i love the cowboys, BUT...

[JPostSam]

that was an embarrassment. it really made me feel sick.

how do you fail to defend your home stadium, with a playoff spot on the line, with the entire country watching, with 100 of the greatest members of the organization staring right over your shoulder? how?!?!

no, i'm not going to stop rooting for the cowboys.

no, i don't have a single person/issue to blame.

no, i don't claim to know what the problem is and i'm not calling for anyone to be fired.

but after rolling my eyes for months at all the talking heads making such a big deal out of the cowboys' december swoons and romo not winning a big game that mattered, i can no longer pass it off as nonsense.

several times now -- going back several seasons -- the cowboys have just come out flat in situations that should have seen them playing like their pants were on fire. or they have failed to maintain momentum, playing well and passionately in one game and then coming out flat in the next.

i rooted for dallas this entire game and believed against all reason that they might pull it out... but as they let the game get away from them i realized that they didn't deserve to win the game. and i felt that, if they would lose (as they did), they really wouldn't deserve to go to the playoffs.

i feel like last year's team did all it had to during the season to put itself in a great position... and then blew it. this year's team, i thought, was an even better team -- and yet, it has done more to hurt itself than can be excused or waved away as anything less than a serious problem.

i don't mean the stupid bickering over whether owens is getting the ball enough or whatnot. i mean the fact that you just don't see the big plays in the big moments of the big games. i mean the fact that you don't see the team rise up and impose its will against an opponent for four quarters.

what we see is greatness in spurts, making us all believe in the potential of this team, and then lackluster or boneheadedness that make us all believe we're watching an 8-8 team.

look, i know you can't just recreate the cowboys of the early 90s. but i sure as heck hoped that we weren't watching the browns of the 80s!!

now, it seems like all we have left is that sorry refrain that 31 other clubs' fans will resign themselves to: NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!

...I SURE HOPE SO.

 

[links18]

We all feel your pain.......

 

[gmb85]

Same here.

 

[Spectre]

well said and I agree completely.

tonights loss was inexcusable.

 

[DWhite Fan]

that was an embarrassment. it really made me feel sick.

how do you fail to defend your home stadium, with a playoff spot on the line, with the entire country watching, with 100 of the greatest members of the organization staring right over your shoulder? how?!?!

no, i'm not going to stop rooting for the cowboys.

no, i don't have a single person/issue to blame.

no, i don't claim to know what the problem is and i'm not calling for anyone to be fired.

but after rolling my eyes for months at all the talking heads making such a big deal out of the cowboys' december swoons and romo not winning a big game that mattered, i can no longer pass it off as nonsense.

several times now -- going back several seasons -- the cowboys have just come out flat in situations that should have seen them playing like their pants were on fire. or they have failed to maintain momentum, playing well and passionately in one game and then coming out flat in the next.

i rooted for dallas this entire game and believed against all reason that they might pull it out... but as they let the game get away from them i realized that they didn't deserve to win the game. and i felt that, if they would lose (as they did), they really wouldn't deserve to go to the playoffs.

i feel like last year's team did all it had to during the season to put itself in a great position... and then blew it. this year's team, i thought, was an even better team -- and yet, it has done more to hurt itself than can be excused or waved away as anything less than a serious problem.

i don't mean the stupid bickering over whether owens is getting the ball enough or whatnot. i mean the fact that you just don't see the big plays in the big moments of the big games. i mean the fact that you don't see the team rise up and impose its will against an opponent for four quarters.

what we see is greatness in spurts, making us all believe in the potential of this team, and then lackluster or boneheadedness that make us all believe we're watching an 8-8 team.

look, i know you can't just recreate the cowboys of the early 90s. but i sure as heck hoped that we weren't watching the browns of the 80s!!

now, it seems like all we have left is that sorry refrain that 31 other clubs' fans will resign themselves to: NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!

...I SURE HOPE SO.

I am disappointed tonite also and share your pain, but at least this loss was against a pretty good team.
I wonder how many people remember Dallas' 14-3 loss to the 0-11 Buffalo Bills in 1984? That game is my definition of an embarrassing loss.
This one is not even close :starspin

 

[theebs]

well this was a very strange night and the team really needed to win this game.

but this team is and always has been schizo. It wouldnt suprise me if we beat philly next week and then somehow are favored if we go to arizona.

This team is very incosistent and it is almost impossible to say anything with any type of certainty about them.

I just have my fingers crossed that san diego, washington and minnesota give us all a christmas present.

