Bryant’s Mouth, Running Game Are Keys for Cowboys

The roller coaster ride that is the 2013 Dallas Cowboys season continued yesterday as our beloved ‘Boys climbed back above .500. The home win against a less than stellar Minnesota Vikings team was made possible only by a last-minute touchdown pass from Tony Romo to underutilized wideout Dwayne Harris. As is becoming habit, star wide receiver Dez Bryant provided some antics for the analysts on ESPN to talk.

For those who missed it, Dez’s latest hissy fit came after he was flagged for offensive pass interference. Although the interference call would have been bad enough, the unsportsmanlike penalty his jaw-jacking resulted in was both embarrassing and unfair to the team as it took the possibility for a long field goal try out of consideration in a tight contest. Had Dallas failed to make a comeback, Bryant’s rant would probably have drawn more negative attention that it will since the Cowboys escaped with a close win. However, this has got to stop. Being passionate about winning is one thing, behaving like a two-year old is quite another and it is time for Mr. Bryant to letting his playing do the talking.

Nov 3, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys receiver Dwayne Harris (17) dives for the game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against Minnesota Vikings cornerback Marcus Sherels (35) at AT

Harris, though he lacks in the headline fodder department, has been quietly having a breakout year. After rookie Terrance Williams took the third wide receiver spot, Harris could have whined and complained. Instead, he has received NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors twice this season and has become the best return threat Dallas has had in several years. If the Cowboys had more players like #17, things might be looking brighter in Big D at the mid-season point.

While the come from behind victory was exciting to watch, it doesn’t exactly make this Cowboys fan feel warm and fuzzy about Dallas’ chances to put any distance between them and the rest of the NFC East pack. Washington got an overtime win against the San Diego Chargers, while the Philadelphia Eagles had a record-setting day against the Oakland Raiders. The Cowboys have to face both those teams again before season’s end, not to mention the New York Giants who always seem to find a little mojo at the right time. As lousy as the other three teams in the East have been up to this point, Dallas has failed to string enough wins together to give them a commanding lead in the division. Here’s hoping losses like the one in San Diego and the debacle in Detroit don’t come back to bite them in the rear.

If the Cowboys are to get a serious streak going in the second half of the season they have to find a way to run the football. With DeMarco Murray nursing injuries…again…our back ups in the backfield haven’t done much up to this point. With the revolving door at the running back position in Dallas that has progressed over the past few seasons, it seems obvious that Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders or Jim Brown couldn’t gain many yards with our current offensive line situation. As was seen in last week’s loss to the Lions, the ability to run out the clock and preserve a win is critical and Dallas doesn’t have that at this juncture.

If Dez’s mouth would close and some running lanes would open, who knows how far the Cowboys could go in 2013.