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2014-2015 Regular Season: Fools Gold And
Falsehoods Untold
- September 14,
2014
At 11:20 AM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- The 2014 NFL season had already been
underway since Thursday of last week . . . giving “America’s Team” a
final few days to work the bugs out and apply a last second tweak.
The Dallas Cowboys had welcomed the hated San Francisco 49ers to
AT&T Stadium.
“Welcomed?” you say? If you had a chance to watch the game on
national television, you might have noticed the sea of red and gold
throughout Jerry World every which way.
No worries, though. The Cowboys are used to it . . . as their
palatial home is less a place to circle the wagons and far more THE
place to be seen, mingle and go.
Fans hoped the Cowboys were ready and – as Jason Garrett now likes
to say – “had a lot of fight in ‘em”. Prognosticators thought the
suddenly beleaguered 49ers were missing enough personnel that the
Cowboys could actually beat ‘em.
Fans were fed up and worn down from so many yearend near misses . .
. and they desperately wanted to project something other than just
more boos and hisses.
The fool’s gold had gotten so incredibly old and – aside from an
occasional bad play call – fans hoped the Cowboys would apply some
reasonable pressure, score some points, protect the ball, and
actually do what they were told.
Rain On The Brain
The defense was revamped and the offense seemed amped, but DeMarco
Murray’s brain immediately cramped. There was no reasonable way to
spin it. Murray blew it in the very first minute. He put the rock on
the floor, and the 49ers gladly scooped it up and tiptoed into the
end zone for an easy score.
And wouldn’t you know it? None other than Tony Romo felt COMPELLED
to get in on the turnover act and boy . . . did he ever show it.
Fans deserved to see Romo keep himself in check, and he basically
told them to stow it.
Tony Toni Tone has done it again! It feels go-ooood, yeah. It feels
go-ooood. It feels go-ooood. It feels go-ooood. It feels go-ooood,
yeah.
Tony, Tony, Tony has done it again! It feels ba-aaaad, ugh. It feels
ba-aaaad. Fans’ are ma-aaaad. It feels ba-aaaad. Contract’s iron
cla-aaaad. ugh.
Did Romo have significant back surgery mere months ago? Yes.
Was Romo expected to be treated with kid gloves and come back slow?
Yes.
Was Romo purposely limited in the preseason so that he could be
ready for the regular season and ALL SYSTEMS GO? Yes.
Did the introduction of Scott Linehan – as his “passing game
coordinator” – cause Romo to do anything more than improve upon his
understanding of a system he was already expected to know? No.
Did anything – from his surgery to his limited preseason action –
prevent him from deciding “not one more stupid interception will I
throw?” No.
Romo continues to have ZERO excuse and every single time he
seemingly insists on making an avoidable mistake . . . he looks more
and more obtuse.
“Peyton Hours” can only lead to supreme decision-making powers . . .
IF Romo finally chooses to dry all the acid rain on his brain from
so many damn mental showers.
Romo’s destructive decisions have ZERO to do with Jerry Jones
geriatrics, Jason Garrett gaffs, or even an opposing team’s crafty
defensive schemes. Romo may succumb to blitzes and pressure, but he
is a grown man who knows exactly what to do by any measure.
Jerry, Jason, and even Romo are fond of saying “the only thing that
matters is learning from our mistakes and moving on to the next
mission” . . . which is all fine and good if Romo knows his
(current) team will continue to live and die by HIS decision and
that THAT is clearly understood.
The Tortured Cowboys Fan is not simply nitpicking the Cowboys’
offensive leader. Romo – maddeningly – knows better . . . and
insists, INSISTS on continuing as a mental bed wetter. He is like a
child . . . who knows how to avoid punishment but would rather
continue to run wild.
Romo CAN immediately-and-forever correct himself . . . and never
again hear the catcalls for Jerry to permanently push him on the
career-ending shelf.
No one – no fan, no prognosticator, and no team executive – is
saying Romo MUST be perfect . . . but he has to, HAS TO correct a
very manageable decision-making defect.
No one – no fan, no prognosticator, and no team executive – is
expecting any better than average from the Dallas defense . . . and
for anyone one on the Cowboys’ offense to think different makes no
sense.
“What about the Dallas defenders?” Their
better-than-usual-but-still-average performance against the 49ers
has been largely ignored due to the latest of their quarterback’s
turnover benders.
Is Romo simply stupid . . . or does he secretly covet coughing up
the football like a “Turnover Cupid?” He is (for now) not going to
be benched or told he is GONE. Romo and the Cowboys need to figure
out – once again – what on Earth is going on.
Romo needs to stop (knowingly) taking the simple and making it
complex. Fans may forget the “Big Tuna” ultimately replaced Drew
Bledsoe with Romo for the exact same thing . . . DOH! Are Romo’s
mistakes a sick and twisted result of a Bledsoe hex? “The world may
never know.”
