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2017-2018 Regular Season:
Cowboys Fall From Their Saddle In Mistake-Marred Battle With Seattle . . . And
Focus On
Finishing In Philly Without Looking Silly
- December 28, 2017 At 12:24 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- “America’s Team” – for all its frustrating faults – was still in
faint contention for the final NFC wild card playoff spot. The
Dallas Cowboys – with two games to go – “merely” had to reliably
perform the basics to legitimately improve their shot.
They were hosting the only other NFL team – besides the New York
Giants – who (historically) had a timely habit of summoning the
enough focus to beat back devastating injuries and / or prior
pathetic performances to function on the fumes of punishing pride
and defiance.
The Seattle Seahawks were also one of two teams who stood in
the Cowboys’ way of inching closer to their postseason return
engagement dreams. They were as broken – mentally and physically –
as any NFL squad at this time of year and (after their
blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams) a second straight loss to yet
another (fresh-legged, newly-returned) ground game grinder Seattle
fans did fear.
The Cowboys were coming off their third consecutive win against an
equally-desperate Oakland Raiders team (focused on their own
“slim chance at the playoffs” theme).
The Cowboys – as is now the annual, season-long, league-wide trend –
were also playing in the absence of some of their own depth and key
talent (David Irving, Orlando Scandrick, Brice Butler, and Justin
Durant) while others (Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Anthony
Hitchens) have tried to fight through injuries so valiant.
“HGH! We hardly knew you!” said NFL fans everywhere who still
fantasize about having their cake and to eating it, too.
Available raw talent – for this game, however – was not the issue and
(as hinted earlier) the team that played smarter, not
harder, would win the day and prevent their fan base from having to
reach for a postseason-pulverizing tissue.
Dallas and Seattle – to start the game – would exchange two punts
each before the "magical injury leach" would cause Tyron "Toughin'
It Out" Smith to, once again, pull up lame. "Nevertheless, they
persisted" – just like Seattle – against untimely losses so twisted.
Dak and Co. then began to mix in some scoring and – while a couple
field goals were far from reassuring – they had a 6-0 lead against a
Seattle defense that was expected to sustain another painful
performance bleed.
After watching "Marinelli's Men" suffocate Seattle's offense on
their next series – along with seeing DeMarcus "Tank" Lawrence
savage Seahawks' QB Russell Wilson for a 22-yard sack – Dak and
Co. had another chance to go on the attack.
Dak threw a short pass to Dez Bryant on the right from
which Bryant was expected to demonstrate – against Seattle’s
injury-scrambled secondary – more of his YAC (Yards After Catch)
fight. Dez – instead of switching the football to his
sideline-facing arm and away from the oncoming defender – held it
out with his (natural) left hand like one of those “deadly popular”
loaves of marble rye bread on “Seinfeld.” Seattle, of course, forced
Dez to fumble instantly sending some anxious fans on a bender and
causing others (still hopeful) to mumble.
Seattle would graciously accept the Cowboys’ short-field gift and eventually score a touchdown to reverse their 6-0 rift. Dallas
would squeeze another field goal nugget to end the half (with their
9-7 lead producing a rather uncomfortable laugh).
The Cowboys and Marinelli’s Men began the third act by holding
the Seahawks offense to 10 yards and preventing Russell Wilson from
getting dangerously untracked.
“The Linehan Clan” – at their own 26 – were seemingly back in
business, but there was just more ugliness. After a short run
by Zeke, Dak – under pressure – attempted to loft a pass to Elliott
but overshot his target. The Seahawks picked it off, ran it back for
a 30-yard touchdown, and all of Cowboys Nation began to officially
freak. The “touch pass” remains an untimely challenge for Dak and – until (at everyone’s insistence) he improves his (currently)
abominable accuracy from ANY distance – his offensive armor will
continue to display a critical crack.
The Seahawks were up 14-9 and – while both teams were
performing less than fine – only one of them was making key plays
with precious playoff contention still on the line.
The Cowboys would add another (drum roll, please) field goal to
close the game to a 14-12 gap but – for Dallas and Marinelli’s
Men (who were doing everything they could to bring the wood) – there
was no escaping more offensive crap.
Dak and Co. were – once again – back on the attack, but it
remained to be seen if they could generate consecutive quality plays
to stack.
