Post by prossman on Dec 21, 2008 11:55:04 GMT -7
CBS Sports: No substance, no heart..these are the real Cowboys
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www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/11184523
IRVING, Texas -- If only this one could be blamed on Terrell Owens. If only. Because that's an argument I would love to make. See, the more I think about it, the more I think I hate T.O. Not dislike him. Hate him.
But this one wasn't Terrell Owens' fault. Not entirely. Not even mostly. Owens gets some blame for the Dallas Cowboys' most pathetic performance of the season, because he is at his heart and soul a loser, and his impotence rubs off on everyone around him. But Owens was just one cog in this coughing, wheezing machine Saturday night that saw the Cowboys close out Texas Stadium with a disgraceful 33-24 loss to the Ravens.
Le'Ron McClain runs through the joke that masquerades as the Cowboys. (AP)
Losing isn't necessarily disgraceful. Not by definition. It's not what the Cowboys did.
It's how they did it.
They lost to a pretty good team that could yet make it into the AFC playoffs. The Ravens are no joke. That defense is sensational, that punter is ridiculous, the kicker is accurate and the quarterback is solid. Plus the coach is a keeper. As far as recipes go, that's a good one. The Ravens aren't going to win a Super Bowl this season, but they're a better bet to win a playoff game than the Cowboys.
The Cowboys are a mess, and all of their messiness was on display Saturday night, when some of the biggest names in Cowboys lore -- Roger Staubach, Too Tall Jones, Drew Pearson -- were on hand to watch the last game at Texas Stadium.
The coach is a liability. The punter is shaky. The quarterback is tormented by the idiot receiver, Owens.
Oh, and the Dallas defense flat out quit in the fourth quarter.
Twice the Dallas offense scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to get within a field goal of the lead.
Twice the Dallas defense gave up a long, long, long touchdown run on the very next play from scrimmage. The first time, Willis McGahee went 77 yards. The next time, Le'Ron McClain went 82 yards.
Two plays, 159 rushing yards, two touchdowns. Both were simple handoffs up the middle. A dive play. Something to gain two yards and run 30 seconds off the clock. The Ravens were trying to hit a sacrifice bunt, but the Cowboys gave them a home run.
Naturally, I want to blame Terrell Owens. Why? Because he's worthy. Owens has had the good fortune to play for three winning franchises -- the 49ers were awesome when he got there, the Eagles were consistent winners, and the Cowboys were just fine, believe me -- and he has run all three franchises into the ground. Love it.
And the truth is, Owens started this mess Saturday night. He has whined and *****ed and pointed fingers and turned his quarterback, Tony Romo, into a basket case. Romo was so concerned with throwing the ball to Owens that he again forced balls where they had no business going, resulting in an interception and a near-interception and several incompletions. Owens didn't help matters by dropping a touchdown pass, as he did Saturday, and by not looking for the ball on a deep route, as he also did Saturday, and by looking so late for another pass that he didn't know to stop running, as he also did Saturday, which led to an interception.
By the time Romo realized that tight end Jason Witten wasn't just his best friend, but his best option, it was too late. The Ravens were in control of the game. All that was left was the finish. How would it go down?
It went down like this:
It went down with Baltimore's McGahee, who hadn't broken a run of longer than seven yards in six games, breaking a 77-yarder. The only Dallas defender who had a chance on the play was safety Ken Hamlin, who choked away this game more than any safety has choked away a game in the history of the NFL. And soon I will prove it. Meantime, on this particular play, Hamlin ducked his head and dived at McGahee's legs near the line of scrimmage -- and missed. McGahee was gone.
It went down with Baltimore's McClain, a powerful runner but not a breakaway threat, breaking away for 82 yards. The only Dallas defender who had a chance on the play was Hamlin, again. This time he went high, trying to jump on McClain's back. McClain shrugged him off like a dirty towel.
For Hamlin, it was the conclusion of an astounding second half of football. In addition to missing tackles on both long touchdown runs, he also blew an easy fumble recovery in the third quarter. McClain had fumbled, and the ball bounced free near the line of scrimmage. Had the nearest safety been Baltimore's Ed Reed, the play would have ended with a Ravens touchdown, because Reed is that good. But the nearest safety was Hamlin, and he bobbled the ball into the hands of a Baltimore player, because Hamlin is that bad.
The Ravens scored minutes later -- a touchdown, not a field goal -- to build their lead to 16-7. That touchdown came after a great call by Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who better be among the leading vote getters for Coach for the Year. Three plays after the blown fumble recovery by Hamlin, Harbaugh had holder Sam Koch fake a field goal by burrowing nine yards to the 13. The Cowboys' defense, stunned as it was, showed their first sign of quitting by giving up a 13-yard scoring pass two plays later.
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who has done nothing remarkable all season beyond enabling the losers in his locker room to go forth and multiply, had no answer for Harbaugh's fake. He didn't go for it on fourth-and-short in the fourth quarter. He didn't even try an onsides kick with 1:36 left and his team trailing 26-24.
Phillips is a lot like his team. He has a name you recognize, and the back of his football card looks OK. But when you take a close look at the man, you can see right through him. There is no substance to Phillips, just like there is no substance to his team.
