Sunday won't make or break 'Boys
By Randy Galloway
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Appearing Sunday at Texas Stadium, the Indy Colts.
Those 9-and-oh-by-the-way Indy Colts, already wondering and wandering if this will be yet another Super Bowl-less season.
But while unbeaten and still unappreciated in some NFL precincts, that will not be the case locally.
This is the Cowboys' November Super Bowl. This is the Cowboys' moment of truth in a season that was going down the dumper until it was Romo-Revived three weeks ago.
As a starter, Tony Romo has NEVER been outplayed by the opposing quarterback.
Are you worried, Mr. Manning?
OK, back to the real world.
"We have not played our best game yet," Colts coach Tony Dungy said this week.
Even with Tony being the classiest of all NFL coaching acts, that statement takes a lot of gall.
Nine-and-0, with road wins at Denver, at Foxboro, and in the Meadowlands (when the Giants still had their health), and Dungy now tells us his team still hasn't gotten solid wood on the ball.
It's like that long-ago time at old Arlington Stadium, when the A's Reggie Jackson's top hand slipped off the bat, and he homered deep to left field with a one-handed swing.
"I really didn't hit it that well," explained Reggie afterward.
Thank gawd. Otherwise, a tourist at Six Flags might have been killed.
But while the Colts, and Peyton Manning, will be dogged until they finally get over that ultimate hump, the Cowboys can only wish they were in those cleats.
A franchise that hasn't won a playoff game in 10 years, a team that's a meager 5-4 this season, is attempting to overcome a hump of another kind.
Just making the playoffs would be a Cowboys success story.
With Romo, all things are possible. Even that.
With the Colts in town, it's legit to bill this as the jump game in the Cowboys' rather inferior quest.
Well, inferior when compared to what the Colts need to get done, come January.
And let it be known that the wise guys of Las Vegas consider Sunday as basically a "pick 'em" contest, which is the biggest compliment the Cowboys could have received.
See what happened, Big Bill, when you finally turned loose your "renegade" quarterback?
But the Cowboys do have one thing in common with the Indys.
This is not a make-or-break game for either team as they go about their separate quests and expectations.
Win or lose on Sunday, let's definitely don't be cutting the Cowboys any excuses when it comes to the postseason possibilities.
Bill Parcells has already started with the coaching thing, telling us how tough a schedule the Cowboys will face as the stretch run begins a tad early, only because it's the Colts up first in the final seven games.
After Indy, however, look at it and tell me why it's scary.
Tampa Bay arrives on Thursday, with not a lot of Thanksgiving cheer. There's a rookie quarterback, combined with the Bucs having to play their third game in 11 days, two of them on the road.
Then there's 10 days for the Cowboys to prepare for a trip to the Meadowlands to face a Giants team that is wiped out by injuries. Who knows what the health situation will be by then, but at least four key starters have already been lost for the season.
On Dec. 10, the Saints are here, which at the moment is the toughest game left. But this shocking and feel-good success story is also being undermined by a brutal stretch of schedule. New Orleans has offensive muscle, but the makeshift defense is scrambling.
The final road game takes the Cowboys to Atlanta on Dec. 16. The same Atlanta that has lost back-to-back to Detroit and Cleveland, that has injuries problems on defense, and a Michael Vick collapse watch on offense.
The Cowboys wrap up with home games against the struggling Eagles on Christmas Day and the gawd-awful Lions on New Year's Eve.
Even with the Indy visit being iffy when it comes to a projected W, a 9-7 record will make the playoffs.
If the Cowboys can't win four of these final seven, then there's nothing else to talk about other than another failure.
The Colts game will be something to enjoy, something to use as a barometer, something to place on the wish list for Tony Dungy. That by Monday, he will still be able to say, "We haven't played our best game yet."
But as far as expectations for the Cowboys, it's also a game that changes nothing.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Appearing Sunday at Texas Stadium, the Indy Colts.
Those 9-and-oh-by-the-way Indy Colts, already wondering and wandering if this will be yet another Super Bowl-less season.
But while unbeaten and still unappreciated in some NFL precincts, that will not be the case locally.
This is the Cowboys' November Super Bowl. This is the Cowboys' moment of truth in a season that was going down the dumper until it was Romo-Revived three weeks ago.
As a starter, Tony Romo has NEVER been outplayed by the opposing quarterback.
Are you worried, Mr. Manning?
OK, back to the real world.
"We have not played our best game yet," Colts coach Tony Dungy said this week.
Even with Tony being the classiest of all NFL coaching acts, that statement takes a lot of gall.
Nine-and-0, with road wins at Denver, at Foxboro, and in the Meadowlands (when the Giants still had their health), and Dungy now tells us his team still hasn't gotten solid wood on the ball.
It's like that long-ago time at old Arlington Stadium, when the A's Reggie Jackson's top hand slipped off the bat, and he homered deep to left field with a one-handed swing.
"I really didn't hit it that well," explained Reggie afterward.
Thank gawd. Otherwise, a tourist at Six Flags might have been killed.
But while the Colts, and Peyton Manning, will be dogged until they finally get over that ultimate hump, the Cowboys can only wish they were in those cleats.
A franchise that hasn't won a playoff game in 10 years, a team that's a meager 5-4 this season, is attempting to overcome a hump of another kind.
Just making the playoffs would be a Cowboys success story.
With Romo, all things are possible. Even that.
With the Colts in town, it's legit to bill this as the jump game in the Cowboys' rather inferior quest.
Well, inferior when compared to what the Colts need to get done, come January.
And let it be known that the wise guys of Las Vegas consider Sunday as basically a "pick 'em" contest, which is the biggest compliment the Cowboys could have received.
See what happened, Big Bill, when you finally turned loose your "renegade" quarterback?
But the Cowboys do have one thing in common with the Indys.
This is not a make-or-break game for either team as they go about their separate quests and expectations.
Win or lose on Sunday, let's definitely don't be cutting the Cowboys any excuses when it comes to the postseason possibilities.
Bill Parcells has already started with the coaching thing, telling us how tough a schedule the Cowboys will face as the stretch run begins a tad early, only because it's the Colts up first in the final seven games.
After Indy, however, look at it and tell me why it's scary.
Tampa Bay arrives on Thursday, with not a lot of Thanksgiving cheer. There's a rookie quarterback, combined with the Bucs having to play their third game in 11 days, two of them on the road.
Then there's 10 days for the Cowboys to prepare for a trip to the Meadowlands to face a Giants team that is wiped out by injuries. Who knows what the health situation will be by then, but at least four key starters have already been lost for the season.
On Dec. 10, the Saints are here, which at the moment is the toughest game left. But this shocking and feel-good success story is also being undermined by a brutal stretch of schedule. New Orleans has offensive muscle, but the makeshift defense is scrambling.
The final road game takes the Cowboys to Atlanta on Dec. 16. The same Atlanta that has lost back-to-back to Detroit and Cleveland, that has injuries problems on defense, and a Michael Vick collapse watch on offense.
The Cowboys wrap up with home games against the struggling Eagles on Christmas Day and the gawd-awful Lions on New Year's Eve.
Even with the Indy visit being iffy when it comes to a projected W, a 9-7 record will make the playoffs.
If the Cowboys can't win four of these final seven, then there's nothing else to talk about other than another failure.
The Colts game will be something to enjoy, something to use as a barometer, something to place on the wish list for Tony Dungy. That by Monday, he will still be able to say, "We haven't played our best game yet."
But as far as expectations for the Cowboys, it's also a game that changes nothing.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:39 PM
<< Home