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2009-2010 Regular Season: Postgame -
Shock And Awe
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- September 23, 2009 At 10:00 PM CST
- By
Eric M. Scharf
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- The first home game of the
Cowboys’ 2010 regular season was filled with shock and awe.
Shock and awe
at the enormity and spectacle of Cowboys Stadium – truly the 9th
wonder of the world with every conceivable creature comfort and
event function built right in.
Shock and awe
at seeing the former President and Governor of Texas listening
intently to the immortal John Madden – with word usage like “bam,
boom, and pow” undoubtedly allowing for easier comprehension.
Shock and awe
at seeing so many former Cowboys star players – from Aikman to Lilly
to Staubach.
Shock and awe
at seeing the Cowboys come out and dominate in so many facets of a
huge divisional football game against their hated rivals, the New
York Giants – only to see them lose in the final seconds due to the
mindless mistakes of a chosen few.
Shock and awe
at seeing Tony Romo being the top culprit in the loss – with three
boneheaded interceptions. Only one of the interceptions thrown by
“Terrible Tony” involved a lucky bounce for the Giants – seeing the
ball thrown behind Jason Witten and seeing it glance off of his foot
for an easy pick.
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The final interception must have reminded the
Giants of good times – when Brett Favre threw that “punt” to a
Giants defender in the NFC Championship game of a couple years ago.
Terrible Tony does, indeed, seem to emulate his good buddy, Brett,
at the most inopportune times.
Shock and awe
at seeing Tony Romo ping pong back in forth from being Terrific Tony
and Terrible Tony. I remember one particular Cowboys quarterback who
always managed to put up good numbers but simply could not get the
Cowboys over the Super Bowl hump: none other than Danny White.
Danny had a brilliant football mind, but he lacked the superior
physical traits that could have allowed him to succeed with many of
the passes his mind wanted to perform but his body could not always
accurately throw. While Tony has the physical tools and an “Amazing
Spider-Man” sense for when to roll away from a collapsing pocket,
his mental grasp of the offense is still under investigation.
If his Jekyll and Hyde routine continues deep into the season, the
long dormant memories of Coach Tom Landry pleading “No, Danny, no!”
will be replaced with those of Jason Garrett begging “No, Tony, no!”
Objectively – it is incumbent upon both the QB and his receivers to
know the offense and know where the ball is being thrown vs. how the
routes are being run – building that all-important rapport. This is
especially important for a timing offense. If you are one degree or
one step out of position, the play could spell disaster.
The QB must also, however, use what he sees on film and during
practice to determine the true capabilities of his receivers – such
as who can only grab what is thrown right into his hands and who can
be relied upon in a pinch to make a circus catch out of a poor pass.
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Peyton Manning is not the only QB – nor should he be – who
understands his resources in this way, and it simply requires the
diligence and attention to detail every owner, coach, teammate, and
fan expects.
Shock and awe
at seeing the secondary – from cornerbacks to safeties – perform so
poorly. They “simply” had to build upon positives and repair
negatives from last year, and they appeared to have accomplished
that task – by getting rid of a speed liability in Anthony Henry,
elevating existing players towards more responsibility, and drafting
rookies / signing free agents that generally fit the cornerback and
safety requirements being sought. It was also incredibly important
to keep Terrance Newman as healthy as humanly possible.
While Eli Manning did throw for over 300 yards and a couple of
touchdowns, he should be sending “get worse” cards and fruit baskets
to the Dallas secondary. The undersized Mario “Man Handler” Manningham made
Terrence Newman look like Elvis “Toast” Patterson – a former Giant
and Raider to whom I have often referred whenever Newman makes as
many mistakes as he did against the Giants. Orlando Scandrick played
more like a rookie than did the rookies. It was as if he never
bothered practicing for the game.
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Gerald Sensabaugh did an admirable job for being hung out to dry by
the cornerbacks so many times, but Ken Hamlin – with shades of last
year’s home game against Baltimore – continued to show exactly how
out of place a player can find himself if he really tries not to pay
attention.
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It seems as if Hamlin is beginning to go out of his way
to play like the former first round draft pick everyone was so
gung-ho to dump: former strong safety, Roy Williams. Some of the
safety candidates added in the off-season appear to have promise, so
all hope does not appear to be lost.
Shock and awe
at seeing Marion Barber top such a dominating performance with a
quad injury in the 4th quarter. The moment the injury took place
was, in fact, a re-enactment of Emmitt Smith’s unmerciful hamstring
failure during the 1994 NFC Championship game against the 49ers at
Candlestick Park.
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It is hard to find any fan who does not love
Marion Barber, but the re-occurring injuries are either due to him
being a full-time player . . . or something more troubling.
Shock and awe
at seeing Felix Jones cough up the football on a kick-off return
where he essentially went untouched until after the football popped
out of his arm. Objectively – it seemed like a fluke fumble. You
have to believe he had “every intention of holding onto the ball.”
If he does it again, then, he will have nowhere to hide from the
fans or the organization. Felix, otherwise, put on a solid
performance.
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- Shock and awe
that the Cowboys can still open up a can of Tashard Choice if either
Barber or Jones gets injured, again, like last season.
Shock and awe
that the offensive line kept Romo’s jersey clean all game long.
Shock and awe
that Flozell Adam’s was unbelievably called for only one penalty – a
personal foul for tripping! Even when Flozell is doing a good job -
which is rare with his weekly penchant for holding - he still
manages to find a way to receive extra attention.
Shock and awe
at the defensive line and linebackers did such a good job keeping
the Giants’ running game in check but such an unsuccessful job at
registering any sacks after two games of the still-young NFL season.
They certainly got close two or three times, but they could not seal
the sack deal.
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I will suggest, again, that they are missing Greg
Ellis and / or Chris Canty. Greg got after the QB, and Chris was
more of a line plugger against the run.
Shock and awe
at seeing only a few punts come within 6-10 feet of the Cowboys’
JumboTron. Actually – I was not surprised at all. No team wants to
have a re-punt unless it was a shank. Otherwise, you always take the
chance of giving up great field position.
I was actually disappointed in NBC’s obvious desire to have the
camera operator follow the trajectory of the football on punts –
rather than taking the traditional approach of following the kick
return team as it ran back down field to block for the kick
returner. There was a not so subtle disconnect in camera angles when
you finally saw the kick returner bracing for catching the ball and
potentially being smashed into the turf.
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I hope the networks – in
general – can come up with a common and more satisfying approach to
following punting plays at Cowboys Stadium . . . and soon.
Shock and awe
that the NFL has not taken full advantage of the coolness factor of
the Cowboys’ JumboTron by having custom P-balls (just like the
K-balls for the place kickers) – with built in cameras at each end
of the football. Most professional football punters kick right into
a spiral.
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Imagine how visually stunning it would be to follow the
trajectory of the football as it heads towards the Cowboys’ JumboTron – with a near miss – and heads down towards the kick
returner. The built-in cameras would, of course, require some kind
of housing that allows them to remain right-side-up at any angle.
Shock and awe
at seeing the Cowboys’ potentially having used up all of their shock
and awe in one game. Here is to hoping they only used up all of
their bad shock and awe.
The Cowboys should defeat the Carolina Panthers in the next game,
but they are still too unpredictable to be sure. Will we see
Terrific Tony or Terrible Tony? Will we see a silly secondary or a
serious secondary? I would certainly be pleased to see Cowboys
expectation and Cowboys reality become fast and good friends for the
rest of the season. Shock and awe.
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We shall see. We always do.
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