And what happens when Romo has a solid game while the defense
continues to pull up lame? An NFL quarterback always receives most
of the credit in victory . . . and receives an unfair amount of
criticism when his defense is one of the worst in history.
Romo knows it is ALWAYS better to be “blamed” for when his defense
is ailing and failing . . . rather than for a choice from which he
should clearly be bailing.
Speaking Of Disturbingly
Dumb
Press access and coverage – throughout the world – has been
increasing over the past several years at a blazing pace . . . and
armed with social media accounts, ready to push the worst of the
worst right in your face.
In this day and age of protecting one’s brand at any cost . . . the
NFL – with one of the most recognized brands in the world – suddenly
seems absolutely lost.
There is blood in the water and even those members of the press who
absolutely cherish their NFL media credentials above all . . . are
circling the NFL – writing about, saying, and participating in the
potential whale of a fall.
Michael "Bad Newz" Vick, Josh "DUI Bent" Brent, Aaron "Could Care
Less" Rodriguez, Ray "Not Nice" Rice, Greg "The Kraken Against Women
He's Attackin" Hardy, Ray "Tryin' To Get Away With Beatin' His
Fiancée" McDonald,
and Adrian "Switch Hitter" Peterson . . . and . . . and . . .
comprise a criminal list – of only the most recent-and-crooked star
NFL players – that is beginning to seriously expand.
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- Let us – however – call it what it
is. LONG OVERDUE. Cowboys fans have years of experience being
treated to various renditions of "Players Gone Wild", and (denying
or oblivious) NFL fans – league wide – really have no right to whine
"Why US?" . . . or to even suggest that "something suddenly smells
stinky, peeee-ewww".
Nonetheless, while those are just the current (acknowledged) players
who have made off-the-field errors . . . there are NFL executives who
have also behaved like unthinking terrors.
The NFL owners have their own issues for which they need a box of
tissues – from Jerry “I Just Can’t Get Enough” Jones to Jim “Gotta’
Powder My Nose” Irsay . . . you don’t say?
NFL owners can always (eventually) repair their image by removing
certain problematic players from game day circulation, but their OWN
credibility has come under intense attack throughout the nation . .
. due to the expected level of intelligence they and their
commissioner suddenly lack.
There was a television show – that ran from 2011-2013 – called
“Necessary Roughness”. It was a parody of daily NFL team operations
. . . and a tribute to security staff toughness.
One of the main characters was a fella’ named Niko Careles – the
head of security for the fictitious “New York Hawks” football team –
and a man whose mission it was to NOT care less.
Careles was THE guy who (if necessary and often) could spy with his
little eye ANY trouble being caused by or against players . . . and
he was authorized to take a corrective approach that would never,
ever soften.
Each NFL team has its own exclusive security team – and their sole
purpose is to catch potential player fires and turn them into
nothing more than locker room shower steam . . . before those
problems can EVER become their team’s very public and damaging bad
dream.
The NFL offices also have their own head of security – Jeffrey
Miller – whose sole responsibility includes keeping Commissioner
Roger Goodell and the owners critically aware of ANY issue which
even remotely resembles a brand killer.
While Goodell, Steve Bisciotti, and other NFL owners – who represent
one of the closest knit executive cadres in the history of sports –
want to continue denying they ever saw the video tape of Ray Rice
punching out his fiancée, if they insist on playing disturbingly
dumb . . . it is their right to go that way. The NFL brand – however
– is suddenly hurdling from an incredibly popular corporate plumb to
an ever-reddening sore thumb.
Will They Or Won’t They?
The Dallas Cowboys – for what has seemed like an eternity – are
always under siege by fan and prognosticator alike.
This kind of treatment – however – is new territory for the NFL . .
. the owners of which probably wish some of their players had only
gotten into trouble while on strike. They must be complimenting
Jerry Jones . . . telling him he is tough as nails and that this new
rash of player issues really hurts like hell.
The Cowboys head to Tennessee to face a Titan team that has hope . .
. that Romo will – once again – play out of scope – and the Dallas
defense will make Jake Locker look seriously dope.
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- Will Romo show from his mistakes he can – once again – learn . . .
so trust from fans he can once more earn?
Will this game be a sweet homecoming for Jason Witten . . . playing
in front of Volunteer fans still so smitten?
Will DeMarco Murray enjoy consecutive contests of solid productivity
. . . or will he begin developing an early-game fumble proclivity?
Will Marinelli’s Men play at least as well as they did against San
Francisco . . . or will find themselves in a constant goal-to-go?
The Cowboys – if they can – may not begin to show promise until
later this year . . . but it is never too soon for them to take
responsibility for those issues they CAN control and get it in gear.
Will the Cowboys get back to .500 today . . . or will they fall to
0-2, because of another, avoidable bonehead play?
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- Are Goodell and the NFL owners
withholding even more falsehoods untold . . . or is the
multi-billion dollar NFL brand worth it to them to come clean and be
uncommonly bold?
We shall see. We always do.
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