C
Cr122
Guest
Are the Cowboys used to losing?
September, 16, 2011 3:02 PM CT
By Dan Graziano
You know, I kind of filed that Dallas Cowboys loss to the Jets on Sunday night in the no-harm-no-foul folder, because they looked so good for so much of it and it wasn't a game I expected them to win the first place.
But after reading this column by Jean-Jacques Taylor on ESPNDallas.com, I wonder if the loss might have been more damaging than I thought. Jacques' thesis is that the Cowboys have grown too comfortable with losing close games like this, and as a result now very often find themselves unable to win them, and that the critical next step in head coach Jason Garrett's effort to change the culture around this team is to make it a better finisher:
Garrett must confront the issue and make sure his players learn from their mistakes before this team has any hope of ending its futility at winning time.
The fourth-quarter failures aren't about bad luck. They certainly aren't about a lack of talent or a quality quarterback fans believe chokes in the fourth quarter.
So much of professional sports revolves around confidence. Some teams consistently find ways to win, while others consistently find ways to lose.
This is why Garrett spends countless hours talking about filling the roster with the right kinds of guys and the importance of mental toughness. You can't win in the NFL with mentally soft players because they wilt under pressure.
Opponents outscored the Cowboys, 126-111, in the fourth quarter last season. The Jets outscored Dallas, 17-7, in the fourth quarter Sunday.
I think Jacques has a point. The first thought I had was the Thanksgiving Day game they gave away late last year, but he cites several examples of games over the past year in which they did bizarre things at the end to lose. Tony Romo's Sunday night brain cramps were egregious, sure, but they weren't the only weird mistakes that came up in that fourth quarter, and he's not the only one on the roster guilty of making such mistakes in the past.
So as it turns out, the Cowboys might have drawn greater benefit from winning that game Sunday than I initially thought. If they'd held on to that fourth-quarter lead and finished off a close game against a tough opponent, they'd now know they can do that. And Jacques is right when he says there's no way for this team right now to know if it can.
September, 16, 2011 3:02 PM CT
By Dan Graziano
You know, I kind of filed that Dallas Cowboys loss to the Jets on Sunday night in the no-harm-no-foul folder, because they looked so good for so much of it and it wasn't a game I expected them to win the first place.
But after reading this column by Jean-Jacques Taylor on ESPNDallas.com, I wonder if the loss might have been more damaging than I thought. Jacques' thesis is that the Cowboys have grown too comfortable with losing close games like this, and as a result now very often find themselves unable to win them, and that the critical next step in head coach Jason Garrett's effort to change the culture around this team is to make it a better finisher:
Garrett must confront the issue and make sure his players learn from their mistakes before this team has any hope of ending its futility at winning time.
The fourth-quarter failures aren't about bad luck. They certainly aren't about a lack of talent or a quality quarterback fans believe chokes in the fourth quarter.
So much of professional sports revolves around confidence. Some teams consistently find ways to win, while others consistently find ways to lose.
This is why Garrett spends countless hours talking about filling the roster with the right kinds of guys and the importance of mental toughness. You can't win in the NFL with mentally soft players because they wilt under pressure.
Opponents outscored the Cowboys, 126-111, in the fourth quarter last season. The Jets outscored Dallas, 17-7, in the fourth quarter Sunday.
I think Jacques has a point. The first thought I had was the Thanksgiving Day game they gave away late last year, but he cites several examples of games over the past year in which they did bizarre things at the end to lose. Tony Romo's Sunday night brain cramps were egregious, sure, but they weren't the only weird mistakes that came up in that fourth quarter, and he's not the only one on the roster guilty of making such mistakes in the past.
So as it turns out, the Cowboys might have drawn greater benefit from winning that game Sunday than I initially thought. If they'd held on to that fourth-quarter lead and finished off a close game against a tough opponent, they'd now know they can do that. And Jacques is right when he says there's no way for this team right now to know if it can.
