It must have been the game venue, the Drew Bledsoe ironies, the Myra Kraft refletions, or Dan Weldon's tragic departure, but all roads led back to Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells yesterday. In watching every second of Cowboys vs. Patriots in Foxboro, it all came back to thee one, ever-resonating Parcells quote..."We Are What We Are." The actual quote is "You Are What You Are," but the applicability is all the same. Cowboys Nation, your Cowboys are What They Are. At 2-3, with games they lost of which they should have won, and vice versa, they are exactly WHAT THEY ARE. And that, matter-of-factly, is overly-average. There is too much talent to be this bad and too much youth to be this good. Let that one soak in for a spell.
There is an inverse dynamic in effect, and if true blue and silver run through your veins, it has to be most disconcerting 6 weeks into the 2011 NFL season. The Cowboys are flip-flopped and a head-scratching anomaly. One would have assumed the Offense to be the strongest and more advanced of the three phases, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Offense, with it's in-progress growing pains up front and the abundance of injuries at the skill positions, seems "light years" behind the "Steady Eddie" Defense. And this wasn't the way it was supposed to be.
The Rob Ryan and DeMarcus Ware-led Defense was to be struggling mightily due to the new Ryan scheme/system, the NFL lockout and Secondary uncertainty. So much for assumptions and should have been's. If not for the Dallas Cowboys Defense, this 1/4+ aspect of the 2011 season would be a total disaster. Argue if you must, and it's taking away nothing from the Tony Romo post-rib injury heroics, but take a good look and snap a picture of Rob Ryan right now. 
Why, you ask? Because his audition and "Head Coaching Campaign" is in full-motion. In its most simplistic of terms, he's not going to be around these parts much longer. Had the Eagles not pulled themselves back into the mix against the division-rival Redskins, his destination could very well have been Philly, and there is nothing to say it ultimately won't. That, Friends, would be a cut of the deepest and cruelest variety.
The Cowboys are in the worst possible position, or dilemma, if you will. The largest abundance of pure football talent resides in Dallas' offensive skill positions, and simultaneously, this is where players in their "prime" also take up residency. Skill positions are both essential and "must-be" productive, but they're only as good as their offensive line allows them to be. While the front five will grow, jell and mature as the year progresses, a work-in-process is the last thing the offensive skill positions need at this juncture in their budding careers. Cutting teeth on the Rams, not the home-field Patriots, is OK, but those weeks are few and far between in the NFL. So, hats off, many times over, to Rob Ryan and the slight-of-hand, top hat magic he is pulling off week in and week out. Enjoy it while it lasts and while you can. Here today, gone tomorrow.
"When you don't know that you don't know, it's a lot different than when you do know that you don't know" is one of the finest Tuna quotes ever spewed, and it couldn't be more fitting for the Cowboys 2011 campaign to-date. "There is winning and there is misery and Success is never final, but failure can be" are two more point-blank and apropos Parcells' gems. Some may choose to completely dismiss the Big Bill era in these parts, but one cannot deny the wisdom the man imparted prior to his departure.
So, what is the overall message of these Bill Parcells' reflections and quotations-fest?? Quite simply, your most-talented and "in their prime" players cannot produce a measly 16 points, regardless of opponent quality, and expect to win in today's NFL. It just isn't going to happen. Jason Garrett and the entire Cowboys Nation have to realize, and more importantly....accept, signal-caller Tony Romo "is what he is," and the wraps, regardless of previous and proven mistakes, must be completely taken off. The Cowboys ARE NOT playing for any Super Bowl title this year, so let the ball fly. With Felix banged, Tashard fumbling and stumbling, and Demarco learning, turn Romo loose. Completely loose and pray for the best. Otherwise, they will completely second-guess themselves out of the 2011 season and David Copperfield Ryan could be off to "greener" pastures. Take advantage while the opportunity affords itself.
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