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2009-2010 Regular Season: Postgame -
Modern Day Mystique Must Be Earned And Maintained
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- December
27, 2009
At 1:38 AM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- The past few weeks - leading to the
Cowboys' "improbable" victory over the mighty and previously
undefeated Saints - left fans feeling utterly helpless as they
watched America’s Team follow a familiar late season path from great
promise to mediocrity.
Fans have been asking themselves
ever since the mid-80's and right after the Cowboys last super bowl
victory: "How could our beloved and dominant
Cowboys have fallen so far and so fast with all the resources and
talent at their disposal? What ever happened to that Cowboys
mystique?"
I stated in my last article: “The Cowboys can beat the Saints if
they want it (the win) badly enough and if they have enough of it
(heart). This has been the Cowboys’ story all season long and for
more than a decade of Decembers past. The Cowboys can change the
ending of this season’s story, but it continues to be entirely up to
them - no matter how frustrating it may be to their fans.”
Prognosticators – at this time every year – like to point out which
teams “control their own destiny.” While it is inconceivable that
every game in an NFL season could end in a tie, someone –
realistically – has to lose. Logic dictates that if you prepare
for your opponents and execute cleanly against your opponents, then, you will
almost always achieve more victories than your opponents.
“Almost always,” you say? After preparation, determination, and
desperation, the common denominator and uncontrolled substance in
competition is chance.
Mystique Was Different Back
Then
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- Before free agency and salary caps, there was condensed and superior
talent among a handful of teams spanning several decades – the Green
Bay Packers, the Baltimore Colts, the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh
Steelers, the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, the
Washington Redskins, and the New York Giants – and much less of a
chance to ever beat those teams more than once in a blue moon.
Four honorable mentions include John Elway’s Denver Broncos, Jim
Kelly’s Buffalo Bills, Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins, and Dan Fouts’
San Diego Chargers. All of these were dominant within what used to
be the pass-first, run-second AFC, but only the Broncos delivered
the big one.
While the Broncos did, indeed, win two super bowls back to back,
they were not as consistently good and successful over long periods
of time as the Packers, Colts, Cowboys, Steelers, Raiders, 49ers, Redskins,
and Giants. The Broncos – outside of John Elway’s final two years –
were known far more for their AFC-only dominance and their ability
to come back from the dead in games they seemed so destined to lose.
The Buffalo Bills – infamous and incredibly talented losers of four
straight super bowls – also regularly destroyed their AFC opponents,
taking more than a few NFC victims with them as well. Regular season
dominance over a long period of time without winning the big one,
however, is a hollow achievement.
The Miami Dolphins were perennial regular season winners and AFC
East champions many times over – with a dominating aerial assault
led by Dan Marino, Mark Clayton, and Mark Duper – but they were
never able to accomplish more than a super bowl loss to the
Redskins. The Dolphins’ pass offense was such a potent, quick strike
system that they were able
to get by with a less than average running game and a relatively mediocre defense for what seemed like
nearly two decades - with many playoff victories, several division
crowns and, again, no more than one invitation to the big dance.
The San Diego Chargers – with Dan “Bad Back” Fouts, Kellen Winslow,
Charlie Joiner, and James “Little Train” Brooks – regularly
bombarded the entire AFC with a passing attack normally associated
with a military air force operation. If the Dolphins’ offense was
number 1, then, the Chargers’ offense was number 1A. Fouts’ Chargers
had epic games against the Dolphins and the Steelers, but they were
never able to get over the post season hump in the only game that
truly matters to professional sports stars and their fans: the super
bowl.
Nonetheless, some teams were so dominating on a regular basis that
weaker opponents would psych themselves out before every grid iron
encounter – whether the battle was taking place at home or away.
This ritual of self-imposed mental subordination – performed weekly
by the NFL’s “have-nots” – was otherwise known as mystique.
Even if a superior team was having a bad day and potentially on the
verge of an embarrassing loss, their upstart-for-a-day opponent
would usually have already acquiesced to the mystique . . . and laid
down just enough for the “right” team to win. SEE the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers of yesteryear (not including the lone brilliant season by
Doug Williams) and the Detroit Lions of, well, the past few decades.
