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By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
PHILADELPHIA – A season drained of significance long ago came to a merciful end on a dark, damp afternoon on the first Sunday of the New Year.
Is it surprising that even in victory, the Cowboys couldn't win?
There was precious little reflection on a season gone wrong in the wake of a 14-13 win over Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. The focus was on the future and how quickly owner Jerry Jones will remove the interim label from Jason Garrett's title.
It won't take long. Jones said he could make the decision before the clock struck midnight, although there were some procedural matters to address before an offer was extended and a deal signed.
It has become clear that there will be an announcement before the week ends that Garrett will lead the Cowboys going forward. A team that lost its aspirations and pride with a moribund first half fought hard to reclaim its dignity in the final eight games. So just how did this team lose Sunday?
That comes in April.
A team that sat on the sixth pick of the NFL draft got knocked back a few spots because its third-team quarterback cared more about winning than draft position. Stephen McGee's touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 55 seconds left pushed the Cowboys pick back to ninth.
Guess what? The players don't consider that a loss.
"It's all about pride," said linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who led the team's strongest defensive effort since the opener with three sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown. "When a fan sees you're still fighting in the last game of the season and you don't have anything to play for, you talk about the winning tradition of the Dallas Cowboys."
This has been the most disappointing season in Cowboys history. It's a statement that can be quantified.
The team's 6-10 record is five games worse than it finished last season. That is the biggest drop in franchise history.
A team many thought was poised to challenge for a Super Bowl berth in its own stadium couldn't even win a home game until late November.
The Cowboys became irrelevant even before quarterback Tony Romo went down for the season with a fractured clavicle. The team's performance in the first two months got head coach Wade Phillips fired. A defense that finished last season as one of the league's best fell to unthinkable depths.
This defense gave up more points (436) than any that had worn Cowboys jerseys before them.
"I don't know what happened," nose tackle Jay Ratliff said. "I can't put my finger on it.
"We need to use this as motivation to make sure we never do this again. We want to get this nasty taste out of our mouths."
The 2010 season is a tale of two halves. A team that lost seven of eight games to open the season finished with a 5-3 burst under Garrett.
"Sometimes, it's easy to throw your arms up and say, 'Hey, it wasn't our year,' " Garrett said. "But our guys came to work every day, came to play every Sunday and they battled."
Garrett took over a team that had been outscored by 56 points in its previous two games and stunned the New York Giants in his debut, 33-20. The team's three losses in this second half were to New Orleans by three points, Philadelphia by three points and Arizona by a missed David Buehler extra point.
The Eagles' primary concern Sunday was not to get anyone injured as they prepare for their playoff run. Because of that, this meeting of NFC East rivals took on the feel of a pre-season game.
But linebacker Keith Brooking said that, while the win "doesn't erase all of the disappointments" the Cowboys suffered, it was nice to end on a positive note.
"I know it's not the season we wanted," Ratliff echoed. "But you know, we can still walk out of here with our heads held high knowing we did everything we could do."
On this day, everything the Cowboys did led to a worse draft pick.
Is there a better way to sum up the 2010 season?
Free fall
The Cowboys won five fewer games this season than they did last season. That is the largest one-season drop in franchise history.
Seasons..............Records..............Drop
2009-10.............11-5/6-10.............-5
2007-08..............13-3/9-7..............-4
2003-04.............10-6/6-10.............-4
1996-97.............10-6/6-10.............-4
1987-88..............7-8/3-13..............-4
Note: Dallas had 12 wins in 1981 and fell to 6-3 in the strike-shortened 1982 season Cowboys have top-10 pick
The Cowboys slipped a few spots with Sunday's win at Philadelphia but will nonetheless have their first top-10 draft pick since 2003.
"I'd rather have the positive of the last-game win than I had the three or four slots in the draft," owner-general manager Jerry Jones said. "We probably will end up with the same player anyway."
The order:
1. Carolina
2. Denver
3. Buffalo
4. Cincinnati
5. Arizona
6 Cleveland
7. San Francisco
8. Tennessee
9. Dallas
10. Washington
dmoore@dallasnews.com
PHILADELPHIA – A season drained of significance long ago came to a merciful end on a dark, damp afternoon on the first Sunday of the New Year.
