward from here.
The last time I saw a team this comprehensively stuffed in a regular season game was 2 weekends ago, when the New England Patriots steamrollered the Arizona Cardinals. The pattern was the same. The losing team looked out-coached, out-played and out-fought from the initial kick-off.
The biggest issue was that half time did not result in any change in the attitude or the approach of the Cowboys. They continued to look as bad through the second half. In fact, they actually looked worse, as they started turning the ball over with monotonous regularity to a gleeful Philadelphia Eagles team that had no trouble in running up the score against a demoralized defense. Whatever other weaknesses the team had, the major issue was an inability to dig deep and be determined to fight. This team looked like they were mentally and physically elsewhere.
When a team is beaten this badly, we get to find out who the real competitors are, and who the loudmouths are. To his credit, Wade Phillips offered no excuses in his press conference. Tony Romo, who had to be helped out of the shower after the game, seemingly due to rib damage, tried to put the loss in perspective, but his choice of words ("if this is the worst thing that happens to me I'll have been lucky") has only infuriated fans and commentators, who seem to think that Dying For The Team is the only acceptable attitude with the playoffs on the line. T.O., to his credit, did not attempt to sugar-coat the loss, neither did Jason Witten. Zach Thomas, who probably fancied his chances of a Superbowl ring with the Cowboys instead of more futility with the Dolphins, sounded like you would expect him to - a resigned veteran who picked the wrong horse. He will most likely not be back.
Bradie James, seemingly being a bit of a fool, tried to pick a fight with a heckling fan at Valley Ranch today, and is probably going to be lucky to avoid being fined or suspended by the NFL or the team.
(Note to Bradie James - picking a fight with a fan is about as dumb as it gets. If the NFL doesn't fine you, the Cowboys ought to fine you for being an unprofessional dickwad. The reason you are paid all of that money is because you perform in public, the public pays money to see you, so they get to critique you. If you don't like that concept, find another way to make a living.)
The bigger question, after all of the foaming at the mouth about the ineptitude of the Cowboys is..where does the team go from here? Jerry Jones can proclaim all he likes about his intention to keep the coaching staff, but there are major problems with the team and team leadership.
We need to start at the top, with ownership.
Jerry Jones has a habit of being unable to get out of the way of his coaches. After parting company with Jimmy Johnson, he worked through a succession of progressively more inept coaches who were paid poorly, and expected to do his bidding. During that period, the Cowboys became progressively poorer on the field, and some of the players' off-field behaviour also became dangerously unprofessional.
Only after it became clear that playoff football had risen beyond the reach of the team did Jones hire Bill Parcells, who he could not push around. The team improved, but two egos of that size were always going to have trouble co-existing, and Parcells eventually left by way of yet another "retirement". Jones is now back to hiring compliant head coaches. His inability to get out of the way is now haunting the franchise once again. Just as seriously, his gambler's instinct has seen him hand over money and draft picks for Tank Johnson, Adam Jones and Roy Williams. Johnson and Jones have been mediocre; perhaps a life of sobriety and early nights does not sit well with some players. Williams cost the Cowboys a first round and third round pick, yet has been The Invisible Man on offense for most of the season. The Cowboys are essentially back to squandering draft picks on players with major performance and attitude issues. The Roy Williams trade cost them their first round pick for next year, a far cry from the time several years ago when they had two first-round picks, thanks to some nifty trades worked under Parcells.
Wade Phillips showed his lack of leadership steel in Buffalo, where he was unable to resolve a quarterback controversy between the talented but utterly un-smart Rob Johnson and the short, but fiery and competitive Doug Flutie. The controversy split the team, and the Buffalo Bills wallowed around for several years before Phillips was fired. Phillips, a defensive co-ordinator by trade, has bounced through several head coaching positions in the NFL, with mostly poor results. He is not a head coach, lacking the will to impose himself on a team. In the past few weeks he has seemed like a passenger, as team members have whined on and off-record to the media. Whatever else you might think about Bill Parcells, he would never tolerate that kind of behaviour.
The core defensive unit actually looked very impressive for much of the year, with DeMarcus Ware turning into a sack monster, and the unit being very capable at shutting down the run and harrassing opposing quarterbacks. However, the lack of a shut-down cornerback continues to be an issue, and for the last 6 weeks, the defense was carrying the team. With the offense stuttering, the defense was eventually worn down.
The offense is looking like a major overhaul is required. The ability to score at will, much evident in 2007, appeared to vanish in 2008, and the offense did not seem to be capable of grinding out victories behind the running game, due to the issues at running back.
Jason Garrett, who 12 months ago was being hailed as an offensive genius, suddenly finds himself being blamed for most of the offensive woes of the Cowboys. Hero to goat in one calendar year. It is doubtful that the problems with the offense are entirely his fault. The team lost its 1-2 running punch early on with the injury to Felix Jones, and Marion Barber was a pale shadow of his normal self for the last third of the season. Being forced to throw the football too much exposes a team's receivers and pass protection schemes, and Roy Williams, acquired after the start of the season, never seemed to find a role in the offense. However, the Cowboys have looked out-coached on offense in several recent games, and it begs the question of whether the current Cowboys offensive schemes have passed their sell-by date. Garrett suddenly does not look like a head coach-in-waiting.
Tony Romo appears to have regressed. He seemed more and more to revert to the "gunslinger" mentality that Bill Parcells tried very hard to restrain him from. It does not help that both Jason Garrett and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson are ex-quarterbacks. They can empathise with Romo's issues, but what is needed from time to time is a booming Parcells-type voice to remind him that he can lose a game as much as win one if he heaves the ball in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Romo needs to be challenged to mature to the next level.
The Cowboys have to either zip Terrell Owens or fire him. He quite clearly cannot keep his mouth shut when things do not go his way. The "give me the damn ball" routine has become tedious. He will be 35 this year, and has a limited number of years left at top level. Perhaps he might like to enjoy them somewhere else.
The Cowboys need at least one more durable running back. Marion Barber will wear out rapidly if he is forced to operate as an every-down back. Tashard Choice looks to be a good backup, but the fact that the Denver Broncos have gone through seven running backs this season shows that you can never have too much depth at this position.
Cornerback continues to be a problem; the team does not have a shutdown corner, and without one, they are going to continue to be exposed to any offense with speed receivers that likes to stretch the field.
However, the Cowboys have the biggest issue at quarterback. This season, when Tony Romo was out with a broken finger, the backup tandem of Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger looked utterly inept. Why the Cowboys traded for Brooks Bollinger at the start of the season when they could have picked up Chris Simms will always be a mystery to me. Simms, for all of the criticism levelled at him, did start for a team consistently, and damn near died for it.
Without a significant upgrade at the backup quarterback position, the Cowboys will be in dire straits if they lose Tony Romo for any significant period of time in the future. They might look to the East Coast. The New York Giants took a chance this season on David Carr, another quarterback who had been traumatized on the field of play. Carr basically spent the first 5 years of his NFL career running for his life every other play in Houston, and has taken a couple of years to recover from that experience. However, he came on in relief of Eli Manning on Sunday and looked like he was ready again to be a starter in the NFL. His contract is up after this season, and the Cowboys would be wise to look seriously at him.