Yeah, We still Dem Boys..

Ramblings Post #329
I would like to thank the fair weather fans for their brief stay, and wish them well wherever they land. Git, and don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you! And I would like to remind everyone that we've already punched our playoff ticket, and while I'd love home field as long as we get there and win one I'll feel good about this year. 

After an epic run, the Cowboys have finally lost a game. To them damn NY Giants. I would have preferred Minnesota, but you take what you can get. And now you're saying, whut?

Contrary to the hopes of other Cowboy fans, I wasn't hoping for a run of the table and a one loss season heading into the second season. This is a young team, lead by a rookie, playing wide open get at you football. They'd beat the Ravens with the best defense in football and the Steelers with a last second drive. Their only loss was practically a fluke, with it being blamed on a single player trying to do too much. And as good as they've been, these wins haven't been knock you down and walk away laughing wins, but battles in the trenches that only looked easy in retrospect. 

The Cowboys needed a team loss, where they just didn't execute  and played bad before they got into the one and done shoot-out that is the playoffs. The offense has played badly but still found a way to win, so the team needed loss to get their minds right that they aren't invincible, and what is required for the rest of journey is a new level of commitment  that may not have been needed before or could have been excused from time to time.  And I don't mean this just for Dak and Zeke, who seem surprisingly mature for the little bit of time they've been in the league, but also for the coaches who didn't want to stay creative and appeared to only dabble in play design when it was convenient. I put most of this loss on them: the coaches.

What I really don't want is Dak to end up like RGIII, a phenom in his first season who faded as soon as opposing teams figured him out. And while Dak is consistent, the coaches really haven't gotten creative in the play calling for him with rare exception. Which means other teams who previously had no film now can see what he does, and see that he does it all the damn time. Which is bad. 

Are the Cowboys a Superbowl contender this year? Hell yeah. If they stay healthy and get their minds right.  Will be easy? If it was easy it wouldn't be the NFL. The remaining games are winnable, with I think Tampa Bay and Philadelphia being the more likely and Detroit being a struggle. Two of three wins or one win and a loss by the Giants (who also plays Detroit) means a lock for the division and home field. But it's not over yet. There is still a lot of football to play, and the 'boys have had penchant in the past of pulling defeat from the jaws of victory, but this year I think 'we in there'. And all signs point to that being the case for a while. 

So, take the loss as a reality check. Head back to Jerryworld and let's dig down and see what we're made of. Okay?

How 'bout them Cowboys!

Barkeep. Tequila shots for everybody. I got a good feeling about dem Boys!