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- Welcome To "The Tortured Cowboys
Fan" Blog
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- September 26,
2008 At 10:37 AM EST
- By Eric M. Scharf
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- 1976 Began 9 Years Of Fan
Bliss Through The 1985 Playoff Dive
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- I have been a die-hard fan of the
Dallas Cowboys since 1976, when my family moved to Dallas, Texas. I
could have been smart like my father, who gave up on watching the
(crumbling) Cowboys soon after their last Super Bowl victory in 1996, but
I like to torture myself, and I have continued watching America’s
Team at every turn.
My dedication has earned me the right to make
highly visible, critical, and entertaining comments on
all-things-Cowboys, and, lately, all-things-disappointing.
Cowboys’ fans, from the beginning, enjoyed an incredible run of
success, led by the well-respected Tom “Stone Face” Landry, after
humble beginnings in the early 1960’s. After many playoff victories,
several Super Bowl appearances, and a couple Super Bowl wins, the
1980’s arrived with moderate-but-lessening success.
1985 was one of
the more ridiculous seasons, for any team in NFL history, where the
Cowboys managed to get obliterated 44-0 by the eventual Super Bowl
Champion Chicago Bears and sleep-walked their way through a 50-24
loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. And, yet, the Cowboys still made the
playoffs, only to go flat against the Los Angeles Rams.
1986 Was Filled With Evil
Tricks
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- The team was primed for a grand turn-around in 1986, starting off at
6-3. Danny White was ON again, leading masterful offensive drives
and giving fans hope for a playoff revival. Then, with one snap of
the wrist, the future of the Cowboys went into an unrecoverable
tailspin.
The “snap heard round the Cowboys’ Nation” was that of
Danny White’s wrist, courtesy of linebacker Carl Banks during the second
of two games against the division rival New York Giants, at the
Meadowlands. Oh, the Cowboys were miraculously still in the game
until the very last minutes, when a promising young understudy, by
the name of Steve Pelluer, drove the offense down the field, twice,
deep into Giants territory, with the efficiency of a veteran.
The
Cowboys were down 17-14, and Pelluer did his job not once, but
twice, consecutively, on two beautiful pass-and-catch plays between
him and Timmy Newsome that got the Cowboys within the Giants’ 5-yard
line, ready to tie the game with a field goal or score the go-ahead
touchdown. And, then, like an uninvited 3rd wheel on an otherwise
enjoyable date, the infamous right tackle, Phil Pozderac, number 75,
was called for holding on both plays.
The man who excelled at
hugging defenders during most of his career could not buy a hug once
the whistle blew for the final time that afternoon. Game over,
followed shortly by a once-promising-but-collapsed season.
1988 Continued A Poor Fate
And 1989 Brought The End Of The Line
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- There was simply not enough time left in the 1980’s for Coach Landry
to raise the Cowboys from the dead men walking they had become,
ending his honorable, decades-long tour of duty with a forgettable
3-13 season, in 1988.
The offseason provided another opportunity to
rub salt in the still-fresh, still-raw wound of so many Cowboys’
fans, when the freshly-minted new owner of the team, Jerry Jones,
fired Coach Landry in favor of his own, hand-picked head coach,
Jimmy Johnson.
Thus, began an entirely new identity and exciting
pathway to success for the Dallas Cowboys, whether or not legions of
dedicated fans were ready.
While success did not occur over night for Jimma’ and Jerra’, their
decisions and the changes that followed were noticeable and
refreshing - from the asthma-suffering free agent who publicly failed
to meet Jimmy’s training camp standards (and was ordered to "go
practice at the asthma field") to the team that ultimately
made the cut and played its collective rear end off in each loss of
what ended as a 1-15 year.
1990 And 1991 Brought
Growing Pains With A Little Fun
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- Each season that followed brought steady improvement, more and
better draft choices, more and better veteran players, and more
learning experiences. The Cowboys had a chance to back their way
into the playoffs, in 1990, with Babe Laufenberg filling in for the
injured-but-rising star, Troy Aikman.
The team made up for their
shortcomings, however, by having a breakout season in 1991, where
Aikman, wide receiver Michael Irvin, and running back Emmitt Smith
started to make a name for themselves as the “triplets,” and with
tight end Jay Novacek remaining as Aikman’s most
durable-and-reliable target.
Aikman got injured, again, as the
season wore on, but his back-up, Steve Beurelein, was able to hold
his own, helping ensure the Cowboys first post season in several
years. The team managed to out-hustle an aging-but-still-formidable
Chicago Bears squad, winning their first post season game since the
strike-shortened season of 1982.
The Detroit Lions were not so
obliging, as they easily handled the upstart Cowboys in a game that
included Aikman’s playoff debut (albeit a short one, as he was
inserted at halftime with the false hopes of creating a spark for
the team).
