mad? nope

It's been suggested to me a couple of times already today that I should be "mad" about last night's game, but I don't really see why. I get mad when my team SHOULD win a game, but instead they blow it (usually at the end or in overtime) because of stupid mistakes. People who think I should be "mad" somehow must have thought that the Cowboys should have won last night, and I can't for the life of me figure out why.

You have a 1-4 team who has shown more creativity in the ways they lose games than any team I've ever seen. Then you have the Giants. While not an amazing team by any means, they have consistently played better than any other NFC team over the last 3 or 4 weeks - and they were CERTAINLY the better team on the field last night. Even after handing Dallas three early turnovers, giving them drives that started deep in Giants territory, AND allowing a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown, I didn't see anything either from the Dallas offense OR defense that suggested they ever stood a chance. In essence, you have a team (the Giants) who have looked "elite" (by this year's crappy NFC standards) playing against a team who have looked, well, 1-4 (even playing in this year's crappy NFC). I know a lot of analysts picked the 'Boys to win because their backs were against a wall, and sooner or later talent has to start winning, and all that other crap, but on paper there was no reason to think Dallas stood much of a chance. Add to that the fact that their pro-bowl quarterback was knocked out of the game by a hard (clean) hit early in the 2nd quarter, and I just don't see how I can be "mad" that the inevitable happened. It'd be like if I attempted to drive my not-so-reliable has-a-lot-of-problems '96 Jetta across the country and then it broke down before I got to my destination and it had to be towed. There's no reason to believe the Jetta can make that kind of trip, so why should I be surprised when it doesn't?

I guess it all comes down to something that's long fascinated me: Dallas is supposed to win on reputation alone. If any other team went into last night's game 1-4 and had looked like the Cowboys have looked this season, no one would bet on them. But Dallas is "America's Team" and they're successful a lot of the time, so based on the events of the last 50 years, they should win. Well, folks, the fact that Tom Landry was a really good coach for a really long time a million years ago unfortunately has little to say about the 2010 season.