State of the Cowboys

By Tex DeVille

So, it has been a month or two since the official NFL schedules came out. Something remarkable has happened to the Cowboys! For the first time I can remember, the Cowboys start and end the season at home while having a late bye week. I’m not sure what the NFL schedulers are thinking: even as a Cowboys fan, there is nothing that makes me think that they will be able to take advantage of this scheduling.   Generally speaking, the teams with late Bye weeks are considered playoff contenders.

Sure, there is technically the possibility that the Cowboys make the playoffs, even a record as low as 9-7, which is my realistic expectation of this team. The best I see the Cowboys doing this year is 10-6, and that’s with a couple of lucky breaks.   I like where the Cowboys are headed because they have increased Romo’s role in the offense so as to get him more involved and aware of the playcalling. All of the top QBs are in this position, so it’s no surprise Jerry Jones wants Tony to do the same, regardless of whether or not Tony is, in fact, a top QB (he is, shut up!).



In fact, the only surprise about this situation is that it hasn’t happened sooner.   Despite the public consensus, I’m okay with the Cowboys’ draft. It wasn’t flashy, and maybe they reached on a couple picks, but it wasn’t horrible. I like the direction in which the team is going because it is obvious they are trying to protect Romo and fix a haphazard defense.

The Cowboys averaged 23.5 points per game, but allowed an average of 25 points per game. They also played their best football in the 4th quarter, the opposite of what has been happening the past few years.   Tony Romo is being remembered for his final INT of the season, sealing the Cowboys’ fate to sit in January yet again. This is a disservice to what Romo did then entire season. For instance, on Thanksgiving, the Redskins beat the Cowboys 38-31. 2 of RG3's TDs were over 60 yards, which is an obvious pair of breakdowns on defense. A 3rd TD was 29 yards. Romo also led the 'Boys to 28 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters, 25 of which were in the last 17 minutes of the game.

Then, there is the New Orleans game, where the defense allowed 33 1st downs and a whopping 42 minutes of possession time. With only 22.5 minutes of possession time, Romo STILL threw for 4 TDs with no picks. But no one wants to hear or talk about that. They want to talk about how Romo “choked” again. There was an ESPN writer, and I wish I could credit him, but I can’t think of his name, that said something to the effect of how Romo would have benefitted from having an above average father on a losing team in NFL history. He was referring to how everyone gives Peyton Manning a pass every time he chokes, but no one gives Romo a pass.

I won’t argue that Romo and Peyton are on the same level (although, Romo has never lost to Peyton), but Peyton chokes a lot, too. However, he doesn’t play for Dallas, so no one hates on him. The Papa Johns and DirecTV commercials help, too.   Okay, I’ve gotten off-track, but the fact remains that Romo is getting more hate than he deserves, and if the scheduling means anything other than sheer luck of the draw, the Cowboys are inexplicably getting more love from the league than they deserve. “But, Tex,” you impatiently interject, “If Romo is better than his bad hype, the draft points the Boys in the right direction, and they’ve fixed their 4th quarter woes, why do you doubt the Cowboys’ ability to make it this year?”

One word: continuity. The Cowboys do not have it on their absolutely woeful half of the team, the defense. It’s not just that they have a new defensive coordinator that is well past retirement age and approaching the life expectancy age. It’s also the fact that they are changing from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defensive scheme. Changing schemes is fine, but it takes time to gel. The defense was bad enough last year; I worry about a changing scheme with a geriatric coach.   This means that Romo will, once again, have to carry this team on his back amidst the constant hate that gets thrown at him. People say he isn’t tough. How about staying in Dallas and performing at that high of a level knowing everyone STILL critiques you for one mistake you made your first year starting, knowing your big game wins could quadruple the number of chokes, and everyone will STILL say you aren’t clutch, and knowing that you have had the 2 best years of your career knowing people STILL think you’re a back-up scrub. Romo will perform amazingly this year, and it will not be acknowledged because the defense will lose them 6-8 games, and Romo will not have enough magic to save the Cowboys.