A Cowboys Fan Rants After a Loss

I'm a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, but some days I wish I weren't. This morning is one of those days. The Cowboys had their home opener last night, against division rival Giants, in the megalith that is the new stadium, and it's a good thing it has a hole in the roof, because the Cowboys stunk the place up.

Back in the days of the triplets-Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin-even if the team got off to a bad start, you could have hope that they could get it together during half time, come back and clean up their mess, and pull out a win. It's beginning to seem that this team can't do it.

The defense doesn't seem to be able to tackle very well these days. At times it seemed like they were auditioning for the ballet, as they leapt off their feet with their arms outstretched, but made contact with no one. If they did manage to connect with someone, and didn't get a penalty doing it, there was a pretty good chance they wouldn't be able to keep holding, and bring the man down.

Speaking of penalties, while Flozell Adams has been pretty good so far this season about not getting offsides penalties, he hasn't totally left his penalty days behind him. He's just changed their nature. Come on, Flozell, keep your legs to yourself!

I must say the defense did a pretty good job when the Giants were in the red zone; but I can't help but wonder why they couldn't be as effective when the Giants were on the 40, mid-field, or on their own 40. What's that about?

Special teams looked pretty good last week against the Buccaneers, but not so much this week. I do believe I even saw the kicker, Matt McBriar, bring down the punt returner, who got by I don't even know how many players whose job it is to bring down the kick returner. Of course, I was screaming quite loudly, waving my arms, and throwing things, so I may have just imagined that one.

And what about Tony Romo? Tony, oh Tony. I see in the articles this morning, he's accepting blame for losing the game. Well, three interceptions didn't win it for us. I'm not upset enough at the loss to make him take credit for the one that bounced off Jason Witten's foot, but the others I'm more than happy to lay down at his doorstep.

I don't recall hearing the name Roy Williams much last night. Step it up Roy, didn't we like, promise the first born of every fan in the stadium to get you? Please don't tell me you've brought the Lions curse (if there is one) with you. Overall, the game stunk. Too frustrating, too futile, and too familiar.

I will give credit where it's due. Marion Barber did a good job and racked up some numbers. And Felix-if I forgive the fumble-was not too bad. Nick Folk didn't miss anything. And I did love seeing some of the oldies: Tony Dorsett, Roger Staubach, and of course, The Triplets. Oh, those were the days.

Since I am a huge Cowboys fan, I can't totally knock the performance, and I won't give up on my 'boys. I'll be watching next week, hoping Wade and the Cowboys can make Monday Night Football more exciting for their fans than Sunday Night Football was.

Sources:
Sunday Night Football, NBC