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As I was watching the Dallas Cowboys game against the Philadelphia Eagles tonight, I got a text from my brother-in-law, who is a Cowboys fan. It read, ‘they are hard to watch.’ It was early in the game at that point but took me about a half of a second to agree.
Unless you count the last few minutes of most of their games, when they usually make things really exciting, watching the Dallas Cowboys is painful. Their style of play, with all the penalties and mistakes, makes the beautiful game of football look ugly. Heck, how many times this season have we described a Cowboys win as ‘ugly?’ Almost all of them.
As I continue to say, there is zero creativity on this Cowboys team. There is none on offense and certainly none on defense, unless you call putting your best pass rushers into coverage on third down creative.
All year we’ve seen this Cowboys team play sloppy and lethargic; where’s the energy? They started off slowly again tonight. Football is an emotional game and it appears as though the Cowboys don’t play with any fire until their backs are against the wall. We’ve all gotten used to seeing them play much better when they’ve gotten behind in games and tonight was no different. It’s so frustrating they don’t bring their best football early in games.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve been calling for the offense to run more of the hurry up, to give the team some energy. It’s also the reason I want to see some of the younger players play more. Doesn’t the Cowboys offense play better when Dez Bryant is involved in the game? Dez is 24-years old and the guy is all energy.
Didn’t the return of DeMarco Murray energize the Cowboys lackluster rushing offense? They ran the ball well against the Philly defense and it wasn’t a coincidence. Murray infused the offense with young, strong legs, capable of beating a defense. None of the other Cowboys running backs bring that element to the offense.
Don’t believe me, how effective was Tony Romo tonight? Did you notice the offense, and Jason Garrett’s play calling, open up? Romo had a little more time in the pocket and they were able to utilize the the play action fake. You can’t do that without a running game to slow the linebackers and freeze the safeties. That was all because of DeMarco Murray and his youthful legs.
The Cowboys defense without Sean Lee is extremely short of energy on defense and it shows. We hear about the creativity of Rob Ryan and his exotic blitzes but that hasn’t been the case this year. His defense is near the bottom of the NFL in turnovers yet he refuses to bring pressure.
How else can you explain a team with an offensive line like the Eagles, who would have a hard time blocking you and me, holding the Cowboys to just one sack? They had none until the Eagles became one dimensional on offense. DeMarcus Ware, supposedly one of the best pass rushers in the league, had no sacks!
Spare me the talk about not wanting to get beat by the big play because that’s been happening anyway, unless the Washington Redskins game was a mirage? I’m starting to sound like a broken record here but the biggest factor in win-loss percentage in the NFL is turnover margin and the Cowboys are awful in that area. It’s pretty simple, you want more turnovers, bring more pressure. It’s not rocket science.
And by the way, when the Cowboys did get a turnover, it was Josh Brent, who is 24-years old, causing the fumble and rookie Morris Claiborne returning it for the touchdown. What do these players have in common? Youth.
I wrote earlier this week that the Cowboys were being guided by a youth movement because of injuries and necessity. Tonight, the youth of the Cowboys led them to a big win over their rivals to keep their playoff hopes alive. Even the youthful, inexperienced head coach looked much better tonight. It’s amazing what a little energy will do!
Jerry Jones should look into making 5 hour energy the official drink of the Dallas Cowboys.
you can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi
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