History Repeating: The Lost Inches

After the last few years I’m beginning to wonder how many times I’ve thought to myself, “The Cowboys should have won that game.”  So many big games come to mind:

In 2007 the Cowboys were 13-3 and hosting the New York Giants in a divisional playoff game.  Although the Cowboys had already beaten the Giants twice in the regular season, everyone knew this would be a tough game (except for maybe the Cowboys).  On the first drive of the game, not only did Demarcus Ware get called for a bogus offsides penalty to give the Giants a first down, but Amani Toomer (who was way past his prime) managed to shake several Cowboys’ defenders on the next play for a 52 yard touchdown.  The rest was history as the Cowboys would lose to the eventual Super Bowl Champions 21-17.

Last year the Cowboys were in prime position to beat the eventual champions again as they played the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road.  They had outplayed and more importantly “out-hit” the rough and tumble Steelers in their own house.  That was until Tony Romo threw a disastrous interception for a touchdown with just minutes remaining in the 4^th quarter.  Romo was unable to conjure up any 4^th quarter magic and the Cowboys would fall to 8-5 and allow the rival Giants to clinch the NFC East.

After beating the hated Giants the week before, the only thing that stood between the Cowboys and a guaranteed playoff spot was a tough Baltimore Ravens team.  Once again, the Cowboys played good football and gave the Ravens all they could handle. They fought their way back into the game and into the lead in the 4^th quarter.  This time the defense would let down as the Ravens ran for a 77 yard touchdown and an 82 yard touchdown on consecutive drives.  The last game in Texas Stadium was more like a funeral than a celebration of 25 years of greatness. 

Despite the disheartening Ravens loss, the Cowboys were in the driver seat for a Wild Card birth in week 17.  They had everything to gain and the Eagles had little reason to hope.  That was until by some sort of mathematical witchcraft the Eagles-Cowboys game suddenly became a playoff game.  Winner goes to the playoffs, loser stays home.  I don’t want to rehash painful memories but 44-6 pretty much tells the story

After all of these poignant moments of failure I always felt the Cowboys were so close.  Take away a missed tackle here, or a QB-receiver miscommunication there and you may have a seven time Super Bowl Champion on your hands. It feels like the Cowboys were always inches away from glory. But like Al Pacino said, you have to be willing to die for those inches.  The fact of the matter is that the Cowboys are a good football team and they are statistically one of the elite teams in football.  But stats don’t equal championships.  For whatever reason, this team just folds at the most important juncture of big games and that was made evident again last week against the Broncos.

The first play that comes to mind from last Sunday is the Bronco’s first touchdown.   Kyle Orton dropped back and hesitated a bit as he threw a ball out to Knowshon Moreno in the flats.  That little hesitation was all Cowboys outside linebacker Anthony Spencer needed to break on the ball for a picture perfect interception and 90 yard touchdown that would have broken the Broncos back as they were down 10-0 at the time.  Instead, the football went right through Spencer’s hands and into Moreno’s who would turn and bulldoze his way into the endzone.  That’s how the ball bounces sometimes, and you have to keep playing. But man, that shit hurt.

Going into the 4^th quarter, a game that seemed like it was going to be a blowout initially turned into a 10-10 slugfest.  Both teams were aggressive and hard hitting, but there was certainly a sense that something big was about to happen.  On Brandon Marshall’s 51 yard touchdown catch, cornerback Terrance Newman was within inches of knocking the ball away or intercepting it.  He played picture perfect coverage, but the pass and catch were just a little more perfect.  Once Marshall started making his way down the field I just kept yelling “Let him score!” so the Bronco’s couldn’t run out the clock to kick a field goal. That would at least give Tony Romo one more chance to make something happen.  They didn’t necessarily let him score, but my wish had come true.  I felt good about the final drive.

Although the Cowboys had been a bit offensively challenged during the game I had faith that Romo would be able to move them down the field and put them in position to tie the game. That faith was shaken a little bit when the Cowboys failed to convert 3^rd down and were forced into a do or die situation on 4^th and 3.  On 4^th down I honestly thought Romo’s pass got knocked down but when I saw him wheel out to his left and start scrambling I just wanted him to run for the first down.  Instead he flipped the ball into the middle of the field to…Sam Hurd? And then Hurd began running down the middle of the field like Larry Fitzgerald in the Super Bowl.  All I could think was that this was the moment that would define the Cowboys season.  This was that game changing play that they needed to get back to glory.  After running down the field about 45 yards Hurd was caught… by 35 year old safety Brian Dawkins!  Are you serious?  But the Cowboys still had plenty of time and eventually they would have a couple of shots at the endzone.  Unfortunately, they wasted those chances on two slant passes to the aforementioned Hurd who was matched up with all world cornerback Champ Bailey.  Had Bailey been just a millisecond slower in his reaction on both plays he would have missed the ball by inches giving the Cowboys a chance to win the game in overtime.  But he wouldn’t let that happen.  Bailey is too much of a pro to let those inches slip away. 

Last Sunday’s game left me with many questions about this football team.  I wondered why the Cowboys chose to pick on Champ Bailey, arguably the best cornerback in the game.  He ended up with an interception and two crucial pass breakups (all in the redzone!).  I wondered why Roy Williams couldn’t tough it out through those last two plays.  I know his ribs were hurting but he didn’t have to run far.  All he had to do was use his body to shield a defender and catch the ball with his hands in the red-zone.  I wondered why Jason Witten was relegated to blocking and Martellus Bennet wasn’t in the game at all.  With Williams’ absence, that left Crayton, Austin, and Hurd as the only players who ran routes on that last drive.  Hell, I’d rather have Kevin Ogletree running a fade route on the backside than either of those guys. 

The last thing I wondered was why I keep asking so many damn questions.  Maybe this team just isn’t destined to be a champion.  It just seems like something bad always happens.  They just haven’t been able to get the job done since the mid-90s.  I know I’m not the only one in Cowboys’ nation hurting but I really just want to be proud of this team at some point.  I really hoped this season was going to be it, but it’s not looking good right now.

No matter what happens this week, the Cowboys will more than likely enter the bye week with more questions than answers.  After 6 weeks of football we still won’t know who the Cowboys are.  Unless they blow the Chiefs out by 35+ points and dominate in everyway, this weekend’s game will be somewhat of a disappointment.  Both the Eagles and Giants manhandled the Chiefs and I’m just not sure if the Cowboys can do that.  But you better believe that I’ll be sitting in front of that TV come Sunday, living and dying with every play that happens.  I just hope the Cowboys are up to the challenge and are willing to die for those inches.  If not, they will just end up dying…and taking all of Cowboy nation with them in the process.