Its details forgotten by the throngs, its
merits argued by sports historians, the Dallas Cowboys' trade for wide
receiver Joey Galloway in February of 2000 is still a point of
contention for some even today. Was Galloway really worth two first round draft picks like Jerry Jones thought, or was the trade a complete wash?
By breaking the philosophy of the trade down into several increments,
Decade of Futility lays this argument to rest once and for all with new,
never-before-published material that accounts for every piece of the
puzzle: words, actions, production, and misfortune. Crisp and
refreshingly straight-forward, Chapter 4 of Decade of Futility
simplifies the mysteriously complex Joey Galloway Trade.
For a hard-copy of Decade of Futility, click here:
https://www.createspace.com/4161551
For the Kindle version of Decade of Futility, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Decade-of-Futility-ebook/dp/B00DXFGLSE/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373808496&sr=1-1&keywords=decade+of+futility
Whenever the Cowboys start
thinking and talking big, it’s been proven that fans would do themselves
a favor by expecting the not-so-big. After all, Kevin Sherrington of
the Dallas Morning News had it correct when he observed, “The best are
held to a higher standard. The Patriots live up to it week after week.
The Cowboys? Still a work in progress.”
A game pitting two 5-0
teams against each other, this 48-27 New England victory was not only an
indication of just how good Tom Brady and the Patriots were, but a
stark reminder that Wade Phillips’ Cowboys may not have been all they
were cracked up to be.
Brady, on the way to NFL MVP honors, had a
field day against a helpless Dallas defense, connecting on 31 passes for
388 yards, while becoming only the sixth quarterback to pass for five
touchdowns against the Cowboys. And he made it appear all too easy,
compelling Sherrington to declare that “Brady continues to play at a
level with which most of us observers are not familiar.”
The New
England defense, on the other hand, provided the rest of the league with
the memo on how to slow down Dallas’ vaunted offense: put pressure on
Tony Romo. The Cowboys entered the game with the league’s No. 1 ranked
offense, but posted season-lows in yards (283), first downs (13), plays
(46) and points (20). They had the ball for only 21 minutes, 45
seconds.
The Cowboys fell behind 14-0 early but actually took the
lead in the second quarter thanks to a Romo-to-Terrell Owens touchdown
and a Jason Hatcher fumble recovery that he returned for another score.
Yet it was a barrage of fourth-quarter penalties (Dallas finished the
game with 12 total) that allowed New England to end the game on a 27-3
run, score on their final five possessions, and win going away.
Even
while scrambling for his life, Romo guided the Cowboys offense to the
New England five-yard line with ten minutes remaining, attempting to cut
into the 38-24 deficit. But when his third-down pass for Sam Hurd fell
incomplete, head coach Wade Phillips inexplicably called off the dogs,
settling for a meaningless field goal. The Cowboys did not score again.
For the first time all season, Romo failed to crack the 200-yard
passing mark, one of many shortcomings that failed to dampen the spirits
inside the Dallas locker room, as some players spoke as if some moral
victory had been achieved by hanging with the mighty Patriots for all of
three quarters. Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton, emboldened by nobody
knows what, guaranteed a Dallas-New England rematch in the Super Bowl.
As it turned out, Crayton was only halfway correct. The Patriots were a
Super team indeed, marching into Glendale, Az. in early February with
an unprecedented 18-0 record.
The Cowboys, as the tape revealed,
were not. Owners of an NFC-best 13-3 record, Crayton and teammates
became the first No. 1 seed to lose a Divisional playoff game, falling
to the Giants in ignominious fashion at Texas Stadium.
The best teams are at their best against the best teams in the biggest moments.
The Cowboys had yet to ascend to such a plateau, something that only an
afternoon with Brady’s Bunch could convince the throngs of.
Historians will forever dispute the starting
point of the Dallas Cowboys' slide into mediocrity. But nobody will deny
that Michael Irvin's career-ending injury suffered on this date in 1999
was the single event that significantly accelerated the process.
