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You may have noticed a lack of reaction posts for the loss to the Giants. Apologies for that, but I thought I would spare you all a post that repeatedly used the phrases “dickless” and “hurdled Newman.”

So… the 2011 Cowboys. What will history say about this team? Nothing. What should Cowboys fans say about this team? Nothing too nice and nothing too spiteful. The record sums it up pretty neatly. 8-8. Absolute mediocrity. For every fleeting moment of success, there was an equally crushing defeat. Despite that, this team still controlled its destiny in Week 17… and that control was squandered.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Where does this team go from here? Quite specifically, the team needs to address deficiencies in the usual problem areas — the secondary and offensive line. I would also add help at inside linebacker to the grocery list. There’s no way that the season finale didn’t fully expose Terrence Newman and Keith Brooking as being liabilities, to put it nicely. Mike Jenkins is not reliable healthwise, and Orlando Scandrick and Alan Ball have trouble making plays on the ball when the opportunities present themselves.

I am not of the opinion that any coaching changes are necessary. Jason Garrett’s one glaring mistake this year (the Arizona kicker icing) will live on in infamy, but it’s a tiny blip on a radar showing nothing but competency otherwise. Rob Ryan rightfully accepted blame for the defense’s repeated failures, but aside from the Philadelphia games, there didn’t appear to be any problems with schemes — just the personnel’s capacity to execute them and on-field communication. A full offseason will bring younger players up to speed on the more complex schemes Ryan hoped to implement this season, and hopefully address the issue of late game collapses along with some upgrades at the aforementioned positions.

The worst part about this season is Tony Romo responded to criticism and posted a career year in a losing effort. With a patchwork offensive line and lack of running game until DeMarco Murray’s brief emergence, Tony Romo played stellar football through debilitating injuries and less-than-ideal surrounding circumstances. When the defense surrendered late-game leads, Romo marched the team down the field and put them in position to stay in the game or win. Missed/blocked field goals, dropped third-down passes, false starts, missed assignments, botched snaps, wrong routes — Romo contended with all of this and still posted dazzling numbers. Cowboys fans owe Tony Romo the courtesy of this offseason not including any “Can he be the guy?” questions/comments/concerns. He can be the guy even when he doesn’t have a fully-functioning team around him.

The questions/comments/concerns for fans should be: “Can we find an inside linebacker with a nose for the ball who can complement Sean Lee and maybe help close holes over the middle in pass defense?” “Should we draft safety or cornerback?” “What can we get in trade for Felix Jones?” “Will we re-sign Anthony Spencer?” “Can we afford to keep Laurent Robinson?”

So, that’s it for this year. Follow tCB for offseason news. We know you can find out about player movement anywhere, so we’ll try our best to post only breaking news and juicy rumors. Thanks for reading.

The Cowboys Blog is taking the day off, much like the team did versus the Eagles.
 
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

All I’ll say is the the one good thing to come out of this game is now all the fans who call for Stephen McGee any time Romo’s performance dips can shut up for ever and ever. 

Merry Christmas, everyone.

The Cowboys at Giants game has been officially flexed to 7:30 CST on Sunday, according to @ESPN_NFCEast.

Inconsequential?

Is it too much to ask to blow out a woeful team for more than 2 quarters? The 2011 Dallas Cowboys’ answer is: Yes.

A two-score win over a team whose fans are wearing paper bags over their heads?
(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Sure they made it out of Tampa with a win, but this team continues to let teams back into games in the second half. Romo’s fumble to start the third quarter was the absolute worst way the team could’ve come out to start the second half, and it opened the door for Tampa to close the margin to two scores before the start of the fourth quarter. Against a team that was 4-9 and seemed incapable of much of anything in the first half, that’s just not good enough.

It’s hard to lay any blame on Romo with the way he’s been playing since the Detroit game. He is simply on a tear. But even he knows that one mistake can be very costly at this point of the season. The fumble was a combination of things. It was an overly aggressive playcall by Jason Garrett on 3rd and 19 inside the 20. It was a poor decision by Romo to try and stretch out the play (though he had much success doing so in the first half). Situationally, it was just unnecessary and it proved to be a mistake that gave Tampa some life in a game which should’ve been a complete blowout.

