USA TODAY International Edition
DALLAS: AMERICA’S TEASE
Cowboys have been merely average over last 17 seasons
Imagine what it must be like aboard the Dallas Cowboys bandwagon. Jerry Jones is in the driver’s seat, and you know he has spared no expense to make this vehicle plush.
We’re talking about the team owner who recently dropped about $ 13 million for a Sky Mirror — a sculpture by renowned Anish Kapoor that stunningly functions as it sounds — to accent his $ 1.2 billion stadium palace.
The bandwagon is filled with diehard loyalists, the type who have allowed a storied franchise that has won one playoff game in 17 years to remain arguably the league’s most popular team.
Back in the day, they were America’s Team. Now the Cowboys are America’s Tease.
But that rabid fan base keeps buying that merchandise. And hoping.
They travel well, too, flocking to places such as “The Big Easy,” where Sunday night the Cowboys were spectacularly spanked 49- 17 by the New Orleans Saints — and the tourist district was flooded by people in Dallas jerseys.
A voice from the back of the bandwagon: Are we there yet?
They are far from there. The bandwagon is stuck in the mud.
Approaching their midseason bye this weekend, the Cowboys are 5- 5. That’s good and bad enough to lead the only NFL division that doesn’t have a team with a winning record. Last season, they finished 8- 8. In 2011 ... 8- 8. And one of the most odd- yet-revealing statistics in the NFL is that since 1997 the Cowboys are 133- 133.
The numbers add up to some seri- ous long- term mediocrity.
The backlash toward Jones this week has been predictable.
His role as general manager is again under fire. He won’t give up that duty. He’s had seven coaches since buying the franchise in 1989 and has said that if he weren’t GM he might have had seven GMs, too.
The heat is on Tony Romo, as well, because it always is. Yawn. Fair or not, he’s the punching bag for America’s Tease, despite the productivity reflected while the team averages 27.4 points a game, fourth best in the NFL. With the owner- GM committing $ 108 million to a six- year exten- sion, it’s pretty much sink or swim with Romo.
Jason Garrett? The third- year coach might be on the hot seat in a lot of places, but the former Cowboys backup quarterback seems safe. He is Jones’ homegrown coach.
Most significantly, the scrutiny is intensified on a depleted defense that yielded a franchise- record 625 yards ( breaking the mark set two weeks earlier at the Detroit Lions) and allowed the Saints to set an NFL record with 40 first downs.
Jones blew it after last season by dumping defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, the scapegoat for another of the late- season collapses that have become part of Cowboys tradition ( Landry, Staubach, Dorsett. Manster, Jimmy, Triplets, December Swoon).
It should have mattered that Ryan’s unit was devastated by injuries. But he was kicked to the curb, replaced by Monte Kiffin. And with that switch, the 3- 4 gave way to a 4- 3 scheme and another type of transition.
On Sunday night, the Sky Mirror turned on Jones. Ryan landed with the Saints and has put together the NFL’s most improved defense. For in- your- face payback, Ryan’s unit didn’t allow the Cowboys to convert a third down ( 0- for- 9).
Afterward, Jones acknowledged that it was fair to second- guess his move on Ryan.
But Kiffin’s unit has been besieged by injuries even more than Ryan’s was last season. Linebacker Sean Lee represents the latest big blow, expected to miss three to four weeks with a hamstring injury.
It has been tough. DeMarcus Ware, the all- pro end, returned Sunday after a three- game absence. Defensive tackle Jason Hatcher is out with a pinched nerve. Franchisetagged end Anthony Spencer played just one game before going on injured reserve with a knee injury. Tackle Jay Ratliff never made it back from last year’s surgery and was released last month.
But there’s no sympathy in the NFL. Every team has injuries. Some, such as the New England Patriots, keep winning.
What now? There’s a lot of season left, continuing with a pivotal Nov. 24 date at the New York Giants. With a 3- 0 mark in the division, Dallas is still the team to beat in the NFC East.
The offense will be pressured to carry the load. Yet with the defense battered, it’s difficult to imagine the Cowboys being anything more than one- and- done in January — if they can avoid a December swoon.
Jones declared this week that there would be no major changes. Garrett cautions that there’s no need to panic. The message for the folks on the bandwagon? Brace yourselves for another mediocre finish ... and another long offseason.