'Changes In Platitudes': 1-3 Cowboys Cliches Part Of The Problem
ARLINGTON -Yes, I know the actual Jimmy Buffett song is called, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes. But as it applies to the cliche-laded 1-3 Dallas Cowboys?
What's required here is Changes in Platitudes.
The Cowboys are a Watermelon away from being 0-4 following Sunday's embarrassing Week 4 effort at AT&T Stadium resulting in a 49-38 loss to the underdog Cleveland Browns. But to hear Cowboys leaders talk about it?
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Well, it seems the way to fix it is to talk about it in platitude form, slogans and mantras and traditional football gibberish that doesn't actually mean much in English.
The top examples oozing from the losing locker room here on Sunday?
"We need to start better. We need to do a better job of bringing our preparation to the performance.'' - This is new coach Mike McCarthy suggesting that there is great work being done on Wednesdays and Thursdays and Fridays but, by gosh, it's somehow not "being brought to Sundays.''
Where is the proof of this? Is McCarthy suggesting that Dontari Poe spends Wednesday's dominating Zack Martin but gets inexplicably pushed around on Sundays? That Terence Steele has no problem blocking Aldon Smith on Thursdays but gets inexplicably crushed by Myles Garrett on Sundays? That this woeful secondary hangs just fine with Cooper, Lamb and Gallup on Fridays but gets inexplicably roasted by Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry on Sundays?
Prove it.
Dak Prescott tried this one as well, saying Dallas must "take and translate what we do throughout the week onto the game field on Sunday.''
Ezekiel Elliott went there as well, insisting Cowboys practices were “crisp” last week and adding, “It probably was our best week of practice.”
Put simply: I don't believe that anymore.
“If 'ifs and buts' are nuts, it would be Christmas all of the time. ... We need to play better complementary football.” - This is McCarthy using a version of my ol' Gramps slogan about "if and nuts aren't candy and nuts,'' so I find it heart-warming - except for the football-cliche part.
"We need to play better complementary football.''
I've never understood what that meant. "Complementary,'' meaning the defense should get a takaway and then the offense should follow it up with a touchdown and then the special-teams should kick the extra point?
So they all "complement'' one other, hand-in-glove? Is that what this is supposed to mean? If so, it's hardly a revelation; of course teams are supposed to do that.
What's hilarious about this empty cliche is that the winning team was able to apply it, too.
"We played 'complementary football','' said Cleveland's Garrett, and of course they did. They scored. They stopped you from scoring. And they kicked the extra point. Complementary!
"Identity.'' McCarthy wanted to talk about this, and so did Jaylon Smith.
From McCarthy: “We’re minus-seven (turnover ratio) for the year. That’s unacceptable. It will not be the identity of this football team.''
From Jaylon: “We’re going to get our identity, get our culture, we’re going to do this.”
Truth: There is no such thing as “identity” - except blocking, tackling, catching, throwing, running and kicking. That’s your “identity.”0
"Leadership.'' Another common theme with a losing team.
From McCarthy: "This pattern needs to stop. That starts with leadership. That will be the focus come tomorrow.”
From Dak: “We’ve got great leaders, and that starts with coach McCarthy.''
The fact in the NFL is: Every team has great leaders. Every team has guys who've been team captains, community heroes, honors students, student-body presidents and homecoming kings.
Sometimes, the same teams with the same leaders go 4-12 one year and 12-4 the next.
"We're a come-from-behind team as I stand in front of you.'' - McCarthy, who I assume didn't intent this as a brag, because it's actually a backhanded compliment at best ... and really, even the slap isn't stinging enough.
Why?
Though it's true that the Cowboys' offense has demonstrated an uncanny ability to make potential blow-out losses into thrilling losses ... "Come-from-behind-teams'' are teams that come from behind and win. Every team "comes from behind'' and loses. That's just called a "loss.''
"I refuse to do that.'' - McCarthy on the Cowboys defensive scheme and whether he'll make a change.
“We’re in a scheme change from the prior scheme here and we’re not off to a good start,'' he said. "The worst thing we can do is narrow everything down and be a one-call defense. I refuse to do that. That’s not the path.”
This is about the "vanilla vs. deceptive'' issues of NFL defenses. The 2019 Cowboys were accused of being too simplistic on defense, and easy for the opponent to dissect. This Cowboys defense under McCarthy and Mike Nolan isn't "a one-call defense'' - that is, there are complexities to it.
And McCarthy, after allowing a league-worst 146 points through the first four games and after allowing a franchise-worst 307 rushing yards to Cleveland, is "refusing'' to alter philosophies.
What Cowboys fans are discovering: Contrary to billing, the McCarthy/Nolan tandem is not in possession of some "magical formula'' that produces takeaways. Dallas continues to be notably poor in that department and subpar in sacks, too - just as Dallas was before McCarthy/Nolan got here.
A philosophical concept to be examined on offense is McCarthy's commitment to "just score'' as opposed to "ball control,'' and a philosophical concept to be examined on defense is about the "one-call'' simplification option.
An "I refuse'' reply to these concepts can be portrayed as "bold leadership'' (see above) and "stick-to-itiveness.''
Or it's just stubborn guys being stubborn.
The Cowboys did issue some statements with gravitas after the loss, which incredibly puts them behind NFC East division leader Philadelphia and its 1-2-1 record.
From Elliott: “We got to figure out how to find some confidence. We got to figure out just how to come out hotter. We are coming out with no confidence at the beginning of the game, and it is showing.”
A lack of "confidence''? That is quite a statement.
From Lawrence: “I’ll call this shit 'soft.' I don’t feel like we’re holding ourselves accountable, including myself."
"Soft''? That is quite a statement.
From Dak, who is currently on pace to throw for an NFL record 6,760 yards and a career-high 36 touchdowns: “I’d give all those yards back for a different record. I care about one stat, and that’s to win. When we don’t do that, no other stats matter.”
That seems like quite a statement, too, except ... Stats really don't matter much. And cliches really matter even less.