Games like this wear on teams. How nice would it have been to be able to sit some of the starters part of the fourth quarter because the four possession lead had been preserved? How nice would it have been for the defense to be able to exclusively sit back in coverage and force Josh Freeman to make some mistakes?

One bright spot in this game, aside from Romo’s continued great play, is Felix Jones appears to finally get how to run between the tackles. Funny what almost losing your job does to your aptitude.

This was simply the first step for Dallas in maintaining control of their own destiny. It could’ve been a bold one, but it ended up being a little unsure. Still, as Tony Romo pointed out in a post-game interview, the Cowboys are sitting in a very similar position to the 2010 Green Bay Packers, who were also 8-6 at this point in the season. So… there’s that.

Solid Tony Romo game alert:
23/30, 249 yards, 3 TD (1 rushing TD) 0 INT, 133.9 passer rating

What is there to say? Another loss that should’ve been a win. Another late-game collapse by the defense.

(AP Photo/Sharon Ellman)

This team has had such disastrous outcomes this season that they can be easily recognized when they start to repeat themselves. When Coughlin called the timeout to ice Dan Bailey, it wasn’t just a normal icing. It was Couglin saying, “Your missed kicked was on the top of all sports news last week and here you are again. Make it twice.” Poor Bailey. Thus is the life of a Dallas Cowboys kicker. In these last two weeks, he’s made two game-winning kicks that didn’t count because the rest of his team can’t hang on to a lead.

It’s way past being too much at this point for fans to always be talking about “what ifs.” What if Romo and Austin connect on that third down bomb to go up two scores? What if McBriar’s punt had gone longer?

The fact remains that the defense couldn’t make a stop with the game on the line. This one falls squarely on them and Rob Ryan. Garrett called a pretty perfect game. Romo made the throws (except the aforementioned one to Austin, which should’ve been a nail in a coffin), and even Felix Jones stepped up to fill DeMarco Murray’s shoes (he’s out for the season).

It seemed like such a certainty with just three minutes left that the Cowboys were ready to take ownership of their destiny and coalesce heading into the final weeks of the season. Now the Giants control their fate in the NFC East. It’s not where Dallas should be, but it is what it is.    


Solid Tony Romo game alert:
21/31, 321 yards, 4 TD 0 INT, 141.3 passer rating

Blocked.

This one is always going to be remembered for the timeout. The kicking unit wasn’t really settled and the play clock was running down, so Jason Garrett made the judgment call to use a timeout from the sideline just before Dan Bailey kicked what would’ve been a game-winning field goal at the end of regulaton. If not for that, the game is over and it’s a W. But you already knew that.

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Probably more egregious an error, in my opinion, was the decision to even be kicking a 49-yarder when the team had two timeouts left and 26 seconds on the clock after Tony Romo’s strike to Dez Bryant. The reasoning given by Garrett in post-game about running down the clock to kick was that they were already in range at that point and didn’t want to risk a negative play to make the kick longer than it already was. I don’t really agree with that. If you have two timeouts in hand you call one immediately after picking up the first down and run at least one more running play up the middle. It would have to be a ridiculously disastrous play to not end up at least picking up a few extra yards to make the kick easier. There’s also the potential of breaking a run at that late stage of the game to score and avoid having to kick at all, similar to Arizona’s game-winning screen play which went for way more than it had any right to. 

In any case, there are plenty of other reasons why the Cowboys lost. The score at halftime was 10-3 in Dallas’ favor despite the Cowboys being in Cardinal territory for six out of their seven first-half possessions. The margin should’ve been wider. In the second half and overtime, the defense seemed to have trouble in the secondary, leading to the team being outscored 16-3. Kevin Kolb threw an average 9.9 yards per pass for the game.

Penalties again caused problems where there shouldn’t have been any. A long punt return by Dez Bryant which would’ve set up the Cowboys deep in Arizona territory for the final drive of regulation was called back for a block in the back by Orlando Scandrick (his second of the game) for which a legal block wouldn’t have even been necessary. Later in that drive, the Cowboys were already on the spot where they would eventually kick from, but a false start and delay penalty backed them up ten yards and out of Arizona territory, stopping their momentum. Reaching the Cardinal 46 yard-line a second time would have to be good enough for the final kick.

