DENVER - When you watch a bad movie, there's never a need to see it again. No sense in rehashing misery.
With good flicks, you don't mind viewing it a few more times.
Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, this movie keeps popping up too often and it reared its disgusting head once again in Denver. You know the one - the promising beginning then a sudden lull through the middle, the anticipation of dramatic, but with a huge letdown at the end.
Once again, the Cowboys find a way to keep a subpar offense in the game for way too long. And like it's done several times before, it ends up biting this team right in the same spot Tony Romo spent most of his afternoon - on his butt.
Go ahead and blame the defense if you'd like. You'll be wrong. Not saying it was a 2009 version of Doomsday but it certainly was good enough to win this game.
But like we've seen too many times, the Cowboys couldn't win it. The offense didn't do enough for the first 58 minutes, making the last two minutes crucial. And Denver's playmaker, who hadn't done anything all game - all season for that matter - steps up and makes a play. The Cowboys never got anything like that. The Broncos did and that's why the Cowboys head home with a 17-10 loss.
And it's a loss that drops them to an average 2-2 record. Fitting, because this team was very average Sunday. Bad offense, great defense and solid special teams. Add it all up and it's average. Denver was slightly above average and the Broncos get the win. Sometimes it's as simple as that.
Every game certainly has its own circumstances, but it was just too familiar. Last year in Pittsburgh when the Cowboys got creative to lose that one, that's one of the most memorable games like this. In 2005, it happened about three times when the Cowboys wasted defensive efforts in Seattle and, of course, who could forget the Santana Moss game when the Redskins scored on two bombs late in the game.
There have been others, like the Washington game in 2006 when the Cowboys somehow let the Redskins rally back in the game and win it with a blocked field goal and their own successful kick to claim a three-point win.
It's really easy to put this Broncos game on the defense for giving up Brandon Marshall's 51-yard game-winning touchdown with 1:46 to play. There's no doubt, they should've made that play. Terence Newman was right there and it's a play he has to make. Maybe not get the interception, but when he's in that position, he's got to at least keep Marshall from getting it. Not only could he not do that, but no one on defense could bring him down.
Kind of ironic that Newman made the play to win the game last week for the Cowboys, picking off a Carolina pass and returning it for a touchdown. This week, after playing a very good game for nearly four quarters, he can't win the jump ball with Marshall. Just like a rebound in basketball, Marshall's 6-5 height wins over Newman's 5-11. Happens every time.
Plain and simple: Marshall made the play the Cowboys couldn't. And Denver needed it, because if Marshall didn't step up, no one would've.
And yes, I called the Broncos a subpar offense. That might even be a compliment. Let's be honest, the Broncos aren't exactly world-beaters when they have the ball. Kyle Orton is nothing but a game manager. But guess what? He doesn't make mistakes. Nothing too high or low.
The Cowboys really can't say that right now about their quarterback. It's either very high or very low with him on a weekly basis. And on this week, he was just off. His passes were both high and low, and to the side and anywhere else but consistently in his receivers' hands.
"It's frustrating to go out there and play like that when your defense played so well," Tony Romo said. "We just couldn't get a good rhythm going. And (Denver) did a good job on us. They're No. 1 in the NFL (on defense) for a reason. They've got a really good secondary and they brought some pressure. We had a tough time all game."
Well, not all game. The Cowboys looked like the Broncos would be no problem for them early on. Thanks to a good mix of runs and passes, which included several well-executed screen passes, the Cowboys were moving it down the field. With a 10-0 lead and Marion Barber looking back to form, you just didn't get the feeling the Cowboys would be staring disappointment in the face in a few hours.
Anytime a team scores 10 points in the first quarter, you would never guess that would be the end of it. The Cowboys were moving the ball well, mostly with the running backs, and usually a running game or balanced passing attack gets stronger as the game goes on.
But the Cowboys didn't get any stronger. In fact, it appeared they got weaker. While no one in the locker room, including Barber, would comment on his injury status, he was definitely limited in the second half. That's coming after a first half in which he portrayed the Barbarian-like toughness that's made him so valuable to this offense.
He was running inside, getting to the corner and slipping through defenders. This offense was clicking because Barber was making it happen. When he wasn't, Choice was doing the job.
All of a sudden, things stopped. Denver shut down the run by loading players in the box. And when you have a secondary, led by a stud corner in Champ Bailey and a physical, veteran safety like Brian Dawkins, teams like the Broncos can sell out to stop the run, knowing they'll be alright against the pass.
And really, that's the problem with this Cowboys offense. They can't make plays in the passing game consistently. Maybe they need more speed. Maybe they need more experience. Maybe they just need more playmakers.
Against the Broncos, the Cowboys didn't even need a lot of plays. Just a few. The defense gives them a turnover on the first play of the second half and the Cowboys can't do anything, not even a field goal.
Time and time again, the defense kept bailing out the offense, hoping, praying that someone would finally make a play.
The Broncos made their play. It was only one, but that's all they needed. That's what happens when you let a team stick around like the Cowboys did here in Denver.
The defense gave up the win in the final two minutes. The offense couldn't get it done in the previous 58.
Any way you slice it, it's a tough loss to swallow. Then again, it shouldn't be that bad if you've tasted it before.
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Nick Eatman - 
