Grounded and unselfish, hungry Dallas Cowboys refrain from ‘eating the cheese’
Coach Mike McCarthy entered this week worried about how the Dallas Cowboys would handle success heading into Sunday’s game against the undefeated Carolina Panthers.
Back-to-back wins, capped by a 42-21 blowout victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in what even McCarthy called “a statement game,” had the national media and the prosperity-starved Cowboys fans singing the team’s praises.
From the buzz on social media to the personal text messages, adoration was plentiful with Super Bowl forecasts and MVP predictions for quarterback Dak Prescott.
“Well, we’ll talk about it,” McCarthy said. “Handling success is something that I always felt is the biggest challenge in life and in this NFL game and everything that goes around it. So every level of success you have there’s different devils. We’ll talk about an excellent obviously division win, home opener and a lot of love from the media. My god we all got toothaches, except me of course.
Former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells used to call it “eating the cheese.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban says the media and fans feed the players “rat poison” after big wins.
Turns out, McCarthy had no need to worry.
Whether the Cowboys win or lose against the Panthers, it won’t be because they have been eating the cheese after a 2-1 start.
“We’ve mentioned it, but I mean, we’re 2-1. The cheese isn’t that good, honestly,” said Prescott who won two division titles and led the Cowboys wins to an 11-1 start including an 11-game winning streak as a rookie in 2016.
“Yeah, that’s all outside of this. But when you play for this organization and as I’ve been here obviously six years I understand that. When it’s bad y’all [the media] make it way worse than it is. Right? So when it’s good, y’all hype it up to be something better than it is. So for us, it’s just about staying within this building and knowing our expectations and our standards. We’ve got to come in each and every day focused with a mindset to get better and be the best. I’ve talked about it time and time again and we’re going to continue to remind each other that that’s what is most important.”
Prescott and McCarthy have made a point to be vocal and communicate with the young players and rookies about the scrutiny and fanfare that comes with the Cowboys.
“You’re as good as your last game,” Prescott said. “And when your last game was good, they’re going to make it out to be something great. As I said, when it’s bad, you feel like it’s the end of the world. So you’ve got to be able to wipe the slate clean every day when you come in, knowing there’s a lot of work to be done. We’re only 2-1, a lot of work to go.”
The message has seemingly been received loud and clear.
But there is no better example than second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs, who had to find out he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month from a teammate because he doesn’t do social media.
He has stayed off the internet since his college days at Alabama under Saban.
“I never want to get complacent so I stay off the internet,” Diggs said. “Ever since college, my coach told me that’s like rat poison. People just egging you on, telling you you’re good, telling you this and that, it really doesn’t matter. At the end of the day I’ve got to go out there and play. I’m focused and locked in on what’s really important.”
This focused attitude on what’s most important is also rooted in now the Cowboys play for each other and with each other.
That resolve has been challenged by the media through the first three games with constant questions about individual touches and success.
Receiver Amari Cooper was asked if had a problem with getting just four passes thrown his way in Monday’s 41-21 victory against the Eagles.
“That would be very selfish to complain about the ball when you won by 20 points,” Cooper said. “Obviously we were doing everything right. I’m fine with it.”
Receiver CeeDee Lamb was asked if he said something to Prescott about not throwing to him on a touchdown pass to fellow receiver Cedrick Wilson.
“No,” Lamb said. “We are just playing ball. It happens. A lot of people are going to be open. That happens throughout the game, going through his progressions and reads. We scored.”
Duh.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott who has been inundated with questions about his role and touches because he is splitting time with backup Tony Pollard.
Elliott has been Pollard’s biggest fan and supporter. Elliott said it’s a long season and sharing load will keep them both fresher.
“As I’ve continued to say, he’s probably one of the most unselfish players on the team,” Prescott said of Elliott. “And when you have a guy like that in the locker room, it allows everybody else to shut their ego down. I’ve played on some good teams with some great people in there, but this is by far the most unselfish group there is.”
“And it’s true. It’s not just on gameday, but it’s day in and day out at practice. It’s impressive. And it’s the reason that we’re having success and it’ll be the reason that we continue to.”
None of it is a surprise to McCarthy. He had made a point to make it clear that the entire system is built around the quarterback and Prescott is one who sets the tone for it all.
When you have a quarterback with the personality, presence and command of Dak, it all falls in line,” McCarthy said. “That is nothing against our perimeter players. They better still want the ball. But at the end of the day, it’s about what is best for winning.”
And what’s best for winning is building a winning culture with grounded and unselfish players.
Part of that formula is continuing to stay focused and not “eating the cheese” after a 2-1 start and working together for the common good as teammates and family.
But they have not done anything yet.
“It’s been special,” Prescott said. “This is a special group, but we’ve got special players and special men and everybody is a part of our success. And it’s only the beginning. We’re 2-1 with a long way to go. Yeah, we can’t think that we’ve done anything yet, and that’s what the winning culture is about — it’s not being complacent, not being satisfied and just continuing to want to be the best.”
