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2011-2012 Regular Season: Failure To Finish
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September 15, 2011
At 6:00 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- NFL football is an addiction. Thank
goodness it is not doled out by prescription only or offered over
the counter with proof of identification.
NFL football would have to become an absolutely repulsive product on
the field for fans to completely turn away from the most popular
sport in North America and – someday, maybe – the international
community as well.
Fans everywhere were suffering from an overdose of anxiety that
always builds shortly after the conclusion of each and every Super
Bowl.
That anxiety became even more gut wrenching this off-season – as
fans had to wait through contentious CBA negotiations, had to worry
about the ominous impact of a tiny training camp, and had to wonder
if their particular team was going to be the one which made the most
lip-smacking lemonade from the lemons of limited prep time.
Cowboys’ fans were dying to determine if Dallas would drown in their
second straight season opener with another flabbergasting failure to
launch.
Productive Flight Pattern
The Cowboys launched alright – flying higher and faster than the
Jets in their own skyline for much of the game.
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- Jason Garrett made aggressive air traffic control calls to his
scoring squadron from the moment they took off from the Meadowlands’
grassy tarmac.
Dez Bryant had his afterburners going hard and fast for a scorching
first quarter of three catches for about 70 yards – including a
strong jump ball touchdown catch over Antonio Cromartie on the
Cowboys’ opening drive.
Bryant set the tone for Austin to earn 90 of his own frequent flyer
“miles” on five different flights – putting up an impressive fight
on two catches he made against Antonio “Cro-Magnon” Cromartie . . .
one which Austin snatched away down the seam and one in the end zone
that he tore away from Cromartie’s cargo bay, as well.
Jason Witten flew under the radar, as usual, like a stealth fighter
– reaching six waypoints for 110 yards, and acquiring first downs
like badges of honor. He touched down – after his longest flight
path of more than 64 yards – just short of a touchdown at the Jets
three yard line.
While Buehler did his best to blast kickoffs into the back of the
Jet’s end zone, Dan Bailey successfully steered his maiden field
goal and extra points through the uprights for his only sky high
appearance of the evening.
Timely catches by Felix Jones, John Phillips, Kevin Ogletree,
DeMarco Murray, and Tashard Choice rounded out the Cowboys’ aerial
assault.
The Felix Jones touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter was
a happy example of the tremendous improvement of the Cowboys’ young
offensive line . . . over last year’s aging one that would have
caved in on most running plays so close to the end zone.
Aggressive Anti-Aircraft
Alignment
Rex Ryan designed the perfect anti-aircraft formation set up for his
defensive unit, other than a blown coverage (apparently by Keith
Brooking) on Jets’ QB Sanchez’s short touchdown pass to tight
end Dustin Keller.
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- DeMarcus Ware dive-bombed Sanchez twice early and Anthony Spencer
dispensed with one of his own mauling munitions with a little over a
minute left in their aerial contest with the Jets.
Just when the Jets were flying down to within the Cowboys’ 30 yard
line to possibly tie the game – with a little over six minutes left
in the fourth quarter – special teams maven and backup safety Danny
McCray strip-sacked Sanchez and Sean Lee recovered the fumble.
Sean Lee also soundly intercepted a Sanchez salvo and nearly routed
it back to the Jets’ flight deck.
The Cowboys’ defensive front seven turned the Jets’ vaunted ground
game into ground chuck. LaDainian Tomlinson was forced into a
pretty productive impersonation of former third down running back
Ronnie Harmon – from before Tomlinson's time with the San Diego “Super” Chargers.
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- The Cowboys played the entire game without one secondary starter in
Terence “Bad Fuselage” Newman, parts of the game without the other
secondary starter in Mike “Bad Wing” Jenkins (who got t-boned by
Plaxico Burress among other take downs), and also without their slot
specialist in Orlando Scandrick (who was subbing for Newman) . . .
who was lost to a high ankle sprain after just the second play of
the game.
The secondary was overwhelmingly health challenged and simply height
hampered as the game reached its conclusion. Brian “Can Do” McCann
did well in the absence of the starting secondary, but no matter how
closely he covered Plaxico Burress on his touchdown catch . . . he
was left a victim of his own limited vertical lift.
