Cowboys hope risk-taking pays off in postseason
Risky business
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
January 3, 2007
There was the cycling jersey, quarterback controversy, hamstring, spitting incident, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood, a suicide attempt (or not), Santa hat, public relations woman, more quarterback controversy, a sieve defense, a breathless media and, of course, another December not to remember.
For the reality TV show known as the Dallas Cowboys – not to be confused with the American Idol dating the QB, the former player on Dancing with the Stars or the actual reality show on the cheerleaders – this entire pursuit, this entire season was a gamble for the ages.
They gambled on Terrell Owens. They gambled on Tony Romo. They gambled that the high risk bets would pay out in a Super Bowl, just the kind of gambles that old school coach Bill Parcells never seemed to make back in the day.
"(Success in) gambling," said Parcells, "evens out as the ratio of gambling goes up. They just even out."
Parcells was talking about Romo's wild style of play – win some, lose some – but he could have been talking about this wild franchise. The thing is, even at just 9-7, even with three losses in its last four games, even with so many questions and concerns, the final bet hasn't been determined for Dallas.
Here on the eve of the playoffs, the Cowboys still have some chips on the table. They still have a Texas prayer in Texas Hold 'Em.
"None of the [past controversies] matters now," said Parcells on Tuesday.
The playoffs mean everything to all of the 12 remaining teams. They define all of their seasons, all of their work. But perhaps no team has more riding on the success or failure of the upcoming month, perhaps no team has so much at stake – reputations, decisions, glory or humiliation – than these Cowboys.
The ever impatient owner and the once ultra-patient coach threw all caution to the wind this year and now we find out whether any of it was worth the risks. Winning changes everything in the NFL and winning in January can make anything seem worth it, even five months of turmoil and trauma.
And as bad as Dallas has been of late – "[the Detroit Lions loss] is the low point for me in a long time," said Parcells; "The Philly game would probably be in my top five as far as losses go," said owner Jerry Jones on his online radio show of the previous week's debacle – the future isn't that daunting.
The Cowboys get the Seattle Seahawks on the road Saturday and while teams with this much dissension shouldn't have much to feel good about, it's not like the banged-up Seahawks have been any better. Get past Seattle, and the Chicago Bears and their own quarterback issues probably loom. So advancing to the NFC title game isn't out of the question.
"We may make some really great things happen in these playoffs," said Jones.
Parcells spent most of his Tuesday's press briefing trying to remind people that just about every team enters the playoffs with doubts, which is true. But with these Cowboys it just seems different, seems bigger.
Parcells has always coached some uncontrollable personalities – he was never better than when he had Lawrence Taylor. But somehow he got lunatics to at least push for the same goal. Now, who knows? The T.O. experiment has yielded some spectacular plays but also some incredible failures and all of the distractive drama that was expected.
The coach says there are no problems in the locker room, no chemistry issues. The owner says there are, but that's just a byproduct of losing. Both claim the focus is on moving forward.
But with what?
Parcells says Romo's recent problems stem from "overconfidence" which can happen when in midseason you go from obscure backup to media sensation on the dating pages of US Weekly. Maybe that explains the six interceptions and two lost fumbles the last four games.
"Sometimes when everyone is feeding you the cheese, it's hard not to eat it," said Parcells. "I talked to him [and said], 'didn't I tell you this was going to happen?' And he said, 'yes.'"
Meanwhile, there is the quickly weakening defense that's allowing 33 points a game the last month. "Inexplicable," said Jones. "It just shouldn't be that way."
All of which contributes to the Cowboys' latest late-season collapse. They are 8-12 under Parcells after Dec. 1 and the franchise hasn't won a playoff game since 1996 and a Super Bowl since the '95 season.
"I'm surprised," said Jones. "I'm very surprised. Maybe it's teams figuring out what we're doing as we go along?"
That's only if Dallas has figured out what it has been doing all along. In a season the championship-desperate franchise, led by a fading icon of past coaching success went all in to wring out the ultimate glory, the questions remain: Were the bold and daring personnel moves, the tabloid news environment, the huge momentum swings worth it? Was this genius or foolish desperation?
If winning is the only answer, then its more than a playoff game riding on Saturday in Seattle. It's a franchise full of reputations, starting with Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones.
