Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys Offense: Whose Fault Is It Now?
The Dallas Cowboys and their fans expect to win the Super Bowl every year.
When they do not, it tends to be a problem.
Tony Romo's playoff lapses a few seasons ago were blamed on his then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson, but now she's long gone. (Now she's dating former 49er Eric Johnson; jersey chaser alert.)
While a loss to the Redskins isn't the end of the season, it certainly is cause for concern.
So what went wrong in the Cowboys' season opener?
Undisciplined
1 of 4
Last night, the Cowboys committed 12 penalties for 91 yards, yards that the Redskins were having trouble getting on their own.
On a night where the Cowboys kept Donovan McNabb from completing even half of his passes, they still managed to lose.
Alex Barron (pictured above) accounted for three of those penalties with holds.
Barron played 16 games for the Rams last year, and only had five holds the entire season.
Something needs to change, and change fast. Penalties will be the death of a team, and on Sunday night that proved true for the Cowboys.
Lack of Effort
2 of 4
On Sunday night, the Cowboys looked uninspired, and it wasn't anything new.
Throughout the preseason, critics noted that the Cowboys offense looked sluggish.
The Cowboys felt like that would change when the season began, but obviously not.
The only players that stood out for the Cowboys were Tony Romo and Miles Austin, while everyone else left room for dramatic improvement.
A measly seven tackles was good for the team lead on the Cowboys. Compare that to Redskins where four players recorded at least eight tackles.
No one seemed willing, or ready to make the big plays. But what is worse is that it seemed like they didn't care.
Dramatic improvement is what the Cowboys need. But who will be the person to light a fire under them?
Playcalling
3 of 4
It takes 60 minutes to lose a game, but Sunday night will be remembered for one play.
On their own 30, the Cowboys ran a play with four seconds remaining in the half.
The result? A touchdown!
But...wait...it was for the Redskins you say?
That is what happens when you run a short pass play when you should be taking a knee. The Cowboys didn't even throw down field, so what was the point of this play?
Then coach Wade Phillips had the audacity to try and blame Tashard Choice. Really? He should have never been in that position in the first place.
Another odd thing about the play calls was the lack of run plays. Yeah, Dallas is a pass-oriented team, but they were chewing the 'Skins up on the ground.
More run plays would have been beneficial to the Cowboys in this game, but the coaching staff seemed clueless.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Wade Phillips
4 of 4
The person who chose Wade Phillips in their pool of first NFL coach fired this year is sitting pretty.
Phillips bungled the management of this game in several ways.
Well just look back at everything previously mentioned, and all of it can be blamed on the head coach.
Penalties? The players commit them, but the hundreds of hours of practice put in to prepare for an NFL season are meant to prevent them.
Lack of effort? Whose job is it to inspire a team to play 100 percent? The leaders of a team. One of those leaders is supposed to be the coach.
Playcalling? Well duh. This one definitely falls on Phillips, along with his coaching staff.
Phillips is on the hot seat, and a few more games like this and he'll be looking for a new job.
Wonder if Jerry Jones wishes he kept that Tony Sparano guy around now...
Be sure to check my recap of the "The good, the bad, and the ugly" from Sunday night here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/460834-washington-redskins-beat-dallas-cowboys-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")