1992 Brought An Incredible
Breakthrough
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- 1992 arrived with the expectation of more, steady improvement for a
team of still-young pups mixed with a handful of experienced
veterans.
The Cowboys exceeded all expectations by going 13-3,
mastering the Philadelphia “Iggles” 34-10 in the NFC divisional
playoff round, handling the annual Super Bowl contending San
Francisco 49ers 30-20 in the NFC Championship round, and
obliterating the Buffalo Bills (Boy I Love Losing Super Bowls)
52-17.
Back-To-Back Resiliency In
1993
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- I remember the feeling of euphoria. The sky was, indeed, the limit.
The 1993 season proved as much, as even a two-game absence by Emmitt
Smith over a contract dispute - and Leon Lett’s special teams goof
against the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day - could not stop the
Cowboys from winning back-to-back Super Bowls.
The offseason, however, provided an opportunity for alcohol and egos
to mix, and, from Jerry’s lips to a new Cowboys reality, “Any one of
500 coaches could to take the Cowboys to the Super Bowl,” and, thus,
with Jimmy Johnson’s firing / resignation (depending on who’s story
you believe), Barry Switzer was brought into the fold.
Knocking At The
Door In 1994 And The Super Bowl Drive In 1995
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- Thanks in no small part to Jimmy Johnson’s well-stocked team, the
1994 season would have brought a 3rd consecutive Super Bowl win had
it not been for three consecutive turnovers to begin the NFC
Championship game against the 49ers - compounded by injuries to two
warriors who really tried to gut it out.
Larry “Strong Man” Allen had a bad ankle at right tackle and Emmitt Smith had a bad
hamstring that simply-and-finally gave out towards the end of the
game (which ended with plenty of what-if talk regarding the three
turnovers that made all the difference in a 38-28 battle that was a
lot closer than the score indicated).
1995 delivered on Jerry’s promise that any coach could take the Cowboys to
the big show. Barry Switzer took them to Super Bowl XXX, handling
Philadelphia and Green Bay along the way, and beating the
Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 to win it all (in a game that was closer than indicated
if not for cornerback Larry Brown’s timely interceptions of Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell).
1996 Ended A Stream Of
Playoff Picks
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- 1996 represented the beginning of a long time (for Cowboys’ fans)
away from the post season, as well as a long kiss goodnight to good regular season records.
The Cowboys had a 10-6 record that year, even winning their 5th
consecutive division title (a feat never before accomplished in the
NFC East), but losing a number of games everyone expected them to
win, with some otherwise-reliable veterans showing foreboding signs
of wear-and-tear.
It was one of those seasons where the wins were
not incredibly impressive, and where the losses continued to be
explained away by media pundits with "as long as they have Troy
Aikman, they have a fighting chance to go all the way" (even though
Aikman, like anyone else, needed reliable teammates to do their
collective part).
They won their Wild Card playoff game in a
somewhat surprising blowout of the Minnesota Vikings. Then, they ran
into a youthful buzz-saw with the Carolina Panthers in the
divisional playoff round, in which their offensive scheme had
suddenly staled and their defense had struggled mightily to keep
their opponent at bay.
This loss was a particularly painful
crescendo that had slowly been creeping up onto the Cowboys
organization as the season progressed.
1997 Was Poorly Driven,
1998 Was Great, And 1999 Crossed The Line
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- The 1997 season began with such promise, as the aging Cowboys team
cremated the Pittsburgh Steelers 37-7 in the opener, but it ended
with the team searching for its identity, saddled with a 6-10
record, and resulting in Barry Switzer’s exit.
Chan Gailey, a
popular offensive disciple of Dan Reeves, was brought in to change
the Cowboys’ fortunes in 1998. He had a 10-6 flash-in-the-pan season
(including an unceremonious playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals).
The 1999 season diminished to a barely acceptable 8-8 record, where
the Cowboys nearly backed into the playoffs, followed by another playoff loss to the
Minnesota Vikings.
2000-2002 Smelled Like An
Old Shoe
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- I feel no shame in suggesting that America’s Team became dangerously
close to becoming America’s Turd, during Dave Campo’s three
consecutive 5-11 seasons that followed Chan Gailey’s efforts. Dave
certainly had plenty of help from a poor roster, poorly managed
draft choices, aging-or-lost stars, and untimely injuries to the
stars who remained, but he, like Chan, was proof that some
coordinators lack the broad, interdisciplinary vision necessary to
be the head coach of an entire football team, let-alone a
professional one.
2003 Brought Big Bill And A
Credible Quincy
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- The 2003 season brought more, well-deserved change, for players and
fans alike, with the surprise hiring of Bill “The Big Tuna” Parcells
as the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Everyone was so
desperate for someone to arrive on the scene with a real command of
how to turn an organization around that it simply did not matter the
Tuna previously coached for the arch rival Giants.
