With hell finally freezing over as the Philadelphia Eagles won their first ever Super Bowl, frustration has reached new heights for many Cowboys fans. After years of watching our own team rock back and forth between progress and failure, we now have to be subjected to watching the Eagles come along and quickly reach the pinnacle of success.
Doesn’t that grind your gears?
Well, it shouldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it’s painstaking to watch the Eagles win the Super Bowl, but don’t get caught up to much into what others are doing as it pertains to the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles winning this Super Bowl doesn’t set our beloved team back. Their success isn’t a validation that what the Cowboys are doing is wrong. People are just green with envy right now, but that’s nothing a little soap and water can’t get off.
What Philadelphia accomplished this season was impressive. Their general manager, Howie Roseman did a great job finding the right pieces to help his team. Head coach Doug Pederson has done a remarkable job during his first two years with the team. And the players on both sides of the ball all stepped up and performed this season. What they accomplished was extraordinary and worthy of high praise.
But just because Roseman did a great job doesn’t mean Jerry Jones and Will McClay are running around with their shoelaces tied together. Pederson’s climb to the top in such a short time is not evidence that Jason Garrett is stale and ineffective. And sure, the Cowboys had some of their biggest stars have down seasons this year, but that doesn’t mean they are washed up and should be released. Yet, this is where many fans are at right now.
When you see others have success around you, one reaction is to become jealous and just want what they have. It becomes easy to just get down on yourself. But another is to just focus on the task at hand to get yourself where you need to go. Fortunately for Cowboys fans, this example the type of head coach and front office this team has.
Jason Garrett knows what’s going in Philly, but he can’t be consumed by the Eagles’ success right now. All he knows is that the Super Bowl winner wasn’t the Dallas Cowboys and it’s his job to fix that. Fans will say that he is set in his ways and will just continue to venture on a feeble path of mediocrity. However, over the last few seasons - when the Cowboys have had a down season one year, they’ve followed it with a playoff appearance the next year. Garrett has demonstrated the ability to right the ship and get his team in contention. Fans have put Garrett on the hot seat many times before and each time they’ve had to backpedal, including last year when he won Coach of the Year.
Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and Will McClay aren’t wavering either. They can see the good that this team has done. They trust their head coach and believe this team will win under his command. They have drafted extremely well, been very deliberate with their salary cap management, and have a young team that offers fans a reason to be excited. The defense is starting to show signs of life with the emergence of a formidable pass rusher in DeMarcus Lawrence, and a young up-and-coming secondary group. The team is adjusting to a new franchise quarterback, but they still have several strong offensive pieces in tact to help him be successful.
Just because the Cowboys haven’t been able to put together back-to-back playoff seasons in a decade doesn’t mean they aren’t on the right path. Sustaining success isn’t easy in this league. The Carolina Panthers went to the Super Bowl a couple years ago only to win six games the following year. Both Green Bay and Seattle, who were expected to be strong NFC contenders this year, didn’t make the playoffs. So look around you - sustaining playoff success is hard. Just because the Eagles were able to get there so quickly after the Chip Kelly fiasco doesn’t it’s common, or that they will stay there.
Props to Philly, but don’t let their success make you get the feeling that the Cowboys are just some junior varsity team not capable of contending. They’re still right where they were when the season ended. They have some things to work on, but this team is going places. As long as the team continues to focus on the things they can control and keeps working to get better, everything is going to be fine.