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
January 3, 2007
There was the cycling jersey, quarterback controversy, hamstring, spitting incident, Jessica Simpson, Carrie Underwood, a suicide attempt (or not), Santa hat, public relations woman, more quarterback controversy, a sieve defense, a breathless media and, of course, another December not to remember.
For the reality TV show known as the Dallas Cowboys – not to be confused with the American Idol dating the QB, the former player on Dancing with the Stars or the actual reality show on the cheerleaders – this entire pursuit, this entire season was a gamble for the ages.
They gambled on Terrell Owens. They gambled on Tony Romo. They gambled that the high risk bets would pay out in a Super Bowl, just the kind of gambles that old school coach Bill Parcells never seemed to make back in the day.
"(Success in) gambling," said Parcells, "evens out as the ratio of gambling goes up. They just even out."
Parcells was talking about Romo's wild style of play – win some, lose some – but he could have been talking about this wild franchise. The thing is, even at just 9-7, even with three losses in its last four games, even with so many questions and concerns, the final bet hasn't been determined for Dallas.
Here on the eve of the playoffs, the Cowboys still have some chips on the table. They still have a Texas prayer in Texas Hold 'Em.
"None of the [past controversies] matters now," said Parcells on Tuesday.
The playoffs mean everything to all of the 12 remaining teams. They define all of their seasons, all of their work. But perhaps no team has more riding on the success or failure of the upcoming month, perhaps no team has so much at stake – reputations, decisions, glory or humiliation – than these Cowboys.
The ever impatient owner and the once ultra-patient coach threw all caution to the wind this year and now we find out whether any of it was worth the risks. Winning changes everything in the NFL and winning in January can make anything seem worth it, even five months of turmoil and trauma.
And as bad as Dallas has been of late – "[the Detroit Lions loss] is the low point for me in a long time," said Parcells; "The Philly game would probably be in my top five as far as losses go," said owner Jerry Jones on his online radio show of the previous week's debacle – the future isn't that daunting.
The Cowboys get the Seattle Seahawks on the road Saturday and while teams with this much dissension shouldn't have much to feel good about, it's not like the banged-up Seahawks have been any better. Get past Seattle, and the Chicago Bears and their own quarterback issues probably loom. So advancing to the NFC title game isn't out of the question.
"We may make some really great things happen in these playoffs," said Jones.
Parcells spent most of his Tuesday's press briefing trying to remind people that just about every team enters the playoffs with doubts, which is true. But with these Cowboys it just seems different, seems bigger.
Parcells has always coached some uncontrollable personalities – he was never better than when he had Lawrence Taylor. But somehow he got lunatics to at least push for the same goal. Now, who knows? The T.O. experiment has yielded some spectacular plays but also some incredible failures and all of the distractive drama that was expected.
The coach says there are no problems in the locker room, no chemistry issues. The owner says there are, but that's just a byproduct of losing. Both claim the focus is on moving forward.
But with what?
Parcells says Romo's recent problems stem from "overconfidence" which can happen when in midseason you go from obscure backup to media sensation on the dating pages of US Weekly. Maybe that explains the six interceptions and two lost fumbles the last four games.
"Sometimes when everyone is feeding you the cheese, it's hard not to eat it," said Parcells. "I talked to him [and said], 'didn't I tell you this was going to happen?' And he said, 'yes.'"
Meanwhile, there is the quickly weakening defense that's allowing 33 points a game the last month. "Inexplicable," said Jones. "It just shouldn't be that way."
All of which contributes to the Cowboys' latest late-season collapse. They are 8-12 under Parcells after Dec. 1 and the franchise hasn't won a playoff game since 1996 and a Super Bowl since the '95 season.
"I'm surprised," said Jones. "I'm very surprised. Maybe it's teams figuring out what we're doing as we go along?"
That's only if Dallas has figured out what it has been doing all along. In a season the championship-desperate franchise, led by a fading icon of past coaching success went all in to wring out the ultimate glory, the questions remain: Were the bold and daring personnel moves, the tabloid news environment, the huge momentum swings worth it? Was this genius or foolish desperation?
If winning is the only answer, then its more than a playoff game riding on Saturday in Seattle. It's a franchise full of reputations, starting with Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:28 PM
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