But it will forever be hard for me to not thing a certain way about this team and I am severly dissapointed that they let a loser like ray lewis dance around and taunt the cowboys fans and players during the last game ever at the stadium. Bart scott, ray lewis and terrell suggs were taunting the cowboys bench after nearly every play and the cowboys did nothing about it, they just sat there and let them do it. Marc columbo seemed like the only guy that was giving it back to them

 

[cowboys#1]

that was an embarrassment. it really made me feel sick.

how do you fail to defend your home stadium, with a playoff spot on the line, with the entire country watching, with 100 of the greatest members of the organization staring right over your shoulder? how?!?!

no, i'm not going to stop rooting for the cowboys.

no, i don't have a single person/issue to blame.

no, i don't claim to know what the problem is and i'm not calling for anyone to be fired.

but after rolling my eyes for months at all the talking heads making such a big deal out of the cowboys' december swoons and romo not winning a big game that mattered, i can no longer pass it off as nonsense.

several times now -- going back several seasons -- the cowboys have just come out flat in situations that should have seen them playing like their pants were on fire. or they have failed to maintain momentum, playing well and passionately in one game and then coming out flat in the next.

i rooted for dallas this entire game and believed against all reason that they might pull it out... but as they let the game get away from them i realized that they didn't deserve to win the game. and i felt that, if they would lose (as they did), they really wouldn't deserve to go to the playoffs.

i feel like last year's team did all it had to during the season to put itself in a great position... and then blew it. this year's team, i thought, was an even better team -- and yet, it has done more to hurt itself than can be excused or waved away as anything less than a serious problem.

i don't mean the stupid bickering over whether owens is getting the ball enough or whatnot. i mean the fact that you just don't see the big plays in the big moments of the big games. i mean the fact that you don't see the team rise up and impose its will against an opponent for four quarters.

what we see is greatness in spurts, making us all believe in the potential of this team, and then lackluster or boneheadedness that make us all believe we're watching an 8-8 team.

look, i know you can't just recreate the cowboys of the early 90s. but i sure as heck hoped that we weren't watching the browns of the 80s!!

now, it seems like all we have left is that sorry refrain that 31 other clubs' fans will resign themselves to: NEXT YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!

...I SURE HOPE SO.

well said i have never been this disappointed ever. final game at texas stadium. coach landry watching from above. and they became the first team in nfl history. let me repeat nfl history to give up back to back plays of 75 yards or more. im gonna go throw up some more

 

[LowTech]

It is depressing. I sure wasn't expecting this type of game.

 

[windward]

well this was a very strange night and the team really needed to win this game.

but this team is and always has been schizo. It wouldnt suprise me if we beat philly next week and then somehow are favored if we go to arizona.

This team is very incosistent and it is almost impossible to say anything with any type of certainty about them.

I just have my fingers crossed that san diego, washington and minnesota give us all a christmas present.

But it will forever be hard for me to not thing a certain way about this team and I am severly dissapointed that they let a loser like ray lewis dance around and taunt the cowboys fans and players during the last game ever at the stadium. Bart scott, ray lewis and terrell suggs were taunting the cowboys bench after nearly every play and the cowboys did nothing about it, they just sat there and let them do it. Marc columbo seemed like the only guy that was giving it back to them

This game was just sad. The postgame ceremony was so bittersweet, if we had just pulled it out it would have been so much better imo.

 

[tunahelper]

Your words ring true and I could not agree anymore.

 

[RoadRunner]

I am disappointed tonite also and share your pain, but at least this loss was against a pretty good team.
I wonder how many people remember Dallas' 14-3 loss to the 0-11 Buffalo Bills in 1984? That game is my definition of an embarrassing loss.
This one is not even close :starspin

I saw the 0-11 Bills game, and I think the loss to the never have played before expansion Texans was the most embarassing loss in the team's history.

 

[BourbonBalz]

I am disappointed tonite also and share your pain, but at least this loss was against a pretty good team.
I wonder how many people remember Dallas' 14-3 loss to the 0-11 Buffalo Bills in 1984? That game is my definition of an embarrassing loss.
This one is not even close :starspin

Apparently you classify them differently than I do. This loss was a true embarrassment.

 

[RainMan]

I think we're all pretty willing to admit this team's December-January woes are a real issue. Having moved past the denial stage, the question becomes what's a realistic fix? That's the hard part.

Sure, we can name all the things that need to be done across the board. The list is 100 things deep. But how do we get there? Is it plausable?

You see it all the times in sports, teams simply unable to get over a certain hump. It's just odd that we're the Tracy McGrady of football.

