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2012-2013 Regular Season: All For One And One
For All
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- November 4, 2012
At 4:45 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- No one ever said being The Tortured
Cowboys Fan would be easy. Watching the Dallas Cowboys – of late –
has made lesser fans absolutely queasy.
Cowboys Nation might like to tell all those bandwagon fans to “take
their barf bags and get out,” but it has been extremely hard for any
fan of “America’s Team” to watch . . . without a doubt.
Fans – most but not all – are perplexed after watching the Cowboys’
offense repeatedly start so stunted but end so vexed . . . and
convinced America’s Team may be permanently hexed.
Fans – every last one of ‘em – have been so busy holding their
shaking heads in their hands that (to make it stop) there may be a
run on kickstands.
Everyone within the Dallas Cowboys organization – and all who follow
them with the best and worst of intensions – knew the team really
could not really afford much further deviation . . . from the win
column in the NFC East division.
Everyone knew America’s Team faced a golden opportunity to get back
into the NFC East race . . . against a New York Giants squad they
had already beaten back at their place.
Everyone knew the Cowboys would have to accomplish this task –
without DeMarco Murray and Sean Lee . . . while relying on
dangerously delicate roster depth – which was a lot to ask.
Everyone knew the Cowboys – as always – were on their own in
figuring a way out of their mental funk . . . and that anything less
than a 60 minute effort was going to end with a clunk.
Following Dallas’ passable win against the Panthers, Tony Romo
stated “You know that every week you're either great or terrible --
or at least semi-terrible or semi-great. What you find in this
league is all you need to do is figure out how to get better and
play your best football when it counts.”
Romo – as much as anyone – knows all about the need to perform at
his best when it counts, because the alternative has encouraged
losses to mount.
Though The Tortured Cowboys Fan asked for more (fearless)
explanation – from Romo and Jason Garrett – it is clearly not going
to be enough for Cowboys Nation. Talk, of course, has never been
cheaper, and recent results do not suggest a keeper.
OMG
The Sunday showdown at Cowboys Stadium came and went . . . ending
with another painful event. The Cowboys gave the Giants a 23-point
head start – thanks to many an offensive brain fart . . . only to
come racing back to take the lead and – once again – turn falling
short into an art.
Fans – from coast to coast and intergalactic – would love to be
convinced that, to keep things exciting, the Cowboys offense chooses
to purposely use a late-start tactic.
While OMG means “Oh My God” – to most English-fluent folks on Earth
– the Cowboys have abducted the popular acronym . . . to help
explain their offensive unit’s less than professional facade.
OMG – Outrageous Mental Gaffe – has been the general theme for the
offense of America’s team.
- The fictitious “Three Musketeers” were known to say: “All for one
and one for all!” The Cowboys – as an organization – insist they are
“all for one and one for all” . . . but their inconsistent efforts
have resulted in an unnecessary divisional fall.
The Cowboys have never really been able to put it all together for
one or more (consecutive) games over the past 16+ years . . . except
for a little more than three seasons. The Cowboys – last year –
relied on their offense to make up for defensive malfeasance. The
tables have been turned with the Cowboys about to reach midseason .
. . and Rob’s Roughnecks must (privately) feel like Romo’s
recklessness has been akin to treason.
The Cowboys have simply been unable to put it all together with the
exception of the season’s first game. The effort in Baltimore – as
dominating as it appeared to be – means nothing, because Dallas
found a way to come up lame. They inevitably leave something out . .
. making exasperated fans want to scream and shout.
Stephen A. Smith – of ESPN’s “First Take” – has been known to say
“Tony Romo / the Cowboys are an accident waiting to happen” . . .
because – when the chips are down – they just cannot seem to get
crackin’. While his expertise is more in tune with basketball, he
knows enough football to be dangerous . . . and the issues that ail
the Cowboys do not require inspection so adventurous.
Skip Bayless – who allegedly has hated the Cowboys from his days way
back at the Herald and Morning News – has bent over backwards to
give Dallas chance after chance . . . to prove it really does have
what it takes to overcome and get into the big dance. The Cowboys
continue to kick Skip's prognostications in the teeth . . . and the
benefit of the doubt he simply can no longer bequeath.
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- Skip desperately wants to go all-in
with Romo – of last year's stat line – but he has been far less than
consistent or fine. Romo – seemingly more than any of his torpid
receiving teammates – continues to drain defeat from the
chalice of victory like "The Man With NO Brains."
