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2014-2015 Regular Season: MVP - Most Valuable
Player Or Players?
- January 2,
2015
At 7:45 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- An NFL MVP (Most Valuable Player)
is chosen every year, and that MVP is selected by an Associated
Press (AP)
collection of “unbiased veteran sports scribes." While their voting
criteria – according to “The Tortured Cowboys Fan” – will include
some form of “good vibes,” the critical differentiator should
be “which player has had the greatest impact in getting his team
into its most productive gear.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has spent all but a rare
handful of hours – of his entire Cowboys career – attempting to
scale the NFL’s ivory postseason towers. He has dynamically dazzled
and infuriatingly frazzled. He has been accurate to a colorblind
fault and sometimes – whether to teammates or opponents – unable to
halt. Romo has gaudy statistical numbers that – without a few shiny
bolts of positively-charged playoff results – have amounted to "in
the moment" crumblers.
There was a widely-held expectation in the offseason that numerous
issues plaguing the Dallas Cowboys were going to be too huge for
them to traverse. Anyone suggesting otherwise – at the time – was
viewed as completely perverse.
Romo’s 2013 tour of duty was equal doses excitement, pain, and dread, with more than some
folks wondering – again – what was going on in
Tony’s head.
Romo’s 2014 was expected to be the ultimate tour de farce – with
simply too many supporting players requiring a mental or physical
kick in the arse. Compounding Romo’s supposed tour de manure was the
hopeful collaboration – for his benefit – of Callahan with Linehan
(“The Hans”), with the prayer that Bill (guarding the ground
game) and Scott (perfecting passes) would not fight over who would
be the keeper of the day-to-day offensive plans.
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Prognosticators and more than a few within "Cowboys Nation" would
presume Romo would continue operating in a Herculean vacuum – with
another leaky offensive line and a potentially worse defensive unit
that simply had too few pieces to overcome it. One critical member
of that defense was cut (due to legitimate fear over too much Ware
and tear) – choosing to join another key component (in Hatcher – for
whom Dallas would not be a deal matcher) in leaving via free agency.
A bare defensive cupboard for Jason Garrett, err, Old Mother Hubbard would – understandably – twist the scalpel on Romo’s corrective
back surgery. His available support system seemed so nonexistent, that everyone wondered “Why be so persistent? Why even bother to
resume?”
Romo could have taken the easy road, focused on the guaranteed money
he was owed, and gone into self-preservation mode. Instead – and
much like that tough guy who sustained a punctured lung and more
than one broken rib, Tony chose not to slink (further) into
what Cowboys Nation believed was Jerry Jones’ coddling,
“Romo-Friendly" crib. Romo CHOSE to try – once again – to dismiss
the hearse and reverse the curse.
While Jason Garrett, Scott Linehan, Bill Callahan, and Rod Marinelli
might have seen specific indicators – in training camp – of what was
to potentially come, anyone who had pompously proclaimed the Dallas
Cowboys were going to be a rip roaring success, would have been told
they were patently dumb.
GM Jerry – the eternal optimist – following the first game of the
season sounded like a born again pessimist. He was on record – in
a variety of ways – telling any media outlet seeking a sound
byte, that he expected America’s Team in 2014 to enjoy few good
days. He seemed convinced his dog had no bite or would
remain too gimpy to fight.
Romo – however (in training camp and without raising his thumb to
test the weather) – said he expected the Cowboys to “do some
things,” surprise some people, and get it together.
Only the most myopic members of Cowboys Nation can say they
had zero concern for Dallas – for the umpteenth time – missing the
playoffs and heading towards another season-ending vacation.
Followers so unconditional belong in a cult – when what Cowboys fans
really benefit from is an occasional dose of ADULT to take the
edge off (when you have spent too much time with bobbing for apples
in the Kool-Aid trough).
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Romo stated his case when it easily
could have blown up in his face. He sustained yet ANOTHER back
injury through which he had to fight – and has proven to be right, which has only
added to the confidence of his teammates and their potential
postseason might. Their next performance – against the Detroit Lions
– could be downright dynamite.
While Romo – by his own season-long action (with the top QBR and 34
touchdowns to only 9 interceptions) – has clearly gained MVP
traction, he has also acknowledged the critical player
partnerships that have helped ensure this year’s 12-4 satisfaction.
A quality quarterback without the ability to REALLY sell play action
will always get an undesirable defensive reaction.
A quality quarterback without a quality running back – to absorb
some defensive heat when the passing game is suddenly in retreat –
is without half of a standard offensive attack.
