Dejavu all over again...

[Juke99]

to quote Yogi Berra.

For those of us who have been fans for a long time, this era of Cowboy football should feel oddly and uncomfortably, familiar.

Late 60's through 1970.

Two losses to Green Bay in the NFL Championship game. Both games ended in dramatic fashion. First one, Meredith tosses an INT into the endzone with the Cowboys in the wrong personnel group....Bob Hayes was on the field trying to block a LB. He wasn't supposed to be. The game ends at the Green Bay 6 yard line with the int into the endzone...final score 34-27

Next year....Dallas clearly had a better team than the Packers. The infamous Ice Bowl game....Dallas takes the lead toward the end of the game...approx 4 minutes left for Green Bay who had done NOTHING in the second half on offense. They proceed to march down the entire length of the field with the Cowboys playing soft on defense and leaving the flats open...the defense couldn't come up with a big play (sound familiar?). Dallas loses 21-17 on the last play of the game, a QB sneak by the Packers.

The next two season, a clearly inferior Cleveland team beat the Cowboys in the playoffs, 31-20, 38-14. The QB play in each game was awful for the Cowboys...so much so, it ultimately played a role in Meredith retiring.

Enter, Craig Morton...another guy who could not win the big game. The team gets to the Super Bowl totally on the strength of the defense...bad bounces, including the final pass off of Dan Reeves hands that lead to the Colt FG that won the game on the last play, the tipped ball to Mackey for a long TD...the Duane Thomas "fumble" on the goal line that wasn't a fumble....and one more heart breaking loss.

After each game, ya just sat there scratching your head, wondering "What on earth is going on here?"

Enter, Roger Staubach...and amazingly, with essentially the same roster, the team became a winner.

Hmmmmm....

This ain't a knock on Tony Romo...but man oh man, do these last years, dating back to the botched snap vs the Seahawks, feel familiar.

 

[DandyDon1722]

Good post. God I hated Craig Morton...but I still believe in Romo. Remember, Morton took Denver to Super Bowl, but he had no chance in that one.

 

[Juke99]

Good post. God I hated Craig Morton...but I still believe in Romo. Remember, Morton took Denver to Super Bowl, but he had no chance in that one.

Me too...yeah but again, that Orange Crush defense was a huge part of Denver getting to the SB...and the Cowboys knew exactly how to defend against Craig Morton (the original Drew Bledsoe).

 

[NorthTexan95]

I've been thinking the same thing the past couple of years. A team has to win three or four playoff games in a row to win the Super Bowl. I don't know if Romo can put three or four great games together.

 

[Juke99]

I've been thinking the same thing the past couple of years. A team has to win three or four playoff games in a row to win the Super Bowl. I don't know if Romo can put three or four great games together.

It's not even the losing that is getting to me...it's the WAY they lose.

It feels EXACTLY like it did back then.

 

[superpunk]

This team just finds new and more horrifying ways to kick us right in the nuts.

Santana Moss/Triplets ROH game.
Seattle playoffs.
Giants playoff game.
Texas Stadium Closing Game.
Cowboys Stadium Opening Game.

They've made crushing the hopes of their fans almost an art form.

 

[btcutter]

I bet every team can compile a long strings of heartbreaks like that. Not that this doesn't hurt.

It's sports. But the law of averages usually kicks in.

 

[Juke99]

This team just finds new and more horrifying ways to kick us right in the nuts.

Santana Moss/Triplets ROH game.
Seattle playoffs.
Giants playoff game.
Texas Stadium Closing Game.
Cowboys Stadium Opening Game.

They've made crushing the hopes of their fans almost an art form.

On the nosey. And that's what feels SO familiar to the era I mentioned above.

 

[SultanOfSix]

I don't tend to believe in luck in the game of football, simply because it seems like a cop out. I think it's a matter of simply not paying attention to the details and playing up to your potential - a sort of, reverse karma against the team that suffers the ill effects of "luck'.