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- Stephen A. and Skip are but two highly publicized prognosticators
out of a nationwide army of sport soothsayers who genuinely join
Cowboys Nation in growing incredibly tired . . . of saying OMG as
Jason Garrett continues the way he does without being fired.
It is part of Jason’s job to continue reassuring Cowboys Nation that
a myriad of mental mistakes will receive a number of measures so
corrective. The other part that job involves game day coaching far
more affective.
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- The proof is in the pudding but – until it is shown – fans and
professional followers will groan as they are exposed to even more
OMG . . . and they will most certainly continue their brooding.
NFL Trade Deadline
The NFL trade deadline – even with a two day extension – has come
and gone without so much as a Dallas Cowboys mention.
Fans – annoyed as they may be – had to “move along – nothing to
see."
Fans – frustrated as they must be – wanted the Cowboys to fetch a
fantastic find for Felix, thinking he no longer had the Jones to
burst through the hole . . . clear and free.
Fans – violently ill as they have to be – wanted the Cowboys to move
Mike Jenkins – hoping America’s Team could parlay a piece of their
suddenly deep secondary into a player of more immediate importance .
. . and not so stinkin’.
Fans – resigned to what reality doth decree – understand the Cowboys
were going to have no takers for their wounded back or their luxury
fourth corner . . . that would ever fill them with glee.
Fans – at the mercy of Jason and Jerry – get to take the Cowboys at
their word, watch them absorb more injuries, and see them attempt to
get more out of roster depth that has everyone leery.
The Cowboys will play the rest of the season with what they have
brought instead of what they could have bought.
While the Cowboys were not involved, it is always fascinating to see
which teams engaged and how their needs were resolved. There are
always three types of teams that would not be afraid to consider a
trade.
1 – Teams whose players spend too much time with the team physician
and who desperately need an upgrade at a major position.
2 – Teams that have most of what they need and simply seek extra
polish towards the best chance to succeed.
3 – Teams that make a trade for no other reason than to prevent a
division rival from procuring a player they desperately needin’.
Cowboys Nation is familiar with the conspiracy theory that is
category 3 – after seeing Philadelphia outbid Dallas for Nnamdi
Asomugha last offseason . . . even though the Eagles already had a
solid secondary pairing of Asante Samuel and Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie.
The trading deadline is as much about divisional and conference-wide
strategy . . . as it is about improving your roster through the most
reasonable expense necessary.
The Cowboys’ problems are far less about sparing no expense at the
trade deadline or procuring the very best talent. The tumultuous
troubles of America’s Team are far more about truly believing in
themselves, their systems, and a head coach for which they struggle
to be game day compliant.
Will They Or Won’t They?
The Dallas Cowboys waited nearly two quarters to pop their offensive
cork against New York. They scored 24 consecutive points, but they
could not maintain their gained momentum. The Cowboys failed, once
again, to limit their self-destructive mistakes and downright
correct ‘em.
The Cowboys – as usual and beyond their competition – are the only
ones who can decide their collective destiny . . . and fight their
mental attrition.
Will the Atlanta Falcons crap on the Cowboys from their undefeated
perch . . . or will the Cowboys – for the first time in six games –
play a full-featured 60 minutes and leave the Dirty Birds in a
lurch?
Will the Cowboys go “all for one and one for all” like “The Three
Musketeers” – on offense, defense, and special teams – or will they
plunge the final stake into their postseason dreams?
Will the Cowboys continue to sing the same song on a different day .
. . or will they finally come out to really play?
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- Free agent Sean Payton roaming the
Dallas sidelines could be mighty nice – IF he is even encouraged to
cut away clean from New Orleans. Fans know another mediocre
season would possibly (but not probably) be reason enough to
suffice.
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- Would Jerry really be willing to put his own
truly hand-picked man – Jason "Red Ball" Garrett
– on ice? Would Jerry be willing to swallow the remainder of a
four-year contract and pay Payton's certainly steep price? Jerry has
been known to spare no expense but – if faced with the choice –
would his pride keep him on the already unstable fence?
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- If the Cowboys lose to the
undefeated Falcons – by a mere point or completely blown out of the
joint – will Jerry allow the subject of Sean to go on and on? If the
Cowboys win, will that – in Jerry's mind – automatically prevent an
alternative from being brought in?
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- The Cowboys' players have shown no
signs of quitting on Garrett but – with another potential loss –
will they begin to go from determined sizzle to full-on fizzle . . .
for that fading playoff carrot?
We shall see. We always do.
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