After picking the Dallas Cowboys as his Super Bowl favorite, ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer was one of the last in his field to jump off the Dallas Cowboys bandwagon. But, like everyone who has paid even a little attention to the team’s 2010 season, he has leaped with abandon.
Dilfer was asked in a recent appearance on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” if he thought Cowboys’ players had “given up” in Sunday’s 35-17 home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. His answer, if you watched that game, was fairly predictable.
"I've hardly ever said that in my playing career or my TV career. (Sunday) was the closest to it that I've seen,” Dilfer said. “I mean there were guys that gave very, very little effort. And you don't ever want to say the team because there are guys on the Dallas Cowboys team that are completely invested every single down.
“The problem is that it's not the majority. I mean, you saw guys not chasing down receivers, not trying to get off blocks, not finishing plays. Even, I'm not going to say giggling on the sidelines, but kind of that blank stare of indifference on the sideline when you see that your season, it was probably over before this game. But there was no rallying cry whatsoever."
Linebacker Keith Brooking said this week that the team’s defensive struggles of late have nothing to do with effort, and everything to do with execution. But the Cowboys’ performance Sunday spoke for itself--and if there wasn’t a lack of effort, the team must have been really, really tired.
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