Cowboy Kamikaze
Dallas was doing a genius job of jamming the Jets for almost all but
the last 9 minutes of the fourth quarter. Victory was within reach,
the knockout punch was cocked, and the Cowboys kamikaze themselves.
The Cowboys needed only three plays – a goal line fumble, a blocked
punt, and an interception – to crash their fantastic flying fortress
into the gridiron tarmac over which they had been navigating so
smoothly all night.
The delay-of-game penalties and Tyron Smith’s false starts will
always be ridiculous but – refreshingly – they were not a
deal-breaker for Dallas.
Turnovers, however, are always far better as a dessert and can do a
lot less damage to your digestive tract.
Tony Romo should have forced that football into his rib cage – as
uncomfortably tight as possible – before he chose to rocket propel
himself past the Jets’ goal line. He – instead – had the ball
knocked out of his hand right before getting his landing gear down.
It did not matter that Tony tried to make a play. It did not matter
that Tony took off and tried to go extra low on his goal to go. He
could have been crawling underneath the Jets’ artificial playing
surface, and it would not have mattered.
What mattered – the only thing that mattered – was how he handled
the football.
If Romo had gotten seriously injured again and fumbled the football . . . well,
(furious) fans
would rather not go there right now.
Blockages – on the other hand - can do plenty of damage to your
digestive tract, at the worst possible time.
The Cowboys’ special teams were flying pretty steadily under the
radar until five minutes left in the game – when they allowed a
blocked Mat McBriar punt which was flown across the Cowboys’ goal
line by the Jets for a game-tying touchdown.
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- While fans can say what they want about the deficiencies and
concerns on both offense and defense which lingered from last year,
the special teams unit has not coughed up a bad play since October
2008 . . . when they allowed the Arizona Cardinals to do the very
same thing.
The Jets and Cardinals both fly, so they are in good company . . .
but I digress.
While Jason Witten got called for a poorly-timed pick play that
mobilized Miles Austin on what would have been a good gainer
(towards an inevitable field goal attempt), the pick was not one of
the three poison pills.
Promising rookie center Phil Costa certainly cost his QB some
critical concentration by pulling his best impersonation of Andre
“Already Gone” Gurode in snapping the football too soon – but what
happened next was frustratingly Favre-like . . . or ridiculously
Romo.
Favre fanatics need only recall either of the last two NFC
Championship battles of Brett’s otherwise brilliant career . . . but
I digress.
Tony Romo must have really believed the Jets would enjoy a really
sweet treat because – for the second and very worst time of the game
– he treated New York to a really “Big Apple” turnover.
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- Tony Romo threw towards a clearly worn out (and injured) wingman in
Dez Bryant with 50 seconds left in the game. While he was loosely
double-covered in a Jets’ trap play, it resulted in a holy crap
play for the Cowboys.
There was simply nothing there. Revis Island might as well have been
Revis Continent. Dez was done. He had no more dazzle and was no
better than the damaged decoy he should have been.
There was simply nothing there – not even pressure from the Jets’
front seven . . . and Romo rolled out the red carpet for Revis with
a turnover that Tim Tool Time Taylor could have taken.
Should Dez – after the interception – have shown more than dippy
determination in attempting to drag Darrelle down? Being a gimp with
the limp can be deztracting . . . but I digress.
All Warm & Folksy
Cowboys fans got to sit back and helplessly watch the Jets’ very own
Nick Folk frigidly flip a 50-yard field goal through the uprights
with just 27 seconds left. It was not perfect – and he probably
would have missed that kick when he was down and out with Dallas.
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- He was certainly staring at the Cowboys’ sideline and flexing his
little Jet wings when the ball flew through. Good for him. Folk
knows as much as anyone else how quickly kickers can go from the
cream of the crop to the curb.
It was pure coincidence that the Cowboys – err, Romo – gave Folk a
familiar and fantastic chance to win another game in the final
seconds.
The Cowboys still had time to get within a Buehler bomb of tying the
game – or seeing it sail wide right – but their final sizzle play
just went fizzle.
