By Will Martin
This Sunday in the noon hour here in North Texas the Cowboys will be on your local television sets. Like a deep seated religion you will sit, watch, cheer, curse, ponder, wonder, agonize, and maybe even demonize.
That’s just the way it is in Texas and across the world when Sundays in the fall arrive.
On the heels of how the Silver And Blue appeared to not show up at AT&T Stadium September 7 (likewise with the Cowboys fans) the growing consensus is that it’s going to be long season for the Dallas Cowboys.
Thursday at Valley Ranch I had a chance to visit the Locker Room after practice.
There were four players willing to talk about the team, last week , and a return visit to Nashville.
We begin with the prodigal son of the SEC from back in the day. He promises he will not sing, ‘Rocky Top’ if the Volunteers win. It still is a homecoming of sorts for tight end Jason Witten. We check in with him here. No sense of concerns on his part.
Also on hand and available to the media is a young man who happens to be in a contract year. There was a moment in Sunday’s loss to San Francisco where Tony Romo opted to check off at the line and try to pass instead of a run on the 1-yard line of the 49ers. The networks showed the face of a disappointed DeMarco Murray.
The loss marked the first time in 11 games where Murray had 20 touches in a game and the Cowboys lost. 10-1 now when DeMarco gets the ball. Preparing to go on the road for the next two weeks Murray was more than happy to tackle a number of issues with playing in said contract year, not getting the ball, going on the road, and bounce back from a tough home loss. Here’s DeMarco Murray in his own words.
The Cowboys lost to San Francisco by virtue of four turnovers. Three of them by Tony Romo trying to thread the ball into double and triple coverage as they fell behind 28-3 before coming back slightly in a 28-17 defeat. Romo threw to seven different receivers. Dwayne Harris accrued the most yards on one pass-56 yards-while #88 collected only 55 yards throughout the game and wasn’t really a factor in the outcome. #88 also took a monster shot in the back on one pass route.
Not too often the best conditioned player of the game gets taken out due to dehydration. Despite all of this and despite all the scrutiny on the back of Tony Romo (literally) it was revealed in this video visit that Dez Bryant in good times and bad will always have Tony Romo’s back. You need not take my word for it. I’ll let Dez tell you himself.
Which brings us to our last video visit of the day. The past two times we were able check in with Henry Melton he showed his time in Chicago was well-spent as he possessed the Dallas Stars cap he was more than proud to wear.
While most of the NFL family bemoaned the performance of the Cowboys offense and Tony Romo it was also discussed how well the Dallas held up their end of the bargain in certain scenarios. Yes, Anquan Boldin was able to convert on a few third downs and Vernon Davis successfully found the goal line twice in the 49ers victory.
As we go into Week 2 the Cowboys were ranked tenth in defense compared to 32nd. And with that I’ll let Henry Melton take the floor to have the final say in the video visits. A quick look at adjustments, improvements, and which players might surprise and step up their game in the land of the Music City come Sunday. Here’s Mr. Melton!
High noon this Sunday the action shall commence with Jake Locker and a Titan team led by Ken Whisenhunt who has some history against Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys with the 2009 and 2011 overtime wins in the desert. You can expect a handful of smashmouth football come the weekend when Tennessee and Dallas tangled up.
