Big trouble lies ahead for Dallas
A millionaire walked past me in
ARLINGTON — the locker room Sunday afternoon.
“Tony,” I said as he strode past with matching ball cap and arm sling. “Hey,” Tony replied. Need he say more? Tony Romo is more seen than heard these days and his team isn’t anywhere near capable of hiding his absence.
That broken clavicle? Still broken.
Dez Bryant’s foot? Still far from healed.
The Dallas Cowboys? They’re in big trouble.
The NFC East is a bad grouping, but the Cowboys will have to beat this if they are to keep up with the Giants and Eagles, who both won in Week 3. It appears that 9-7 will be good enough to win this division. That means the Cowboys would only have to go 7-6 the rest of the way, with some of those games coming with Romo and Bryant back on the field.
Therein lies the problem. Can the outfit we watched Sunday keep this thing on tracks to make 7-6 possible? I don’t see it. On the bright side, Romo’s replacement didn’t get his team beaten. At one point in the first half, Brandon Weeden actually had Dallas fans dreaming about a blue-collar wins on the backs of that terrific offensive line and three solid running backs. The Cowboys steamrolled over Atlanta early on with 157 yards on their 15 plays. By the end of the first half, Dallas was up 28-17 and Weeden was being considered for the Ring of Honor. If only. The Falcons aren’t the “Hurty” Birds that went 10-22 the last two seasons. They are a confident bunch under new coach Dan Quinn, who has been able to mirror his team’s lack of All-Pro talent on both lines with great playmaking on offense and a scrappy secondary.
Running back Devonte Freeman played like the Devonte Freeman who averaged six yards per carry in his junior year at Florida State, while Matt Ryan found Julio Jones nine times for 137 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Atlanta 39, Dallas 28. If the 22-0 shutout in the second half is an indicator of what to expect as the Cowboys face New Orleans and New England over the next two weeks, then Katie won’t have to bar the door. It will be blown off its hinges.
Outside the locker room doors — which were still in place last I checked — a billionaire was surrounded by 50 or so media personnel. The team he bought is in dire straits, but he was keeping his game face. It was a real tough weekend. The cash registers sung all weekend as usual, but his prized possession dropped its first game one night after his alma mater was beaten by Texas A&M.
Jerry Jones says he isn’t worried about his team’s psyche — a sure sign that he’s worried about his team’s psyche.
“I wish we had all of our players, but that’s dreaming,” he said. “I liked what we did out there today.”
Perhaps for a half. With running back Joseph Randle leading the way with 92 yards, Jerry’s kids rolled up 295 yards in the first and had the Atlanta defense on its heels the whole time. But the Falcons adjusted by bringing down a safety into the box, which was basically daring Weeden to beat them with his arm.
The dinks and dunks that worked early on didn’t click late. Randle was bottled up for minus-5 yards on four carries in the final two quarters. Terrance Williams, who was expected to do more of the heavy lifting with Bryant gone, was side-ofa-milk-carton missing with two targets and no catches.
Even with those bad numbers marring the second half, you can’t forget about this defense being staked to an 11-point lead before being run off its own field.
Weeden gave them what they needed early. A relatively turnover-free first half and some momentum. Wasn’t enough.
Perhaps this defense tricked us into thinking it was much improved after it punked the Eagles in Philly last week. Or maybe Julio and Matty Ice are really that good.
“We just couldn’t stop them,” said cornerback Byron Jones.
Either way, we will find out soon where Dallas stands. The Saints won’t be easy in that dome, especially if Drew Brees comes back. And New England is the best team in football.
Could be time to order up some new locker room doors, Jerry.