Jackson Stops at One-Yard Line, then Takes TD Celebration too Far

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick nearly closed the gap successfully between Philadelphia Eagles wide-receiver DeSean Jackson and the rest of the Cowboys’ defense before Jackson scored a 91-yard touchdown on Sunday in the Eagles’ 30-27 victory. When it’s all said and done, Jackson may wish Scandrick had caught him before he made a fool of the Cowboys and himself in the process.

On the play, Jackson stopped short of the end zone, turned around and then dropped inside, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The issue here isn’t the celebration, but the fact that it was a pre-celebration. Scoring is fun and dancing around like it’s 1999 and the Denver Broncos are still a good team is all fine and dandy, but only once you get into the end zone. Up until that point you should act like a professional or risk the unthinkable happening, like being stripped of the ball at the last second by a never-say-die opponent. Scandrick was nearly that opponent and now “die” is among the nicest things Cowboys fans are likely to utter to Jackson the next time he’s in Dallas.

Jackson’s skills are undeniable. But he still lacks a great deal of intelligence the same way a musician would a sheet of inspiring music or Bob Vila a broken-down house. Jackson has all the tools to be great, but not the wherewithal with which to showcase them properly. Instead, fans are treated to his countless displays of idiocy, which are entertaining to watch, but more for their shock value, making him quite the sideshow attraction. What’s saddest is that these incidents date back to his rookie season in the league in a game against who else but the Cowboys.

On September 15, 2008, Jackson caught a long pass and easily made his way into the end zone. The only problem was that he unwittingly dropped the ball at the one-yard line, making the score null and void. The Eagles ended up scoring on the same series, meaning Jackson never likely got all that much flak from the coaching staff for his gaffe. No harm no foul, right?

Considering this time around, Jackson took the time to make sure the ball was firmly in his grasp before gracefully falling back into the end zone, maybe he did take something away from the first mistake, but, if that’s all, clearly that helmet-on-helmet hit that concussed him last season killed a few too many brain cells... or didn’t do the trick well enough.

And that’s what Jackson should fear, some opposing NFLer taking too much exception to his antics sometime down the line and then taking a few too many liberties on him the next time he’s left in a vulnerable position. As such, maybe the Eagles should have hoped that Scandrick caught up to him as well, even if it meant the game, considering how valuable Jackson is to the team in the long run... minus his showboating.

Don Meredith Passes away at 72

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith passed away Sunday at the age of 72. Reports indicate he suffered a brain hemorrhage and lapsed into a coma. He was an all-time great that will most definitely be remembered fondly by football fans all over America, if not for his time with the Cowboys, than as a broadcaster. You will be missed.

He McCann Go all the Way! Except for that Part where He Went out of Bounds

There's little reason to hold this touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. Truth be told, they arguably would  still have won Sunday's game without it, beating the Detroit Lions 35-19. But it would still be nice for the NFL and its officials to not hand out points to the Cowboys out of pity. We get it. They suck, but they're America's favourite team. Quite the conflict, sure, but it doesn't mean giving them breaks all of sudden is going to get them into the Super Bowl. They are still two games behind the Washington Redskins for third place in the NFC East. There are just six games left in the season. There are also so many times cornerback Bryan McCann can do this. He's got to run out of gas eventually, right?

If only no One Could See the Cowboys Play Every Week...

Let the record show that while the lights went out at New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday night during the Dallas Cowboys' 33-20 win over the New York Giants, the Cowboys themselves were not lights out. In fact, they were the beneficiaries of one especially tragic Eli Manning pass that, had it not been intercepted, possible could have changed the outcome of the game.

However, it is important to give credit where credit is due and cornerback Brian McCann did set a record for a 101-yard interception return on the play. And even though running back Felix Jones did score a mere 40 seconds after the lights initially went off like a thief in the night, delivering the fatal blow to the giants as they slept, it's important that the Cowboys do get full marks for showing up one week too late to save their ex-head coach Wade Phillips. What must he be thinking, reading the paper this morning? Probably the furthest thing from: "good for them", and more likely containing one or two expletives bookending "those sons of...".

While in an earlier post we said it would be a miracle if interim head coach Jason Garrett was able to get his team to win a second game, we must admit our mistake, not necessarily for giving the Cowboys not enough credit, but for not accounting for the fact that coaching changes tend to have short-term positive effects on teams' performances. It remains to be seen just how long they can keep this up. While the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys' next opponents on Sunday are also 2-7, one thing Dallas may not have counted on is that the game will be played at noon, in the daylight with no chance of a solar eclipse. Of course, if the retractable roof at Cowboys stadium is conveniently closed next weekend, we'll all know why.

