Watching the Cowboys is in many ways like watching the Texas Longhorns – you have your QB who can scramble and make good stuff happen when plays break down, an offensive line that is not much good at pass protection, one great wide receiver and kind of a crap shoot after you get past him, a highly-paid offensive coordinator who often drives fans batshit crazy, and a defense that keeps the team in pretty much every game it plays.   So if you’re a Longhorn fan, you kind of get a sense of déjà vu when you take in a typical Cowboys game.

Sunday night’s match with the Washington Redskins was a very typical Cowboys game, in fact.  The defense was stellar, surrendering zero points to an admittedly awful, beat-up Washington offense.  The offense racked up tons of yards between the 20s, but put up only 17 points due to inexplicable play-calling and consistent failure to execute once in scoring range.  Tony Romo, Leonard Davis, Jay Ratliff, Brady James, DeMarcus  Ware, Jason Witten and Miles Austin all demonstrated one more time why they belong in the Pro Bowl.  Roy Williams sadly continued the most conspicuous disintegration of a pro football career I’ve ever seen.  And head coach Wade Phillips stood on the sidelines with a vacant stare on his face.

Hold that pose, Wade.

 

At the final gun, you had a 17-0 win over what once was the team’s main rival, a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, and a shot a division title against the Eagles coming up next week in Arlington.

Not great, but not too shabby, just like the team itself.

 

Let’s go to the Good, Bad and Ugly:

Good – Tony Romo making things happen.  He is as adept at improvising on the run as any QB in the league, and has finally learned to protect the damn ball while doing it.  Maybe even as good as Colt McCoy.

Ugly – filthy elbow to the head hit by London Fletcher on Patrick Crayton.  And of course, it goes uncalled by the officials.

Bad – you’re up by 14, first and ten on the Redskins 41, well on your way to driving for points that would make it a three score game and probably cause the Redskins to fold up their tent and call it a night.  So, if you’re Jason Garrett, what do you do?  You call an idiot double reverse out of the freaking Wildcat formation, lose 14 yards and kill the drive.  This kind of shit is why this team continues to fail to put up points in proportion to its yardage accumulation.

Good – Jason Witten finally gets a long-gainer.  My brother in law and I were talking Tuesday evening about the fact that Witten has been productive this year, but hasn’t had his annual spectacular long-gainer.  He got it in the 2^nd quarter, and had a hugely productive game overall.  Very nice.

Tight Ends don’t get better than this.

 

Good – Cowboys’ LB play.  This is the strongest group of LBs, top to bottom, of any Cowboys team since the Doomsday Defenses of the early 1970s.  Every one of them is excellent.

Ugly – Roy Williams.  He starts the game by falling down on a double-move route on the team’s opening drive.  He then actually gets open to catch the first TD from Romo, flashing the Hook ‘em sign after the play.  Next, he pops a ball up, leading to an INT, and then just completely drops a wide open stop route that hits him right in the hands.  He is, in a word, terrible.

But he still does this better than any former Longhorn player.

 

Bad – speaking of terrible, how about that clock management at the end of the first half?  Whew.  Good thing the Cowboys weren’t playing a good team.

Ugly – More playcalling follies from Jason Garrett.  1^st drive of the 2^nd half, you have 3^rd and 1 from the Redskins 35.  You line up in a tight, double TE formation, with Barber as the single back.  You run a straight dive right at Albert Haynesworth.  Guess what?  He stuffs it.  4^th and 1?  Same formation, same play, same result.  Goddam, bring on Greg Davis!  It can’t get any worse than this drive killing sonofabitch.  Sheesh.

Bad – next possession, you’re back at the Redskins 31, 3^rd and 2.  You give it to Barber again. Same formation again.  Again, you come up short.  This is the definition of freaking insanity.  Now it’s 4^th and 4 inches.  Same formation, give it to Barber again.  You know the rest.

Bad – early 4^th quarter, 3^rd and 1 from the Redskins 5, same formation, same play, same result.  I have no more hair to pull out.

Fire Jason Garrett, Jerry.

Good – Wade Phillips as a DC.  The Dallas D has been very studly since Wade took the reigns personally.  He is the classic excellent coordinator/mediocre head coach guy.  A defensive John Mackovic.

Good – Miles Austin.  He didn’t really even see the field until the 5^th game of the year, and is now up to 1230 yards on 74 catches for the year.  Think what this guy will do if the Cowboys ever manage to field a legitimate threat at the opposite WR spot.

Defensive Player of the Game – Bradie James, with 12 solo tackles on the night.   Keith Brooking, who has been very good this year, gets all the love from the sports media, this guy remains, for whatever reason, one of the most underrated players in the NFL.

Offensive Player of the Game – Jason Witten was huge all night long, finishing with 6 catches for 117 yards.

Special Teams Player of the Game – Shaun Freaking Suisham, for actually making 2 extra points and a field goal.  This is an upgrade for the Cowboys.

 

This team isn’t playing up to its potential, at least on offense, but the talent is there.  If they ever begin to execute in scoring range, they can beat any team in the League.  With Minnesota and New Orleans showing signs of faltering down the stretch, Cowboys fans can realistically entertain a sliver of hope for advancement through the playoffs.

Then again, given that yesterday was the 13^th anniversary of the last time the Dallas Cowboys actually won a playoff contest, perhaps Cowboys fans should take a “baby steps” approach to all of this.  Let’s see if this team can scratch in a wildcard game before thinking about an NFC Championship, or – dare we even say it out loud – a Super Bowl.

When you’re a Cowboys’ fan, you take what you get these days.

The End.