Getting Back On The Road

Personally, there's nothing more aggravating than not reacting quick enough or simply misjudging a dip in the road and expecting to see your muffler in the rear view mirror laying in the middle of the road. The fact is that most depressions in the road are supposed to be there. They are designed to be a speed deterrent, and each vehicle hits them at various rates of speed at different times with a variety of side effects.

The roads that NFL teams travel down are also full of dips, pot holes, and ruts including the streaking New England Patriots. They approached some potentially-dangerous cavities facing Indy, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the NY Jets but they've been able to avoid the hazards and maintain their course flawlessly with some great vehicle maneuvering.

Dallas has found the road this season also full of stumbling blocks. There was the Patriots declivity that caused Dallas to blow a tire and pull over for a change. That had been the only loss, but you can't ignore the scary pot hole in Buffalo and the near collision with a barricade in Washington. Who can forget the stalled semi in their lane that caused Bid D to swerve and fly through a fence in Detroit "Griswold-style" only to land in the parking lot of one of their destinations, Playoff Park?

Things seemed rosy when they got back on the highway and approached Philadelphia.

I don't know if it was something (or someone) that distracted them or if something else was on their mind, but the steep slope in the road called Eagles Gulch left Dallas woozy and feeling whiplash. They're OK despite some scrapes, bent fenders and side panels, and a shredded tire, but this got their attention. For some reason, they typically have trouble along this stretch of road in December which in years past has led to them suffering enough colossal damage that they had to cancel the rest of their trip.

Tonight, they approach Carolina and something tells me that last week's wake-up call will have them focused like a hungry hawk spotting a mouse in a desert. The Panthers are starting Matt Moore, who was Dallas' 3rd-string QB this past pre-season, so that has to be in the Cowboys favor since they've had success this year against freshman QB's. A dilapidated offense ranked 29th in the league shouldn't find much room to move the ball efficiently if Dallas can keep constant pressure on Moore and stop the run.

I simply don't see the warning signs in Pantherland of Dallas bottoming out as they take one step closer in securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. This will become reality if Green Bay is derailed in Chicago and Dallas takes care of business at this rest stop in Carolina.