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Taylor: Overhyped Cowboys headed for disaster; offense a joke
01:57 AM CDT on Monday, September 20, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
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ARLINGTON – Right now, no matter how you rationalize it, these Cowboys are a bad football team.
They're overrated. And overhyped.
A 27-20 loss to Chicago, hardly an NFL powerhouse, simply drove home the point.
After all, this is the same inconsistent team we've been watching since training camp began. Nothing's changed except the calendar.
Even their excuses remain the same, especially offensive coordinator Jason Garrett trying to explain why he abandoned the running game, resulting in 51 passes and 20 runs.
Then there's quarterback Tony Romo explaining why he threw so many passes behind receivers or at their feet. We're used to poor timing between Romo and Roy Williams, but not Miles Austin, Jason Witten and Tashard Choice.
The Cowboys travel to Houston next week, where 0-3 is a distinct possibility heading into the bye week. That would qualify as a disaster.
We all know Houston will treat the game like the Super Bowl. When you've never won one, the next best thing is beating the hated Cowboys.
No shame in that. It is what it is.
Bottom line: Houston's crowd will whip itself into an emotional frenzy, and the players will feed off their energy. This game will be every bit the challenge for the Cowboys as was trying to beat undefeated New Orleans last December.
The Cowboys won that game. There's a sliver of hope these Cowboys could beat Houston, but it's certainly not based on common sense or anything we've seen during the first two weeks of the season.
The offense remains a joke no matter how many stats Garrett's unit racks up. It has 790 yards and 47 first downs, but only two touchdowns. The defense once again failed to force a turnover that could help its raggedy offense.
No quarterback threw more interceptions than Jay Cutler last year. He threw 29 passes Sunday, completing 21, and didn't come close to throwing an interception. He also burned the Cowboys for completions of 38, 39 and 59 yards.
Each led to points.
Jerry Jones' decision to go with David Buehler at kicker looks like the off-season's worst personnel decision.
Buehler botched a pooch kick and missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide left that would've tied the score at 20-20 midway through the fourth quarter.
The defense, its spirits sagging after the missed kick, promptly gave up a four-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that pushed the lead to 27-17 with a tad more than five minutes left.
Ballgame.
The problem with this team is that you can't pinpoint one area to fix. It's struggling in a lot of areas.
After the game, Terence Newman talked about a lack of focus in practice, which is not the first time we've heard this. Keith Brooking has talked about it before, and he discussed it after the game.
That's on coach Wade Phillips, who must seize control of his emotionally-fragile team because the season is already on the brink of disaster.
Of course, the season isn't over because the Cowboys are 0-2, it just seems that way. That's because Dallas hasn't been 0-2 since 2001, and because only 13 percent of NFL teams that have started 0-2 have made the playoffs since 1990.
The Cowboys did it in 1993, but that's when they had Hall of Fame players – not faux stars – throughout the roster.
This is not the time for players-only meetings. Or closed-door sessions between players and coaches.
It's not the time for Jerry to rant and rave. Or make some dramatic personnel move, though adding another kicker would be a good idea.
This is the time for leaders to take ownership of their team. Terrell Owens is gone. They can't blame him anymore.
The margin for error is just about gone.
On paper, the Cowboys' schedule gets significantly more difficult over the next seven weeks. They could play well and lose games against teams such as Green Bay, Minnesota and the New York Giants.
The time for talk is over. It's time for the stars on this team to make plays.
01:57 AM CDT on Monday, September 20, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Archive | Bio | E-mail
ARLINGTON – Right now, no matter how you rationalize it, these Cowboys are a bad football team.
They're overrated. And overhyped.
A 27-20 loss to Chicago, hardly an NFL powerhouse, simply drove home the point.
After all, this is the same inconsistent team we've been watching since training camp began. Nothing's changed except the calendar.
Even their excuses remain the same, especially offensive coordinator Jason Garrett trying to explain why he abandoned the running game, resulting in 51 passes and 20 runs.
Then there's quarterback Tony Romo explaining why he threw so many passes behind receivers or at their feet. We're used to poor timing between Romo and Roy Williams, but not Miles Austin, Jason Witten and Tashard Choice.
The Cowboys travel to Houston next week, where 0-3 is a distinct possibility heading into the bye week. That would qualify as a disaster.
We all know Houston will treat the game like the Super Bowl. When you've never won one, the next best thing is beating the hated Cowboys.
No shame in that. It is what it is.
Bottom line: Houston's crowd will whip itself into an emotional frenzy, and the players will feed off their energy. This game will be every bit the challenge for the Cowboys as was trying to beat undefeated New Orleans last December.
The Cowboys won that game. There's a sliver of hope these Cowboys could beat Houston, but it's certainly not based on common sense or anything we've seen during the first two weeks of the season.
The offense remains a joke no matter how many stats Garrett's unit racks up. It has 790 yards and 47 first downs, but only two touchdowns. The defense once again failed to force a turnover that could help its raggedy offense.
No quarterback threw more interceptions than Jay Cutler last year. He threw 29 passes Sunday, completing 21, and didn't come close to throwing an interception. He also burned the Cowboys for completions of 38, 39 and 59 yards.
Each led to points.
Jerry Jones' decision to go with David Buehler at kicker looks like the off-season's worst personnel decision.
Buehler botched a pooch kick and missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide left that would've tied the score at 20-20 midway through the fourth quarter.
The defense, its spirits sagging after the missed kick, promptly gave up a four-play, 66-yard touchdown drive that pushed the lead to 27-17 with a tad more than five minutes left.
Ballgame.
The problem with this team is that you can't pinpoint one area to fix. It's struggling in a lot of areas.
After the game, Terence Newman talked about a lack of focus in practice, which is not the first time we've heard this. Keith Brooking has talked about it before, and he discussed it after the game.
That's on coach Wade Phillips, who must seize control of his emotionally-fragile team because the season is already on the brink of disaster.
Of course, the season isn't over because the Cowboys are 0-2, it just seems that way. That's because Dallas hasn't been 0-2 since 2001, and because only 13 percent of NFL teams that have started 0-2 have made the playoffs since 1990.
The Cowboys did it in 1993, but that's when they had Hall of Fame players – not faux stars – throughout the roster.
This is not the time for players-only meetings. Or closed-door sessions between players and coaches.
It's not the time for Jerry to rant and rave. Or make some dramatic personnel move, though adding another kicker would be a good idea.
This is the time for leaders to take ownership of their team. Terrell Owens is gone. They can't blame him anymore.
The margin for error is just about gone.
On paper, the Cowboys' schedule gets significantly more difficult over the next seven weeks. They could play well and lose games against teams such as Green Bay, Minnesota and the New York Giants.
The time for talk is over. It's time for the stars on this team to make plays.
, If Dallas really stinks it up this season. Hopefully I can actually enjoy training camp if they come back out to Oxnard. 