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2008-2009 Regular Season: Postgame -
The Birds Encourage The Cowboys To Go Coyote Ugly
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- December 20, 2008 At
11:41 PM EST
- By
Eric M. Scharf
It has become routine, as of late, after almost each game this
season, for me to invoke the question “Where do I begin?” Anyone
expecting a different approach to begin this evening will be
disappointed-but-not-surprised.
The star attractions, of course, were more of the same mistakes and
poor play by more of the same culprits. Our special teams efforts
have been lousy for quite some time, but, today, against the Ravens,
I saw quitters across the board.
While special teams are as important as offense and defense, the
requirements of special teams participants are far less taxing on
the 2nd and 3rd stringers that typically occupy those positions, and
far more focused and single-minded in execution (yes, some starters
do still participate on special teams but not as many as would count
in this equation). You do not have tens of hundreds of plays to
memorize, as you might on offense and defense.
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- You, as a special
teams player, are responsible for kick-off and punt coverage.
Everyone, from the “gunners” to the interior linemen, have the
single purpose of simultaneously watching their gaps and running as
fast-and-hard as they can downfield, while remaining inbounds, to
“interact” with the ball-carrier, and, hopefully, with devastating
results.
When a special teams player finds himself running alongside the
ball-carrier for more than a few seconds (long enough to exchange
phone numbers and have a spot of tea), without the special teams
player eventually, mercifully, triangulating in on the ball-carrier
for the anticipated (or at least attempted) ball-dislodging
collision, then, that special teams player needs to either be cut
(which is unreasonable in this day of watered-down talent pools and
salary cap penalties), or, that special teams player needs to find
the darkest most isolated space within Texas Stadium and hide there
. . . until kick-off time for the next game, praying that an angry
mob of fans does not find and beat him within an inch of his life.
When Dick Vermeil used to huddle with his players before each game
and yell “Offense! Defense! Special Teams!” he was not doing it just
to pump up his players. He meant it. He understood, just as every
good coach does, that you need full participation in all three
phases of football to ensure that you are on the winning end of each
and every game you play.
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- The exception to this rule, of course, is
if you are playing an opponent who is not following the same game
plan, like the recently-crowned Kings of Crud, the 0-16 Detroit
Lions. Remember: playing hard and playing smart are two different
things. Good players and good teams know the difference and they
understand that you must combine both acts in order to get the best
results.
None-the-less, there were, of course, other areas of the Ravens game
where the Cowboys underperformed.
Yes, there were more false starts and holding penalties on Flozell
Adams. He is the 6’7” man mountain who some say the Cowboys simply
cannot do without, because of the poor available alternatives. It is
becoming clearer by the day that the line is blurring heavily
between poor play of a current player and poor jobless alternatives.
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- Yes, according to a number of sources, Flozell has been partially or
completely deaf in his right ear, which, from his left tackle
position, can be deadly to Tony Romo, his star quarterback . . . who
desperately needs him to hear each and every word coming out of his
mouth when a play is being called.
Yes, Mark Colombo is getting better and better with each game, and I
love his nasty streak when shoving matches break out. As we know,
the Cowboys could use another enforcer or ten. Otherwise, Colombo
still wears #75, still manages a few too many false starts and
holding penalties, and, generally, continues to remind fans of the
forgettable Phil Pozderac . . . as long as he is wearing #75. Jerry
– if you are listening, offer Colombo another number, any number
other than allowing him to keep #75. It is bad news.
Yes, the defensive secondary decided to give Derrick “The One-Armed
Bandit” Mason as much room to operate as possible . . . when they
should have been punishing him and his bum shoulder with
near-illegal bump-and-run coverage all night long. The biggest story
of the evening, however, was the predictable play-calling by Jason
Garrett.
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- This is not the first time such a comment has been uttered
this season, but tonight’s performance may, finally, have provided
the most acute, accurate, and damaging proof.
Poor play-calling is one thing, but predictable play-calling is a
rather large accusation . . . unless the defensive captain and team
leader of your opponent is the person making the bold-and-determined
statement (more than once) . . . and you, as an average-Joe fan,
witnessed the same statement unfold, unbelievably, before your
TV-watching eyes.
As prognosticators everywhere are prone to say, Ray Lewis, at one
time, may not have been the best off-the-field citizen, but he is
the last person you would ever see labeled as a football player who
does not know what he is doing. Ray knows what he is doing, even
more so, now, as his body-and-mind continue to age and wear down,
than ever before.
