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2013-2014 Regular Season: Hooked And Cooked
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- September 22,
2013
At 10:55 AM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- Every NFL team is capable of
overlooking an opponent . . . at the worst possible moment.
A good, mentally-prepared team – however – never questions today’s
NFL theme: “On Any Given Sunday, Monday, or Thursday.”
A good, mentally-prepared team comes to play . . . rather than
merely making hay.
A good, mentally-prepared team does not require any interventions .
. . regardless of potential distractions from injuries, contract
disputes, or embarrassing suspensions.
Players are only human but – with an entire offseason to recalibrate
and a heavily advertised schedule – they are expected to know what
they are doin’ . . . not perform like a vegetable.
If you fall for the hocus pocus of the human condition – in a league
that demands laser focus – you will regularly succumb to mental
attrition.
The Dallas Cowboys speak almost daily of there being no substitute
for mental toughness and cerebral flexibility but – when you dare to
overlook a team like the Kansas City Chefs, err, Chiefs . . . you
hamper your game day ability and put a choke hold on your
game-winning beliefs.
Who Are
The Chefs?
It would have been easy for the Cowboys to focus on the Chief’s 2-14
performance from last year . . . and to drool at an opportunity to
face a team few might fear. Who knows what Dallas was thinking or
drinking?
This is not a 1996 Snickers television spot, and there is no misspelled end zone
. . . by a by a guy who is worn out, hungry, and hot. The Cowboys
were not facing a Chiefs team that was talentless or down to skin
and bone.
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- Dallas was – once again – facing the Reid
Men . . . who were
awaiting the Cowboys in the Arrowhead den, armed with a new scheme and plenty of fresh BBQ sauce for his new
team.
The Walrus knew – and continues to know – his old NFC East enemy
quite well. He had amassed just enough new offseason talent and
installed just enough of his familiar playbook to give the Cowboys
hell.
Fans might have wanted to see a big-play revival of Romo-to-Austin
like in 2009 . . . hoping everything else would have worked out just
fine.
Fans might have even settled for more a bit more brand name “Beast
by Bryant,” followed by a flurry of Murray, finish with a
well-earned victory, and enjoy a little post-game BBQ in Kansas
City.
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- Into that vision of game day events Andy Reid simply would not feed.
His new quarterback – Alex Smith – efficiently drove the bus and
gave his new head coach zero about which to fuss.
Reid’s defensive gang was down one starting cornerback, but they
proved more than game when the performance bell rang. They absorbed
an inhuman 100-yard first quarter by Dez Bryant but fought Romo and
Company . . . remaining defiant.
The Chief’s blitz gave Romo and his protectors plenty of fits . . .
often forcing his potent weapons to remain in the pits.
The Cowboys – even with the combination of Romo’s reactive ribs and
the Chief’s challenge – had many a missed opportunity they should
have addressed . . . before their BBQ plans became so unnecessarily
messed.
Kiffin’s Kids had a chance to stop the Chiefs late in the game – and
give Romo a chance for the lead to reclaim – but a ticky-tacky
interference call on Morris “Bolder With An Injured Shoulder”
Claiborne stopped Dallas from performing any game-winning heroics
with the ball.
The Chiefs deserve credit for cooking up the right plays when they
needed to be made . . . and the Cowboys deserved to be cooked – as
usual – for getting too hooked by an old nemesis to make the grade.
“Who are the Chefs?” There was no need for the Cowboys to be so
wasteful, so silly. Great googily moogily.
Will They Or Won’t They?
“America’s Team” faces the second straight game where overlooking
their opponent will ensure they come up lame.
Everyone – in and out of the NFL – remembers DeMarco Murray’s
record-setting day against the St. Louis Rams . . . running like a
madman with double-overhead cams.
Murray cannot hope to even crack 100 yards if the Cowboys cannot
find a way to reliably run the ball more effectively . . . and open
up reasonable holes between the guards.
The Chiefs were not the Chefs and the Rams – while still a work in
progress – are no longer the lambs.
The Cowboys defensive line will have to bring more heat . . . if
they want their zoned-out secondary to be able to compete. The Rams
have a speedy set of receivers, and Sam Bradford needs but a few
seconds to hit them in stride . . . turning more Rams fans into
believers.
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- Will Tony “Game Designer” Romo be given the pocket protection to
deliver a better offensive projection?
Will greater faith in Callahan’s plays give Romo the nerve to call
fewer an audible . . . and enjoy results less horrible?
Will Dez Bryant’s back give him the 60 sustained minutes that – in
Kansas City – it seemed to lack?
Will Monte – in the presence of more injuries – continue to use his
full Cowboys complement with more mixing and matching? A
turnover-causing, game-winning plan will he be Hatching?
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- St. Louis is known, too, for BBQ?
Whatever will the Cowboys do to avoid trap game number two?
We shall see. We always do.
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