Saturday, October 28, 2006

Big Bill deserves criticism

By Newy Scruggs
Special to the Star-Telegram
"Bill Parcells, a New Jersey Con Man, all wrong for Texas"

"Tuna Refuses to Stay the Course... Romo In"

"Big Bill Cuts and Runs on Bledsoe"

Luckily, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is not running for political office, because he'd see slogans and ads aimed at his leadership of the 3-3 Dallas Cowboys.

I'm joking... I think.

The Cowboys' season will not go to the polls Nov. 7. Parcells has 10 games to show us if he has a clue and can take this team to the playoffs with a free-agent quarterback 32 teams, including the Cowboys, decided not to draft four years ago.

One day, Parcells will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At this point, it will be for his work with three teams up north, and his Texas folly will be forgotten.

Drew Bledsoe, once taken as the top overall draft pick by Parcells, deserved to be benched for making the kind of turnovers veterans shouldn't.

It speaks to a bigger problem of the Tuna's administration. Since taking Dave Campo's players and going 10-6 with a playoff appearance in 2003, the Tuna has failed to make the postseason.

Parcells purged all but 10 players from that playoff team. Since Tuna has turned the roster over to consist of "Parcells Guys," the question must be asked: "How come the head coach doesn't catch any heat?"

The future Hall of Famer (28-26 in four years with the Cowboys) gets off easier than Chan Gailey and Dave Campo did during their mediocre runs as the coaches of America's Team.

In two seasons, Gailey won the NFC East once and produced two playoff teams. Campo went 5-11 three times before Parcells took over. All deemed not good enough from the Cowboys' constituency.

Parcells' biggest blunders seem to be at quarterback. Quincy Carter was cut in training camp in 2004 after taking the team to the playoffs and was replaced by the 40-year-old Interception, Vinny Testaverde, a former Parcells guy with the Jets. Drew Bledsoe found his way to town after Buffalo released him, and now he's riding the pine this weekend. These moves qualify as failure.

Romo could be the next Tom Brady. Odds say he won't be. The playoffs are still attainable, but only if the Cowboys can find a way to start beating teams with winning records.

A team like Carolina in Charlotte on NBC's Sunday Night Football would be a good start.

The heat should be turned up on the offensive line, T.O., the kicker, the defense, but most of all on the man who put the plan together and got a raise to come back and coach in 2006 -- Bill Parcells.

Newy Scruggs is sports director for NBC 5.