 

[Beast_from_East]

I just feel sick right now, literally sick to my stomach.

To think the last game in Texas Stadium ended by being the first team in NFL history to give up back-to-back plays of 75+ yards just rips my heart out.

I guess the sad part is that us fans really do care more than the players and coaches about this stuff. To them, its probaby just a paycheck and nothing more.

Very sad when fans are more upset after a loss than the players/coaches.

 

[the kid 05]

not everyone in the country has NFL network...and id agree the loss to the 0-11 bills is FAR worse even the lost to the Texans is greater then losing to a team with one of the NFL's best defenses.

 

[Da Hammer]

this team cant handle any type of pressure so its not surprise the way they played today in one of our biggest most important home games in our history...

 

[Rogerthat12]

I agree, I get so sick of the losses especially after over a decade of waiting and with a better roster.

The excuses are absolutely amazing for this team, look people, we have watched this crap for a long time now and just when we think that our team actually has turned the corner, we get a crap-fest in the biggest games of the year.

It is not one thing or one player, though it is quite comedic to read fans excusing away undisciplined and grossly poor play across the board.

To start, I think Wade is simply too soft and his philosophical approach is not helpful with the types of ego's and players that we currently employ.

For this reason the players lack self discipline, accountability and corresponding team discipline. Wade is a good guy and a heck of a defensive coach but he is no leader of men.

Garrett, has been a huge disappointment this year, I like him on a base level, but it is quite obvious that his squad is in complete disarray conceptually and in terms of preparation, organization and especially execution.

Garrett has become predictable and simplistic in play calling while failing to make the proper adjustments in games and in overall approach.

He also has failed to develop a culture of unity on the offensive side of the ball which should speak volumes to everyone that we will see this same approach if he coached the entire team, not good.

I think a lot of Romo, but honestly he simply sucks in big games and in post-season games up until this point.

I do not like his dismissive attitude at times when asked about his propensity to throw the interception or his own attestation to the NY media about how they need to be patient because he has only been at this full time for two years; explaining away his December swoon.

Romo will not win a championship in Dallas until he learns to make better decisions with the football at crucial points in the game and works on his accuracy and timing with the WR's.

We all hope Romo irons out his game but all we can do is look at his most recent and current body of work and only hope he gets this thing figured out soon.

We were spoiled with Roger and Troy, and though I hope Romo will eventually play on that level, the evidence thus far is that he simply does not.

The WR's are either running poor routes or simply have no timing with their QB. The play-calling could factor in as well, but something is very wrong.

We have way, I mean way, too many weapons on offense to stink it up like we have this year on the offensive side of the ball.

The OL simply commits way too many penalties for the offense to be consistent and this is with a good OL coach. They are inconsistent in run and pass blocking, off and on like the offense in general.

The defense has improved to be sure, actually almost turning the corner under Wade's more aggressive approach.

I think it is a combination of the corners growing up and contributing mixed with Newman's return to health. This means the front can attack without fear of giving up the big play.

However, as good has they have played the last few games: the lack of discipline in committing stupid penalties at crucial times in games, the giving up of huge 3rd down conversions on key drives combined with poor tackling techniques have rendered the defenses overall effectiveness null and void ultimately speaking.

There is simply NO excuse for back to back 77 and 81 yard TD runs due to poor tackling and by taking poor angles.

Special teams is horrid, I do not need to go there and nothing has been done to fix the issues that CAN be fixed.

This team does not deserve to go to the play off tournament, it can not even close out an entire game properly.

Our new incarnation and version of the Dallas Cowboys in general is arrogance without performance, entitlement without title, assumption without gumption and characters without character.

Obviously, I do not mean every player, Demarcus Ware, Barber and others are not the problem but instead hopefully part of the solution as we go forward.

I do not claim to have all the answers that will fix this team but I certainly am clever enough to see that this team needs a leader without compromise and with true conviction that can shape this team into a consistent winner.

This team needs discipline, direction and accountability for poor performance by everyone regardless of status. Without this foundation, this Cowboys regime will simply end in mediocrity and ridicule.

I am truly grateful for the outstanding championshp history of our beloved Dallas Cowboys, listening to Michael Irvin today, just for a moment, helped me to relive the passion, honor and glory of days past.

I do believe we will see these days again but not now, not this team, not this year my friends.

Until the foundation is properly laid, the building will continue to collapse, just like Texas Stadium, just like this incarnation of the Dallas Cowboys.

 

[brickman]

This team seems to always give you hope (like last week's win vs. the giants) and then comes back to earth and kicks you right in the groin. They play well enough at times to keep you interested and thinking there is still a chance .... and then wham!!!!

