Category: Cowboys (Page 1 of 39)

He’s never won a divisional playoff game. When his right leg was destroyed in week five, the Cowboys had won only one game, only because the Falcons had treated an onside kick with Dr. Fauci’s social distancing rules. The last time he appeared in an NFL game he was being driven off the field and straight to the hospital after suffering a compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle. And, did I mention that he has not won a single divisional playoff game?

Yet Jerry Wayne has signed Dak Prescott to a four-year contract that makes him the second highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Prescott has been gifted a league-record $66-million signing bonus. The guaranteed $126-million is also an NFL record. There is a no-trade clause in this new deal and a fancy no-franchise-tag clause, giving Dak all the money and all the power in this redefined relationship.

Dak is the second highest paid quarterback in the league. Zeke is the third highest paid running back in the league. Amari Cooper is the fourth highest paid receiver in the league. Those three contracts account for nearly a third of the annual salary cap. And, last time I checked, football is not a three-man game.

This is a gamble by Jerry Jones and, I would say, a little riskier even than his boldest oil field guesses. I think Jerry didn’t want to chance Dak taking the Cowboys to the Super Bowl on a franchise tag and losing him to another team. Can you imagine the criticism? But I think the odds are much better that the Cowboys finish 2021 with a worse record than last season’s 6-10. That’s a lot of money for three players. That’s a lot of money for a guy who’s coming off one of the most gruesome injuries in the live-TV era and, by the way, who’s never won so much as a divisional round playoff game.

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Go Stars. Please score an even-strength goal or two against the Blackhawks tonight.

Peace,

Allan

After a 33-year snub, the only member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s not to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is finally going in. The original number 88, Drew Pearson, was announced last night as a member of the 2021 Hall of Fame Class and will be officially inducted in Canton in August. Drew becomes the 20th Dallas Cowboy to receive this immortal distinction.

I’ve still  not heard a legitimate attempt by anyone associated with the Hall of Fame voting  as to why Drew has been neglected for so many years. It’s not just a head-scratcher of a mystery for everyone who cares about such things, it’s a travesty of justice. Not only has Drew been the only member of the 1970s All Decade Team to be left out, he is the only wide receiver of any All-Decade team to not be inducted. Not only that, he is the only offensive player from any All Decade Team since 1930 to not be included. It’s about time. It’s way past time.

As an undrafted free agent coming out of the University of Tulsa in 1973, Pearson moved from third string to starter during the course of that first season and, by the time of his retirement in 1984, established himself as the greatest receiver in Cowboys history. He played all eleven years in Dallas, helping lead the Cowboys to seven conference championship games and winning three, three Super Bowls and winning Super Bowl XII over the Broncos. During an era when NFL teams ran first and threw later, Drew amassed 489 catches for 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns, plus an additional 68 catches for 1,131 yards and eight touchdowns in 22 playoff games. That kind of consistency made him a team captain and an NFL superstar, his last-second 50-yard hip-grab of Roger Staubach’s “Hail Mary” in Minnesota made him a legend, and his rightful place in the Hall of Fame cements his status as a football immortal. 

I had the great honor of working with Drew during my mediocre sports radio career in Dallas. I interviewed him many times on the phone and in person between 2000 and 2005 and once talked him into co-hosting my three-hour talk show with me before the 2005 draft. You’ve never met a nicer guy. A more humble and gracious guy. A more down-to-earth human.

Congratulations, Drew Pearson. You truly deserve this outstanding recognition.

Peace,

Allan

With the Buffalo Bills advancing to the AFC title game this year, here is an updated list of the NFL teams that have not won a divisional playoff game in at least 25 years:

Miami Dolphins
Washington Deadskins
Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals
Detroit Lions
Dallas Cowboys

That’s good company right there.

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Sixty-six years ago today, Edward Van Halen was born in Amsterdam. When he was seven, he and his family moved to Pasadena, California. Eddie and his brother Alex formed a rock band in 1972 and released the most iconic debut album in music history in 1978. And every rock-and-roll guitarist since has wanted to be Eddie.

In honor of the world’s all-time greatest guitarist, check out this video from a 1995 Van Halen concert in Toronto. And be amazed. When he breaks into “Cathedral” at about the 6:30 mark, be blown away that any human can make a guitar do that. Eddie Van Halen did not invent the electric guitar, but he owned it. Mastered it. Dominated it.

Peace,

Allan

Which would be more of a devastating gut-punch to the Cowboys? To lose to the Giants at the very last second in a dramatic catastrophic collapse? Or to come from behind to beat the Giants, pack up and fly to DFW, think about the next week’s potential playoff opponent during the flight, drive home, sit down in front of the TV, and watch the Eagles jump offsides on Washington’s fourth-and-one to hand WFT the NFC East and get knocked out of the playoffs at 10:30 at night?

I think scenario #2 would have been a lot more fun, but history dictates it was always going to be scenario #1.

Either way. So juicy.

Trailing by four points a little over midway through the fourth quarter, Dallas started at their own 25-yard line and methodically marched to the Giants seven. Confidently. Triumphantly. The Cowboys overcame three third downs and converted a fourth-and-two on what was an unheard of 17-play drive. It felt like some kind of devilish destiny. The Cowboys are terrible, but the Giants, yes, are probably worse. It looked like Dallas was going to win this lousy game and subject all of us to another week of the Mike McCarthy inspiration tour. In the driving sleet in an empty Giants Stadium, Dallas had a first-and-goal at the New York seven yard line. I felt sick to my stomach.

But, then, history took over and all was made right in the football world.

1st down – shotgun formation, Dalton sacked for a ten yard loss
2nd down – shotgun formation, Dalton incomplete across the middle to CeeDee Lamb
3rd down – shotgun formation, Dalton pressured, forced to his left, lofts a dying duck to the middle of the end zone that is intercepted by Giants rookie Xavier McKinney

Dalton said after the game he was throwing it up for grabs, hoping somebody would make a play. He told reporters he wishes he had thrown the ball out of bounds since it was only third down. Hmm. Sounds reasonable.

We all should have seen it coming. We knew the Cowboys weren’t going to punch it in there. Of the myriad Cowboys issues this season, one of the more glaring is their inability to score touchdowns inside the Red Zone. Dallas took four trips inside the New York 20-yard line yesterday and came away with only one touchdown. Each of the other three trips was stymied by a Dalton sack. Dallas scored touchdowns on only 27 of their 54 Red Zone opportunities this year. Too many field goals. Too little imagination.

The longer historical narrative should also have comforted us. The Cowboys always lose when they’re playing a divisional opponent in the season finale with a playoff spot on the line. Five times since 2008, Dallas has needed a win against another NFC East team on the last day of the season to qualify for the playoffs, and all five times they have lost.

2008 Philadelphia 44-6
2011 New York 31-14
2012 Washington 28-18
2013 Philadelphia 24-22
2020 New York 23-19

So, the next time it happens, maybe as early as next season, you can bet on Dallas to lose to WFT or WFC or whatever Snyder’s calling that outfit then. And it’ll be just as satisfying.

Peace,

Allan