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Cowboys hope to sustain success with lessons from the past
Todd Archer
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowb...to-sustain-success-with-lessons-from-the-past
...Whether the Cowboys were coming off a 12-4 record, like they had in 2014, or an 8-8 record, like they had in 2011-13, there would be buzz.
The anticipation around this camp, however, is different than what has been felt in recent years. Maybe there was a similar feeling in 2010. There definitely was that feeling in 2008.
In 2009, the Cowboys won a playoff game for the first time since 1996. Even though they were blown out by the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round of the playoffs, the arrow appeared up. Then the season started.
The Cowboys lost seven of their first eight games. The season was over before Tony Romo suffered a broken collarbone in a Week 7 loss to the New York Giants.
In 2008, the Cowboys were looked at as prohibitive favorites after their 13-3 finish in 2007. The divisional round loss to the Giants was viewed as a hiccup, nothing more. HBO’s “Hard Knocks” cameras followed the Cowboys through the spring and summer. Training camp was more like a tour with a train ride to San Diego and practices against the Denver Broncos.
In Week 6 Romo suffered a broken pinky and missed three games. The Cowboys went 1-2 in his absence and missed the playoffs by a game. By the end of the season the team was a dysfunctional mess.
“There’s always lessons to be learned from each year or times you didn’t do it,” tight end Jason Witten said. “I think also you can’t lose sight, we were in contention for the playoffs those years, too. We ultimately didn’t make the plays. And last year we did. In a handful of games at crunch time, we did. We can go through a lot of different things. There’s a different culture, different coaches, different players, maybe some different motives at times. Ultimately, we just didn’t make plays. For us, your ability to kind of dumb it down and say, ‘In these plays, in these games, we didn’t play well.’ And you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and say these are the things that are going to allow us to win. I thought we did a really good job of that last year.”
Jason Garrett has called on a “ground zero” approach this year, repeatedly saying what happened in 2014 means nothing in 2015. He recalled a story about how legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden would teach his team on the first day of practice how to put on their socks.
“These are the greatest players who ever walked and three months ago won the national championship,” Garrett said. “That’s how they did practice. It’s always about coming back to ground zero, coming back to the start and doing it all over again.”
Only Witten, Romo and L.P. Ladouceur remain from the 2007 team. Only Witten, Romo, Ladouceur and Orlando Scandrick remain from the 2009 team.
The 2008 Cowboys carried themselves with a sense of entitlement. The 2010 Cowboys were an aging team hanging on.
The 2015 Cowboys are in the process of figuring out what kind of team they will be.
“I think it’s a different situation,” Romo said. “In some ways, we’re a little bit of a different team, our style. Where our strengths are now are different -- a little -- than they were. It’s just hard to come back and repeat and win the division and playoff games without having a strong nucleus that is coming back and giving yourself opportunities. We were close. In 2010 we didn’t have the personnel we had. When I saw that some guys got older, some guys were gone, some had injuries, so there is a lot of things that play into it. You have to have health and you have to have things go your way.
“Then everyone has to re-commit to starting over and being version of themselves. The only way to do that is to grind it out out here.”
Todd Archer
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowb...to-sustain-success-with-lessons-from-the-past
...Whether the Cowboys were coming off a 12-4 record, like they had in 2014, or an 8-8 record, like they had in 2011-13, there would be buzz.
The anticipation around this camp, however, is different than what has been felt in recent years. Maybe there was a similar feeling in 2010. There definitely was that feeling in 2008.
In 2009, the Cowboys won a playoff game for the first time since 1996. Even though they were blown out by the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round of the playoffs, the arrow appeared up. Then the season started.
The Cowboys lost seven of their first eight games. The season was over before Tony Romo suffered a broken collarbone in a Week 7 loss to the New York Giants.
In 2008, the Cowboys were looked at as prohibitive favorites after their 13-3 finish in 2007. The divisional round loss to the Giants was viewed as a hiccup, nothing more. HBO’s “Hard Knocks” cameras followed the Cowboys through the spring and summer. Training camp was more like a tour with a train ride to San Diego and practices against the Denver Broncos.
In Week 6 Romo suffered a broken pinky and missed three games. The Cowboys went 1-2 in his absence and missed the playoffs by a game. By the end of the season the team was a dysfunctional mess.
“There’s always lessons to be learned from each year or times you didn’t do it,” tight end Jason Witten said. “I think also you can’t lose sight, we were in contention for the playoffs those years, too. We ultimately didn’t make the plays. And last year we did. In a handful of games at crunch time, we did. We can go through a lot of different things. There’s a different culture, different coaches, different players, maybe some different motives at times. Ultimately, we just didn’t make plays. For us, your ability to kind of dumb it down and say, ‘In these plays, in these games, we didn’t play well.’ And you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and say these are the things that are going to allow us to win. I thought we did a really good job of that last year.”
Jason Garrett has called on a “ground zero” approach this year, repeatedly saying what happened in 2014 means nothing in 2015. He recalled a story about how legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden would teach his team on the first day of practice how to put on their socks.
“These are the greatest players who ever walked and three months ago won the national championship,” Garrett said. “That’s how they did practice. It’s always about coming back to ground zero, coming back to the start and doing it all over again.”
Only Witten, Romo and L.P. Ladouceur remain from the 2007 team. Only Witten, Romo, Ladouceur and Orlando Scandrick remain from the 2009 team.
The 2008 Cowboys carried themselves with a sense of entitlement. The 2010 Cowboys were an aging team hanging on.
The 2015 Cowboys are in the process of figuring out what kind of team they will be.
“I think it’s a different situation,” Romo said. “In some ways, we’re a little bit of a different team, our style. Where our strengths are now are different -- a little -- than they were. It’s just hard to come back and repeat and win the division and playoff games without having a strong nucleus that is coming back and giving yourself opportunities. We were close. In 2010 we didn’t have the personnel we had. When I saw that some guys got older, some guys were gone, some had injuries, so there is a lot of things that play into it. You have to have health and you have to have things go your way.
“Then everyone has to re-commit to starting over and being version of themselves. The only way to do that is to grind it out out here.”