Yes, Virginia, these Cowboys are ready for stretch run
A liberal dose
December 02, 2007
December has arrived in the NFL season, bringing with it local memories that aren't so festive.
Cowboys roasting on an open fire. Big Bill nipping at their butts.
At the moment, there's absolutely nothing to suggest that any flashback repeats to past Decembers are even remotely possible. But as even a cautious Jerry Jones will testify, a year ago when the calendar rolled over to the final month, he legitimately thought he owned the best team in the NFC.
This time, Jerry is sure of it, and rightfully so.
Yet, things did change in a hurry last December. The Cowboys lost three of their five games in the month, and counting the postseason trip to Seattle, four of the last six.
What happened a year ago, as shocking as it was, was simply history repeating itself.
The Cowboys haven't had a winning final NFL month (counting a couple of January regular-season games) since, gulp, 1996. You will note, of course, that '96 was also the last season the Cowboys actually won a playoff game.
The demise of the franchise's most recent Dynasty Days also officially kicked in that year.
For major disappointment over the last 11 seasons, last year's awful stretch-run collapse was the worst, except for maybe 1998, when a 10-6 team under Chan Gailey lost in the first round of the playoffs at home to the dog-butted Arizona Cardinals.
But enough of history hell.
Right here, right now, this is a Cowboys team on the verge of changing the December collapse trend.
What follows are a few seemingly obvious theories on why what happened last December won't happen this time:
Big Bill wore out his teams, while the style of easy rider Wade Phillips has meant fresh bodies.
'People think that, but it's not true,' said tight end Jason Witten in a conversation a couple of weeks ago. 'Physically, there is no excuse about us being tired or worn down last year. In fact, it was almost just the opposite.' (No team had fewer major injuries than the '06 Cowboys, almost the same as this year).
'But mentally, there's probably something to that. The team may have been worn down mentally. I was fine with Bill. Liked him a lot. But you know Bill. He could be miserable to be around, and that impacts different players in different ways. That's just Bill.'
And with Wade?
Witten laughed at the comparison, then added, 'What Wade does is keep it a lot lighter, but give him credit for stepping up and addressing all the issues that need to be addressed within the team. His style might seem like he lets things slide, but he doesn't do that.'
There's no Sean Payton on the December schedule this time.
It's no coincidence, of course, that the crash of '06 started and continued with a 42-17 thrashing by Payton's Saints on Dec. 10.
As Big Bill's former top offensive assistant, Payton provided the perfect blueprint on how to derail the Romo Express and how to destroy a Cowboys defense that had played pretty well until then.
The biggest indictment of Parcells after the Saints embarrassment was he never countered, never adjusted. Frustration overwhelmed the coaching staff because Bill resisted making a change on both sides of the ball, but particularly defensively.
It took Big Bill retiring for that change to happen, with Jason Garrett on offense and Phillips on defense.
Greg Ellis and the defense.
Face it, all you Ellis rippers, over his early-season contractual hassles, when Greg plays linebacker, this defense gets the job done. When he's not in there, both the Parcells defense and the Phillips defense has struggled.
One of Big Bill's best moves, second only to starting Tony Romo, was switching Ellis to linebacker in the 3-4, something even Ellis initially balked at.
Obviously, there are still questions about the current defense, particularly in coverage. It's not necessarily a playoff-ready defense by any means.
But Wade's finest moment of the season, along with that of Brian Stewart, the defensive coordinator, came Thursday night against Green Bay.
The scheme against Brett Favre was a masterpiece. Favre was shockingly befuddled. He looked as confused as Aaron Rodgers was supposed to look.
Speaking of confused, how did Rodgers look that good? And forget that weak excuse about the defense hadn't seen him or prepared for him. The kid had thrown two passes all year. And 33 passes in three seasons. The Cowboys hadn't seen him because he doesn't play.
The schedule.
Take a look at the final four games. If the Cowboys 'collapse' against this bunch of NFC rats (Detroit, Philly, Carolina, Washington), then we can forget about football and start investigating a curse that has been placed on Jerry Jones' football house.
There is no excuse not to win all four. It'd be a disgrace and could bring back a flood of December nightmares to lose more than one.
Tony Romo and the offense.
Going into December, only one quarterback in the league ranks ahead of Romo. That's Mr. Brady. Sorry, Peyton, but you've had a few problems lately.
The game is about the quarterback (I think I've mentioned that a few times over the years), and Romo is still falsely blamed for having 'five bad games' last December. Wrong, dead wrong.
Romo won in New York and won in Atlanta with big-time performances. Otherwise, he was not good in December, and Parcells also saddled him with a junior high offensive game plan in Seattle.
But the Romo of then, and the Romo of now? OK, you already know that difference.
Eldorado Owens is also a factor this season, as opposed to last season, and remember that Witten was a forgotten target a year ago for some strange reason. Thank you, Jason Garrett, for changing that. Plus, the offensive line is a positive force for the most part (still a little shaky in the running game).
Overall, this will be a December when we can ignore the Cowboys' recent history. Either that, or there ain't no Santa Claus.
