Dallas Cowboys
Romo holiday: The Dallas Cowboys finish their season slightly ahead of schedule
You know you’ve got a good job when an extra week or so of vacation each year is a bad thing. But after the Dallas Cowboys lost a do or die match against the New York Giants 31-14 Sunday night, finishing up one of the most disappointing years in franchise history at 8-8, many of those Cowboys should be unemployed next season. Cornerback Alan Ball, who flopped on a potential game-changing fumble recovery and couldn't cover anybody, should've been sent packing at halftime.
Terrence Newman: When you've been hurdled by two white guys, it may be time to seriously consider a career in broadcasting. Having seemingly replaced Dirk Nowitzki as the slowest #41 in Dallas, Newman will be seeing the letters CRUZ on the back of a Giants jersey in his sleep.
Meanwhile, Tony Romo got off to such a slow start that you wondered when the coach was going to put in Case McCoy.
Even as #firejerryjones trended on Twitter, there's no way he's going to can himself. Hiring a guy who ices his own kicker is as close as JJ will get to that. The only way to send a hard message is to hurt Jones in the bank account.
After the Giants jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half, TV cameras showed a gaunt Jerry Jones, who not only owns the team, but makes all personnel decisions as General Manager. You could almost see little thought bubbles over his head. "Who should I get to replace Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator next year?" was one. "And, for God's sakes, can we find, I mean, can I find someone who can snap the damn ball?"
This will be remembered as the season head coach Jason Garrett iced a kicker, his own by the way, in the desert of Arizona. Then there was the collossal collapse against the Detroit Lions, the giveaway game to the Jets, the blown 12-point lead to the Giants Dec. 11.
The only games the Cowboys had no chance of winning were the two against the Philadelphia Eagles and the one that sent them home Sunday night. That leaves five losses with squandered fourth quarter leads. Win just one of those and Stephen McGee is throwing to Martellus Bennett again in week 17.
Even as he had his banged-up QB "sneaking" on 4th and a full yard in the red zone, Coach Ginger's job is perhaps safest of all, next to the General Manager. Garrett was annointed as coach of the future by Jones, who paid him $3 million a year as offensive coordinator before tapping him to replace Wade Phillips in midseason last year. It's too soon, and Jerry's ego is too big, to admit he made a mistake. But it's become obvious that they don't teach game management at Princeton.
Here's what it came down to this year for Dallas: the opponents made plays when they had to and the Cowboys didn't.
Wide receiver Dez Bryant had spectacular spurts here and there, but disappeared when the game was on the line. He gets to stay, but should return #88.
Meanwhile, Victor Cruz of the Giants came through in the clutch, hauling down a 44-yard reception on third-and-long in the fourth quarter, after the Cowboys had pulled within 7 points.
The only thing clutch about this group of Cowboys was all the grabbing in the secondary.
When Jones "gets some work done" in the offseason, it doesn't always have to do with football. But he's gotta do some serious nipping and tucking on his roster the next few months. First, any defensive back not named Jenkins might want to hold off on housing decisions for awhile.
Then, Jerry should draft a quarterback. Trade DeMarcus Ware — that ultra-talented big baby — for the draft rights to Andrew Luck. Peyton Manning would be all for that. Or maybe Brandon Weeden will still be available when the Cowboys name is called on draft day.
Even as #firejerryjones continues to trend on Twitter, the only way to send a hard message is to hurt Jones in the bank account. Who wants to start a class action lawsuit against the Cowboys for stealing so many hours of our time this season? Instead of building pyramids with spent Miller Lites and cursing another Sunday giveaway, we could've been spending quality time with our families. Instead of watching Dallas blow 24-point leads, we could've been sweeping broken glass from the neighborhood playground or making sandwiches to give out at the Home Depot parking lot / job fair.
We've given the Cowboys September, October, November, December and the first day of January. What they gave us was four losses in their last five games.