Sometimes, even the no-brainers take guts
Billy Witz, Columnist
Inside SOCAL
Article Last Updated:12/04/2006 10:18:19 PM PST
If Jerry Jones' cost-benefit analysis on voluble, volatile receivers could use some recalibration - who figured Terrell Owens for a butter-fingered possession receiver? - then the suggestion that the Cowboys owner has a keen eye for sharp coaches is no longer met with a jaundiced one.
At least now that Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and, ahem, Barry Switzer are far enough in the rear view mirror.
These days, Bill Parcells is looking like the smartest guy east of the Pecos - or east of UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, for that matter.
Two gambits have paid off handsomely for Parcells: dumping Drew Bledsoe for Tony Romo and jettisoning Mike Vanderjagt for Martin Gramatica.
The Cowboys' 23-20 win over the Giants was delivered by the erstwhile Eratica, who booted a 46-yard field goal, his third in fourattempts, with one second left. The kick was set up when Romo, who despite his poorest showing as a starter, evaded a rush, something the statuesque Bledsoe rarely did, and perfectly delivered a 42-yard bomb to Jason Witten in the final minute.
In hindsight, these moves seem like no-brainers. But they were easy moves not to make for a coach trying to coax one more Super Bowl run out of a team. Sticking with the veterans, once among the best at their positions, flawed as they may be, is the safe move. Or so Mike Shanahan figures to spend the next month discovering.
The Cowboys were 3-3 when Parcells turned the keys over to Romo, an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois who just last year had to beat out Drew Henson to make the team.
Figuring that Bledsoe could have beaten Arizona and Tampa Bay and coaxed another win out of the Cowboys, it's not a stretch to think that even with him they would be at least a .500 team, what passes for a playoff contender in the NFC.
The same goes for last week's release of Vanderjagt. He had made 13 of 18 field goal attempts, three of the misses hitting an upright and another, which turned into a game-turner against the Redskins, was blocked.
But as with Bledsoe against a blitz, there was a sense of discomfort whenever Vanderjagt, his $2.5 million signing bonus notwithstanding, lined up for a kick.
Now, rather than trying to overcome those concerns, they've been dismissed.
The Cowboys, who all but sealed the NFC East title with a month to play, are in good position to earn a first-round bye and the smart money is lining up behind them to reach the Super Bowl.
While Parcells has another year left on his contract, there is speculation that if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl, he'll walk away.
If he does, the coach that Jones is said to be eyeing is Tennessee's Jeff Fisher, who is in the final year of his contract with a team option for 2007. It's an idea that might have taken some getting used to, given that most Cowboys fans' last look at Fisher came when Dallas thumped Tennessee, 45-14, a couple months ago.
Now it doesn't seem so daft.
The Titans, after an 0-5 start, have won five of their past seven, with one of the losses coming after blowing a 19-point lead to Baltimore. The past two weeks, they've beaten both Manning boys, rallying from 21 behind in the fourth quarter to shock the Eli and the Giants and coming from 14 back to stun Peyton the Colts.
Both games were won at the final gun by kicker Rob Brionas, who on Sunday booted a 60-yarder with a strong wind at his back to beat the Colts, 23-20.
With the Titans facing fourth-and-11 at the Colts 42 with 12 seconds left, Fisher sent out his punt team, not wanting to risk a missed field goal and leave the Colts enough time to complete a pass, call a timeout and attempt their own potential game-winning kick.
Then Colts coach Tony Dungy used his final timeout.
With much of the risk removed, Fisher sent Brionas out, and he delivered the fourth-longest game-winning field goal in NFL history.
It wasn't a bad day all around for kickers. Josh Brown hit a 50-yarder with five seconds left to life Seattle to a 23-20 win at Denver, his fourth game-winning field goal this season; and Philip Dawson's 33-yarder in overtime capped Cleveland's comeback over Kansas City.
In fact, the way some quarterbacks threw the ball kicking - or punting - might have been the way to go.
Consider that only four winning quarterbacks threw for more than 200 yards. David Carr passed for 32 yards in Houston's win over Oakland.
Which was two fewer than Rex Grossman passed for in Chicago's 23-13 win over Minnesota. In that game, Grossman and the Vikings' Brad Johnson threw seven interceptions, and their quarterback rating, combined, was 11.6.
Bears coach Lovie Smith continued to stand behind Grossman after his latest shaky effort, hoping that this too shall pass.
Whether it's intercepted is another question.
Elsewhere around the league in Week 14:
How bad is it losing to the Rams?
Mild-mannered Marc Bulger ripped into some of his teammates: "Obviously we have guys in here who think it's OK just to show up and play and not prepare all week and just think it's going to get done. It doesn't work that way. There's more than one guy in this locker room that could care less if we're losing."
Asked if he'd confronted any teammates, Bulger continued: "We're professionals. You can say stuff to some guys and it goes in one ear and out the other, obviously. Some guys listen and try, and I don't mind that. But when you get embarrassed by a 2-9 team and you think it's OK, it's not OK."
For anyone who's forgotten the Rose Bowl, Vince Young's feet remain a weapon. He ran for 78 yards on nine carries, six of which converted third downs for Tennessee.
No judicial review necessary. Reggie Bush's four touchdowns, 37 yards rushing and 131 yards receiving in New Orleans' win 34-10 over San Francisco overshadowed Frank Gore's 40yards rushing and 28 yards receiving, meaning that Bush-Gore 2006 wasn't nearly as close as Bush-Gore 2000.