The Jets’ sideline was all warm and folksy.
QBC or QVC?
NFL fans have seen countless quarterbacks catch on to the
complexities of professional football . . . and an even greater
group of would-be gunslingers who have washed out of the league.
Every one of those quarterbacks – regardless of success rate – is
given a set of expectations and rules by which they can be achieved.
Some expectations are more well-defined than others. Some rules are
more rooted in common sense than others.
The Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed excellence at the quarterback
position for much of their existence.
The Cowboys have not been nearly as fortunate with their offensive
field generals during the better part of the past 11 years.
Even for franchises which have always enjoyed strength at
quarterback, the not-so-magical equation – whether through the draft
or free agency – has always been equal parts selection, quality of
available selections, and quality of instruction for that selection.
Though Tony Romo has played through three different head coaching
regimes, he has enjoyed relative stability at the offensive
coordinator position – from Tony Sparano (with oversight from The
Big Tuna) to Jason Garrett with support from two-time Cowboys
quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson.
While NFL head coaches and assistant coaches each have their own
personalized lists of do’s-and-don’ts or outright pet peeves, no
list of football fundamentals has received quite the following as
Big Bill Parcells’ “11 Quarterback Commandments” . . . or simply
“QBC,” as I call them.
Bill shared his QBC with Romo sometime before the still ridiculous
Dallas-Buffalo game in Buffalo in mid-October 2007. Romo clearly had
little time to review those rules . . . as he made a fourth quarter
recovery from a hindering five interceptions and one fumble to help
the Cowboys beat a pumped Bills team at the very end of the game.
Famous Nick Folk was fortunate enough to kick the winning field goal in that game . .
. but I digress.
Romo professes to read those rules regularly . . . though after
jettisoning his better judgment against the Jets, fans would have
thought Tony viewed Big Bill’s QBC as just Big Bill’s banter.
Parcells’ QBC – listed below (and edited for minor punctuation) – is
loaded with standard every day “work place” concepts.
1. Press or TV, agents or advisors, family or wives, friends or
relatives, fans or hangers on, ignore them on matters of football;
they don't know what's happening here.
2. Don't forget to have fun, but don't be the class clown. Clowns
and leaders don't mix. Clowns can't run a huddle.
3. A quarterback throws with his legs more than his arms. Squat and
run. Fat quarterbacks can't avoid the rush.
4. Know your job cold. This is not a game without errors. Keep yours
to a minimum. Study.
5. Know your own players. Who's fast? Who can catch? Who needs
encouragement? Be precise. Know your opponent.
6. Be the same guy every day. In condition, preparing to lead,
studying your plan. A coach can't prepare you for every eventuality.
Prepare yourself and remember, impulse decisions usually equal
mistakes.
7. Throwing the ball away is a good play. Sacks, interceptions, and
fumbles are bad plays. Protect against those.
8. You must learn to manage the game. Personnel, play call, motions,
ball handling, proper reads, accurate throws, play fakes. Clock,
clock, clock, don't you ever lose track of the clock.
9. Passing stats and td passes are not how you're gonna’ be judged.
Your job is to get your team in the end zone and that's how you're
gonna’ be judged.
10. When all around you is in chaos, you must be the hand that
steers the ship. If you have a panic button, so will everyone else.
Our ship can't have panic buttons.
11. Don't be a celebrity quarterback. We don't need any of those. We
need battlefield commanders that are willing to fight it out every
day, every week, and every season, and lead their team to win after
win after win.
Fans can just picture Parcells’ back in his old office at Valley
Ranch – explaining to Romo the virtues of balancing what you can do
with what you must do . . . of the small details against the
backdrop of the big picture.
This list is simple common sense where replacing the subject matter
allows it to apply in all walks of life. Common sense, sadly, is not
all that prevalent in today’s society. Just ask Plaxico Burress . .
. but I digress.
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- Parcells’ QBC is far less a set of boundaries and far more a
foundation from which a QB should be able to reasonably accomplish
all team and individual goals.
If an NFL quarterback cannot follow such a QBC – in some form or
another – he might as well be following QVC from his couch at home.
