The Cowboys' offseason failures came back to haunt them in their biggest game of the season.
Faced with a "win-or-go-home" regular-season finale at New York on Sunday night, the Cowboys were humbled 31-14, with two of the most glaring shortcomings residing in the offensive line and secondary.
Turn the clock back to the end of the 2010 season. After missing the playoffs and seeing their coach fired mid-season, what were the Cowboys' biggest needs on the field heading into the offseason? Yup, offensive line and defensive backfield.
It looks like those will remain the priorities after watching Sunday's events. Tony Romo was constantly running for his life, being sacked six times.
The Giants have a talented and deep defensive line, but it was open season on Romo from the opening kickoff.
On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys' secondary was continually burned by Eli Manning and a set of big-play receivers. Cornerback Mike Jenkins must have been playing his tail off because Manning picked on the other corners, Terence Newman and Orlando Scandrick, all night.
Victor Cruz put on a show with six catches for 178 yards and a touchdown. The Giants are also supposed to have a suspect secondary, but you didn't see Dez Bryant or Miles Austin making the plays Cruz did.
The game was basically over by halftime when the Giants held a 21-0 lead. But the season was lost months ago when the Cowboys failed to adequately address their most glaring issues.
The two biggest offseason moves by owner/general manager Jerry Jones were drafting offensive tackle Tyron Smith and finally clearing the dead wood of overpaid, non-productive players like Roy Williams and Marion Barber.
But he didn't go far enough.
Smith was a great pick and almost a no-brainer. Although he played right tackle as a rookie, look for him to move to the more critical left side, where Doug Free was overwhelmed this season. Moving Free to right tackle should make him a better player.
Drafting Smith was a necessity because Marc Colombo was breaking down. They also let guard Leonard Davis go after last season as his usefulness had eroded.
The Cowboys got rid of center Andre Gurode, whose Pro Bowl reputation was much better than his actual performance, but they didn't find a suitable replacement. Phil Costa had his struggles at center, particularly with shotgun snaps to Romo.
At guard, the Cowboys got one more year out of 10-year veteran Kyle Kosier, but they eventually had to bring back Montrae Holland to man the other guard spot beginning in Week 7. That left them with retread Derrick Dockery to finish the season for once Holland was injured late in the season.
There needed to be more and better upgrades of the offensive line. Romo, the Cowboys' most valuable asset, suffered major injuries this season. First it was the cracked ribs, then the bruised and swollen hand. This after Romo basically lost the 2010 season to a broken collarbone.
Romo isn't getting any younger and he can't keep taking the hits he takes if the Cowboys expect him to take them to the postseason. Romo has his faults, but the numbers don't lie: Keep him upright and he can do great things.
As for the secondary, the only significant acquisition in the offseason was safety Abram Elam. And that was just because the Cowboys needed someone back there who understood new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's system, and Elam had spent the prior two seasons in Cleveland with Ryan.
Everyone else on the two-deep was also in the defensive backfield a year ago. And there were many high-quality defensive backs available on the free agent market in the offseason. Unless the Cowboys' cap woes are even worse than we realize, there was no excuse not to bring in some help for the beleaguered secondary.
If you wanted to add a third area of need it was inside linebacker, because we all saw a year ago that Keith Brooking and Bradie James were on the downside of their careers. We finally got to see what a healthy Sean Lee could do this year, even with just one good hand, but he needed a partner and that guy didn't emerge.
Of course, the offseason was basically a blink because of the labor dispute. That hurt the defense all season because they weren't able to absorb Ryan's complex defensive schemes. Even heading into Week 17, there was talk of communication issues and blown assignments.
The Cowboys can't afford another wasted offseason. Although it appears salary-cap restrictions are going to be even tighter this spring, the Cowboys can't do another patch job and expect better results.
The Giants gave the Cowboys the gift of an extra week off to get ready for 2012. More importantly, the Giants' win erased any chance of false hope if the Cowboys had limped into the playoffs.
The Cowboys didn't make the most of their opportunities this season. They can't afford the same mistakes in the offseason.
