I’ve heard some radio personalities this week say that Philip Rivers is playing like the best NFL quarterback in the league right now. Let’s just stop right there and call BS. I don’t care what he’s done lately. He hasn’t done what Peyton or Brees have done this year.
But let’s give Rivers his due. His team is 9-3. That’s the record we hoped the Cowboys would have going into this week’s matchup.
Most fans and analysts alike see the Chargers and the Saints as both the biggest challenges and the biggest litmus tests of the quality of this Cowboys team. You can play your heart out against a rival and lose because they’re slightly more amped up than you are. But throw in an top notch AFC opponent with no emotional strings and you’ll see just what Wade Phillips’ team is really made of.
If you watch ESPN.com videos and pay attention to what national media people think, let me save you some time and tell you that they’re mostly idiots. Yes, San Diego has won 15 straight in December. Yes, Dallas has lost far more than its won in December. But these are the moments when the national media hangs their hats on irrelevant stats because they have no actual expertise on the subject at hand. They know a little about a lot of teams.
So don’t be discouraged when Mark Schlereth says the Cowboys “fold like crepe paper in December.” He’s trying to sound smart about a team he doesn’t pay enough attention to, so he’s going with the cheap and easy gimmicky statements.
The Cowboys may lose to the Chargers. They may even lose the majority of their games in December and miss the playoffs. But if they do, it’s not because the Cowboys “can’t win” in December. It will be because the Cowboys aren’t a very solid team and they lack reliable players on the team who can carry the team in a crunch. It all goes back to leadership.
Of course the Cowboys players themselves think they have plenty of leadership. When a person is blind, they don’t see the problem in front of them. A blindspot is a blindspot because you don’t see it. Deep, I know.
I think the Cowboys’ cornerbacks have a fight ahead of them. They face larger wide receivers than they’re used to, and Terrence Newman may not play, only making the situation more dire. Dallas has an above average pass rush, and a legitimate run defense. The question is whether Cowboys receivers can burn the Chargers secondary and keep the score close.
So if you’re going to pick the Chargers to win, pick them for the RIGHT reason. Pick them because of the receiver / cornerback mismatch. Pick them because Philip Rivers has a will to win that we can only wish Romo had. But don’t pick ‘em because of some stupid December statistic.
Go Cowboys!