So, Big Bill did
what he always seems to do wherever he goes: he created a 10-6
winner with a collection of great, average, and questionable talent,
and, although the season ended with a humbling 29-10 loss to the
Carolina Panthers, the Cowboys accomplished so much more than anyone
expected that year.
Quincy Carter played out of his mind,
tentatively validating Jerry Jones’ risky pick of Carter as a high second
round draft choice.
2004 Delivered Less Instead
Of More
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- 2004 brought more excitement and promise, only to see all of
the hype be
misplaced on a team that delivered an unexpected 6-10 tank job. The players believed the hype
(in the face of a coach who never allows or encourages such behavior
from his players), and they paid deeply for their assumptions.
Quincy never
made it out of training camp, being cut from the team upon failing
an NFL-mandated drug test (although the official team line was that
he was being cut for conduct detrimental to the team). Vinny
Testaverde came out of retirement to perform admirably on a team
stuck in neutral.
2005 Went From Alive To A
Painful Sky Dive
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- 2005 brought the expectation of a team that finally had its head on
straight - in the proper Parcells mold - but they wilted down the
stretch, as did quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Faced with two
opportunities to win-and-get-in, they failed to reach the playoffs,
and the season ended at 9-7.
2006 Was A Near Fix
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- 2006 brought another year of expectation that turned into another
year of inconsistent performance by almost everyone on the team
except the man who would take over at quarterback for the collapsing
Drew Bledsoe.
The Tuna decided to insert Tony Romo into the starting
line-up at half-time of a Monday night game - which seemed well out
of hand - against the New York
Giants. If not for a couple
of awe-shucks turnovers by Romo, the Cowboys might have actually come
back to win the game.
Nonetheless, a star was born as Romo helped
the Cowboys reach the playoffs that year. The Romo romance,
unfortunately, turned into a sour Seattle honeymoon, as Romo let a
simple place--and-hold slip through his fingers on what should have
been the game-winning field goal against the Seahawks.
The
gut-wrenching playoff failure - among other factors of inconsistency
- proved to be too much for Big Bill, who stepped down from his post
with one year remaining on his contract.
- 2007 Was A Little Like Heaven
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2007 arrived with a sonic boom. Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, and a
host of other coaches were hired in the offseason, bringing with
them entirely new offensive and defensive schemes.
The offense was
extremely efficient and explosive for most of the season, the defense played pretty hard as
well in adjusting from the 4-3 to the 3-4, and the special teams performed just well enough not to get
mentioned too often in the media.
The Cowboys miraculously played the entire
season without their talented deep receiving threat, Terry Glenn, and they
sleep-walked through 2 of their final 4 games (nearly losing 3
of them and seeing their star wide receiver, Terrell Owens, get
injured).
The Cowboys still managed to finish 13-3 in the regular
season, qualifying for the playoffs as the number 1 seed in the NFC,
and expecting big things towards a potential Super Bowl showing.
As became their annual habit, the Cowboys promising post-season
participation came to a
screeching halt when they ran into a scrappy New Year Giants team in
their only playoff game that year. The Giants made the Cowboys
offensive scheme look ordinary and slow.
The Cowboys’ offensive line
was on its heels all day long, forcing Romo into full scramble mode
for much of the game. The Cowboys had a chance at the end to pull
off the win, but another pressured turnover ended it for the ‘Boys.
The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl with far more grit, team
effort, and hard work than talent, but, a win is a win, and they did
it - leaving a blue print for the Cowboys to follow towards
improving on their weaknesses.
2008 Was Not So Great
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- So, here we are, having just endured the 2008 season
- filled with so much talent and so much promise, only to be let down
again - with an incredible number of injuries, a suddenly-predictable
offensive scheme, typically-poor special teams, and a woeful
9-7 record.
The Cowboys had three consecutive season-ending
opportunities to win-and-get-in to the playoffs, resulting in a
truly disappointing demolition of the Cowboys by the Eagles in the
final game of the season.
The Cowboys were sent home, again, and the
Eagles now find themselves just one game away from going to the Super
Bowl.
Will The Team Be Fine In
2009?
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- So, where do the Cowboys go in 2009? What changes-if-any will they
be willing to make in the offseason? What will they do with
personnel? What will they do with the coaching staff?
Before these
questions can be answered, you need to identify the cause or source
of the problems. I will, in this vein, be posting a variety of
comments I made before, during, and after the games played in the
2008 season - in an attempt to provide such answers, with all the
depth and irrational amusement of a loyal but far from myopic fan:
"The Tortured Cowboys Fan."
Will I succeed only in my own mind .
. . or will my investigations reach well beyond that of mere
armchair quarterbacks and achieve serious legitimacy?
We shall see. We always do . . . and I hope you enjoy!
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