I always have thought that Fox’s Troy Aikman had a soft spot in his broadcasting heart for the Cowboys. When it came to his former team, Aikman, from his national pulpit, preferred the analytical to the critical. And he always had gone out of his way to pat Tony Romo on the back because, well, Romo the quarterback has been Romo the playoff loser, not Troy Aikman the Super Bowl champion.
During the second half of Sunday’s Cowboys debacle at AT&T Stadium, however, Aikman came out tongue blazing. Who could blame him? His credibility was on the line.
Aikman and play-by-play voice Joe Buck proved an excoriating tag team in their critique of the Cowboys’ play-calling and clock management in Dallas’ loss to the Green Bay Packers in front of a national television audience.
In the end, Buck concluded the loss “is going to go down as one of the worst defeats in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.”
Added Aikman: “It’s hard to explain, but the clock management by the Dallas Cowboys was about as bad as I’ve seen.”
That would include the play calls that ran through head coach Jason Garrett, once Aikman’s backup quarterback and still his friend.
Orlando Scandrick, who allowed a touchdown catch to Jordy Nelson on a ball he should have intercepted, also earned criticism from Aikman, who specifically pointed out the transgression. That made the score 26-10 early in the third quarter.
Recall that the Cowboys led 26-3 at the half and 29-17 as the third quarter wound down. Inexplicably, the Cowboys insisted on throwing the ball despite DeMarco Murray’s earlier success running it. He was averaging 7 yards per carry. Running eats clock. Just what the Cowboys needed most.
After three consecutive incompletions, all Aikman could say about the choice of plays was “big mistake.”
In the wake of one seemingly ill-timed Romo pass, the four words America heard were: “Are you kidding me?”
Considering the source, it was a harsher four-word indictment than anything tweeted or written in its wake.
And there was Buck coming off the top rope when Packers defensive back Sam Shields intercepted a Romo pass on second-and-6 at the Cowboys’ 35 yard-line with a little less than three minutes remaining. Murray had just rushed for 4 yards.
“Why the Dallas Cowboys refused to run the ball in this situation is inexplicable,” Buck said.
Aikman, of course, agreed.