I think Romo has not reached that balance point between making a legitimate play based on a qualified risk, and one that is simply uncalled for because it looks deceptively good. I know the game of football is fast, but think he needs to listen to that little voice in his head or gut that tells him not to throw the ball no matter how good it looks due to the big play. Do I know what the point is? Hell no. But, I think the coaches need to ingrain that in his head. Although I think BP is too conservative in some of his approach to the game, I think he's forgot one of his valuable lessons.

 

[Juke99]

I don't tend to believe in luck in the game of football, simply because it seems like a cop out. I think it's a matter of simply not paying attention to the details and playing up to your potential - a sort of, reverse karma against the team that suffers the ill effects of "luck'.

I think Romo has not reached that balance point between making a legitimate play based on a qualified risk, and one that is simply uncalled for because it looks deceptively good. I know the game of football is fast, but think he needs to listen to that little voice in his head or gut that tells him not to throw the ball no matter how good it looks due to the big play. Do I know what the point is? Hell no. But, I think the coaches need to ingrain that in his head. Although I think BP is too conservative in some of his approach to the game, I think he's forgot one of his valuable lessons.

I'm not at all suggesting "luck" has anything to do with it. I'm suggesting leadership does.

Ya know, it's the old saying "Luck is the residue of hard work"

 

[DemonBlood]

to quote Yogi Berra.

For those of us who have been fans for a long time, this era of Cowboy football should feel oddly and uncomfortably, familiar.

Late 60's through 1970.

Two losses to Green Bay in the NFL Championship game. Both games ended in dramatic fashion. First one, Meredith tosses an INT into the endzone with the Cowboys in the wrong personnel group....Bob Hayes was on the field trying to block a LB. He wasn't supposed to be. The game ends at the Green Bay 6 yard line with the int into the endzone...final score 34-27

Next year....Dallas clearly had a better team than the Packers. The infamous Ice Bowl game....Dallas takes the lead toward the end of the game...approx 4 minutes left for Green Bay who had done NOTHING in the second half on offense. They proceed to march down the entire length of the field with the Cowboys playing soft on defense and leaving the flats open...the defense couldn't come up with a big play (sound familiar?). Dallas loses 21-17 on the last play of the game, a QB sneak by the Packers.

The next two season, a clearly inferior Cleveland team beat the Cowboys in the playoffs, 31-20, 38-14. The QB play in each game was awful for the Cowboys...so much so, it ultimately played a role in Meredith retiring.

Enter, Craig Morton...another guy who could not win the big game. The team gets to the Super Bowl totally on the strength of the defense...bad bounces, including the final pass off of Dan Reeves hands that lead to the Colt FG that won the game on the last play, the tipped ball to Mackey for a long TD...the Duane Thomas "fumble" on the goal line that wasn't a fumble....and one more heart breaking loss.

After each game, ya just sat there scratching your head, wondering "What on earth is going on here?"

Enter, Roger Staubach...and amazingly, with essentially the same roster, the team became a winner.

Hmmmmm....

This ain't a knock on Tony Romo...but man oh man, do these last years, dating back to the botched snap vs the Seahawks, feel familiar.

You might not be knocking on Romo...But this thread will now be 10 pages of people doing exactly that.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

So Juke hates Tony Romo huh?

 

[Juke99]

So Juke hates Tony Romo huh?

Not yet.

How's it going MW?

 

[Juke99]

You might not be knocking on Romo...But this thread will now be 10 pages of people doing exactly that.

Well then they're missing the point.

I don't care where the leadership comes from...could be the head coach...or someone on defense...or a Michael Irvin on offense...or the QB...but SOMETHING has to change.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Think about SB V. Sheesh! If we just make 10 terrible mistakes instead of 11 we win that game. Just a complete comedy of errors all day long.