A quality quarterback and a quality running back will be as
productive as a slow-moving toad if they do not have a quality
offensive line to plow the grid iron road.
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DeMarco Murray has always been considered one of the league’s better
and full-featured running backs – but not so superhuman that he
could (always and at will) create his own running lanes without a
quality offensive line to help him make tracks. This was – and may
remain – especially true with Murray’s unpredictable history of
nagging injury. Though it is pretty weird – with the arrival of
his 2014 NFL rushing title and running hard for every one of his
1,845 downhill yards – that his booboos have refreshingly all but
disappeared.
There is little debate. Romo – without Murray and a reliable
offensive line to help ensure his rushing flurry (and like many
quarterbacks who regularly plead for such balanced offensive attacks) would have gone south in a hurry with but a standing count of eight. While a
solid offensive line can empower most running backs to accomplish
more, Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar are change-of-pace, burst,
and scat. They are not every down "DeMarco Dudes," repeated game day pounding
is not something they can handle, and that is that.
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A quality offensive line needs no complex goals, as they simply
must play their roles – pass protecting and opening up rushing
holes. The Cowboys’ 2013 second round pick – Travis Frederick – was
viewed by many as not “sexy enough” or “uninspired,” and a
decision that could have quickly gotten a talent evaluator or head coach
fired.
Frederick – however – was the second critical piece (after Tyron
Smith) towards building an offensive line that might eventually
dominate and (for some of Romo’s uneven burden) be able to
alleviate.
The Cowboys held strong (in the 2014 NFL draft) to select Zack
Martin (who would prove to be a young master of his craft) before something
could go horribly wrong (with the team’s brain trust
possibly succumbing to a certain someone’s apparent zeal for one
Johnathan Paul Manziel).
The Tortured Cowboys Fan would be remise if there was no mention of
Doug Free and Ronald Leary. They round out the Cowboys’ fine
offensive line in theory.
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Free started so hot when a 2009 injury to Marc Colombo put him on
the spot. Cowboys Nation will recall how the 6’ 8” Mount Mutombo,
err, Colombo was the offensive line’s “attitude with latitude” who would talk the talk and walk the walk. Free’s wildly successful
seven game stand-in, however, seemed like a cruel tease once he
began scratching for poor performance flees. While Free has been
pretty solid this year, over his next mental slip fans will
remain gripped with fear.
Leary – a 2012 undrafted free agent signee – is a much simpler
story. As long he – and the Cowboys’ medical staff – can keep his
degenerative left knee condition in critical check, he may be
able to help the Cowboys achieve their ultimate moment of glory (before his body waves the white flag and he hits the deck).
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Mental cramps and injuries happen in one form or another to almost
everyone in the NFL. It will be interesting to see if Free
and Leary are still parts of Romo’s protective custody – in the next
2-3 years – when next they must answer the bell.
2014 Pro Bowl selections – in the here and now – included Romo,
Bryant, Murray, Smith, Frederick, and Martin as a hard-earned reward
for combining to lead the Cowboys back to the playoffs, and how.
Romo may not receive the MVP nod because – without such a supporting
cast – sportswriters might feel he would not have played the regular
season like such a QBR god.
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Romo supporters might also confess that
writers WILL struggle with the fact that difference-making peers in Tom Brady, Peyton Manning,
and Aaron Rodgers have – at least once – successfully "carried" the Super Bowl load with less,
while under the same or similar duress.
If they were not the current gold standard – and / or not still
playing – Romo could easily be awarded the MVP without betraying, and Cowboys Nation would be
proudly celebrating.
Murray may not receive the honor because – without such a quality
offensive line along with Dez Bryant and others to spread a defense
thin – sportswriters might view him as merely a 1,000 yard goner
who would not know where to begin.
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The same can be said for all of
today’s running backs – even former fellow Sooner Adrian Peterson
(who did win the MVP without a legitimate QB and
with an offensive line built for him by design) – but the decision is left up to the writers, who are comparing
based upon what one player stacks and what another player lacks.
Both men are worthy of the consideration they are receiving and – rest
assured – their regular season performances have more than just
Cowboys Nation believing.
If either player is graced with this fancy trophy, The Tortured Cowboys
Fan is certain they would be plenty happy. Compared to their true
end goal of a Super Bowl victory – however – this award at worst would be
consolation-crappy . . . and at best would be post-victory gravy.
Will America’s Team turn the Detroit Lions into kitty litter,
successfully navigate the remaining stages of the tournament, and
find themselves covered in their own game-winning Super Bowl glitter?
We shall see. We always do.
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