After all, if the Cowboys cannot consistently collect from their QB,
somebody should be receiving Quality, Value, and Convenience for
their investment.
Abort Or Support?
There has been a mix of fans and pundits who have decided Romo has
really reached his most robust ripeness.
The rest of the NFL community – from fans to pundits to the entire
Dallas Cowboys organization evidently – is at least willing to
acknowledge that there are 15 more games in a season still filled
with promise, potential, and possibly playoffs.
After last season’s 1-7 start ending with Romo getting reamed, Tony
had nothing but time to better his booboo and mature his mind. Who
would have expected Romo – rather than a rookie – to have risked
ruining such a ready reward in week one?
For that matter – who would have expected a reasonably practiced
special teams unit to allow a gap – larger than the one between
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s two front teeth – up the middle of their
punt team
protection scheme? Even the Governator had to gasp at the size of
that split.
Fans could cut Romo some slack when considering how long it took
Steve Young to catch on before brilliant Bill Walsh brought him to
the Bay and his career blossomed – but that is asking too much.
Expectations are as much about what you should be able to do as they
are about what you should be able to avoid doing . . . and that is
where Romo’s wiggle room has really been reduced.
Fans can find a way to forgive a team that gets beaten – truly
beaten – by another team.
Fans can find a way to forgive a team that pulls out all the stops,
follows a great game plan, and still gets beaten by another team.
Fans cannot find any way to forgive a team that gift wraps a game to
another team they were beating, should have beaten, and should have
finished . . . unless the gift-giving team is in rebuilding mode,
chock full of rookies, and viewed with low expectations.
While the 2010-2011 Dallas Cowboys were woefully disappointing
(under tremendous Super Bowl pressure most fans believed they were
ready to handle), the 2011-2012 Dallas Cowboys are not in rebuilding mode, not
chock full of rookies, and not viewed with low expectations.
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- Romo has to be smarter – but not necessarily think harder.
The NFL season may, indeed, be a race to a Super finish line, but
Garrett is neither J.J. McClure nor does he seek the companionship
of Captain Chaos . . . and Romo certainly does not need his
conflicted fan base to go Van Helsing on him, either.
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- While the effort, skill, and
experience are clearly there, Romo must be more efficient with that
thing under his hair. He does not have to blow everyone way, but he
does have to give his team a chance to fight . . . with another play
on any given game day.
Romo and his teammates are smart enough to know that “no risk, no
reward” is fine . . . as long as the risk is rational rather than
ridiculous.
Fans and prognosticators appear willing to wait another week to
abort or continue their support of Red Ball, Romo, Ryan, and their team
of rough riders.
Will They Or Won’t They?
Will the Cowboys and 49ers revive a rivalry that has been reeling
for several years?
Will Dez be forced to quit kick returns in exchange for a
quicker-healing quad?
Will Dallas’ special teams topple tricky Ted Ginn, Jr. or let him
take off for a touchdown?
Will the Cowboys protect their punter or allow another team to pick
off a punted pigskin for the second straight week?
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- Will Alan Ball be all he can be in
the absence of nicked up Newman and sprained Scandrick?
Will recently-signed free agent cornerback Frank Walker be able to
walk onto the Cowboys’ defense with little down time?
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- Will Mario Butler be elevated from
the practice squad? If Mario makes it, will he and Victor be
bellowing "The Butler did it!" every time either one performs a
positive play?
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- Will newly-minted defensive line
starter Jason Hatcher perform a hatchet job on Frank Gore and the
49ers?
Will recently-signed free agent fullback Tony Fiammetta finally get
a chance to (quickly) flip through the playbook and forge ahead for
Felix Jones?
Will Tony Romo unwittingly replace “No, Danny, no!” with “No, Tony,
no!” – and would Danny White ever wish that press piñata pressure on
anyone else?
Will Red Ball and Ryan have to grab the Cowboys two-handed by the
throat and convince them there is something upon which they can
build from a loss they should have never allowed?
Will new 49ers head coach Harbaugh help himself to a home win or
will Dallas dial up a dominating delivery . . . and firmly finish
what they start in their second game of the season?
We shall see. We always do.
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