Nucleus Disaster

After beginning the season 3-3, the Cowboys have dropped back-to-back games, losing to the Giants and Falcons. They now find themselves sitting at 3-5 halfway through another substandard season.



What seems to be the problem in Big D? How can a team with so much talent continue to underachieve year after year?



These questions quickly lead to talk about Tony Romo, turnovers, and his overall poor play at the quarterback position. Romo has already thrown 13 picks through 8 games (most in the NFL) after throwing only 10 all of last season.





Romo's QB rating of 82.2 is the lowest of his career so Romo certainly deserves his share of the blame. But if you scratch just slightly beneath the surface, you'll see that the Cowboys problems are much deeper than just Romo.







Jason Garrett's coaching seat is getting hotter by the day and rightfully so. The Cowboys play calling has been horrific. Game and clock management has been God awful. Jason Garrett has not prepared his players well for games, has not coached them well, and frankly seems over matched by the level of coaching in the National Football League. If things don't improve drastically and immediately don't expect to see Garrett back in 2013. But let's dig a little deeper into the Cowboys problems and see what we find.

 The bad play calling is due in part because of the injuries at the running back position. As a result of the injuries to Felix Jones and Demarco Murray, the Cowboys running game has been non-existent. They currently rank 30th in the league in rushing yards with 667. The absolute ineffectiveness of the running game has caused Garrett to try to overcompensate with the passing game, a move that has so far backfired. Romo has had to throw the ball more and more, and is currently on pace for 636 pass attempts this season, a total that would eclipse his career-high mark of 550 pass attempts, set back in 2009. This unbalanced offensive attack has allowed opposing defenses to successfully game-plan for them.

And then there's numero uno. The head honcho. The face of the franchise. The man with the final say. The checkbook.

 Jerry Jones' refusal to bring in a general manager is costing this franchise. Winning Superbowl titles in the mid-nineties doesn't make you a great general manager today. From a marketing and branding standpoint, Jones' leadership of the franchise is simply brilliant. The fact that the Cowboys are worth nearly $2 billion substantiates that point. However, those same results in the form of wins have not transpired onto the field.

Most of the big-name talent on the team today can be traced back to Bill Parcels, who coached the Cowboys from 2003 through 2006. If you think Demarcus Ware, Miles Austin, Tony Romo and Jason Witten are some of the better players on the team -- thank Coach Parcells. Parcells last season as head coach of the Cowboys was 2006, and for good reason.

That year they started with respected veteran Drew Bledsoe at QB. His backup was an undrafted nobody from nowhere named Tony Roma, like the rib place. Then in week 6, Bledsoe went down for the year and Tony Romo emerged. Unfortunately for Parcells, stories of underdog heroics and first round playoff exits weren't enough to satisfy Jerry Jones' insatiable appetite for the spotlight. Jones has always possessed a penchant for big-name, attention getting talent, and 2006 was no exception. 

Against the advice of coach Parcells, locker room cancer Terrell Owens was brought in to do the job of poisoning the promising team chemistry.

And that he did. Just like he did in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Just like everyone knew he would. Along with a few touchdowns, Owens brought drama, media attention, and an above the team me-first attitude.


The Cowboys didn't win the Division but still managed to make the playoffs that year, then lost in the first round to Seattle, when Romo botched the hold on a go-ahead field goal in the final 2 minutes of the game. But the poison had already taken effect. No longer were there 53 warriors going to battle each week, watching each other's backs -- they were now 52 and 1.


I'm not pinning the Cowboys problems on Terrell Owens, far from it. I'm pinning a great deal on Jerry Jones for cultivating the type of atmosphere that not only permits, but embraces that type of behavior. Jones needs to be held accountable because I see exactly that same thing happening on their team right now with Dez Bryant.


Bottom line: Team Chemistry. Some teams have it -- most don't.








Let me give an example of another type of locker room cancer:



Coach Chuck Pagano and The 2012 Indianapolis Colts.

Let's not forget that last year, the Colts going 0-16 and Peyton Manning never again playing football were both very real possibilities. Curtis Painter took over for Manning at QB, leading a perennial AFC powerhouse into the 2011 season.

Before the season began, it was widely believed that if former Lingerie Football League standout Curtis Painter, could just manage games and not turn the ball over, that somehow their season would be OK. The Colts nation crossed their fingers in hopes that somehow the absence of their quarterback and leader would somehow go unnoticed. Coach Jim Caldwell and GM Bill Polian banked their jobs on it.

14 losses later, the Colts received the 1st overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, and number 18 was holding up an orange jersey.

Now, after less than a year, only one NFL draft, and losing much of their star power to free agency, trades, and sweeping organizational changes, the 2012 Colts have rallied to 5-3, finding themselves in the thick of the AFC Playoff hunt.


How? Is Andrew Luck that good?



Team Chemistry



The week leading up to the Green Bay game was going to be the test of Chuck Pagano's young head coaching career. The Colts were 1-2, heading into an early season bye-week with a lot of work ahead. The players and coaches earned a few days off before a greuling week of preperation in anticipation of Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay.

Then everything changed.

Coach Pagano was diagnosed with Leukemia.

The teams focus shifted -- concentration intensified. Coach Pagano became a symbol of strength. The Colts defeated the Packers that week 30-27, and including that game have gone 4-1.

This last week, coach Pagano was able to attend a game for the first time in a month. Even if only as a spectator, he was able to see his team play for him, and defeat the Miami Dolphins 23-20.

After the game the team presented coach Pagano with the game ball.

That, is team chemistry. And that, is a winning nucleus.