Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Cowboys: Here comes the bandwagon

Obi-Wan... there... is good in him. I know there is... still...

- Padme Amidala

OK, so maybe that's both overly dramatic and too Star Wars-geeky. But there's something to it. The Cowboys are decent, or perhaps more than decent, again, and it's difficult for me to remain angry and vindictive with this team.

To be sure, the departure of The Pear-Shaped Football Genius helps matters greatly. TO Owens is dropping a lot fewer passes and keeping his attitude effectively adjusted. And Bondo-Face seems to have learned some lessons about staying out of the way. All of these factors make the team a LOT more palatable.

Then there's that Romo guy. Zowie. So far, he's like nothing we've seen around here since the Staubach glory days of the 70s. Fun to watch, easy to like, incredibly athletic, confident but not cocky, what's not to like about this dude? He just makes things happen around him. No word on Carrie Underwood, though. We'd like to see more of her.

Is the offensive line now ready to rival Williams-Allen-Stepnoski-Tuinei-Newton as the greatest in Cowboy history? Absolutely not. But they are good enough with Romo and his matador skills behind them.

Anyone think the MBIII/JJones combo is going to Canton anytime soon? They don't have to, as long as Romo and his receivers, some of whom may be Canton-bound someday, keep the defense stretched and the running lanes clear.

On defense, I'm still not completely sold. The Cowboy D has looked good, but it's been against truly bad offensive teams (Miami, Chicago, and St Louis are all inept offensively, and there's no arguing that point). We'll see week after next, when Tom Brady and Co. line up on the other side of the ball.

One thing I think I've noticed about the Cowboy D - they seem to be inflicting a lot of physical punishment on the oppostition. Lots of opposing offensive players seem to be getting hurt against this D. This may be my imagination, and I have not stats to back it up, but I think there's someting to it. And if there is, I'm not sure what that "something" means - faster to the ball, surer tackles, and harder hits seem likely, and good, but that's just the guess of a never-played-organized-football-after-grade-school guy.

And then there's Wade Phillips, a guy I totally trashed when his hiring was announced. I think he's won the lottery in some ways. He hasn't changed much on his own - the offensive changes are, I think, more Jason Garrett (who, you'll remember, was hired by Jerry before the Phillips hire) and the D, well, see above for my thoughts - but perhaps he's succeeding just because he's not arrogant, condescending, and argumentative like Parcells. It may be that all he needs to do is be up-beat, treat the players like men (hell, humans), and let his coaches do their thing. He hasn't had a lick of true adversity here yet, but it seems likely he will before the season is over. Let's see how he does in more tense circumstances before we nominate him for Coach of the Year.

All told, however, I think I have to retire my Dark Side credentials. This team is fun to watch, is having success, and seems to be keeping its nose clean (at least until Tank Johnson shows up). I think that's about all we can hope for in pro sports these days.

2 comments:

Cap It said...

Here is what my sensei told me:

"Just remember, Grasshopper. Live by the Jedi, die by the Jedi."

As awesome as he has bean, there will be THAT game (hopefully not more than one) where he completely tanks and makes bad decision after bad decision. Where the ball doesn't bounce right back into his hands. Where he doesn't instinctively feel the pass rusher and get out of the pocket before getting hammered.

And it may very well be in a 'win or go home' game.

As long as those bad days are the exceptions and not the rules, I'll take my chances with the Jedi.

He has made it fun again. I feel hope. I say this as I find some wood to knock one.

Welcome back to the Light.

Cap It said...

"one" should've been "on".