Dallas Cowboys Battered And Bruised, CowboysNation Sick And Tired
Dec 16, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) leaves the field during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys beat the Steelers 27-24 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
A fitting way to end the Dallas Cowboys season. All three starting WRs went out of the game injured before it was all over. Key injuries, a bad call (roughing the passer?, Really?), and an interception at a critical point in the game.
Funny… the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Another ‘mad season’ and the only thing – and I mean, the ONLY thing – we can take away from it is these Cowboys don’t quit. Unfortunately that has only translated into flashes of brilliance mixed with a heavy dose of mediocre. In the Cowboys defense (no pun intended), though, injuries to key players were out of control this year. I’ve seen fewer injured people in a M.A.S.H. unit.
Injuries aside, the truth about this team is clear and self evident. The Dallas Cowboys are only as good as their QB, Tony Romo. Too often, at critical times, it’s not good enough. I am an unabashed Romosapien, that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m dealing with. The correlation is easy to make. Romo always seems to be knocking on the elite door, always about to get to the next level. The Cowboys always seem to be about to get to that next level as well. Romo falls short and the Cowboys fall short.
I’m sure as I write this that no one is more frustrated and disappointed in this last game, or this season, than Tony Romo himself. He knows what he left on FedEx field last night. Romo’s chance to add to the upside of his legacy instead added to the down side of it.
All that being said, I will not put this loss only on Romo. The Cowboys defense, which I’m sure has it’s own wing at a hospital in Dallas, could not stop the Redskins running game. DeMarcus Ware shouldn’t have been in the game, but we needed bodies and Ware wasn’t going to end his season on the sidelines. Besides, I’m not entirely sure that a healthy, mistake free Cowboys team could have stood in the way of the RGIII train. Our Cowboys were close but not quite good enough and close only counts in horseshoes (cliche’ alert).
Actually, it’s too bad Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys don’t play horseshoes instead of football. I bet they’d be very good at horseshoes.
Points and Observations:
-Some other possible titles to this article:
‘Cowboys Playoff Hopes Intercepted’
‘Monkey Still Firmly In Place On Tony Romo’s Back’
‘Cowboys Don’t Quit, Don’t Win Either’
-Injuries did uncover some players that may have a significant future with the team – Dwayne Harris, Alex Albright, Ryan Cook, Lance Dunbar – and expose others they may not – Kevin Ogletree, Miles Austin (okay, maybe not Miles), Danny McCray -. Feel free to add to either list.
-Tony Romo, Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware, and Dez Bryant all broke records this year… and nobody seemed to notice or care.
-Sean Payton, sadly, is not an option to coach this team. Jason Garrett is our coach for at least another year. I’m sure he’s a genius and will become a great coach – he certainly earned some respect from his team. That being said, I fear his growing pains cost Witten, Ware, and especially Romo, a chance at a Superbowl run.
-On that same subject, I think Romo should ask for a trade to a team that may only be a QB away from contention. I still believe with the right system, Romo could thrive somewhere else, a la Kurt Warner. From what I hear, 2013 is not going to be a quality draft for QBs and teams like Arizona may rather get Romo and develop a QB behind him, you know, like the Cowboys should have done.
-Jason Witten is a future Hall of Famer, maybe not first ballot, but definitely will get in. Sadly, Jerry Jones would never let Witten go so he can have a chance at a SuperBowl.
-There is nothing more frustrating than a good player that can’t stay healthy. If the following players can’t stay healthy, then we cannot consider them anything more than disappointments: Sean Lee, Jay Ratliff, Bruce Carter, DeMarco Murray. If they can’t stay on the field, they can’t help the team. Tell me I’m wrong.
-NFL teams typically build their teams to compete against the other teams in their division. If that model is true, then the rest of the NFC East has some rebuilding to do to stay up with the Redskins.
– Artie Cappello
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