The fumbles, the interceptions from Morton, the tipped pass to Mackey, and then the coup de grace, Morton's bad pass to Reeves that was tipped up in the air for the Colts to intercept and win the game on a last second FG!

Sickening memories!

At least then #12 was on the bench and would ride to the rescue the next season. We don't have that on this team. Also we have wade. Those teams had Landry.

 

[Hostile]

Great post Jukey, but in truth, I see Bledsoe as more like Morton. Slow footed and seemed to make the biggest mistakes at crucial moments. Romo is more like Staubach. No, he is not exactly like him and I am not saying he is. I hate that I have to bold that so it sinks in, but hysteria is blind. But like Stuabach, Romo is a scrambler and a scrapper who is a phenomenal athlete. Both are highly intelligent.

One key difference is the team around Staubach, especially on Defense. Let's not forget in our nostalgic moments just how good Doomsday really was. Bob Lilly was phenomenal. Chuck Howley was too. Renfro, Harris, Waters, Andrie, Pugh, Jordan, Green, et al. With all due respect to our current Defense they are not in that league.

That team had 5 guys (Staubach, Lilly, Renfro, Hayes, & Wright) who were lifelong Cowboys who are in the Hall of Fame, plus a HOF GM and Head Coach. They also had 4 other Hall of Famers who spent time with other teams (Adderly, Gregg, Allworth, and Ditka). They had 3 other players whom I would argue are worthy of the Hall of Fame (Howley, Jordan, and Harris).

Our current team simply is not in the same league as the 1971 team.

 

[lcharles]

Think about SB V. Sheesh! If we just make 10 terrible mistakes instead of 11 we win that game. Just a complete comedy of errors all day long.

The fumbles, the interceptions from Morton, the tipped pass to Mackey, and then the coup de grace, Morton's bad pass to Reeves that was tipped up in the air for the Colts to intercept and win the game on a last second FG!

Sickening memories!

At least then #12 was on the bench and would ride to the rescue the next season. We don't have that on this team. Also we have wade. Those teams had Landry.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Not yet.

How's it going MW?

Not bad sir! Other than the C-boys obviously.

And you?

 

[Juke99]

Great post Jukey, but in truth, I see Bledsoe as more like Morton. Slow footed and seemed to make the biggest mistakes at crucial moments. Romo is more like Staubach. No, he is not exactly like him and I am not saying he is. I hate that I have to bold that so it sinks in, but hysteria is blind. But like Stuabach, Romo is a scrambler and a scrapper who is a phenomenal athlete. Both are highly intelligent.

One key difference is the team around Staubach, especially on Defense. Let's not forget in our nostalgic moments just how good Doomsday really was. Bob Lilly was phenomenal. Chuck Howley was too. Renfro, Harris, Waters, Andrie, Pugh, Jordan, Green, et al. With all due respect to our current Defense they are not in that league.

That team had 5 guys (Staubach, Lilly, Renfro, Hayes, & Wright) who were lifelong Cowboys who are in the Hall of Fame, plus a HOF GM and Head Coach. They also had 4 other Hall of Famers who spent time with other teams (Adderly, Gregg, Allworth, and Ditka). They had 3 other players whom I would argue are worthy of the Hall of Fame (Howley, Jordan, and Harris).

Our current team simply is not in the same league as the 1971 team.

Oh, indeed...there's a light year of difference in talent...BUT the rest of the league is watered down now, so comparatively, we're not that far off.

But my point was, all the talent those guys had and they always managed to find a way to lose.

The parallels have just been bugging me now for a while.

Romo looks like Staubach in terms of his game but the leadership skills are will to win are universes apart..not saying Romo can't get there.

But mostly, my only point in this was that the similarities in the two eras has been on my mind...

 

[Juke99]

Not bad sir! Other than the C-boys obviously.

And you?

OK...Business sucks.

The knee bounced back nicely.

And Sunday's result, especially living in NY (which you know nothing about), has been a real test of patience.