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Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Just A Hiccup Or Reason To Doubt?
IRVING-The season to be jolly about for Dallas Cowboy football fans suddenly hit the fan after the Philadelphia Eagles cooled off the NFL's second-hottest team.
Depending on where you thought Dallas stood coming into the Philly game - a Super Bowl contender or a pretender who last proved itself in the postseason more than a decade ago - the loss did one of two things: mark a brief hiccup on a stellar season, or give you a reason to doubt the Cowboys come January.
The Eagles ended the Cowboys' seven game winning streak, but not much else with their 10-6 victory over Dallas Sunday at Texas Stadium. In the grand scheme of things, Dallas' direction drifted little from obtaining rings they last claimed nearly 12 years ago.
Depending on where you thought Dallas stood coming into the Philly game - a Super Bowl contender or a pretender who last proved itself in the postseason more than a decade ago - the loss did one of two things: mark a brief hiccup on a stellar season, or give you a reason to doubt the Cowboys come January.
The Eagles ended the Cowboys' seven game winning streak, but not much else with their 10-6 victory over Dallas Sunday at Texas Stadium. In the grand scheme of things, Dallas' direction drifted little from obtaining rings they last claimed nearly 12 years ago.
ON THE RUN: Dallas Cowboys running back Julius Jones (21) attempts to break a tackle against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Texas Stadium in Irving. The Eagles defeated the Cowboys, 10-6.
Dallas remains tied with Green Bay for the best record in the NFC at 12-2, and owns the tiebreaker by virtue of a 37-27 win over the Packers. Furthermore, Dallas attained a first-round bye in the postseason Sunday, thanks to Seattle's 13-10 loss to Carolina.
"We hadn't had this feeling in a while," said Dallas coach Wade Phillips, whose team started the season with five straight wins. "With the Seattle loss, we have a bye the first week and that was our next goal.
Our final goal is to have home field advantage all the way through."
For those looking for reasons to doubt Dallas' postseason chances, Sunday's performance presented its fair share. For a team flowing right on - ranking second in the league in points per game at 32.2 entering Week 15 - the early going gave a hint as to the rest of the day.
"We hadn't had this feeling in a while," said Dallas coach Wade Phillips, whose team started the season with five straight wins. "With the Seattle loss, we have a bye the first week and that was our next goal.
Our final goal is to have home field advantage all the way through."
For those looking for reasons to doubt Dallas' postseason chances, Sunday's performance presented its fair share. For a team flowing right on - ranking second in the league in points per game at 32.2 entering Week 15 - the early going gave a hint as to the rest of the day.
Cowboys linebacker Bobby Carpenter takes a knee during a timeout.
From the moment Tony Romo misfired to an open Terrell Owens on his first pass of the day, the Dallas offense seemed out of sync. The rest of the day followed suit.
Romo, who started the day ranked second in the NFL in quarterback rating and touchdown passes, completed only 13 of 36 passes and Dallas finished with a season-low in points.
"It was frustrating," said Romo, who refused to elaborate on a thumb injury he apparently aggravated and had taped during the game. "The Eagles did a good job, had a good scheme. They put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't handle it. I played poorly."
One poor performance happens to nearly every eventual Super Bowl winner, though. Remember Indianapolis losing to Houston a year ago before winning the Super Bowl.
After all, the best record for a 16-game regular season entering the season was 15-1, something last done by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998. But not even that Vikings team won the Super Bowl, or the two teams that sported the best record in their respective conferences last year - San Diego and Chicago.
For Dallas to be super calls for their superstar getting the ball and making plays. That person, All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens, went the first three quarters minus a catch and finished with just two receptions for 37 yards.
"We didn't get the ball to our best player and that concerns me," added Phillips.
"We came out flat and couldn't get anything going offensively," reasoned Owens, who followed Phillips to the podium following the loss. "There were some opportunities we missed, didn't connect on. We can only stop ourselves. I think everyone knows that. We just need to regroup as an offense and finish strong. We won't let any doubt creep in because we lost."
With the most wins in a season since the Super Bowl squad of 1995-96, America's Team seems a good bet to go the distance - especially in a not-so-overwhelming NFC. But when judging the current Cowboys against their Super Bowl predecessors from the 1990s, they appear to be missing something. For starters, their current quarterback lacks a playoff victory, and no rushing champion carries the load at tailback.
Let the Cowboys tell it, when it deals with looking down the line, everything feels just fine nonetheless.
"It's all about going into January winning football games," said Romo. "We still have a chance to do what we're trying to do."
In order to do so, Romo, T.O. and the 'Boys - all on the hot seat in a year of super expectations - need avoid another winter freeze and turn up the heat if they want to continue being the team to beat.
Romo, who started the day ranked second in the NFL in quarterback rating and touchdown passes, completed only 13 of 36 passes and Dallas finished with a season-low in points.
"It was frustrating," said Romo, who refused to elaborate on a thumb injury he apparently aggravated and had taped during the game. "The Eagles did a good job, had a good scheme. They put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't handle it. I played poorly."
One poor performance happens to nearly every eventual Super Bowl winner, though. Remember Indianapolis losing to Houston a year ago before winning the Super Bowl.
After all, the best record for a 16-game regular season entering the season was 15-1, something last done by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998. But not even that Vikings team won the Super Bowl, or the two teams that sported the best record in their respective conferences last year - San Diego and Chicago.
For Dallas to be super calls for their superstar getting the ball and making plays. That person, All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens, went the first three quarters minus a catch and finished with just two receptions for 37 yards.
"We didn't get the ball to our best player and that concerns me," added Phillips.
"We came out flat and couldn't get anything going offensively," reasoned Owens, who followed Phillips to the podium following the loss. "There were some opportunities we missed, didn't connect on. We can only stop ourselves. I think everyone knows that. We just need to regroup as an offense and finish strong. We won't let any doubt creep in because we lost."
With the most wins in a season since the Super Bowl squad of 1995-96, America's Team seems a good bet to go the distance - especially in a not-so-overwhelming NFC. But when judging the current Cowboys against their Super Bowl predecessors from the 1990s, they appear to be missing something. For starters, their current quarterback lacks a playoff victory, and no rushing champion carries the load at tailback.
Let the Cowboys tell it, when it deals with looking down the line, everything feels just fine nonetheless.
"It's all about going into January winning football games," said Romo. "We still have a chance to do what we're trying to do."
In order to do so, Romo, T.O. and the 'Boys - all on the hot seat in a year of super expectations - need avoid another winter freeze and turn up the heat if they want to continue being the team to beat.
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