Dallas – in a matter of just over three minutes – went from their
own 31 to Seattle's 25 (showing their national television
audience they were, indeed, still alive). But – yes, the dreaded BUT
– the Cowboys stepped right back into their offensive rut, when
Prescott threw a(nother inaccurate) short pass over the middle and
just behind Dez, glancing off his delayed reach and granting Seattle
their second interception peach.
The Seahawks turned right around with a six-and-a-half-minute drive
that ended with Wilson's second touchdown pass on the day. Marinelli's Men appeared to be wearing down
(from unfair overexposure) and losing their way (as is usually the
case when the Cowboys' inconsistent offense is all over the place).
And when Dallas finally, FINALLY got as close to Seattle’s goal line
as they were going to get all day long, they were anything but
mentally strong. They suffered a most troubling touchdown tragedy through a combination of cute play-calling
AND poor execution as
a result of their growing scoring allergy. Dak ran left for one
yard on first-and-goal at the Seattle three. Jason Witten conveyed
a case of the yips with a 10-yard holding penalty on second-and-goal
from the Seattle two. Prescott got sacked for an 11-yard loss back
to the Seattle 23 on a replay of second down. A third-and-goal
Prescott pass to Witten moved Dallas to the Seattle 16. And - after
ruining their larger scoring opp - Dan Bailey mysteriously (within
the breezeless confines of AT&T Stadium) began to lose his field
goal pop.
Dallas would again go back to the field goal well, but Dan Bailey –
once more – found himself causing an unfamiliar place-kicking smell.
The Cowboys would frustratingly win a number of the day’s
statistical categories save for those that counted and –
by game's end – more than enough loss-inviting mistakes (in play
calls AND execution) had mounted. While they gave away the game 21-12 to
Seattle, it is more than arguable that Dallas – many
games prior – had already fallen out of last year’s playoff saddle.
Short Shots And Hot Spots
Take one look at Twitter – where “The Tortured Cowboys Fan” has been
spending an increasing amount of time – and most of Cowboys Nation
is understandably bitter.
Thanks to Marinelli’s Men, the Seahawks had more penalty yards than
offensive yards but – again, without a far more consistent
Cowboys offense – a reasonably-expected victory was not in the
cards.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for (a respectable-to-his-six-game-suspension)
97 yards on 24 carries yet – with only nine touches for 24
yards in the second half – his production would inexplicably vary.
Zeke had exceptionally fresh legs – showing it with approximately 50
yards in the first quarter – but with Dak delivering some bad eggs
(and encouraging Seattle’s defense to increasingly stack the line), Zeke was unable to help maintain order.
There is a contingent of fans who blindly blame Zeke and his
six-game suspension for the Cowboys failing to remain in
contention for the final NFC wildcard postseason selection. That
sub-section of Cowboys Nation needs to grasp the bigger picture (of a
team that can no longer afford to focus all its light through but
ONE key fixture due to a fear of breakdowns in an overachieving
defensive mixture). Yes, greater investment in the defense is
another (sore) subject for another moment, but there is simply no cherry-picking
from multiple challenges over which the Cowboys must seek atonement.
It is ironically the very presence of (and brutal over-reliance on) Zeke that should be
perpetually causing Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett to greatly improve
their roster churn and every personnel tweak (yet that alone is
not enough to escape a bigger issue so rough). The Cowboys must be
able to reasonably withstand the absence of a star player or two (by leaning – drum roll please – “on
offensive and defensive systems which are more flexible towards the
ENTIRE roster”) if they
hope to have a better chance at finally, truly breaking through. So
far, though, it is CHOICE which the change-challenged Cowboys have been
stubbornly resistant to pursue.
While Russell Wilson – by his own standards – put on a sub par show,
he took what a backfiring Dallas offense gave him from turnovers,
and finished with two touchdowns in tow. Dak delivered another
inaccurate game, holding the football entirely too long, and – along
with one or two key teammates – played out of frame.
While it is wonderful that Dak can read defenses with
greater success and make more than one fancy audible, his
post-snap decision-making and passing accuracy have not been
laudable.
While Dez Bryant has gone from elite Frisbee-catching retriever to
lower-altitude possession receiver, and Terrance Williams has been
unable to display much skill extension under single attention, their limitations are compounded by a quarterback who has yet to
consistently add to his passing arsenal the critical “touch”
convention. Dak – like Tony Romo before him (and many other active QB’s comparatively dim) – CAN compensate for receiver restriction by
leading them or “throwing them open” with conviction.
