How 'bout Dem Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys finished 8-8 last year under Jason Garrett in his first full year as the head coach. On paper the Cowboys look like a super bowl contending team with a promising future, in reality it’s a team struggling to stay above .500 at 5 and 6. The Cowboy fans have dealt with a lot of let downs in the last decade or so; having only had one playoff birth in the last five years and only one playoff win since 1996. Even after spending 1.15 billion dollars on a new stadium in 2009 the Cowboys have gone 30-29. So what’s the problem in Dallas?

Jerry Jones and the Cowboys knew that they had to make some moves on defense to become a legitimate super bowl contender, after last year’s defensive struggles. So that’s exactly what Jones set out to do, signing cornerback Brandon Carr to a 5 year 50.1 million dollar contract, linebacker Dan Connor for 2 years and safety Brodney Pool for a year. Jones being the headstrong man he is didn’t stop there, he also traded his first and second round picks to move up in the draft and grab the highly regarded cornerback Morris Claiborne from Louisiana State. Coming into this year the four acquisitions were sure to turn this Rob Ryan defense into a powerhouse. With all that money spent and 12 weeks into the 2012 season, reality has set in.

The Cowboys defense has not been stellar, actually just about average all the way through. Giving up 3617 yards already this season which is just under the NFL average (3858) and allowing 24 total touchdowns to be scored on them which is also just under the average (25). Granted those may not be so game changing, but the Cowboys currently stand at minus eleven in their turnover ratio which can single handedly take down any team. Knowing Jones; this average to poor performance is not going to sit well and someone will have to answer and in the NFL that person is either the coach or the quarterback.

Granted no team can win without a defense, but a good offense can hide a bad defense. In this case the Cowboys offense has had a hard enough time making themselves look good. When an offense struggles it usually falls on one player, the quarterback. Tony Romo is in the middle of his eighth season as a starter and has only three playoff appearances, the last being in 2009. Romo has not been his best when his team has needed him most, including bobbling a snap on a routine field goal as time ran out in the 2006-2007 playoff game. Since then it hasn’t gotten any better. Romo has fallen short of playing consistent and complete football.

Granted the Cowboys are just a couple games out from a playoff berth and do have the fire power to make a strong run into the playoffs, all signs are pointing in the other direction. How far Romo will take his team is up to him, and how much longer Romo will be in Dallas, well that’s a topic for another day.