This game was an absolute DISGRACE. There is no way around it. The Cowboys did not look at all like a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, let alone NFC East champion potential. Obviously the Redskins had a few advantages going in; The excitement over the beginning of the McNabb/Shanahan era as well as a loud, jumping stadium filled with 91,000, slightly embarrassing, hogs in dresses will help out. Still, the simple fact of the matter is the Cowboys always dismantle the Redskins and are a far superior team despite the 13-7 loss tonight. So what happened?
I guess we should get right to the point. Alex Barron and Tashard Choice ( or Jason Garrett and Wade Phillips) were responsible for this disgusting loss. Barron, the replacement right tackle for the injured Marc Colombo was completely inept. He is a huge body but his feet might as well be redwood stumps. He was routinely being beat off the edge and was flagged for holding twice, and got away with plenty more holds. Tony Romo's final drive was masterful and he capped it off with a brilliant escape in the pocket to find a wide open Roy Williams (I can't believe he actually caught the pass) I watched the game with a few of my Cowboys buddies and we were jumping up and down screaming in excitement because we thought we had just witnessed a miracle only to see the flag at the bottom of the screen. Alex Barron's pathetic attempt to block Orakpo ruined a comeback that could help solidify Romo's ascent to the top of the NFL quarterback echelon. Normally the refs wouldn't make a call like that on the last play of the game but it was so blatant they had no choice. Barron barley even tried to block Orakpo, he went straight for his neck and wrapped his arms around it. I seriously would not be surprised if he is not with the team come Monday. I wouldn't even let him get on the plane home.
The other crucial play in the game that sealed the fate for Dallas was the decision by Jason Garrett to run a play with less than 4 seconds left in the first half, when the Cowboys were not even close to the Redskins side of the field. Anyone with fragments of a brain would defer to common sense and take a knee and head to the locker room. There was no chance of scoring and to add insult to injury Romo didn't even take a shot down field, instead he dunked it off to Tashard Choice for what would have been a minimum gain. Jerry Jones should have rushed down to the locker room and smacked Garrett upside the head for coaching like someone whose never seen a football game. T. Choice can't be left off the hook on this either. He should have gone down right away and as a running back you just cant fumble. He's a good tough player with a ton of heart and you know he wont make a mistake like that again, but it was a bone head play on his part.
Finally, aside from those two obvious reasons for the Cowboys pathetic showing tonight, Dallas fans were forced to watch in horror as our anemic offense struggled to resemble anything of value. It seems that their red zone woes of last year have not been addressed, and their offense at times can be embarrassingly predictable (aside from that pathetic attempt of a HB pass from Barber). Garrett continually uses the same running plays and often with the wrong personnel. If were going to run tosses repeatedly, lets get Felix in there. The offensive line penalty woes do not seem to have left town with Flozell the Hotel. Jason Witten often had to stay and help block and was pretty much irrelevant in the passing game tonight. Aside from the last play and one good catch in the first quarter, Roy Williams was again a non-factor, and of course dropped a deep ball that would have put the cowboys near the red zone. Instead we witnessed yet another promising drive wither up and turn into nothing. Last but not least, our kicking situation clearly has not been cleared up. David Buehler had a great preseason, but he missed what should be a chip-shot and lost us points that we desperately needed at the end of the game.
Mike... I don't think we can watch the games at your house anymore, every time we do the Cowboys embarrass themselves.
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