In fact, that would also be an old echo from the exhibition games, which in August seemed to have some validity. Yes, they can be this bad, at least based on what the Philadelphia Eagles exposed in all football-related areas, starting with superior smarts by the coaching staff, and then moving right through offense, defense and special teams. Two teams play for 60 minutes, then one leaves town with new-found joy and the other leaves a greasy spot on Jerry Jones' green carpet. The Cowboys were still adjusting their jocks as Eagles' coach Andy Reid opened the game with a successful onside kick, the kind of gutsy call that made Jimmy Johnson a legend. Red faces suddenly appeared on the opposite sideline, which had nothing to do with 109 degrees.
Coaches dread being snookered by other coaches.
And the Cowboys looked like bumpkins on the first kickoff of Dave Campo's head coaching career. If only the humiliation had ended there. Instead, it was just the beginning. The Cowboys never did get those jocks adjusted, or anything else, for that matter. Actually, the postgame self-evaluation provided the finest local moments of the afternoon, which, granted, didn't take much.