by Ryan Bush
Let’s be proactive about all this and agree that the Dallas
Cowboys were mentally deficient in nearly every conceivable category Sunday
against the Seattle Seahawks. Blocked
punts, dropped passes, ill-timed penalties, and a gutless front-seven at crunch
time… Those are all earmarks of any local junior high squad and provide the
classic example of why so many refuse to consider the Cowboys as professional
material. Too often, they fail to
resemble it.
| Blocked Punt |
So the big ‘Boys from Big D’ had their heads in the clouds
after a statement win over the Giants, is that it? Well, there are worse reasons to lose a
football game. Like, say, having your
head served up on a platter. Which was
not the reality of Sunday’s 27-7 loss.
As many opportunities as Dallas
made the most of during the opener in East Rutherford,
they threw just as many away eleven days later. It was ugly in the extreme, as
has been noted by the media since then, but in no way is an indication that
this team is just another head-case that maximizes its potential by merely
flirting with a postseason berth.
To compare this debacle to last season’s 34-7 loss at Philadelphia is doing Andy
Reid and the Eagles a great injustice.
The Eagles team of a year ago was simply better than the Cowboys, no
room for argument allowed.
Such was not the case Sunday, even though the Cowboys’
superiority was never allowed to be evident.
It’s only fair to give Seattle
credit for the victory, but there are a boatload of Cowboys that are deserving
of a wholehearted assist.
| 1 of 4 Dropped Passes by Jason Witten |
When has Jason Witten ever dropped one pass in a game, let
alone four? And why couldn’t Dan Connor
block the man right in front of him? And
why can’t Felix Jones hold onto the ball?
Dez Bryant let one pass from Tony Romo slip through his hands, as did
Miles Austin.
Leave it to Cow-lovers to ignore the long list of football
offenders above and fault the defense completely for this loss. This is a classic example of why the majority
of Cowboy fans are considered eccentric nerds.
It’s easy to blame Rob Ryan for a conservative game plan
that failed to apply consistent pressure on rookie quarterback Russell
Wilson. But lack of a pass rush wasn’t
the primary reason Dallas
failed to produce a turnover. The
scoreboard, in fact, was.
By falling behind 10-0 and never recovering, the Cowboys
never forced Seattle
to divert from their run-first game plan they started the game with. With at least one leg up on the competition
from the game’s outset, the Seahawks head coach was able to ride the legs of
Marshawn Lynch until the Dallas
defense finally flopped down dead in the final quarter.
| Arms weren't enough to tackle Lynch |
Part of that can be attributed to fatigue, an understandable
factor when considering Seattle
controlled the ball for more that 20 minutes in the second half. Yet a more perplexing problem was a lack of
discipline by multiple players that allowed Lynch to gain extra yardage on
several occasions.
The Dallas
defense was playing without Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff in the middle, and
it’s a credit to Garrett and Ryan for not overblowing his absence as an
excuse. Lynch’s 100-yard outburst in the
second-half had little, if nothing, to do with any inadequacies of replacement
Josh Brent. The Cowboys were either out of position defensively, or
simply failed to wrap the ball-carrier up.
There were too many attempted arm-tackles and inconsequential big hits,
two notorious no-no’s against a powerful runner such as Lynch.
No, it wasn’t the ideal performance against an inferior
opponent on the road, but it wasn’t nearly as ground-shaking as it appeared to
some. The Cowboys can play fundamentally
sound football. We all saw that against
the Giants.
There will be a come-back-to-fundamentals cry from Camp Cowboy
this week, and with the humiliation of Sunday’s loss haunting them every step
of the way, it’s safe to say next week’s game against Tampa Bay
will introduce a refocused Cowboys team to their host of distraught admirers.
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