Is this the Man that Will Save the Cowboys' Season?

Dallas Cowboys interim head coach Jason Garrett

The answer to the above question is two-fold. Maybe, but only if he actually takes over for Jon Kitna at quarterback. And, even then, probably not, considering the 1-7 Dallas Cowboys are so far out of the playoff race Big D has turned into a small dot in the distance relative to their NFC East rivals. When the dysfunctional family that is the Washington Redskins is a full three games up on you, times are bad to say the least.

And if the Redskins with their coaching tandem of Mike and Kyle Shanahan are the epitome of dysfunction, the Cowboys, who just let go of Wade Phillips on Monday, are a broken home, broken beyond all recognition relative to the team they were that won the division last year, relative to the dynasty that has won five Super Bowls in its history. Think some twisted version of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, with Tony Romo being the glass and all the other players in this production making up all the different characters you would come to expect in the comedy of errors this tragedy has become: 

Owner Jerry Jones can play the part of a philandering husband, who lies through his teeth when asked if are any other women in his life, giving his wife (Phillips) a kiss of death in the process, saying that "you've always been the only one for me", only to eventually reveal that he's fallen out of love with her. Garrett is the young son pushed into taking on more responsibility as the team's new interim coach. And the Cowboys cheerleaders? They're just the window dressing to help distract passing-by neighbours from realizing that there's an actual problem. I know it's wrong to objectify women, but, in my defense, they make it really hard not to.

So bad has it gotten that even the team's marketing department can't even do the simplest thing right, like keep the team's website operational. The day before Phillips's firing was announced, the DallasCowboys.com domain was left unrenewed prompting visitors to the site the day of to see something like this instead of the team's home page:

It's as if the team just decided that avoiding the issue of Phillips's termination altogether was the best way to approach it... all the while hoping that the problem would disappear. In a way, Phillips's leaving does just that, with Garrett having waited in the wings since the end of the 2007 season, when Jones gave him a $3-million-per-year contract to prevent him from pursuing head-coaching opportunities elsewhere.

With Phillips riding into the proverbial sunset, his time has finally come, and it couldn't have come soon enough... up until the point the Cowboys decided to make this season a total disaster.

Romo Goes Down, and with Him Dallas' Super Bowl Hopes

Heading into this season, the Dallas Cowboys were expected to have a real chance at playing hosts to and playing in the Super Bowl, but, barring some miracle taken straight out of the Old Testament, quarterback Tony Romo's injury on Monday night at the hands of New York Giants linebacker Michael Boley has dashed those hopes along with those of the team even making the playoffs. The Cowboys are now 1-5 on the season with 10 games remaining. Mathematically they're still in it, but isn't everybody just six games into the year?

As for owner Jerry Jones stating in an ESPN interview this past weekend that he has the utmost confidence in head coach Wade Phillips, he`s either delusional, been sipping the Kool-Aid Phillips has been serving him, or he`s actually  preparing to give Phillips the ol`heave ho, but just doesn`t want to give him the heads-up through the media, denying, denying, and denying some more, as is common in interviews of that nature. Here`s one quote of what he had to say in that interview:

`This requires experiences to address being down 1-4 and have the focus and have the ability to show players I have seen this happen before, turnarounds. And so if I`m in this situation [he is] and the Cowboys are [they are], I want the experience of a Wade Phillips [notice he added the 'a' as if there are replacements available... hmmm] to give us what he's got to help us to start winning."

"Just what experience?" you might ask. Well, for the record, Phillips has once in his head-coaching career been down 1-4. He was actually down 0-4 as the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 1994 and went on to lead the team to a 7-9 finish.

He was fired after that season. He also was at the helm of the Buffalo Bills in 1998 when they were down 0-3 and he actually led them to the playoffs, before they lost in the first round to the Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately, unless Cowboys back-up QB Jon Kitna turns into Doug Flutie overnight (and based on his performance on Monday, that is the furthest thing from possible), lightning won't strike twice.

So, to sum up: Wade Phillips has never successfully gotten a 1-4 team into the playoffs, Jerry Jones will likely can his ass as possible, as overrated as Tony Romo is, Jon Kitna wishes he was in his shoes, sidelined with a broken collarbone with no pressure on his shoulders whatsoever, and the Dallas Cowboys are screwed.