Stupid Starheads....But They Make a First 5

"There's a tear in my beer, 'Cause I'm cryin' for ya dear..."

In my area there is a lot of gnashing of teeth and drinking of alcohol because of the lack of ...well...a lot of things on Sunday. As a bit of an extra piling on, I will put in order the top five moments that caused the Dallas Cowboys season to fall in the crapper.

5. Versus Washington, September 28th. The Cowboys showed a real lack of commitment to the running game as they fell to the hated Redskins at home. This began to show a trend in falling in love with throwing the ball.

4. November 2nd, at the Giants. Backup QB (we'll get to that in a moment, but if there was a six on my list it was whoever made the decision Brad Johnson can still play in this league), but huge NFC East game. Mike Jennings has an opportunity to stop smallish Derrick Ward, but wiffs with a lot less than his full effort.

3. Pittsburgh, December 7, the Cowboys hit 'em hard and with half a quarter remaining had a two score lead against the mighty Steelers in less than pristine conditions. When the smoke had cleared, Tony Romo was looking at the backside Deshea Townsend as he crossed the goal line. What was perceived as moral victory was in fact a devastating loss.

2. December 28th, at Philly. This will in most cases be the number one. But, the true Cowboy watcher saw this one coming. No matter how you wish it to be different, you knew that this was going to bad. The complete domination highlighted what had been a problem all season. It was like the perfect microcosm of what was wrong.

a. Who's in charge? Romo over ruled the Wadester and went for it on fourth and inches in the third quarter. (Somebody needed to, geez, Wade..punt, really?)

b. Offensive impotence. Somebody needed to give the 'Boys some pretty blue pills to put something into that dog of a performance.

c. Mistakes. Turnovers, penalties cost this team seriously. In my humble opinion, this team played stupider than every team in the league next to Detroit.


1. The true number one reason why the 'Boys are watching the season is October 12th at Arizona. There are some major reasons why this is the number one cause to a non playoff year in Dallas.

a. Tony Romo is out for a month. (The starheads will go 1-2, losing to the hapless Rams).

b. Felix Jones is out for the season. The Cowboys lost their most consistent playmaker. (Which in itself is an indictment of the entire offense when the number two running back is the most productive compared to his time out there.)

c. Matt McBriar is out for the season. Yeah, I know he's just a punter, but heck he was a top three punter in the NFL. Especially against Pittsburgh his loss was noticeable.

There it is, an autopsy on the season that could've been, First 5 style.