NFL Dallas Cowboys

2014 Dallas Cowboys Are Learning How To Win Close Games

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Dan Bailey Dallas Cowboys

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These are no longer your nephew’s Dallas Cowboys, ladies and gentlemen. 

This team is actually learning how to win the close games again, which is something that is absolutely critical if the Cowboys have any designs of making it to the playoffs. This was a staple for the winning teams of the 90s, and was a major reason why the Cowboys returned to prominence in that decade. That has not been the case in recent years, and while the number of painful losses suffered by the Cowboys over the past few seasons are countless, what made matters worse is the fact that they would also find a way to win a few close games.

So as a fan, you could see that they had the ability to step up when needed, but also that couldn’t do so on a consistent basis.

Well, the Cowboys have had two opportunities in this season so far to remind their fans just how much they hate them and how they want to do nothing but ruin their Sunday afternoons. There was the game against the St. Louis Rams where they trailed by 21 points, only to come back and take a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. Every Cowboys fan out there was just waiting for the defense to give up the lead and lose on a last-second touchdown, but believe it or not, there was Morris Claiborne finally making a play and coming up with the game-clinching interception.

Then there was this past Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans in the battle for Texas. After fumbling and stumbling their way to a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, you were just waiting for Romo to throw a pick six in overtime to lose and keep the Cowboys on the road to mediocrity with a 3-2 record. Instead, he threw up a prayer to Dez Bryant, who actually answered it with a catch for the ages that set up Dan Bailey’s game-winning field goal to take them to 4-1.

It could be that Jason Garrett is finally getting a roster full of his guys — guys that can learn from their past mistakes and not repeat them. Or maybe, this team now knows what it takes to win consistently in this league, and that is something that was instilled early on in training camp with attention to detail and finishing every play in practice.

In either case, these lessons being are carried on to the field on Sundays, and fans are starting to finally see the results. For the sake of the physical and mental health of Cowboys Nation, I certainly hope that this continues.

Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.

 

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