Jason Witten – the Cowboys’ slowing, aging warhorse – still knows
where to go and (with a Prescott who can keep his eyes more often
downfield rather than turning to the shorter yardage yield) Witten can still, STILL be a more than reasonable force. Cole
Beasley – with his sneaky speed and low center of gravity – can juke
practically any defender to get open easily (and will also
benefit from a Dak who can re-read his progression stack).
While nothing on (the current Cowboys’) offense can be fine without
a reasonably healthy offensive line, Tony Romo spent most of
his career playing ball behind more than one semi-protective wall (regularly putting on his very best Harry Houdini performance) in
the face of QB-starved defenders determined to dine. No, Dak is not
Tony, but an eventually-increased willingness to find (and perhaps push
beyond) the boundaries of Linehan’s system can only help Prescott
avoid potentially degenerating into a phony.
All the publicly-shared blame and (painfully propped up) professionalism in the world –
however – can sometimes fail to prevent insults from being hurled.
During Dak Prescott’s maiden voyage in the 2016 season – and following
the Cowboys' game one home loss (to the New York Giants) – Dez Bryant voiced his interest in receiving at least one more toss.
Dak – surprisingly (and perhaps refreshingly?) for a rookie QB – felt the need to acknowledge
who was boss.
"We'll get him the ball as it comes up in our offense. We're not gonna’ single out and say Dez has to get the ball on this play.
We'll make that connection. I'll put the ball in a better place.
He'll make those catches." – Dak Prescott.
“I think I have to throw him a better ball. Just put it right there
on his face mask and don’t give him a chance to drop it, I guess,”
said Prescott (days after this year’s Seattle game and) specific to the
inaccurate-pass-turned-tipped-interception that made a (still)
demonstratively demanding Dez look particularly lame.
While things are (slightly-to-significantly) out of hand in
“Cowboys Land," it is nice to know – with vanilla company lines
typically being the way to go – where certain parties really stand.
Unless otherwise deemed by the exceedingly-player-centric Jerry
Jones, it may finally be too late for Dez's Cowboys
career to avoid the waiver wire shelf
with another offseason attempting to find himself. Bryant is no
longer worthy of the $12.5M still owed to him in 2018, and there are
other far more deserving players with whom Jerry should be rolling
his salary cap bones.
Jerry remains the Cowboys’ common denominator and – perhaps –
the occasional progress annihilator. While humans have shown a sometimes-incredible
ability to change – through CHOICE – most humans (historically) have
shown little interest in listening to such a common-sense voice.
While Jerry brought Jimmy Johnson with him when he purchased the
Cowboys back in 1989, neither of them had any idea things would
turn out far greater than fine. Jimmy set up the team (from talent
quality to coaching style) to stand a half-decade test of time and – ever since his departure – Jerry's efforts to replace him
(without granting his successors any TRUE head-coaching
control) have been viewed as a crime.
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- Cowboys Nation must awaken and work backwards from the epicenter
that is Jerry and stop hoping for philosophy-changing magic. Fans must come to grips
with the fact that even Jon Gruden (roundly viewed as superior "in
every way" to
Jason Garrett) – armed with the same roster (and the involuntary
projection of being a leadership imposter) – would also be subject
to Jerry’s ego-driven preferences and inconsistent results perhaps similarly tragic.
When (not IF) Jerry eventually chooses or is forced (by
natural causes) to step away, possibly Stephen Jones (with a
style all his own or – GASP – using the very same tone?) will allow Cowboys Nation to experience a new day.
Will They Or Won’t They?
America’s Team is now out of the playoff picture, continuing
their reputation of being – at most – an inconsistent postseason
fixture.
The Dallas Cowboys are a mediocre 8-7 and must defeat the
NFC-division-winning Philadelphia Eagles in “The City Of Brotherly
Hate” to avoid another “Jason Garrett Special,” err, going 8-8.
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- Even if the Cowboys field their best available players – with the
way their offense is performing – the possibility of another 8-8
season remains alarming.
The high-flying Eagles may have lost Carson Wentz to a late-season
tear of his ACL but does that mean the comparatively-clumsy
Nick Foles will not – all things considered – still give the
downtrodden Cowboys a second dose of season series hell?
Will the Cowboys show some season-ending pride . . . or will they
allow the Eagles to continue their conference-leading glide?
Regardless of whether Dallas finishes with a “winning” record of 9-7
or lowers itself to a familiar Garrett-era 8-8 . . . what potential
offseason changes might help them better control their fate?
We shall see. We always do.
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