by Ryan Bush
The self-destructive impulses of the Dallas Cowboys were out
in full force Sunday afternoon at Seattle’s
sunny sea of green and blue. As has been
the case of late, Felix Jones was the leader of a pack of clowns that contained
more than just the usual suspects.
It was Jones’ fumble of the opening kickoff that set the
tone for Jason Garrett’s squad, from which started a 27-7 west coast avalanche
that promised no cover for any Cowboys player or coach this week.
There are no scapegoats from this debacle. From Jerry the
Wipemaster himself, to Garrett the head coach, all the way down to the team
laundry boy. They’re all
guilty…excepting quarterback Tony Romo.
The Cowboys had an unusual eleven-day gap between their
season-opening victory at the Meadowlands and Sunday’s game against the
Seahawks. And all they could show for
the extra time was a rotten egg that smelled far worse than Seattle’s latest chicken-fried version of a
home jersey.
There were an inordinate amount of dropped passes, too many
special teams gaffes, and an over-abundance of alligator-arm tackles of Seattle running back
Marshawn Lynch in the second-half. All
in all, it was just the kind of performance that the officials union so desperately
needed. Not even the questionable calls
of the replacement referees could affect the outcome of this one.
From the very outset, the Cowboys were bound and determined
to go down the toilet, and just as anxious to prove they needed no help from the
second-team zebras sharing the field. In
that vein, an otherwise forgettable afternoon in balmy Seattle can be considered a success. Better hang that on the wall, because that’s
the only trophy of achievement Dallas
walked away with from this showing.
Any advantage Seattle held in
the defense and special teams departments were supposed to be nullified by Dallas’ edge at the
quarterback position. Even on the road
in a loud stadium, the Cowboys were the logical favorites to take this
one.
Nothing nullifies a home-field advantage quite like a rookie
quarterback. They miss blitz
assignments, throw into coverage, or anything that gives the defense an
opportunity to turn the tide of the game.
As it turns out, both quarterbacks had little to do with the
outcome. The rookie Russell Wilson
admittedly played composed for only his second NFL start, completing 15 of 20
passes for 151 yards. It also should be
noted that Rob Ryan’s defense applied minimal pressure on him.
| Rookie QB Russell Wilson was Steady |
On the other sideline, Romo did have one blemish on his
stat-sheet, a first-quarter interception deep in Seattle territory. But a failing support system around him
rendered his mistake inconsequential.
Romo was good when his teammates allowed him to be, which,
unfortunately, wasn’t very often.
| Kevin Ogletree makes the tackle after a Romo Interception |
Felix Jones’ fumble on the opening kickoff set up a quick Seattle field goal of 21
yards. That was followed by a Chris
Jones blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, giving the home team a
10-0 advantage with less than five minutes gone.
 |
| Felix Jones Fumble |
When Romo connected with Miles Austin for a 26-yard scoring
play in the second quarter to draw within three, it appeared the Cowboys were
about to seize control of the game. But
a gutless defense and a myriad of drops from an unlikely source helped stall
the comeback.
 |
| Miles Austin TD |
Perennial Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten is still not
one-hundred percent recovered from a preseason spleen injury, as his
career-worst four drops attest to. Two
of his drops were especially costly. One
came on third-down that set up a punting situation and another occurred after
he got behind the defense in the first-half and had a good chance of scoring.
| Jason Witten - 4 dropped passes |
Equally as mind-boggling was the performance of a new-look
no-gut defense. A week after manning-up
against a notoriously tough Giants team, the Dallas
defense laid down like a beaten dog in the second-half, allowing Wilson to control the game
with handoffs and short, underneath passes.
Two consecutive second-half drives by the Seattle offense spanned 20 plays, totaling
178 yards, and turned a 13-7 score into a 27-7 rout.
Any hopes of a miracle comeback were then thwarted by
personal foul and substitution penalties on the same drive, which allowed the
Seahawks to virtually run the clock out.
It will be a long week at Valley Ranch, as players long to
get the taste of this tail-whipping out of their swollen and bloodied mouths.
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