Parcells playing a hot hand
(AP) - As a sometime horse owner who likes to spend time at the track, Bill Parcells knows a hot streak when he sees one.
He seems to see one now as his Cowboys surge toward the top of the NFC. It's a classic gambler's run filled with luck, good guesses and a few astute moves. There's a young quarterback whose mistakes succeed; a change of kickers that leads to a game-winning 46-yarder in the season's most important game; and a relatively injury-free season.
You can even pinpoint the Tuna's run of luck with one play: a third-and-four in the fourth quarter of last week's critical NFC East game with the Giants.
It came with 6:01 left and the game tied 13-13. Dallas was on the New York 31 when Tony Romo, who already had thrown two interceptions, looked for Patrick Crayton near the right sideline. But New York safety Gibril Wilson jumped the route and was in position to grab the ball and go 70 yards or so for a game-changing touchdown.
Wilson missed. Crayton caught the ball for a first down and the Cowboys finished the drive with a touchdown and a 20-13 lead. The Giants came back to tie the game, but Martin Gramatica, signed that week when Parcells decided to cut Mike Vanderjagt, won it with a field goal with 1 second left.
"Bad read, bad throw, bad everything," said Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, who saw the tape. "You look at that and think, 'It's going back the other way.' "
Added Parcells: "That was a little too close for comfort. You're pushing it a little too close on that throw."
It's a fortuitous time for Parcells and the Cowboys, who have won four straight and five of six since Romo became the starter in place of the far less mobile Drew Bledsoe. To wit:
-They are 8-4 in a very weak NFC, tied with Seattle and New Orleans, two games behind Chicago. But the Bears, who play in the NFL's worst division, have far more problems, especially at quarterback, where Rex Grossman has thrown 14 interceptions in his last seven games and had a 1.3 passer rating last week in a win over the Vikings.
-They are relatively injury free. Starting linebacker Greg Ellis is their only important injury and veteran Al Singleton has filled in for him capably enough. Meanwhile, major competitors such as the Seahawks, Panthers, Giants and Eagles have been battered all year.
-Romo's emergence has been a rags-to-riches story that has relegated the guy Parcells calls "the player" to the background. And with Romo around, "the player," Terrell Owens, doesn't have a QB to criticize. But "the quarterback" might want to criticize Owens for continuing to drop the ball as often as he catches it.
-Romo played his worst game as a starter against the Giants, but survived. One of his interceptions, by Mathias Kiwanuka, was fumbled back to the Cowboys, who converted it into a touchdown.
"There were about four or five decisions he made that were incorrect under pressure," Parcells said. "We just luckily escaped a couple of them that would have turned the game the other way."
Parcells seems due for a break.
Since he won his last Super Bowl, with the Giants after the 1990 season, he has one Super Bowl appearance (with New England after the 1996 season), one AFC title game appearance (Jets '98) and little else of real note.
Until his recent streak, he was just a .500 coach in Dallas. In his typical dour way, he remarked on that this week.
"You can go up and down the elevator pretty fast in this business," he said. "You can go from 'wily veteran' to 'the game has passed him by' in about 10 days."
He's a wily veteran these days - as a general manager as well as a coach. His hunches are working, such as the one he took by cutting Vanderjagt for Gramatica, a once first-rate kicker who had made just one field goal in three seasons of bouncing around before he made three against the Giants, including the winner.
"I don't know of one special teams coach who would have recommended he make that move," Polian said. "But that's Bill. He figures that when he's on a hot streak, things will work."
This Dallas team has the look (and luck) of Parcells' 1990 Giants. Polian knows it well - he was then the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, who lost the title to New York when Scott Norwood's field goal sailed wide right at the end.
That wasn't necessarily luck - Norwood was kicking from 47 yards, about 5 yards outside his range.
But Parcells had an injury-dictated quarterback change that year. Jeff Hostetler, who had thrown just 36 passes in four previous seasons with the Giants, stepped in when Phil Simms broke his foot and carried the team through the playoffs and Super Bowl. He made one of the big plays in that 20-19 win, swatting a loose ball in his end zone over the end line for a safety rather than allowing a Buffalo player to fall on it for a touchdown.
That doesn't mean Dallas will win the Super Bowl this season. But the Cowboys have as good a chance as anyone in the NFC to get there.
As a Dallas team official noted even before the Cowboys won last week, the rules don't say they play the Super Bowl with two teams from the AFC.
They have to put in one from the other conference.
Right now it looks as though it could be Dallas.
DIRTY DOZEN (The top six and bottom six teams based on current level of play):
1. San Diego (10-2). With Shawne Merriman back, the most solid team in the league.
2. Dallas (8-4). Luck counts.
3. Indianapolis (10-2). Lots of holes on defence, but Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison make up for a lot.
4. Chicago (10-2). Can a team this bad on offence really lead its conference?
5. Baltimore (9-3) Another plodding offence.
6. Tennessee (5-7). Consecutive wins over the Eagles, Giants and Colts. Even Tuna couldn't have picked that trifecta.
27. Arizona (3-9). Takes more than two wins to shed historic futility.
28. Washington (4-8). At least the Skins are trying out the QB of the future.
29. Tampa Bay (3-9). When the Bucs lose their 10th, do they switch back to orange uniforms?
30. St. Louis (5-7). Has lost six of seven. Worse, lost to Arizona at home.
31. Oakland (2-10). How do you hold the other guys to minus-5 yards passing and lose?
32. Detroit (2-10). Do the Lions want Joey Harrington back?
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AP Sports Writer Jaime Aron in Dallas contributed to this report.
