It's a measure of how little regard most prognosticators and fans of professional football have for the Dallas Cowboys these days.
Last weekend, the Cowboys had gagged in the desert sand while blowing a game to the Arizona Cardinals. Yet, they entered the New York Giant game (December 11) having emerged victorious in four of their previous five games. The Giants, meanwhile, had feverishly frittered away the NFC East lead by dropping four consecutive games and were mired at a decidedly mediocre 6-6.
Now, find someone, other than ardent Cowboy fans, who believed Dallas was going to dwarf the Giants at home on Sunday Night Football. There weren't many…even though it represented an opportunity for the Cowboys to virtually clinch the division. The game featured several commonplace Dallas moments that compel you to work up a pretty good head scratcher.
Here are a few questions for which there don't appear to be many illuminating answers: How does Tony Romo find himself in a position to take a safety early in the game? It's difficult to project forward, of course, but those two points were crucial. Knowing what everyone knows about Eli Manning, why did Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan continue to blitz on virtually every passing down? He possessed plenty of information that should have been persuading him to stop, already. Manning deftly handles blitzes, and indeed, appears to welcome them. He delivers the ball promptly, and with blitz-happy Ryan, there was no one in the defensive secondary…no one. Rob Ryan seems to feature the same stubbornness that motivated his brother Rex of the New York Jets to send everyone on every single third and long…a practice he's finally abandoned. And why was the entire Dallas sideline celebrating so passionately after the Cowboys surged ahead by 12 with five minutes to go? Are they unaware of their recent history? Did they lose sight of the identity of the opposing quarterback?
The Cowboys are an enigma…so talented, yet so devoid of a winner's mentality. How else do you explain the missed opportunity with barely two minutes left in the game when Romo overthrew a wide open receiver on third down. The clock is ticking loudly on their season.
Glenn Vallach has been a football fan for most of his lifetime, but never played organized pigskin unless you consider the thousands of youth hours running slant routes on city streets with a friend serving as Joe Willie. Don Maynard was his idol, an adulation he took seriously, complete with a number 13 stitched to his sweatshirt. In later years, he modernized his admiration and included Wayne Chrebet. Receivers—always receivers. He remains a New York Jet fan through so much disappointment and embarrassment over the years. Coach Rex Ryan has rekindled a dormant fire, but sometimes he feels as if he doesn't understand the likely end result of all his efforts. It has been 42 years, after all.
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
NFL: Patriots coach wrong to yell at Brady
NFL: Is Norv Turner in trouble?
NFL: Chiefs move on without Haley
Signing in ensures ratings are counted accurately and prevents system abuse.
Sign in to rate or, sign up for a new account.