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- Therefore, logic dictates that, if Ray Lewis says
your offensive play-calling is predictable, then, one, two, or all
of the following details become fact: (1) your offensive
play-calling is predictable, (2) your offensive players have not
been studying the playbook enough and, thus, do not know the plays
well enough, or (3) your offensive players, as a unit, are lazy.
We have seen the players make a cornucopia of mistakes this season,
and in so many fantastic and unique ways, that it would appear the
onus falls squarely on the shoulders of the players. Even the
average-Joe fan, however, can tell the difference, and Jason Garrett
shares responsibility for how the offense has performed this season.
The only coach in the history of the Cowboys organization who could
get away with outwardly emotionless behavior at the mere mention of
mistake-prone players was Tom Landry, because he knew his players
were practicing hard, studying the playbook with diligence, and
doing the best they could.
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- Yes, even poor Phil Pozderac (drafted on
Coach Landry’s watch) played hard. The point is that no one ever
questioned whether or not Coach Landry had done everything in his
power to get his team prepared for a game, even if they were blown
out in a terrible loss.
Jason “Red Ball” Garrett, unfortunately, as I have mentioned in the
past, is guilty by association with Norv Turner and Ernie Zampese,
who both suffered at times from the very same thing: when they had
all of their starters healthy-and-intact-and-practicing-well, their
offenses, generally, were unstoppable, and when even one player went
off-kilter, their offenses began looking predictable, and, then,
easily defendable, and, ultimately, inflexible.
Even after a lousy offensive performance against the Ravens (where I
completely discount the 4th quarter scoring marathon, because you
need to play well for all four quarters), Red Ball, amazingly, still
has another game, against the hated Iggles-no-less, to turn things
around for this offense and this season, in spite of the injuries
and mistakes, because, not only do you have to “take what the
defense gives you,” but you also have to use the tools you have at
your disposal, not pine for the tools you lack.
Red Ball, as I have mentioned several times over the season, needs
to take his available tool set and flex the playbook to fit those
tools. 9 times out of 10, if he can do that, and, in turn, get the
players to really buy into the fact that he is doing the very best
for their success, Red Ball will win. Red Ball will, in fact, be on
fire.
I recall how Bill Parcells, with all of his teams, would have the
players practice for unforeseen scenarios (“what-if” plays), and
Jason Garrett can take the same approach with his players in
reverse: “What if I lose this player and that player? What plays can
I have ready, that simply require execution rather than superstar
skills, and still succeed?”
The question, in many different forms and from several different
sources over the season, continues to be asked, Jason, and we are
all waiting for you to provide we all want to see and that we know
you can-and-want-to-deliver.
What about Wade’s level of responsibility in all of this mess? “Can
we Wade through this mess and onto dry land and success?”
Truth-be-told, more so than ever before, Wade, because of his lack
of personality or desire to be heard, has generally become
forgettable. You notice him when the defense is doing well, and you
notice him when the defense is doing poorly.
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- When the entire team
stinks in all three phases, I do not look at Wade the same way that
I would another long-time coach, like some of his Cowboys’
predecessors. If Wade knew enough and was involved enough in offense
and special teams, then, I could be irate with him.
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- He does not know
enough, he is not involved enough and, therefore, I have begun to
overlook him as a big picture non-factor (except for the fact that
this team obviously needs both a firm-and-emotional leader in a
coaching capacity, and Wade, objectively and without malice, is
neither).
In any event, like all other hardcore Cowboys fans, I cannot wait to
see if Jerry has the nerve to fix the handful of problems that ail
this team, again. Forget the big names, folks. It all starts with a
desire by Jerry to truly fix the problems.
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- If he does not want to
change, it will not matter who he brings in or who he replaces.
Jerry has got to want to fix this mess so badly that, somehow, he
believes he will never ever see another Super Bowl trophy in his
display case until he takes care of business.
I like Jerry Jones and what he excels at accomplishing for his
football team, but with respect to the need for a proper
GM-and-head-coach dynamic, does anybody know a hypnotist like the
one from “Office Space,” who died putting Peter Gibbons into a state
of complete bliss?
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- What if Jerry Jones could be placed into a state
of being a reasonably-hands-off Owner-and-GM so that his son,
Stephen (who is gaining respect around the league with ever year he
continues to be involved) can team up with a true head coach that
will challenge this team?
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