He seems to see one now as his Cowboys surge toward the top of the NFC. It's a classic gambler's run filled with luck, good guesses and a few astute moves. There's a young quarterback whose mistakes succeed; a change of kickers that leads to a game-winning 46-yarder in the season's most important game; and a relatively injury-free season.
You can even pinpoint the Tuna's run of luck with one play: a third-and-four in the fourth quarter of last week's critical NFC East game with the Giants.
It came with 6:01 left and the game tied 13-13. Dallas was on the New York 31 when Tony Romo, who already had thrown two interceptions, looked for Patrick Crayton near the right sideline. But New York safety Gibril Wilson jumped the route and was in position to grab the ball and go 70 yards or so for a game-changing touchdown.
Wilson missed. Crayton caught the ball for a first down and the Cowboys finished the drive with a touchdown and a 20-13 lead. The Giants came back to tie the game, but Martin Gramatica, signed that week when Parcells decided to cut Mike Vanderjagt, won it with a field goal with 1 second left.
"Bad read, bad throw, bad everything," said Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian, who saw the tape. "You look at that and think, 'It's going back the other way.' "
Added Parcells: "That was a little too close for comfort. You're pushing it a little too close on that throw."
It's a fortuitous time for Parcells and the Cowboys, who have won four straight and five of six since Romo became the starter in place of the far less mobile Drew Bledsoe. To wit:
-They are 8-4 in a very weak NFC, tied with Seattle and New Orleans, two games behind Chicago. But the Bears, who play in the NFL's worst division, have far more problems, especially at quarterback, where Rex Grossman has thrown 14 interceptions in his last seven games and had a 1.3 passer rating last week in a win over the Vikings.
-They are relatively injury free. Starting linebacker Greg Ellis is their only important injury and veteran Al Singleton has filled in for him capably enough. Meanwhile, major competitors such as the Seahawks, Panthers, Giants and Eagles have been battered all year.
-Romo's emergence has been a rags-to-riches story that has relegated the guy Parcells calls "the player" to the background. And with Romo around, "the player," Terrell Owens, doesn't have a QB to criticize. But "the quarterback" might want to criticize Owens for continuing to drop the ball as often as he catches it.
-Romo played his worst game as a starter against the Giants, but survived. One of his interceptions, by Mathias Kiwanuka, was fumbled back to the Cowboys, who converted it into a touchdown.
"There were about four or five decisions he made that were incorrect under pressure," Parcells said. "We just luckily escaped a couple of them that would have turned the game the other way."
Parcells seems due for a break.
Since he won his last Super Bowl, with the Giants after the 1990 season, he has one Super Bowl appearance (with New England after the 1996 season), one AFC title game appearance (Jets '98) and little else of real note.
Until his recent streak, he was just a .500 coach in Dallas. In his typical dour way, he remarked on that this week.
"You can go up and down the elevator pretty fast in this business," he said. "You can go from 'wily veteran' to 'the game has passed him by' in about 10 days."
He's a wily veteran these days - as a general manager as well as a coach. His hunches are working, such as the one he took by cutting Vanderjagt for Gramatica, a once first-rate kicker who had made just one field goal in three seasons of bouncing around before he made three against the Giants, including the winner.
"I don't know of one special teams coach who would have recommended he make that move," Polian said. "But that's Bill. He figures that when he's on a hot streak, things will work."
This Dallas team has the look (and luck) of Parcells' 1990 Giants. Polian knows it well - he was then the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, who lost the title to New York when Scott Norwood's field goal sailed wide right at the end.
That wasn't necessarily luck - Norwood was kicking from 47 yards, about 5 yards outside his range.
But Parcells had an injury-dictated quarterback change that year. Jeff Hostetler, who had thrown just 36 passes in four previous seasons with the Giants, stepped in when Phil Simms broke his foot and carried the team through the playoffs and Super Bowl. He made one of the big plays in that 20-19 win, swatting a loose ball in his end zone over the end line for a safety rather than allowing a Buffalo player to fall on it for a touchdown.
That doesn't mean Dallas will win the Super Bowl this season. But the Cowboys have as good a chance as anyone in the NFC to get there.
As a Dallas team official noted even before the Cowboys won last week, the rules don't say they play the Super Bowl with two teams from the AFC.
They have to put in one from the other conference.
Right now it looks as though it could be Dallas.
DIRTY DOZEN (The top six and bottom six teams based on current level of play):
1. San Diego (10-2). With Shawne Merriman back, the most solid team in the league.
2. Dallas (8-4). Luck counts.
3. Indianapolis (10-2). Lots of holes on defence, but Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison make up for a lot.
4. Chicago (10-2). Can a team this bad on offence really lead its conference?
5. Baltimore (9-3) Another plodding offence.
6. Tennessee (5-7). Consecutive wins over the Eagles, Giants and Colts. Even Tuna couldn't have picked that trifecta.
27. Arizona (3-9). Takes more than two wins to shed historic futility.
28. Washington (4-8). At least the Skins are trying out the QB of the future.
29. Tampa Bay (3-9). When the Bucs lose their 10th, do they switch back to orange uniforms?
30. St. Louis (5-7). Has lost six of seven. Worse, lost to Arizona at home.
31. Oakland (2-10). How do you hold the other guys to minus-5 yards passing and lose?
32. Detroit (2-10). Do the Lions want Joey Harrington back?
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AP Sports Writer Jaime Aron in Dallas contributed to this report.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:33 PM
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