I honestly didn’t know what I was rooting for on Monday night, I really didn’t. Should I root for the Cowboys to win at Washington and pull to within one game of first place in the NFC East? Or should I embrace reality and realize that it is futile to even believe for one second that Dallas has a chance to still make the playoffs?
People knock me sometimes because I’m a forward thinker when it comes to my sports teams; if my team is out of it, I look to the next chance to improve – the draft. I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t lose on Monday night.
If the Cowboys win, they are right in the race. If they lose, their chances of picking in the top-10 continue to rise. The glass is indeed half-full in my world, no matter what the result. Unless there’s a situation where time management comes into play. More on that in a minute.
The fact is, a team might win the NFC East with a sub-.500 record. Sad, but true. And that’s why the Cowboys will remain in this race no matter what happens at Green Bay this weekend. (Pssst, let me save you the mystery – Dallas has won a grand total of one time ever at Green Bay; they won’t get No. 2 this weekend).
This season will come down to an attempt to sweep the last three games on Dallas’ schedule – home vs. the Jets, at Buffalo and then home to Washington. I don’t see it happening, but stranger things have taken place.
With some head-scratching moves (or non-moves, I should say), this team was built in an arrogant way, especially on offense The thought that any running back could play behind this offensive line is folly, and to simply live with not having a quality backup quarterback to enter the season is a crime. John Wooden once said, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
Jerry’s mastered it. How about drafting a quarterback to develop, Jerry? Heck, the guy had no running back when last spring’s draft started and that remained the situation at the end of it too.
It’s one of the main reasons I wouldn’t mind the Cowboys losing a few more and improving their draft stock.
For the Cowboys’ sake, let’s hope that none of the remaining games require a need for critical thinking, logic or basic math. Jason Garrett continues to fail in his decision-making around clock management. He was at it again on Monday, and he’s darn lucky it didn’t come back to bite him.
Cowboys’ ball at the Redskins’ 15 with just 1:26 left on the clock in a tie game. This is a no-brainer; you take a knee three times, making Washington burn their two remaining timeouts and bleed the clock to 30 ticks left while Dan Bailey puts the Cowboys ahead by three. It’s Tom Landry 101.
True, Darren McFadden shouldn’t have run out of bounds on the first-down play, but coaching could have negated that by instructing him to run between the tackles. Next play – oh neat, we got a touchdown! And gave Washington life.
Yes, all’s well that ends well. But Garrett’s track record here is not good. I’m sure he’s a great motivator but his management of a game is lacking in the areas that a smart coach from Princeton should grasp.
Despite all that, the Cowboys are still in it. And they will remain in it after their trip to Green Bay. Maybe they will win a few games and keep this thing interesting. Me, I’m still all for another December swoon for the Cowboys. I’d love their their draft pick selection slot be a lower number than their win total.
But then again, a division championship would be nice. I guess I’d rather have my glass completely full than halfway.
