Sunday, January 13, 2008

10 reasons the Cowboys lost that don’t involve Mexico

By Shawn Williams of Dallas South

Valley Ranch — First the Mavs lose a championship series they led 2-0.

Then a fumbled snap costs the Cowboys a playoff game.

Next the Mavs go out in the 1st round to Golden State.

Now this.

Oh well, here’s my two cents.

10. Too much pressure on Romo in the 2nd half

When Romo wasn’t sacked he was knocked down or ridden to the ground by a Giant.

9. Dropped passes

There were a few and all of them were big.

8. No defensive turnovers

The defense played well enough to win, but couldn’t come up with the ball.

7. Davis’ unnecessary roughness penalty

Part of a 3 minute drive that ended up only a few yards from where it started.

6. Romo misfire to Owens in 2nd half

A potential touchdown became a field goal in the Cowboys final scoring drive.

5. Poor tackling

The Giants first touchdown was the result of 3 missed tackles.

4. Zero contribution from special teams

Poor punt returns, poor punt coverage, poor kick coverage.

3. Poor field position (see #4)

Lost the field position battle all day long

2. Romo’s unwillingness to throw the ball away

QB took a 14 yard sack outside the pocket, then threw the ball away inside the pocket.

1. Poor performance in December

You can’t turn it on and off. The Boys played tonight like they did in every game last month.

All of us have enjoyed the progression of Tony Romo over the last year and change. What was great about last year was that he rose from every man status (dumped by his girlfriend before his breakout game) to the leader of America’s Team.

I hope Tony takes a step back and looks at his overall scene. In the last half of the season, I’ve heard the first rumblings of Romo frustration from Cowboy fans. The main way that you get the fans on your side is by winning. 0-2 in the playoffs is a blemish to say the least.

The season took a sour turn after the Philly game strictly for football reasons. Having said that, Brother Tony should look to New England for an example of keeping the media focused on football - especially during the season.

Look at the Cowboys’ first two Super Bowl seasons in the ’90’s. The perception was young hungry players with lunch pails. ‘94, ‘95, ‘96, was the “Hollywood” Cowboy era. The further they traveled down that road, the less support they had from fans. But it was the losing that eventually caught up with them.

It would be all good, but I can’t understand why Tony is putting himself in the media’s crosshairs the way that he is. I could care less whether the dude goes to Mexico with whoever, but know that your teammates and coaches are going to have to answer for your actions. It brought T.O. to tears knowing that Romo was going to have to answer more questions about his excursion.

Too much talking, too much explaining, too much non-football drama. I say less talk and more action next season, let’s keep the focus on the field

Pegasus News content partner - Dallas South
Shawn Williams publishes Dallas South Blog; his e-mail address is shawn@dallasouthblog.com.

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Comments

CastleHills Anonymous

Tony's just like every other young guy in his 20's: he's got the maturity of 10-year old. A guy in his late 20's, who is given such responsibility on the job-whether it's football or the local car wash--needs a strong, mature guiding mentor who can help him make decisions. Like the decision not to distract himself, his team, and the media by playing out every 28-year old male's fantasy of rolling in the sand with Jessica Simpson. Coach WP is too weak to assert himself as a leader in that respect.

This will be good for Tony. He matured greatly between last night and this morning.

7 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )