FanPost

A Bit of Truth Serum...

I think it is important that I start this off by saying; I am as big a fan of the Dallas Cowboys as anybody who frequents this site. FACT.

With that said, I dont care if the Cowboys are 1-1 along with more than half the league. I DO care that they look like the same "inconsistent" Cowboys that they have been for the past 10 years. Win one week. Lose the next. They had 10 days to prepare for Seattle and their rookie QB. STILL the same ol mental lapses, key dropped passes, fumbles, and just plain ol poor execution got the best of them. AGAIN. Sound familiar?

This is not an anomoly, but a trend. Year after year it is the very same thing. We, as fans, hope and pray for the best each offseason only to get the same product on the field year in and year out. I was a fan when they were 1-15 and I will remain a fan for the rest of my life. However, I am tired of nothing changing. I am tired of the same preseason high hopes only to produce the same "inconsistent" product come gameday. This team needs to look themselves in the mirror and ask why they are playing football and learn to come out week in and week out with greater CONSISTENT effort and limited mental mistakes.

Lets look at the Seattle game: Romo threw 40 balls and only one TD. He was barely over 50% completion while DeMarco Murray ran for 44 yards and we only scored seven points on offense. Now, some may argue that we couldn't get a run game going because we started out in the hole 10-0 pretty quick. Well, that is exactly my point. Good teams dont do that and good teams can overcome those mishaps. Good teams are able to overcome a deficit and have enough gas left in the tank to finish in the fourth quarter. Good teams are on the other end of things where they capitalize on the mistakes thier foe makes. Unfortunately, it always seems that we are the ones being capitalized on; not the ones doing the capitalization. Thus, we are sitting around come playoff time counting down the days until the preseason begins. In addition, where the heck is Felix Jones? Can someone tell him football season began and we need him. PLEASE! Felix Jones seems to be the epitome of what is wrong with this team. Here is a guy who we all had high hopes for and at least I expected him to be a franchise back who we could rely on to make big plays. Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong! The next thing I know, he fails his conditioning test this year and then he is completely absent for the first two games of the year while starting us off in Seattle with an opening kickoff fumble. REALLY?!?! C'MON, MAN! Another mark of inconsistency is Witten and Austin each had 10 targets but they only had five catches and four catches respectively. Look, I understand Seattle has a decent team and we were playing in one of the tougest venues in the NFL; however, Austin and Witten need to be consistent in their play and catching half of the balls thrown your direction is not acceptable. We look to these guys to move the ball on offense not stymie the offense. Dez Bryant; 3 catches on 7 targets? This wont work for us. Seattle may be improved but they cant be THAT good, can they? We had 10 days to prepare for them. We have to learn to win games and act like we have "been there before" not come out the week after a win with a proverbial hangover. That doesnt cut it in the NFL. Ten total drives and not one of them could get us inside the redzone? Unacceptable.

Bottom line is this: we committed two turnovers to Seattles NONE. We cant continue on this same path and expect to win games. The schedule makers made it tough on us this year and this coming week will prove to be no simple task. Although our secondary is inarguably greatly improved (Thank the good Lord!) but there are still the little things we need to improve on. These are the very same "little things" that we have been consistently lacking for seemingly the last decade. The mental makeup of this team MUST improve. I'm tired of all the lockerroom talk and not consistently showing up on the field when it really counts.

Lastly, my fellow Cowboy comrades, please dont mistake this rant as my proclamation that the "sky is falling." Being 1-1 is not cause for panic. YET. But, bear in mind that the Eagles are 2-0, the Eagles beat the Holy Mother Mary out of us TWICE last year, and we cant fall too far behind them if we want to make the playoffs. I am simply stating that it only took two games into the season to show how inconsistent we can be while coming off a HUGE win in the Meadowlands. Disappointing! We have all seen this before, folks. We know how this story ends. This is not how we make it to the playoffs and if someone doesnt quickly right this ship, produce some consistent offensive,defensive, & special teams plays, and come out ON TOP of the turnover battle; then we will be the very same mediocre 8-8 team that we have been since the late 90's.

I am convinced that the upcoming Bucs game will be a great gauge of how we can expect this season to finish. If we come out strong, score some points against an improved Buccaneer team, and do the "little things" right; I think we can expect a playoff season. If we look like we did last week; unprepared, unfocused, and full of mental lapses then we might as well start talking about the 2013 draft and devising ways to impeach Mr. Jerry Jones.

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