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2014-2015 Regular Season: Cowboys
Run A Fowl Of Philly On Thanksgiving
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- November 29,
2014
At 11:43 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- It was the Philadelphia Eagles
versus “America’s Team”.
It was the fast-break Philly versus deliberate Dallas.
Thanksgiving Day – a holiday concoction of good food, family, and
friends with just a smidgeon of age-old tradition – on football
Thursday. One of the greatest professional sports in American
history. A national television audience. A bitter rivalry. A
division lead was at stake. A message would surely be sent . . . by
a team so determined and hell-bent.
The Cowboys – as surprisingly well as they had been playing – still
had plenty to prove, and defeating the Eagles would be one critical
step towards regaining their old (and crusty) postseason groove.
The stage was set and – with great anticipation – fan appetites were
sopping wet. The Cowboys were expected to be ready for revenge . . .
and ready for fans to take that bet.
Dallas nearly beat them once last year – putting down the defensive
hammer and being a LeSean “Shady” McCoy jammer . . . and it would
have been twice if from more mental mistakes they had been able to
steer clear.
Even without Dallas defensive starters Sean Lee and Justin Durant lost
to IR – and even without former stars DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher who
moved away quite far – the Cowboys had an improved defense . . . and a
well-rounded offense that could help them swing for the fence.
The Eagles no longer had DeSean “Action” Jackson to stretch the
field . . . but added Darren “Nose For The Holes” Sproles out of the
backfield and over the middle to make defenses yield. They still had
Jeremy Maclin who – in the past – the Cowboys had a little trouble
tacklin’. They still had Brent Celek who has no relation to that
talented Magnum, P.I. relic, Tom Selleck.
The Eagle were without starting QB Nick Foles and were relying on
Mark Sanchez . . . who – so far – had little resemblance to the butt
fumbler who turned Jets fans into such a collective grumbler.
Would Mark be made to look more like “Sanchize The Franchise” . . .
or would the Cowboys reduce him to merely attracting the flies?
Would Dallas dominate . . . or on the ground-and-pound Cowboys would
the high-flying Eagles defecate?
Answer The Bell
Philly was ready for a fight . . . and – from the outset – Dallas
could do (almost) nothing right.
Cowboys Nation had expected (or – more accurately – hoped) Dallas
would put on a vengeful performance to make up for the previous
year, but the Cowboys simply could not get it in gear . . . giving
the Eagles absolutely zero to fear.
The Cowboys were quickly down 14 to zero when they were finally able
to get moving with DeMarco Murray – their ground game hero. Romo –
without the benefit of his weekly "Day Of Rest" – seemed completely
out of sorts . . . short-arming passes, displaying suddenly
absent-minded pocket presence with decisions that made no sense, and
generally looking like he forgot how to play one of the greatest
professional sports.
Marinelli's Men holding the Eagles to three consecutive field goals when in or near
the Cowboys’ red zone – in the second quarter – was huge . . . but
Dallas otherwise allowed Shady McCoy to glide downfield as if he was
enjoying a Slip ‘N Slide in the luge. It was Wham-O, goal-to-go,
rinse, repeat, and the unexpected demolition was quickly complete.
The Cowboys pass rush? Oh, hush. And even if there was a rush, there
was not gap control push . . . and in defensive line sub-scheme of
the Monte Kiffin’s core over 2, if you cannot control your gap, you
look like crap and are basically through. Marinelli’s Men suffered
from indecision and were out of position. They allowed Shady McCoy
to run an early victory lap to the tune of almost 160 yards –
causing much of the AT&T Stadium crowd to acknowledge a late game
comeback was no longer in the cards . . . and say – in unison –
“That’s a wrap”.
Fans – some but not all – should be familiar with or may recall one
of the oldest gap-control defensive schemes (if not the oldest) in
the league . . . that caused opponents years of mental fatigue. It
was the famous FLEX – designed by none other than legendary Cowboys
head coach Tom
Landry – and until the greater NFL caught on, it succeeded with
“Doomsday” effects.
“Bend but don’t break” rarely allowed too many big plays and left
many an opponent with offensive heart ache . . . and there was a
“slight” difference in available personnel. You could just tell. But
– that was then and this is now . . . and into Marinelli’s Men the
Eagles’ offense would repeatedly plow.
And on the occasion the Dallas’ D-Line Dudes would halt Philly’s
rushing invasion, the Cowboys’ secondary played the neighborhood
confectionary . . . being entirely too sweet to compete on passes
Sanchez should not have been allowed to complete.
While Brandon Carr is physically fine, he is functioning on a
mentally-blown transmission. He simply has been unable to “Get In
The Zone – Marinelli’s Zone”. And even when he has been given the
man-to-man chance . . . he has played too far off to make a
difference or been left thinking too much and frozen in his stance.
When Monte Kiffin took over, everyone was saying the Cowboys did not
have the right personnel at the corner position. Monte felt he could
make it work with Carr, Morris Claiborne, and Orlando Scandrick. He
was wrong about the Cowboys’ man-to-man men by his own (private)
admission.
Marinelli may think he needs better personnel at the cornerback
position, but he is being a good soldier for Jason and Jerry . . .
by simply making the best lemonade from salary cap lemons, no matter
how scary. While Scandrick is certainly playing the best defense of
these three players – and still has room for growth – he has made a
few of his own critical errors.
Fans were expecting Dallas to break the spell, shake off their first
half malaise, and give Philly hell . . . but – no matter how many
chances they got – the Cowboys were dropped on the spot and simply
could not answer the bell.
Will They Or Won’t They?
America’s Team ran a fowl of Philly 33-10 on Thanksgiving, played
brain-dead, are desperate to get back on their potential playoff
track . . . and return to the land of the living (and winning).
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- The Cowboys are headed to Chicago –
once again – to expose themselves to a little “Frozen” theme.
The Bears are a mentally and physically beaten down team – not too
unlike the Cowboys of last season – and succeeding against an
improved Dallas Cowboys would appear to be a dream.
It may not be nearly as cold – as it was last year when the Cowboys
inexplicably chose to fold – but the struggling Chicago Bears are
expected to be just as bold . . . about facing a defense that –
while improved since last year’s contest – can still be rolled if
really pressed.
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Will Marinelli’s Men have better command of their gaps so that
mercurial Jay Cuter, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, and Matt
Forte are prevented from engaging yet another Cowboys defensive
backfield collapse?
Josh “Good Will Spent” Brent is set to make his regular season debut
– while DeMarcus Lawrence is expected to be out with a rib injury .
. . but will a Brent performance so rusty derail his defensive
line-mates into delivering their second straight Pepe Le Pew?
Will the Cowboys play as they should – by taking the Bears seriously
and bringing maximum wood?
Will the Cowboys be the cure to the poor performance disease that
has made the Bears so demure?
The Cowboys – after laying a supremely rotten egg against the Eagles
– need to send the Bears further into hibernation. Will they succeed
and inch closer to avoiding another postseason vacation?
We shall see. We always do.
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