The 1999 Cowboys had won each of their first three games, and were in
Philadelphia trying to make it four in a row when Irvin caught a short
pass over the middle and was tackled hard by Eagles defender Tim Hauck.
The rest of the story is a mixture of misfortune and infamy, as Irvin
was carted off the field to chorus of cheers from the Philly faithful,
and America's Team vanished never to return.
Dallas finished the season at a 5-8 clip and, though they made the playoffs as a Wild-Card, have never been the same since.
Read the full story in Decade of Futility.
For a hard-copy of Decade of Futility, click here:
https://www.createspace.com/4161551
For the Kindle version of Decade of Futility, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Decade-of-Futility-ebook/dp/B00DXFGLSE/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373808496&sr=1-1&keywords=decade+of+futility
Jerry Jones
Emboldened by another Week 17 belly-flop with a playoff berth on the line, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones proceeded to shake his defensive staff up a bit this past January to ensure his team's well being in 2013. Jones believed last year's bunch was good enough to make a deep push into January, and was hard-pressed to figure out why they couldn't even get past a banged-up Redskins team on the final day of the regular season.
To admit that his Cowboys were probably the NFL's most injury-plagued team in December wouldn't cut ice with Cowboy Nation, so he thought. At the end of the day nobody really cared if the Dallas defense was forced to mix and match 36 different players together.
To sit still and go into the off-season as if nothing had happened would, Jones felt, give the wrong impression to fans, and cast Jones as an owner who feels satisfied with mediocrity.
Rob Ryan
To avoid such a personal catastrophe, Jones duly fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, citing poor coaching and a corruptible scheme as the reasons for the change. Replacement Monte Kiffin, Jones promised, had the wisdom and the scheme to turn the Dallas defense around in a heartbeat...
...And here we are, five weeks into the 2013 season, and the Cowboys' defense is on pace to shatter nearly every record of inefficiency known to football man.
Yes, Dallas is sitting at exactly the same spot they were last season through five games (2-3), only minus a capable defense.
Sophomore
cornerback Morris Claiborne claims that his persistent struggles are a
product of Kiffin's heavy reliance on zone pass coverage.
Outside
linebacker Bruce Carter was a superstar in the making under Ryan's
tutelage, but now finds himself on the bench due to poor performance.
Like last season, pass rusher extraordinaire Demarcus Ware is suffering from several ailments, and is limping around on the field.
And the team just released veteran safety Will Allen on Tuesday. Allen was slotted to be a starter in training camp, but never felt comfortable in Kiffin's Tampa 2 scheme.
In short, the same Dallas defense that Jones praised during training camp is now a unit on broken crutches, seemingly getting worse with each and every game.
Go figure.
Jerry, for the record, has said that he's going to cut Kiffin and staff a little slack. For now, anyway.
But what will Jones do if Drew Brees and Eli Manning post over 400 yards through the air come November? Will he fly off the couch and start all over again on defense this off-season? Or will he dismiss the 73-year old Kiffin over the Thanksgiving holiday and hand the playbook over to line coach Rod Marinelli?
Specifics are hard to decipher at this date, but it's safe to bet that change will be forthcoming. Since this seems to be a do-or-die year for head coach Jason Garrett, then it will probably be sweeping change.
It would be against Jones' nature to allow players and coaches to work through it while accumulating more talent next off-season. Just ask Rob Ryan.
Persistence
is one thing. Continuity is another. Too often, Jerry Jones finds
himself torn between the two, forgetting that a football franchise
benefits from a healthy helping of each.
It's only Week 5, but did Tony Romo just throw
an entire season away Sunday against Denver? History would indicate in
the affirmative.
The Cowboys have never qualified for the postseason in the Jerry Jones era after starting a season 2-3.
Though
the Cowboys are now breaking records seemingly every week, there is
little reason to believe this record will fall to the ground this
December. Even in the miserably weak NFC East.
Reality has become startlingly evident at Valley Ranch during the past 24 hours. Each passing Sunday should only lend to it.
