1/15/24

Jay C. Brandriet

(NOTE: I will use the word “WE” in reference to the Cowboy’s. I know I’m not paid by the team, nor do I put my life on the line. It’s the language of a die-hard fan of 40 years.)

Yesterday, the 7th seeded Green Bay Packers visited Texas.

They ended the Dallas Cowboys season while they were at it.

Don’t let the 48-32 score tell you lies.

It wasn’t close.

Owner Jerry Jones described himself as “floored.”

He thought this defeat might be “the most painful.”

I think it’s the most disappointing loss the franchise has suffered since 2008.

THE PACKERS

Give them credit!

Their run game had my antennas up.

Jordan Love found WIDE OPEN receivers all afternoon.

The Packers defense confused Dallas leaving them off balance.

I knew the Pack “could” win.

After 16 straight Cowboy home wins, being blown out was disgraceful.

They own Dallas right now.

THE COWBOYS

Mike McCarthy once again had a squad with FLAT energy in a big spot.

Dan Quinn’s defense laid an egg.

Dak has always been a top 12 QB.

Yesterday felt like three steps backwards.

RECENT COWBOYS LOSSES TO COMPARE

“Worst losses” are open to everyone’s perception.

Last year at San Francisco was rough.

True.

Dallas played well against a great team.

It was about crucial Prescott turnovers.

They’d retired Tom Brady with a playoff win at Tampa the week before.

The season prior it wasn’t about the refs spotting the ball in time.

San Francisco flat outplayed them at home.

2016 was brutal!

13-3. Number one seed. Lose at home to Green Bay.

Dak and Zeke were rookies.

Aaron Rodgers has one of the best plays he’s EVER made.

2014 was remembered by some as a “robbery.”

Week two through round two of the playoffs an injured Tony Romo goes 38-6 TD/INT ratio. On 4th and 2 in the final moments at Lambeau Field, Tony threw a perfect ball. Dez caught it. Incomplete? Cowboys still had a prayer after that but failed. That team was more clutch than contender.

The L that hurt me most personally was a 2012 week 17 contest at Washington. Romo threw it to their linebacker to end the year. It was his low point. That meant as a Romo defender, it was mine too.

The 2006 field goal snap drop at Seattle was a nightmare.

That group wasn’t winning big either way.

The 2009 club got waxed by the Vikings in the divisional round but had made some key history the previous week.

The 21-17 loss to the Giants in 2007 campaign is still the worse loss over this span.

I was younger and more attached than today.

13-3. Number one seed. NFL record 13 Pro Bowlers.

I remember Jon Brown sitting in my sink, seemingly to get away from the pain coming from the T.V.

We were stunned.

Many of us “expected” that team would win the NFC and face the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. 

WHY THIS 2024 LOSS WAS SO DISSAPOINTING

This was about the payoff of 36 regular season wins over three years.

The groups entire existence was about being READY to step up in January.

To come up empty?

Again?

Their defense was taking the football away on a 1970’s “Steel Curtain” level.

Parsons and Lawrence are all time Cowboys and Bland was a pick six machine.

Dak played his very best ball.

Lamb became a mega star.

They have Hall of Fame O lineman.

The rookie kicker was a record breaker.

Dallas won 9 games by 20 plus points.

Only championship types have done that.

How good were they this year?

Cautious fans like me knew winning two home games and getting to our first NFC title game in 28 years was VERY possible.

To add salt to the wound, Cowboys haters agreed.

They fooled all of us this time.

The general sports world understands someone like Bill Belichick would have our screws tightened overnight.

I’m not interested in solutions or optimism this week.

Not the day to talk about the Cowboys great history, influence, or popularity.

Fans of Dallas need to sit in this dirty diaper.

It wasn’t just another early exit for the boys.

It symbolized who they have been for two plus decades.

Talented, hyped to no end, and more likely to choke.

That game was the golden example of their 21st century underachievement.

Jay C. Brandriet