The Dallas Cowboys are hollow.
nails it, unfortunately.
__________________
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/11184523
IRVING, Texas -- If only this one could be blamed on Terrell Owens. If only. Because that's an argument I would love to make. See, the more I think about it, the more I think I hate T.O. Not dislike him. Hate him.
But this one wasn't Terrell Owens' fault. Not entirely. Not even mostly. Owens gets some blame for the Dallas Cowboys' most pathetic performance of the season, because he is at his heart and soul a loser, and his impotence rubs off on everyone around him. But Owens was just one cog in this coughing, wheezing machine Saturday night that saw the Cowboys close out Texas Stadium with a disgraceful 33-24 loss to the Ravens.
Le'Ron McClain runs through the joke that masquerades as the Cowboys. (AP)
Losing isn't necessarily disgraceful. Not by definition. It's not what the Cowboys did.
It's how they did it.
They lost to a pretty good team that could yet make it into the AFC playoffs. The Ravens are no joke. That defense is sensational, that punter is ridiculous, the kicker is accurate and the quarterback is solid. Plus the coach is a keeper. As far as recipes go, that's a good one. The Ravens aren't going to win a Super Bowl this season, but they're a better bet to win a playoff game than the Cowboys.
The Cowboys are a mess, and all of their messiness was on display Saturday night, when some of the biggest names in Cowboys lore -- Roger Staubach, Too Tall Jones, Drew Pearson -- were on hand to watch the last game at Texas Stadium.
The coach is a liability. The punter is shaky. The quarterback is tormented by the idiot receiver, Owens.
Oh, and the Dallas defense flat out quit in the fourth quarter.
Twice the Dallas offense scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to get within a field goal of the lead.
Twice the Dallas defense gave up a long, long, long touchdown run on the very next play from scrimmage. The first time, Willis McGahee went 77 yards. The next time, Le'Ron McClain went 82 yards.
Two plays, 159 rushing yards, two touchdowns. Both were simple handoffs up the middle. A dive play. Something to gain two yards and run 30 seconds off the clock. The Ravens were trying to hit a sacrifice bunt, but the Cowboys gave them a home run.
Naturally, I want to blame Terrell Owens. Why? Because he's worthy. Owens has had the good fortune to play for three winning franchises -- the 49ers were awesome when he got there, the Eagles were consistent winners, and the Cowboys were just fine, believe me -- and he has run all three franchises into the ground. Love it.
And the truth is, Owens started this mess Saturday night. He has whined and *****ed and pointed fingers and turned his quarterback, Tony Romo, into a basket case. Romo was so concerned with throwing the ball to Owens that he again forced balls where they had no business going, resulting in an interception and a near-interception and several incompletions. Owens didn't help matters by dropping a touchdown pass, as he did Saturday, and by not looking for the ball on a deep route, as he also did Saturday, and by looking so late for another pass that he didn't know to stop running, as he also did Saturday, which led to an interception.
By the time Romo realized that tight end Jason Witten wasn't just his best friend, but his best option, it was too late. The Ravens were in control of the game. All that was left was the finish. How would it go down?
It went down like this:
It went down with Baltimore's McGahee, who hadn't broken a run of longer than seven yards in six games, breaking a 77-yarder. The only Dallas defender who had a chance on the play was safety Ken Hamlin, who choked away this game more than any safety has choked away a game in the history of the NFL. And soon I will prove it. Meantime, on this particular play, Hamlin ducked his head and dived at McGahee's legs near the line of scrimmage -- and missed. McGahee was gone.
It went down with Baltimore's McClain, a powerful runner but not a breakaway threat, breaking away for 82 yards. The only Dallas defender who had a chance on the play was Hamlin, again. This time he went high, trying to jump on McClain's back. McClain shrugged him off like a dirty towel.
For Hamlin, it was the conclusion of an astounding second half of football. In addition to missing tackles on both long touchdown runs, he also blew an easy fumble recovery in the third quarter. McClain had fumbled, and the ball bounced free near the line of scrimmage. Had the nearest safety been Baltimore's Ed Reed, the play would have ended with a Ravens touchdown, because Reed is that good. But the nearest safety was Hamlin, and he bobbled the ball into the hands of a Baltimore player, because Hamlin is that bad.
The Ravens scored minutes later -- a touchdown, not a field goal -- to build their lead to 16-7. That touchdown came after a great call by Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who better be among the leading vote getters for Coach for the Year. Three plays after the blown fumble recovery by Hamlin, Harbaugh had holder Sam Koch fake a field goal by burrowing nine yards to the 13. The Cowboys' defense, stunned as it was, showed their first sign of quitting by giving up a 13-yard scoring pass two plays later.
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who has done nothing remarkable all season beyond enabling the losers in his locker room to go forth and multiply, had no answer for Harbaugh's fake. He didn't go for it on fourth-and-short in the fourth quarter. He didn't even try an onsides kick with 1:36 left and his team trailing 26-24.
Phillips is a lot like his team. He has a name you recognize, and the back of his football card looks OK. But when you take a close look at the man, you can see right through him. There is no substance to Phillips, just like there is no substance to his team.
The Dallas Cowboys are hollow.
nails it, unfortunately.
__________________