Is it surprising that even in victory, the Cowboys couldn't win?
There was precious little reflection on a season gone wrong in the wake of a 14-13 win over Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. The focus was on the future and how quickly owner Jerry Jones will remove the interim label from Jason Garrett's title.
It won't take long. Jones said he could make the decision before the clock struck midnight, although there were some procedural matters to address before an offer was extended and a deal signed.
It has become clear that there will be an announcement before the week ends that Garrett will lead the Cowboys going forward. A team that lost its aspirations and pride with a moribund first half fought hard to reclaim its dignity in the final eight games. So just how did this team lose Sunday?
That comes in April.
A team that sat on the sixth pick of the NFL draft got knocked back a few spots because its third-team quarterback cared more about winning than draft position. Stephen McGee's touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 55 seconds left pushed the Cowboys pick back to ninth.
Guess what? The players don't consider that a loss.
"It's all about pride," said linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who led the team's strongest defensive effort since the opener with three sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown. "When a fan sees you're still fighting in the last game of the season and you don't have anything to play for, you talk about the winning tradition of the Dallas Cowboys."
This has been the most disappointing season in Cowboys history. It's a statement that can be quantified.
The team's 6-10 record is five games worse than it finished last season. That is the biggest drop in franchise history.
A team many thought was poised to challenge for a Super Bowl berth in its own stadium couldn't even win a home game until late November.
The Cowboys became irrelevant even before quarterback Tony Romo went down for the season with a fractured clavicle. The team's performance in the first two months got head coach Wade Phillips fired. A defense that finished last season as one of the league's best fell to unthinkable depths.
This defense gave up more points (436) than any that had worn Cowboys jerseys before them.
"I don't know what happened," nose tackle Jay Ratliff said. "I can't put my finger on it.
"We need to use this as motivation to make sure we never do this again. We want to get this nasty taste out of our mouths."
The 2010 season is a tale of two halves. A team that lost seven of eight games to open the season finished with a 5-3 burst under Garrett.
"Sometimes, it's easy to throw your arms up and say, 'Hey, it wasn't our year,' " Garrett said. "But our guys came to work every day, came to play every Sunday and they battled."
Garrett took over a team that had been outscored by 56 points in its previous two games and stunned the New York Giants in his debut, 33-20. The team's three losses in this second half were to New Orleans by three points, Philadelphia by three points and Arizona by a missed David Buehler extra point.
The Eagles' primary concern Sunday was not to get anyone injured as they prepare for their playoff run. Because of that, this meeting of NFC East rivals took on the feel of a pre-season game.
But linebacker Keith Brooking said that, while the win "doesn't erase all of the disappointments" the Cowboys suffered, it was nice to end on a positive note.
"I know it's not the season we wanted," Ratliff echoed. "But you know, we can still walk out of here with our heads held high knowing we did everything we could do."
On this day, everything the Cowboys did led to a worse draft pick.
Is there a better way to sum up the 2010 season?
Free fall
The Cowboys won five fewer games this season than they did last season. That is the largest one-season drop in franchise history.
Seasons..............Records..............Drop
2009-10.............11-5/6-10.............-5
2007-08..............13-3/9-7..............-4
2003-04.............10-6/6-10.............-4
1996-97.............10-6/6-10.............-4
1987-88..............7-8/3-13..............-4
Note: Dallas had 12 wins in 1981 and fell to 6-3 in the strike-shortened 1982 season Cowboys have top-10 pick
The Cowboys slipped a few spots with Sunday's win at Philadelphia but will nonetheless have their first top-10 draft pick since 2003.
"I'd rather have the positive of the last-game win than I had the three or four slots in the draft," owner-general manager Jerry Jones said. "We probably will end up with the same player anyway."
The order:
1. Carolina
2. Denver
3. Buffalo
4. Cincinnati
5. Arizona
6 Cleveland
7. San Francisco
8. Tennessee
9. Dallas
10. Washington