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Taylor: Here's why the Cowboys will fall to 1-4
01:10 AM CDT on Sunday, October 17, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Archive | Bio | E-mail
IRVING – Well, it doesn't really get more desperate than this for your Cowboys.
Somehow, a quarter of the way into the season, the Cowboys already have found themselves playing what's virtually a playoff elimination game against Minnesota.
The Cowboys have no one to blame but themselves.
These Cowboys play sloppy, mistake-filled games that give the football gods no alternative other than to treat them like heathens.
Now, they must travel to Minnesota, the site of last year's playoff debacle. The Vikings won, 34-3, for those of you lucky enough to have shoved the memory of that embarrassing performance deep into your subconscious.
There is no logical reason to think Dallas will return home with something other than their fourth loss in five games.
Fans and other assorted pom pom wavers are entitled to disagree. They're supposed to cling to hope. Their devotion demands they have faith.
Reality, however, says the Cowboys won't force enough turnovers – they have zero in their three losses – to slow down an offense that features Randy Moss , Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre.
Considering how Chicago's Johnny Knox and Tennessee's Kenny Britt plundered the Cowboys' secondary, surely Moss is planning at least a couple of end zone celebrations.
Reality says the Vikings' pass rush will control the game just as it did last January, in part because center Andre Gurode and the right side of the offensive line have not played to their own standard.
Reality says the Cowboys will move up and down the field and have little to show for it at the end of the day. We are talking about a team that ranks second in the NFL in yardage (421.5 per game), but only 16th in points (20.8).
It's the same old story. Week after week.
And even if they do get in field-goal range, none of us has any idea whether David Buehler will make a kick when it matters most. He has made 1 of 4 field goals that would have tied the score or given Dallas the lead.
Clearly, he's talented, but that's not good enough.
At one level, we really shouldn't be surprised the Cowboys have struggled this season. They have looked average at best since the first preseason game.
They have known for weeks that they need to stop the plethora of mistakes, especially penalties, and it hasn't happened. A reasonable person would assume they're either not good enough to stop the mistakes or they don't care.
In the last three weeks, the players have all praised this team's work ethic. And they are playing hard in games.
So, we must assume, they're simply not good enough. This remains a talented team, but it takes more than talent to win football games.
We've known this for years. The Cowboys are simply reinforcing the notion.
Against Houston, we've seen how the Cowboys can play when they're focused and determined. We also saw it last season in New Orleans, when they beat the then-undefeated Saints.
The Cowboys will need that same type of performance to beat Minnesota.
If they don't play at that level, you can put a big, pretty red bow on this season. Sure, they'll be mathematically alive to reach the playoffs, but who really wants to rely on a one-in-a-trillion chance?
OK, it's not really that absurd.
Since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format for the 1990 season, just 11 – 4.6 percent – of the 240 playoff teams were at least three games below .500 after their first five games.
The Cowboys don't have the head coach to pull them out of the abyss of a 1-4 start. Even if they did, the schedule won't allow it.
Not with road games against Green Bay, the New York Giants , Indianapolis and Philadelphia and home games against the Giants, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
The Cowboys could play well in some of those games and still lose.
A trip to the playoffs is probably at stake Sunday.
The players know it, based on their comments this week. They had better play like it.
• • •
01:10 AM CDT on Sunday, October 17, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Archive | Bio | E-mail
IRVING – Well, it doesn't really get more desperate than this for your Cowboys.
Somehow, a quarter of the way into the season, the Cowboys already have found themselves playing what's virtually a playoff elimination game against Minnesota.
The Cowboys have no one to blame but themselves.
These Cowboys play sloppy, mistake-filled games that give the football gods no alternative other than to treat them like heathens.
Now, they must travel to Minnesota, the site of last year's playoff debacle. The Vikings won, 34-3, for those of you lucky enough to have shoved the memory of that embarrassing performance deep into your subconscious.
There is no logical reason to think Dallas will return home with something other than their fourth loss in five games.
Fans and other assorted pom pom wavers are entitled to disagree. They're supposed to cling to hope. Their devotion demands they have faith.
Reality, however, says the Cowboys won't force enough turnovers – they have zero in their three losses – to slow down an offense that features Randy Moss , Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre.
Considering how Chicago's Johnny Knox and Tennessee's Kenny Britt plundered the Cowboys' secondary, surely Moss is planning at least a couple of end zone celebrations.
Reality says the Vikings' pass rush will control the game just as it did last January, in part because center Andre Gurode and the right side of the offensive line have not played to their own standard.
Reality says the Cowboys will move up and down the field and have little to show for it at the end of the day. We are talking about a team that ranks second in the NFL in yardage (421.5 per game), but only 16th in points (20.8).
It's the same old story. Week after week.
And even if they do get in field-goal range, none of us has any idea whether David Buehler will make a kick when it matters most. He has made 1 of 4 field goals that would have tied the score or given Dallas the lead.
Clearly, he's talented, but that's not good enough.
At one level, we really shouldn't be surprised the Cowboys have struggled this season. They have looked average at best since the first preseason game.
They have known for weeks that they need to stop the plethora of mistakes, especially penalties, and it hasn't happened. A reasonable person would assume they're either not good enough to stop the mistakes or they don't care.
In the last three weeks, the players have all praised this team's work ethic. And they are playing hard in games.
So, we must assume, they're simply not good enough. This remains a talented team, but it takes more than talent to win football games.
We've known this for years. The Cowboys are simply reinforcing the notion.
Against Houston, we've seen how the Cowboys can play when they're focused and determined. We also saw it last season in New Orleans, when they beat the then-undefeated Saints.
The Cowboys will need that same type of performance to beat Minnesota.
If they don't play at that level, you can put a big, pretty red bow on this season. Sure, they'll be mathematically alive to reach the playoffs, but who really wants to rely on a one-in-a-trillion chance?
OK, it's not really that absurd.
Since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format for the 1990 season, just 11 – 4.6 percent – of the 240 playoff teams were at least three games below .500 after their first five games.
The Cowboys don't have the head coach to pull them out of the abyss of a 1-4 start. Even if they did, the schedule won't allow it.
Not with road games against Green Bay, the New York Giants , Indianapolis and Philadelphia and home games against the Giants, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
The Cowboys could play well in some of those games and still lose.
A trip to the playoffs is probably at stake Sunday.
The players know it, based on their comments this week. They had better play like it.
• • •
