Greg Easterbrook's TMQB:
Single Worst Game Ever Played: Teams in the win-and-in situation in the regular-season finale have blown it before. But what happened to the Cowboys at Philadelphia wasn't a case of nerves, and it wasn't a bad day; it was a meltdown. Most of the team's highly paid stars -- Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Terence Newman, Adam Jones, Roy Williams -- were actively awful. Head coaching was awful. Assistant coaching was awful -- how come Offensive Genius Jason Garrett was running the same stuff that was stopped by the Ravens the week before? Even the owner did an awful job, distracting the team during the week with incessant talk about what he might do if the Boys didn't win. And play by specific play, performance was awful. You've got to be truly, utterly awful to give up 41 unanswered points in a game in which the playoffs are on the line, in a season when you've been boasting -- as Newman did -- "We're the greatest team in the league."
With the score tied at 3 in the second quarter, Donovan McNabb scrambled on third-and-7 and flipped a short pass to Correll Buckhalter. There were six Cowboys defenders within tackling distance, and all basically did an "Olé"! Buckhalter, who will not make anyone forget Gale Sayers, outran everyone, going 59 yards to set up a touchdown. Dallas got the kickoff and went loss of yardage, incompletion, incompletion, punt. After Philadelphia punted, as well, Dallas again went three-and-out, unable to run despite opening the game with three tight ends on the field. Philadelphia scored again for a 17-3 lead. On the next Dallas possession, Romo forced the ball to the receiver Williams: interception. With 1:04 remaining in the first half, Philadelphia had first-and-10 on the Dallas 42. The Nesharim drove 42 yards for a touchdown -- 26 of the yards on penalties against Dallas, one an incredibly boneheaded late hit by Jones. The touchdown play came when Philadelphia had first-and-goal on the Dallas 1 with 15 seconds remaining -- the Cowboys fell for a play-fake even though Philadelphia held no timeouts. The Eagles kicked off, Jones got the ball and immediately fumbled; Philadelphia kicked a 50-yard field goal to complete a 24-0 second quarter.
Dallas was not finished being awful! In the third quarter, Romo fumbled on the Eagles' 25; Chris Clemons returned the fumble 75 yards for a touchdown. Clemons is a defensive end, yet no Dallas speed player -- not Owens or Williams the receiver -- made any attempt to catch him. On the next Dallas possession, Marion Barber fumbled on the Eagles' 4; Joselio Hanson returned the fumble 96 yards for a touchdown, and only four of 11 Boys on the field made any attempt to chase him, the rest standing with hands on hips, watching, no doubt trying to think of something to whine about. On the next Dallas possession, Romo fumbled yet again -- he got little protection from that Pro Bowler-heavy Dallas offensive line that always seems to be having "an off day" -- setting up the Philadelphia field goal that completed the 41-0 run. Then, trailing 44-3, Dallas punted on fourth-and-3! Still trailing 44-3 in the fourth quarter, Dallas punted on fourth-and-2! And reaching the Philadelphia 24 with the game nearly over, Dallas launched the field goal that made the final 44-6. The Philadelphia crowd collectively laughed as that field goal boomed. Just to prove the whole thing was no fluke, trailing 44-6 with 3:23 remaining, Dallas punted again.
TMQ offers a Single Worst Play of the Season item, but what Dallas did Sunday at Philadelphia goes far beyond that standard. Imagine a 16th-century wooden warship with a cannon rolling loose on its deck and a typhoon approaching, and you're imagining a better situation than the current Dallas Cowboys.