Randy Galloway's Galloway & Co. can be heard weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.
December 02, 2007
December has arrived in the NFL season, bringing with it local memories that aren't so festive.
Cowboys roasting on an open fire. Big Bill nipping at their butts.
At the moment, there's absolutely nothing to suggest that any flashback repeats to past Decembers are even remotely possible. But as even a cautious Jerry Jones will testify, a year ago when the calendar rolled over to the final month, he legitimately thought he owned the best team in the NFC.
This time, Jerry is sure of it, and rightfully so.
Yet, things did change in a hurry last December. The Cowboys lost three of their five games in the month, and counting the postseason trip to Seattle, four of the last six.
What happened a year ago, as shocking as it was, was simply history repeating itself.
The Cowboys haven't had a winning final NFL month (counting a couple of January regular-season games) since, gulp, 1996. You will note, of course, that '96 was also the last season the Cowboys actually won a playoff game.
The demise of the franchise's most recent Dynasty Days also officially kicked in that year.
For major disappointment over the last 11 seasons, last year's awful stretch-run collapse was the worst, except for maybe 1998, when a 10-6 team under Chan Gailey lost in the first round of the playoffs at home to the dog-butted Arizona Cardinals.
But enough of history hell.
Right here, right now, this is a Cowboys team on the verge of changing the December collapse trend.
What follows are a few seemingly obvious theories on why what happened last December won't happen this time:
Big Bill wore out his teams, while the style of easy rider Wade Phillips has meant fresh bodies.
'People think that, but it's not true,' said tight end Jason Witten in a conversation a couple of weeks ago. 'Physically, there is no excuse about us being tired or worn down last year. In fact, it was almost just the opposite.' (No team had fewer major injuries than the '06 Cowboys, almost the same as this year).
'But mentally, there's probably something to that. The team may have been worn down mentally. I was fine with Bill. Liked him a lot. But you know Bill. He could be miserable to be around, and that impacts different players in different ways. That's just Bill.'
And with Wade?
Witten laughed at the comparison, then added, 'What Wade does is keep it a lot lighter, but give him credit for stepping up and addressing all the issues that need to be addressed within the team. His style might seem like he lets things slide, but he doesn't do that.'
There's no Sean Payton on the December schedule this time.
It's no coincidence, of course, that the crash of '06 started and continued with a 42-17 thrashing by Payton's Saints on Dec. 10.
As Big Bill's former top offensive assistant, Payton provided the perfect blueprint on how to derail the Romo Express and how to destroy a Cowboys defense that had played pretty well until then.
The biggest indictment of Parcells after the Saints embarrassment was he never countered, never adjusted. Frustration overwhelmed the coaching staff because Bill resisted making a change on both sides of the ball, but particularly defensively.
It took Big Bill retiring for that change to happen, with Jason Garrett on offense and Phillips on defense.
Greg Ellis and the defense.
Face it, all you Ellis rippers, over his early-season contractual hassles, when Greg plays linebacker, this defense gets the job done. When he's not in there, both the Parcells defense and the Phillips defense has struggled.
One of Big Bill's best moves, second only to starting Tony Romo, was switching Ellis to linebacker in the 3-4, something even Ellis initially balked at.
Obviously, there are still questions about the current defense, particularly in coverage. It's not necessarily a playoff-ready defense by any means.
But Wade's finest moment of the season, along with that of Brian Stewart, the defensive coordinator, came Thursday night against Green Bay.
The scheme against Brett Favre was a masterpiece. Favre was shockingly befuddled. He looked as confused as Aaron Rodgers was supposed to look.
Speaking of confused, how did Rodgers look that good? And forget that weak excuse about the defense hadn't seen him or prepared for him. The kid had thrown two passes all year. And 33 passes in three seasons. The Cowboys hadn't seen him because he doesn't play.
The schedule.
Take a look at the final four games. If the Cowboys 'collapse' against this bunch of NFC rats (Detroit, Philly, Carolina, Washington), then we can forget about football and start investigating a curse that has been placed on Jerry Jones' football house.
There is no excuse not to win all four. It'd be a disgrace and could bring back a flood of December nightmares to lose more than one.
Tony Romo and the offense.
Going into December, only one quarterback in the league ranks ahead of Romo. That's Mr. Brady. Sorry, Peyton, but you've had a few problems lately.
The game is about the quarterback (I think I've mentioned that a few times over the years), and Romo is still falsely blamed for having 'five bad games' last December. Wrong, dead wrong.
Romo won in New York and won in Atlanta with big-time performances. Otherwise, he was not good in December, and Parcells also saddled him with a junior high offensive game plan in Seattle.
But the Romo of then, and the Romo of now? OK, you already know that difference.
Eldorado Owens is also a factor this season, as opposed to last season, and remember that Witten was a forgotten target a year ago for some strange reason. Thank you, Jason Garrett, for changing that. Plus, the offensive line is a positive force for the most part (still a little shaky in the running game).
Overall, this will be a December when we can ignore the Cowboys' recent history. Either that, or there ain't no Santa Claus.
Randy Galloway's Galloway & Co. can be heard weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:28 AM
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