Winning in Steel City would prove Dallas Cowboys' mettle
by Jean-Jacques TAYLOR
IRVING – Impress me. Win in Pittsburgh.
Go win in the cold, maybe the snow, on the league's worst field before a raucous throng waving their Terrible Towels and still peeved about the Cowboys' win in Super Bowl XXX. Go prove your high-powered, star-driven offense can score enough points to beat the NFL's most physical defense, a unit that will gladly remove your heart if given the chance.
Go take a significant step toward making the playoffs, because the Cowboys would be on the outside looking in if the postseason started today.
The big, bad Steelers haven't allowed as many as 300 yards in any game this season. They haven't allowed more than 10 points in three games. They lead the league in rushing, passing, total and scoring defense.
FYI: Pittsburgh leads the league in sacks, too.
Like I said, impress me.
Beating Washington saved the season. It was huge, but the Redskins are in the midst of a free fall. Blowing out San Francisco and Seattle in consecutive games finally gave us a glimpse of the Cowboys we heard so much about in training camp and saw in the first three games of the season.
Those wins, however, won't place the Cowboys among the league's elite teams again.
Beating Pittsburgh will.
Then we can shelve all the chatter about Wade Phillips' job security – at least until the final regular-season game. And the Cowboys can bury all the talk about their regular-season failures in December and January.
You know, the 18-31 record since 1997 that Phillips wants to ignore. That's so silly.
We all know the Cowboys have stunk in the final quarter of the season. So do the players. All you have to do is ask them.
Jason Witten. Keith Davis. Patrick Crayton. Each of them will tell you the Cowboys haven't played their best football at the end of the season, a trend that must stop.
That's the right approach. That's embracing the moment and accepting the challenge.
Hiding from the past indicates fear. The players aren't scared, so there's no need for Phillips to ignore the pink elephant in the middle of the locker room.
Then again, should we really be surprised? He's likable, but Phillips is the most sensitive head coach in franchise history.
No one said beating Pittsburgh will be easy. It won't, especially with the Cowboys' injuries.
But the New York Giants and Indianapolis have won at Heinz Field this year, and San Diego nearly did.
This Pittsburgh team isn't great. The offense isn't remotely good enough or versatile enough for us to consider the Steelers great. They won't score enough points to separate from Dallas.
It'll be a fourth-quarter game, and the Cowboys will have an opportunity to win, but they'll have to eliminate the penalties and turnovers that have plagued them at various times this season to do it.
Dallas is 15-7 on the road since 2006, with wins in traditionally tough venues like Chicago, Green Bay, Philadelphia and New York.
Jerry Jones has spent a fortune putting together an offense for a game just like this.
Tony Romo is as healthy as he has been all season, and Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Roy Williams give him a cache of weapons. Maybe Marion Barber plays.
Who knows?
It shouldn't matter.
The best teams – the elite teams – figure out ways to win without their best players. The Giants won two weeks ago without Brandon Jacobs or Plaxico Burress.
Heck, the Giants just suspended Burress for the final four games of the regular season after he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a nightclub the other day. They don't care, because they know they'll find a way to win.
It's an attitude the Cowboys should emulate. Beating Pittsburgh with Barber and DeMarcus Ware hobbled would be a start.
That would be impressive.
IRVING – Impress me. Win in Pittsburgh.
Go win in the cold, maybe the snow, on the league's worst field before a raucous throng waving their Terrible Towels and still peeved about the Cowboys' win in Super Bowl XXX. Go prove your high-powered, star-driven offense can score enough points to beat the NFL's most physical defense, a unit that will gladly remove your heart if given the chance.
Go take a significant step toward making the playoffs, because the Cowboys would be on the outside looking in if the postseason started today.
The big, bad Steelers haven't allowed as many as 300 yards in any game this season. They haven't allowed more than 10 points in three games. They lead the league in rushing, passing, total and scoring defense.
FYI: Pittsburgh leads the league in sacks, too.
Like I said, impress me.
Beating Washington saved the season. It was huge, but the Redskins are in the midst of a free fall. Blowing out San Francisco and Seattle in consecutive games finally gave us a glimpse of the Cowboys we heard so much about in training camp and saw in the first three games of the season.
Those wins, however, won't place the Cowboys among the league's elite teams again.
Beating Pittsburgh will.
Then we can shelve all the chatter about Wade Phillips' job security – at least until the final regular-season game. And the Cowboys can bury all the talk about their regular-season failures in December and January.
You know, the 18-31 record since 1997 that Phillips wants to ignore. That's so silly.
We all know the Cowboys have stunk in the final quarter of the season. So do the players. All you have to do is ask them.
Jason Witten. Keith Davis. Patrick Crayton. Each of them will tell you the Cowboys haven't played their best football at the end of the season, a trend that must stop.
That's the right approach. That's embracing the moment and accepting the challenge.
Hiding from the past indicates fear. The players aren't scared, so there's no need for Phillips to ignore the pink elephant in the middle of the locker room.
Then again, should we really be surprised? He's likable, but Phillips is the most sensitive head coach in franchise history.
No one said beating Pittsburgh will be easy. It won't, especially with the Cowboys' injuries.
But the New York Giants and Indianapolis have won at Heinz Field this year, and San Diego nearly did.
This Pittsburgh team isn't great. The offense isn't remotely good enough or versatile enough for us to consider the Steelers great. They won't score enough points to separate from Dallas.
It'll be a fourth-quarter game, and the Cowboys will have an opportunity to win, but they'll have to eliminate the penalties and turnovers that have plagued them at various times this season to do it.
Dallas is 15-7 on the road since 2006, with wins in traditionally tough venues like Chicago, Green Bay, Philadelphia and New York.
Jerry Jones has spent a fortune putting together an offense for a game just like this.
Tony Romo is as healthy as he has been all season, and Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Roy Williams give him a cache of weapons. Maybe Marion Barber plays.
Who knows?
It shouldn't matter.
The best teams – the elite teams – figure out ways to win without their best players. The Giants won two weeks ago without Brandon Jacobs or Plaxico Burress.
Heck, the Giants just suspended Burress for the final four games of the regular season after he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a nightclub the other day. They don't care, because they know they'll find a way to win.
It's an attitude the Cowboys should emulate. Beating Pittsburgh with Barber and DeMarcus Ware hobbled would be a start.
That would be impressive.
posted by The Gryphon at 3:44 PM
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