DeMarco Murray had his first bad outting since emerging as a reliable runner. He posted only 38 yards, but conceded some carries to Felix Jones in this game, who ran for nearly double Murray’s average per carry. 

Most concerning out of the entirety of the game going forward is Dan Bailey’s shaky kicking. His only good kick was the one which was negated by the timeout. His only make hit the upright and happened to bounce in. I’m never one to immediately jump on a kicker when they’ve been consistent overall, but you have to wonder if a bad game like this could shake his confidence and derail that consistency. 

Still, it’s not the end of the world (again). The Giants gave the Packers a fight, but also fell. The division picture remains on the up and up for us. Just means we can’t clinch as quickly now. Stay positive, folks.

Solid Tony Romo game alert:
28/42, 299 yards, 1 TD 0 INT, 95.2 passer rating

I really don’t remember the last time a Cowboys game had coverage switched by the network to a more competitive game because Dallas was blowing someone out (I live in the San Antonio market which did this in addition to the Rio Grande Valley and Oklahoma City, that I know of). 

(Photo credit: Ron Jenkins/ Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

This one is tough to assess. Buffalo appears to be on a skid after the Jets exposed some weaknesses in their offense which had a lot of success early in the season. Even so, the Cowboys took care of business in every facet of the game and the scoreboard reflected it. 

DeMarco Murray continues to assert himself as a legitimate threat, bringing some much-needed balance to the offense. When Felix Jones returns, he should be used exclusively as a kick returner and third-down back in passing situations as a safety valve or screen receiver. 

The offensive line had another strong performance, giving up no sacks and generally giving Tony Romo all day to find his receivers. Also, the team had no turnovers.

Much like Murray, Laurent Robinson has proven reliable and stepped up his role. It’s looking as though there will finally be a strong receiving corps of three when Miles Austin returns to the lineup.

We should also take this opportunity to recognize Dan Bailey’s consistent kicking. He has really been a miracle considering how nebulous the kicking game was coming into this season. 

The rest of the NFC East lost today, and just like that, we’re a game behind the Giants with the easier schedule between now and the time we play each other. 

Solid Tony Romo game alert

23/26, 270 yards, 3 TD 0 INT, 148.4 passer rating

Interesting Stat:

Tony Romo’s 88.5% completion percentage was the best ever for a Cowboys quarterback in a single game  with a minimum 15 pass attempts. (Via @STATS_NFL)

Fun notes:

DeMarco Murray completely hurdled an upright Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd in the third quarter.

Buffalo wide receiver David Nelson gave his girlfriend the football after scoring the Bills’ sole touchdown. His girlfriend is Cowboys cheerleader Kelsi Reich.

I think the Cowboys have played better than any other team in the division so far, week in and week out, and I can certainly see why someone would think they’re the favorites to win this division even though they’re 2-3 and in third place. - Dan Graziano of ESPN

We’ve been saying it since they’re week 1 loss to the Jets, the Cowboys are good. Despite their youth at many positions, they have a solid chance of winning the division, even with their 2-3 start.

All said and done, it might just turn out to be a pretty good year, but America’s team definitely has a bright future.

After the first four games of the season, we’ve experienced the full thrill and crushing depression of the Romo-coaster (I wish I could take credit for coining such a terrible phrase, but it’s not mine). Where has that left us?

Hopefully, you’re like me and you haven’t dwelled in either extreme. Hopefully, you’ve come down from anger/distress and you’re in a state of limbo where you’re waiting to form your opinion still of what Romo can do with the team this year. After all, our record is .500, Romo’s injury hasn’t slowed him down and the team gained some ground in the bye week with losses by the Eagles and Giants. The season is still young and the team is on the mend with Miles Austin returning to the lineup this week against the Patriots. 

In instances like this, I like to reflect. And I’m sure like a lot of you, it’s been hard to reflect on anything else but our star-crossed quarterback. I’ve been taking in as much of the criticism of him as I can so I can inform my opinion. Personally, I always err on the side of not throwing someone under the bus until they absolutely deserve it. 