The Cowboys’ mystique - that spooked so many teams for so many
years - not so ironically came and went with each uptick and
downswing in coaching and roster talent. The hole in the roof where
God could watch his favorite team play only added to the
“supernatural powers” the Cowboys seemed to wield when firing on all
cylinders under Tom Landry (before the late 80’s meltdown) and Jimmy
Johnson (after the early 90’s recovery).
Mystique Changes With The
Times
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- The modern day NFL, however, comes complete with a modern day
version of mystique as well. Free agency and the salary cap have all
but destroyed any team's ability to truly stockpile depth and talent
to re-create the impossible advantages of the past.
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- While the New England Patriots - and
the Indianapolis Colts to a lesser degree - have dominated much of
this past decade and created some of that modern mystique for
themselves, both organizations worked extremely hard to generate
their mystique and both continue to work even harder to maintain it.
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- The Patriots have struggled this
year - certainly in comparison to recent seasons - and the Colts,
while 14-0, have been pushed to the edge almost all season.
Nonetheless, the Patriots and Colts have taken mystique in a
completely different direction.
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- Teams throughout the NFL - both good
and not so good - do not necessarily fear the body of talent, the
body of success, or the body of super bowl victories the Patriots
and Colts bring to bear on any and every Sunday, but they do fear the offensive damage a
well-protected Tom Brady or Peyton Manning can do to them.
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- Opponents fear the defensive schemes
of Bill Belichick and what offensive options may be taken away from
them.
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- Opponents fear the offensive
creativity and symbiotic relationship between Peyton Manning and Tom
Moore - that may expose a variety of defensive weaknesses.
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- Mystique is no longer the cover band
for a legend that
grows through a handful of great games, a few good games, a few
lucky games, and a ton of talented players to drive it all. Modern
day mystique is all about the fear of how many ways one team can and
will attempt to beat another team - whether a division rival or not
- which makes it nearly impossible in today's NFL to simply show up
with half the preparation, half the interest, and half the effort
against your opponent.
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- On the other hand, mystique - depending upon your perspective - is
also like a child, a
plant, or a pet that needs various amounts of attention and constant
grooming. If you do not continuously take a well-rounded approach to
your opponent - every time out - then, your opponent will have
nothing to fear and any mystique you may have carefully nurtured will evaporate.
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- There is irony in the Cowboys'
former mystique, though. The Cowboys can take the very same approach
in building it back up, with the only new twist being one of
respectful maintenance.
Mystique Can Return Home
Again
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- If the coaches make smart play calls that put their players in a reasonable
position to execute those plays to their full potential,
consistently beat who they are supposed to beat, and achieve timely
victories against strong (New Orleans Saints) or stronger (San Diego
Chargers) opponents in and out of their division, conference, and
any potential post season battles – on a regular basis – then . . . the mystique will
return in full bloom.
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- It is far easier said than done, but this is, in
fact, how it was done the first time under Tex Schramm and Tom
Landry - and Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson - and this is how it can be
re-acquired for the modern day Cowboys under Jerry Jones and Wade
Phillips (or whomever is head coach of the Cowboys at the time).
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- If there is one advantage the
Cowboys have always had over other teams when it comes to mystique,
it is that opponents and fans of those teams have always dreaded the
return of the Cowboys to the top of the mountain. Cowboys opponents
believe the Cowboys get too much credit in victory and too much
attention in failure.
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- The sheer thought of the Cowboys
mystique returning in any way shape or form is just enough to make
opponents vomit . . . and just enough to make Cowboys fans
everywhere grin from ear to ear.
While the Cowboys' mystique will not return over night with even the
best performances strung together for several games in a row, their
mystique - on some level - never really left. Their mystique remains hidden in the
background – ready to be returned when it has been earned. Mystique
can come out and play if the Cowboys are serious on game day.
We shall see. We always do.
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