I had a strange thought in the waning moments of yesterday's game. Or maybe it wasn't so strange. Sometimes you just have to believe in what you are seeing.
 
Maybe the coaching isn't so bad after all. Maybe Wade and Garrett are doing as well as they can. Maybe, just maybe, this team is simply not as "loaded with talent" as we al keep telling ourselves. (For me, this is not a new observation, of course.)
 
It's easy, after all, to blame the coaches. As fans, we love and believe in our players. We are certain they are great because we've seen them in pre-season and in training camp. We know everything about them. Surely, surely, if only they were coached correctly, these guys could go all the way.
 
But as the game wore down, it was hard not to notice that this defense did actually hold the Chargers to their lowest point total in over a year. They moved the ball up and down the field. But when it came down to making a play, man against man, these players couldn't do it. There seem to be some ongoing problems with the scheme - I won't argue that there aren't. Every week receivers manage to run completely free. But that seems to be an exception. Dallas is still one of the top scoring defenses. You really can't say the coaches don't put guys into position to make plays. They just don't make them.
 
The Cowboys have no pass rush to speak of. Whose fault is that? We know the pass rush scheme works. We've seen it work here and in San Diego. It doesn't work right now because the guys who are supposed to rush the passer can't get past the guys in front of them. There is a certain amount of deception involved in football, but ultimately, players have to beat the guys in front of them.
 
If you have read my little notes for any length of time, you know that I am a Tony Romo fan, and there is no doubt he is having a solid season, but I won't exempt him from this argument. Yes, he threw for nearly 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Giants, and almost 250 and two touchdowns yesterday. He never turned the ball over in either game, and ended both with a passer rating above 110. But when it came down to it, he had two legitimate chances to win the game in the fourth quarter in both games, but he didn't do it. Is that asking too much? Do we have to get 450 yards from the passer? A few weeks ago, Tony Romo said that one thing he has learned to do is just play the down you're in, just play the drive you're on. Forget about the rest of the game before that. Every play is a new game. If that really is the right approach, then I doubt Romo would say he played well enough. So maybe he just can't.
 
Look, I am not saying the players are bad, or even below average. I also believe that players can get better over time - it happens. I hope it will happen here. But yesterday, bad coaching was not at all apparent to me, nor was lack of effort. These guys play their little hearts out.
 
The signature series of the entire game, to me, was that 2d and goal at the one yardline. Three times Barber flung himself at the line, and this Cowboys team could not pick up an average of one foot per play. Now, you can say they should have tried throwing, but there is nothing easier than saying the play that didn't work was the wrong call. Heck, I've argued before that the play-calling was wrong even when it worked. But you know what? I liked the play calls there. How does Leonard Davis not make that block? How does the entire Cowboys line collapse three times in a row?
 
Maybe they are just not as good as we thought.