 

[ologan]

I agree, I get so sick of the losses especially after over a decade of waiting and with a better roster.

The excuses are absolutely amazing for this team, look people, we have watched this crap for a long time now and just when we think that our team actually has turned the corner, we get a crap-fest in the biggest games of the year.

It is not one thing or one player, though it is quite comedic to read fans excusing away undisciplined and grossly poor play across the board.

To start, I think Wade is simply too soft and his philosophical approach is not helpful with the types of ego's and players that we currently employ.

For this reason the players lack self discipline, accountability and corresponding team discipline. Wade is a good guy and a heck of a defensive coach but he is no leader of men.

Garrett, has been a huge disappointment this year, I like him on a base level, but it is quite obvious that his squad is in complete disarray conceptually and in terms of preparation, organization and especially execution.

Garrett has become predictable and simplistic in play calling while failing to make the proper adjustments in games and in overall approach.

He also has failed to develop a culture of unity on the offensive side of the ball which should speak volumes to everyone that we will see this same approach if he coached the entire team, not good.

I think a lot of Romo, but honestly he simply sucks in big games and in post-season games up until this point.

I do not like his dismissive attitude at times when asked about his propensity to throw the interception or his own attestation to the NY media about how they need to be patient because he has only been at this full time for two years; explaining away his December swoon.

Romo will not win a championship in Dallas until he learns to make better decisions with the football at crucial points in the game and works on his accuracy and timing with the WR's.

We all hope Romo irons out his game but all we can do is look at his most recent and current body of work and only hope he gets this thing figured out soon.

We were spoiled with Roger and Troy, and though I hope Romo will eventually play on that level, the evidence thus far is that he simply does not.

The WR's are either running poor routes or simply have no timing with their QB. The play-calling could factor in as well, but something is very wrong.

We have way, I mean way, too many weapons on offense to stink it up like we have this year on the offensive side of the ball.

The OL simply commits way too many penalties for the offense to be consistent and this is with a good OL coach. They are inconsistent in run and pass blocking, off and on like the offense in general.

The defense has improved to be sure, actually almost turning the corner under Wade's more aggressive approach.

I think it is a combination of the corners growing up and contributing mixed with Newman's return to health. This means the front can attack without fear of giving up the big play.

However, as good has they have played the last few games: the lack of discipline in committing stupid penalties at crucial times in games, the giving up of huge 3rd down conversions on key drives combined with poor tackling techniques have rendered the defenses overall effectiveness null and void ultimately speaking.

There is simply NO excuse for back to back 77 and 81 yard TD runs due to poor tackling and by taking poor angles.

Special teams is horrid, I do not need to go there and nothing has been done to fix the issues that CAN be fixed.

This team does not deserve to go to the play off tournament, it can not even close out an entire game properly.

Our new incarnation and version of the Dallas Cowboys in general is arrogance without performance, entitlement without title, assumption without gumption and characters without character.

Obviously, I do not mean every player, Demarcus Ware, Barber and others are not the problem but instead hopefully part of the solution as we go forward.

I do not claim to have all the answers that will fix this team but I certainly am clever enough to see that this team needs a leader without compromise and with true conviction that can shape this team into a consistent winner.

This team needs discipline, direction and accountability for poor performance by everyone regardless of status. Without this foundation, this Cowboys regime will simply end in mediocrity and ridicule.

I am truly grateful for the outstanding championshp history of our beloved Dallas Cowboys, listening to Michael Irvin today, just for a moment, helped me to relive the passion, honor and glory of days past.

I do believe we will see these days again but not now, not this team, not this year my friends.

Until the foundation is properly laid, the building will continue to collapse, just like Texas Stadium, just like this incarnation of the Dallas Cowboys.

It's funny the Bills game from '84 is brought up. I remember that game also. It was only a couple of weeks afterwards that I took my last drink. This morning,I feel like I have a helluva hangover!

 

[JakeCamp12]

Why anyone is surprised by the outcome this December is beyond me...this organization has not done anything to stop these type of swoons. How do you think a team that averages 7.5 penalties a game, always gives up huge chunks of yardage in the return game, doesn't get many turnovers, and turns the ball over because it is always looking for the 80 yard bomb versus working the ball down field and chewing up the clock would suddenly turn into the 90's Cowboys this year....we are what we are, an average over paid team with very dumb players...we have turned into the 80's Yankees and JJ is the George Steinbrenner of football....welcome another decade of mediocre football....