Inside SOCAL
Article Last Updated:12/04/2006 10:18:19 PM PST
If Jerry Jones' cost-benefit analysis on voluble, volatile receivers could use some recalibration - who figured Terrell Owens for a butter-fingered possession receiver? - then the suggestion that the Cowboys owner has a keen eye for sharp coaches is no longer met with a jaundiced one.
At least now that Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and, ahem, Barry Switzer are far enough in the rear view mirror.
These days, Bill Parcells is looking like the smartest guy east of the Pecos - or east of UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, for that matter.
Two gambits have paid off handsomely for Parcells: dumping Drew Bledsoe for Tony Romo and jettisoning Mike Vanderjagt for Martin Gramatica.
The Cowboys' 23-20 win over the Giants was delivered by the erstwhile Eratica, who booted a 46-yard field goal, his third in fourattempts, with one second left. The kick was set up when Romo, who despite his poorest showing as a starter, evaded a rush, something the statuesque Bledsoe rarely did, and perfectly delivered a 42-yard bomb to Jason Witten in the final minute.
In hindsight, these moves seem like no-brainers. But they were easy moves not to make for a coach trying to coax one more Super Bowl run out of a team. Sticking with the veterans, once among the best at their positions, flawed as they may be, is the safe move. Or so Mike Shanahan figures to spend the next month discovering.
The Cowboys were 3-3 when Parcells turned the keys over to Romo, an undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois who just last year had to beat out Drew Henson to make the team.
Figuring that Bledsoe could have beaten Arizona and Tampa Bay and coaxed another win out of the Cowboys, it's not a stretch to think that even with him they would be at least a .500 team, what passes for a playoff contender in the NFC.
The same goes for last week's release of Vanderjagt. He had made 13 of 18 field goal attempts, three of the misses hitting an upright and another, which turned into a game-turner against the Redskins, was blocked.
But as with Bledsoe against a blitz, there was a sense of discomfort whenever Vanderjagt, his $2.5 million signing bonus notwithstanding, lined up for a kick.
Now, rather than trying to overcome those concerns, they've been dismissed.
The Cowboys, who all but sealed the NFC East title with a month to play, are in good position to earn a first-round bye and the smart money is lining up behind them to reach the Super Bowl.
While Parcells has another year left on his contract, there is speculation that if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl, he'll walk away.
If he does, the coach that Jones is said to be eyeing is Tennessee's Jeff Fisher, who is in the final year of his contract with a team option for 2007. It's an idea that might have taken some getting used to, given that most Cowboys fans' last look at Fisher came when Dallas thumped Tennessee, 45-14, a couple months ago.
Now it doesn't seem so daft.
The Titans, after an 0-5 start, have won five of their past seven, with one of the losses coming after blowing a 19-point lead to Baltimore. The past two weeks, they've beaten both Manning boys, rallying from 21 behind in the fourth quarter to shock the Eli and the Giants and coming from 14 back to stun Peyton the Colts.
Both games were won at the final gun by kicker Rob Brionas, who on Sunday booted a 60-yarder with a strong wind at his back to beat the Colts, 23-20.
With the Titans facing fourth-and-11 at the Colts 42 with 12 seconds left, Fisher sent out his punt team, not wanting to risk a missed field goal and leave the Colts enough time to complete a pass, call a timeout and attempt their own potential game-winning kick.
Then Colts coach Tony Dungy used his final timeout.
With much of the risk removed, Fisher sent Brionas out, and he delivered the fourth-longest game-winning field goal in NFL history.
It wasn't a bad day all around for kickers. Josh Brown hit a 50-yarder with five seconds left to life Seattle to a 23-20 win at Denver, his fourth game-winning field goal this season; and Philip Dawson's 33-yarder in overtime capped Cleveland's comeback over Kansas City.
In fact, the way some quarterbacks threw the ball kicking - or punting - might have been the way to go.
Consider that only four winning quarterbacks threw for more than 200 yards. David Carr passed for 32 yards in Houston's win over Oakland.
Which was two fewer than Rex Grossman passed for in Chicago's 23-13 win over Minnesota. In that game, Grossman and the Vikings' Brad Johnson threw seven interceptions, and their quarterback rating, combined, was 11.6.
Bears coach Lovie Smith continued to stand behind Grossman after his latest shaky effort, hoping that this too shall pass.
Whether it's intercepted is another question.
Elsewhere around the league in Week 14:
How bad is it losing to the Rams?
Mild-mannered Marc Bulger ripped into some of his teammates: "Obviously we have guys in here who think it's OK just to show up and play and not prepare all week and just think it's going to get done. It doesn't work that way. There's more than one guy in this locker room that could care less if we're losing."
Asked if he'd confronted any teammates, Bulger continued: "We're professionals. You can say stuff to some guys and it goes in one ear and out the other, obviously. Some guys listen and try, and I don't mind that. But when you get embarrassed by a 2-9 team and you think it's OK, it's not OK."
For anyone who's forgotten the Rose Bowl, Vince Young's feet remain a weapon. He ran for 78 yards on nine carries, six of which converted third downs for Tennessee.
No judicial review necessary. Reggie Bush's four touchdowns, 37 yards rushing and 131 yards receiving in New Orleans' win 34-10 over San Francisco overshadowed Frank Gore's 40yards rushing and 28 yards receiving, meaning that Bush-Gore 2006 wasn't nearly as close as Bush-Gore 2000.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:21 PM
<< Home