Dallas Cowboys Week 2: The good, the bad, and the ugly
By Tyrone Starr
Dallas Cowboys: The Ugly
Last week, the Cowboys special teams unit was the focus of the “bad.” This week, it gets downgraded to ugly. Now, I bet you’re thinking “but wait, all extra points were made, both field goals were made as well including a FIFTY-SIX yarder for the win… how is that ugly?”
The actual play of the special teams was overall pretty good. It was the day after press conference given by the coach of this unit that earns them the ugly. To set the scene, just after the two-minute warning the Cowboys’ defense forced Los Angeles into a punting situation on 4th & 20 from just inside of mid-field.
Instead of just letting that be and giving the ball back to the offense, special teams coach John Fassel sent the heat trying to get a block out of it. What Dallas actually got was a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty which extended the drive, allowing Los Angeles to keep the ball the rest of the quarter.
During his time at the podium, instead of ripping the officials for a bad call (linebacker Azur Kamara was clearly blocked into the punter) or even just taking any sort of blame for the call himself, here’s what Fassel said in an article written by Jori Epstein of Yahoo! News/USA Today:
"“I think Cowboys fans aren’t the play-it-safe type. So I was going to give them what they wanted, come after their a– on the punt rush. So I hope they’re happy with it. We came after him.”"
This is just terrible. First of all, this statement assumes all Cowboys’ fans unanimously agree on being ultra-aggressive, all the time, regardless of the situation. Secondly, you’re a coach in the NFL, not a deejay at the local radio station. Since when are you taking requests? Lastly, basing moves off of hypothetical fan desire is the equivalent of throwing your hands in the air and admitting you do not have a better idea.
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Thankfully, the Cowboys were able to battle adversity, a very good team, and some questionable calls from both the officials and their own coaches to earn a victory. Next week, the hated Philadelphia Eagles come to town on Monday night. A win like this one plus the first home game of the year should have this team pumped. I know all of you are as well!