The Maddening Timing Of The Cowboys’ Resurgence

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Life itself is often a matter of timing. A chance encounter can lead to any number of detours. A sense of “Why couldn’t this have happened sooner?” can often contribute to an increasing sense of dread when the clock is ticking.

Such is the case with the Dallas Cowboys‘ surprising resurgence last season. After the 2014 season opener elicited that here-we-go-again feeling, the Cowboys proceeded to win twelve of fifteen to finish 12-4.

No one expected it, but the team found its mojo. Powered by a punishing rushing attack and an often brilliant Tony Romo, the offense was usually able to hide the defense’s flaws for long stretches of the season.

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Credit goes to whomever is pulling the personnel strings at Valley Ranch these days. The drafting of Travis Frederick in 2013 and Zack Martin in 2014 allowed the offensive line to gel into a mauling, dominating machine capable of eating up yards and clock.

As a Cowboys’ fan, it was a beautiful sight to see. The team began to resemble the juggernauts of the 90’s heyday. It was arguably never more apparent than when they went to Seattle on October 6th and beat the defending champion Seahawks, 30-23.

That game was the catalyst. It caused the pundits to sit up and start taking the Cowboys seriously. And every time we waited for the other shoe to drop, it never did. The Cowboys would get up every time they got knocked down.

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They plowed through the usual December house of horrors by smashing opposing defenses. They won a tense and controversial match-up against the Detroit Lions on wild card weekend.

And much ink has been spilled about the divisional playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. That contest will forever be a source of debate and pain for Cowboy fans. All we were left with was “What if?”

“What if?” might then be the central theme of the upcoming season. With the start of training camp a scant three days away, and the first preseason game only seventeen days away, the list of questions and concerns about this team only seemed to grow during the offseason.

For all the tangible improvement on the offensive line, what if the running back combo can’t come close to replicating what DeMarco Murray was able to do last season? The history of each back suggests a weak ‘maybe’.

The Cowboys head into the season with uncertainty at RB. As presently constructed, there will be a five-man rotation competing for playing time. Darren McFadden, Joseph Randle, Lance Dunbar, Ryan Willams, and Lache Seastrunk will attempt to capture at least some of last year’s magic.

Will the committee approach prove as successful as last year’s, in which DeMarco Murray was the clear-cut feature back? Only time will tell.

What if a key member of the aforementioned offensive line goes down? Granted, the Cowboys have seemingly fortified the line for years to come, but the war of attrition that is an NFL campaign largely left the offensive front intact last season. Can it hold up this year?

What if a defense that has been much improved on paper continues to struggle in stopping opposing offenses? Truth of the matter is the Cowboys will not sneak up on anyone this year. Good or bad, teams tend to bring their “A” game when it comes to playing Dallas.

They either love to kick them while they’re down or knock them down a peg when they’re up. To wit, the first five games will tell us a lot, especially if Tom Brady helms the New England Patriots when they come to town in week 5.

Prior to that, it goes New York Giants, at Philadelphia, Atlanta, at New Orleans. I can’t sit here and tell you there’s a gimme in the bunch. But if they come out of that at 3-2 going into the week six bye, then I think think they’ll be in decent shape.

Granted, I’m speaking in hypotheticals here. I’m a jaded glass-half-empty guy when it comes to this team. We’ve been lowering our expectations year after year, and when the team finally shows a spark, it’s typical of me to fear what may lie ahead.

History tells us, however, that our Silver and Blue doesn’t deal with front runner status well. It changed for the better last season, to be sure, but we’re again waiting to see how this team handles a little success.

Last–and surely not least–is the veritable elephant in the room: the health of Tony Romo. What if he is lost for any amount of time? What if he gets knocked out for the season in week 4? All bets would be off, and the team would be left to drift along without their elite quarterback.

Granted, I’m speaking in hypotheticals here. I’m a jaded, glass-half-empty guy when it comes to this team. We’ve been lowering our expectations year after year, and when the team finally shows a spark, it’s typical of me to fear what may lie ahead.

And that’s what makes last year’s turnaround so tough. What if Jerry and company started committing to keeping Tony clean earlier in his career? Why did Jerry wait so long to cede some control to his lieutenants?

That it’s happened is something of a minor miracle and a departure from the former status quo. But we’re now at a point where the Romo era has three, maybe four years left? That estimate might be pushing it, too.

I’m sure I can speak for the rest of the fans when I say I desperately want Tony to win a championship. By all accounts, he is a good guy. For all the unnecessary and mean-spirited criticism he’s taken over the years, he seems well able to handle it.

That thick skin is very necessary when the pantheon of signal callers in this franchise includes names like Meredith, Staubach, and Aikman.

As someone who’s been a Romo supporter since he was named the starter, I want to see him get over the hump and lay claim to a title. I root for guys like him.

I want him to flip his critics the bird and show off a Lombardi trophy.

I’ve said it before, but the parallels between Tony’s and Dirk’s careers are similar. Both were criticized for not having “It”, being soft, crumbling under pressure.

Dirk gloriously laid that to rest in 2011 and changed his reputation forever. Tony began to turn his career arc around behind last season’s impressive run.

But the clock is ticking. Time waits for no one, and our field general’s window is rapidly closing. Let us just hope the career of one of the finest quarterbacks of his era reaches the ultimate destination.

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