First things first, I’d like to remind Cowboys fans of this:

64.1, 17,923, 8.1, 125, 67, 95.3

Those numbers would be Tony Romo’s career completion percentage, passing yards, average yards per attempt (#4 all-time behind Otto Graham, Sid Luckman, and Norm Van Brocklin — all players of the 1950s), passing touchdowns, interceptions (pretty damn close to 2:1 ratio) and passer rating. Don’t you dare look at those numbers and say Tony Romo is a bad quarterback. Yes, stats do not win football games, but stats also prove Tony Romo has won football games — just not important ones… yet. 

I want to compare these statisics to Brett Favre to prove a point.

62, 71,838 (19 full seasons, 1 non-season in Atlanta), 7.1, 508, 336, 86.0

Brett Favre not only retired with a lower completion percentage, his TD/INT ratio was atrocious compared to Tony’s and he had a lower passer rating by almost ten points. All of this was forgotten because two years out of his career, Brett Favre had a team around him that took him for a ride to two Super Bowls and a single ring. Never before, never again. 

Tony Romo’s career trajectory as far as public opinion is concerned currently follows players like Favre and John Elway, who simply needed to happen upon a team that could shoulder some of the weight and make people forget their shortcomings and all the years people said they couldn’t win the big one. That’s the difference between Tony Romo and a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks. They faced the same criticisms as Tony Romo (especially Favre with his tendency toward turnovers)… until they just didn’t matter anymore because they got rings. 

Those two players played with the likes of Dorsey Levens, Terrell Davis, Antonio Freeman, Desmond Howard and Shannon Sharpe in those years. Who has Tony had? Other than Jason Witten who is more of a security blanket than a playmaker, Tony has only had T.O., who was never very clutch himself and… Terry Glenn? 

We’d also all be good to remember Tony has never had the “luxury” of a decent running game except for the year before Marion Barber decided he wasn’t going to run hard anymore.

I like to remember things other people overlook or forget over time. I often think back to that botched field goal snap in Seattle, not because I hold something against Tony that could happen to anyone who’s ever dropped their cell phone, but because of what didn’t happen. On that play, if Martin Gramatica had become a football player for a split second and simply stepped in front of the only Seattle player on the field who had an angle on Romo, Tony would have EASILY run that ball into the endzone and won the game. That is to say, if the other ten Cowboys on the field had been firing on all cylinders like they should be, Romo would have single-handedly won that game and made up for his mistake. (Also, don’t forget he had led the team down the field into scoring position, and on third down had thrown a strike right at the sticks to Witten who stepped out of bounds short of the first down.) The botched snap play is a microcosm of Tony’s career. A disastrous game-losing play which could’ve easily been turned into a spectacular game-winning play if the rest of the team was playing on the same level. 

NFL analysts have been saying this is the year Romo needs to prove himself because he’s in his official 9th season, overlooking he never took a meaningful snap in his first 3 seasons, didn’t start all games of his 4th season (but led the team to the playoffs that year) and missed almost the entirety of last season. This is in reality his 4th full season.

Cowboys fans who know damn well Romo’s unorthodox path to get here are also already calling for a new quarterback. A lot of those fans seem to think we could accomplish this through the draft. Really? First, you’d have to see how we finish this season before assuming we could get a decent enough pick to get a quarterback in the draft. Second, don’t forget the six seasons it took for us to find Tony Romo among the Drew Hensons and Clint Stoerners of the world.

When you look at the offensive side of the ball for the Cowboys over the last five years or so, we’ve been blessed with two players who have anchored the team. 1. Jason Witten. 2. Tony Romo. Running backs have come and gone and never done anything solid. Other than the manic depressive tryst with Terrell Owens, wide receivers have been inconsistent until Miles Austin recently emerged. The offensive line has been a liability. How have we had any success at all? Tony Romo. 

So, you know… let’s just see how this season goes. OK? Let’s not call for Tony Romo’s head after regular season losses unless they affect our chances of making the playoffs. Tony has proven repeatedly he can get us to the playoffs, so he at least deserves a little faith there. And maybe this could be the year we’re given the opportunity to view him the way Green Bay used to herald Brett Favre despite his failings. It only takes one season, after all.