Cryin’ Cowboys, Uncertain Eagles: What About Next Year?

NS_11DallasGBLD08

Until you’ve watched the Cowboys lose in sudden and painful fashion on your DVR, you haven’t been using that technology to its fullest potential. Every dopey look on Tony Romo’s face, every speechless moment from Dez Bryant (speechless? Dez Bryant? I got to see that again), every nervous spit take from Jason Garrett (he spits a lot) in replayable, high definition? It’s a beautiful thing. A Cowboy loss, especially one viewed multiple times, can really improve your mood. So can this:

Romo Collage

EFL reader Russ Gardner gets it:

I guess you could call it Karma … after all, it has a way of biting you in the As$. Last week the cowgirls got away with a pass interference call and this time they couldn’t dodge the incomplete call. “KARMA …” It really is a shame that I have no-one to ‘hate’ right now. I could still wear my ‘Dallas Sucks’ t-shirt, but it would be a moot point at this time (everyone already knows it). I missed any of the Jones/Christy ‘bro-mance’ from the private box that might have been going on, but that’s OK. It’s also OK that the cowgirls didn’t get the As$ whoopin I wanted them to get, but they went home just the same – didn’t they? Yep … it makes me feel good too!

Another Fallser, Jim Hawkins piles on:

Cowboys lose. You got to love it.

Chris Farley

Yup, it felt great, but what about next year? Was this season just a fluke? Did the Cowboys get lucky in winning the NFC East and advancing as far as they did? Not so sure after seeing the way they played Green Bay tough in frigid Lambeau (and beat the Seahawks IN SEATTLE, which is almost the definition of a black swan event).

I tuned in like everybody else to see Cowboy roadkill on the frozen tundra, but got Dallas hanging tough, and even leading, for most of the game. (Yes I hated writing that.)

And it was so close that one call, one slightly better secured football, could’ve sent them on to the conference championship.

Dez Bryant catch2

Can Dallas win the NFC East again? If they do, it’ll be because of their offensive line. They’ve invested heavily in that unit and it proved to be one of the most dominant in the league (three Pro Bowlers this year). They’re young and talented and next year they’ll be back as a more experienced group.

Like any quarterback, Romo looked a whole lot better when he could lean on a power running game. But he wasn’t just any QB–if it wasn’t for Aaron Rodgers, Romo might’ve been league MVP. My take? Romo is good, but not that good. He wasn’t channeling Joe Montana, it was his offensive line.

The good news for Birds fans? Our defensive front seven was really good against that line. Unlike almost every other team the Cowboys played, the Birds D held Demarco Murray under 100 yards rushing in both games this year.

The bad news? Cary Williams, Bradley Fletcher, and Nate Allen. Scary against any team, these three are in the conversation (along with Nnamdi Asomugha and Izel “Toast” Jenkins) as the worst Eagles’ cornerbacks of the past 25 years. Putting any of them on the field against Dez Bryant (assuming he’s with the Cowboys) and Jason Witten next year would be criminal.

So the answer is simple, just draft a top cornerback, right? Or get a quality free agent. Sounds easy enough, but maybe not, given the Eagles track record for talent evaluation.

And now Chip, who is unproven at the pro level, is in charge of the draft. The same Chip who had a hand in last year’s draft which, outside of Jordan Matthews, produced zero starters, including first rounder and 2nd string benchwarmer Marcus Smith. (Smith couldn’t even get on the field as a special teamer!?) That’s troubling.

Marcus Smith

Then again, maybe last year’s draft was mostly Howie’s fault and talent evaluation will get better from now on. There’s no evidence to support that yet though. Here’s hoping it’s the Eagles sending the Cowboys home early next year, not watching them on TV come playoff time.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.