Last year was a fluke year..................? I really thought we had turned the corner as a franchise last year. Now I think, that is under serious question. Because what I have seen this year leads me to believe that, last year was a fluke. A series of really lucky breaks that lead to some momentum. I believe with Romo this year, we still aren't that strong of a team. 10-6, and thats With Romo. Without him we are a 5 win team. I believe losing DM and inexplicably replacing him with DMC and Randle was irresponsible. Couple that decision with the decision to keep Brandon Weeden as backup was horrendous.
But more then all that. Its the culture that has failed. I look around the league and see how many teams go on and win when their QB goes down. We couldn't. Because without Romo we dont have ..................anything. That is our culture. That has been our culture for a long long time now. I thought that had changed.
One more year for Garrett. I think that will be it for him. If we dont make a push into the playoffs next year, JG must be replaced. A GM must be named. One that isn't part of the Jones Family. I am pretty sure that wont happen, but myself as a fan, will see it as an insult. As disrespectful, to the Dallas Cowboys fans. I am sure the money will roll in, whatever happens.
I don't know if I'd go as far as saying last year was a fluke. We gutted out some good teams least year and played well. I would agree that last year could have been a fluke in the eyes that our talent was not held back by our coaches and or FO. So what I mean by that is Garret is not a good coach but our competitiveness and talent overcame that weakness and we won games. So for Garret it was a fluke but for the players I feel they could be special next year. Last year compared to this year:
Last year- Romo was #1 in the league with QB rating. Murray was #1 rusher. Dez was healthy and on fire. Defense made turnovers and had less talent. There was none or very little off the field distractions. the biggest non-football story for Dallas was Randle stealing underwear.
This year- Romo is injured. Murray gone. Dez is injured and comes back slowly. Defense is far more talented and very few turnovers. As far as off the field distractions- in the off season all the talk is Murray and Dez. Hardy signing is a distraction in off season and during season. Hardy's ex-GF pictures hit the internet. Dez's monkey. Dez's locker room fight with reporters.The constant, irresponsible media looking for some type of negative story with Dez and Hardy on the sidelines.
I think if I could do it over again for Jerry, I would have kept Murray, not signed Hardy and tried in fullest to get the deal done quickly with Dez. One major difference between this year and last year is the injuries and the off the field distractions. We entered the off season with speculation of who would be back and all that stuff and it seems like we entered into the season carrying that off season baggage. Then when injuries hit, the baggage that started in the off season came full front.
What I want more than anything is to go into the off season with a plan and stick to it. No off season baggage. I think that's the biggest difference between last year and this year. This season reminds me of the '97 season. The team's talent started to erode and Aikman, Irvin, Emmitt, Deion, etc couldn't out-talent the coaching staff and all the off field distractions started piling up and became too much of a burden and we collapsed under the pressure.
So I do strongly agree with you about the culture. When you say culture, I say off field distractions. This year feels like the culture of the undisciplined, spoiled, and narcissistic '97 team. That's very disappointing to be back here again.
