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Rob Phillips - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
January 5, 2007 6:58 PM
Opportunity Still Exists For Cowboys, Seahawks
SEATTLE - Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells' "show-me game" statement has never been more applicable.
Throw out any well-worn cliché ("win or go home", "do or die"), and it'll fit seamlessly into the theme of Saturday's NFC wild-card playoff game between the Cowboys and Seahawks (7 p.m. CST) here at Qwest Field.
Parcells delivered the "show-me" speech to his team last week leading up to its regular-season finale against Detroit, imploring his guys to let their actions speak loudest late in the season. The Cowboys lost their last chance to clinch the NFC East by losing to Detroit, but still knew they at least would be playing here in the first round of the playoffs.
This weekend, there's no safety blanket. No future match-up to fall back on. The schedule is blank after Saturday's game, and a loss would send the 9-7 Cowboys back to Dallas for good, still looking for their first playoff victory since 1996 and first road playoff victory since 1991.
As Parcells said, it's time to show.
"It's just who plays well now that counts," he said this week. "I've seen us play well, and some of the other coaches that coach the other teams have seen their team play well or they wouldn't be in the position they're in. "I'm just hoping we can get in a situation where we play well."
Neither team played well in the month of December. Both lost three of their last four, and the Cowboys sprouted their first two-game losing streak of the season with losses to Philadelphia and Detroit. Their defense, ranked fourth in the league just over a month ago, has slipped to 13th after allowing 132 points in the last four games.
But Parcells' and his players' 2007 resolution is to forget about the last month of 2006.
"I'm excited to and anxious to see how our team's going to play this week. I really am," said quarterback Tony Romo, knowing just two weeks ago his team remained in the hunt for a first-round playoff bye.
Parcells has several reasons to stay positive heading into the Cowboys' first playoff game since 2003. One, his team actually has played better away from Texas Stadium, finishing with a 5-3 road record.
Two, the Seahawks (9-7) seemingly have functioned as an unofficial fourth division opponent in recent years. Dallas and Seattle have played two regular-season games in the last three years, both at Qwest Field. They split that regular-season series, 1-1, with two thrillers decided by a total of seven points. And Romo made his first professional start of any kind last August in Seattle, playing the entire game to lead the Cowboys to a preseason win.
Parcells and his coaching staff have game-planned for the Seahawks on multiple occasions, and Seattle's lineup hasn't changed much from last year's NFC Championship team. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander have battled injuries but are finally healthy, and Deion Branch's arrival has help neutralize a rash of injuries at receiver.
Linebacker Julian Peterson has been Seattle's most significant addition on defense, finishing with a team- and career-high 10 sacks.
"He's kind of rangy guy," Parcells said of Peterson. "He's got long arms and he's hard to get away from, and he is capable of blitzing and mismatching some of your personnel on offense if you don't watch it."
Seattle has endured injuries to nine different offensive starters, but uncertainty has recently clouded an injury-bitten secondary. The Seahawks will take the field Saturday night without their top three corners - Marcus Trufant, Kelly Herndon and Jimmy Williams.
Romo still expects a challenge from Seattle's defense, however.
"They don't make many mistakes, so what you're going to get, you're going to have to earn," said Romo, who's also focused on eliminating turnovers after committing three against Detroit. "We might have to be more methodical on drives sometimes, but when your chance comes you've got to hit it."
Parcells also remains hopeful his team will play well simply because he has evidence it can. The Cowboys rode a four-game winning streak to the brink of their first NFC East title since 1998, and Romo earned a Pro Bowl berth with incredible numbers in his first five starts. Despite a rough patch in December, he still finished with the third-best single-season quarterback rating in franchise history (95.1).
The Dallas defense also was one of the league's most productive units until the final five games, when opposing quarterbacks racked up 16 touchdown passes. The loss of Greg Ellis (Achilles') has hurt the pass rush, but the defense did produce five sacks against Detroit using mostly a four-man line. The Cowboys also might be the healthiest team in the playoffs, missing only one starter - Ellis.
Despite the Cowboys' late-season struggles, Parcells has emphasized that they're not the only playoff team with question marks. The players have taken to calling the upcoming tournament "a new season."
"Sometimes in life you don't have an answer for everything," 13-year veteran cornerback Aaron Glenn said. "When things like this happen, at the end of the road there's an opportunity.
"Maybe God put us in this position, for things to happen to us and see how we persevere through this whole thing."
An opportunity is all they can ask for.
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
January 5, 2007 6:58 PM
Opportunity Still Exists For Cowboys, Seahawks
SEATTLE - Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells' "show-me game" statement has never been more applicable.
Throw out any well-worn cliché ("win or go home", "do or die"), and it'll fit seamlessly into the theme of Saturday's NFC wild-card playoff game between the Cowboys and Seahawks (7 p.m. CST) here at Qwest Field.
Parcells delivered the "show-me" speech to his team last week leading up to its regular-season finale against Detroit, imploring his guys to let their actions speak loudest late in the season. The Cowboys lost their last chance to clinch the NFC East by losing to Detroit, but still knew they at least would be playing here in the first round of the playoffs.
This weekend, there's no safety blanket. No future match-up to fall back on. The schedule is blank after Saturday's game, and a loss would send the 9-7 Cowboys back to Dallas for good, still looking for their first playoff victory since 1996 and first road playoff victory since 1991.
As Parcells said, it's time to show.
"It's just who plays well now that counts," he said this week. "I've seen us play well, and some of the other coaches that coach the other teams have seen their team play well or they wouldn't be in the position they're in. "I'm just hoping we can get in a situation where we play well."
Neither team played well in the month of December. Both lost three of their last four, and the Cowboys sprouted their first two-game losing streak of the season with losses to Philadelphia and Detroit. Their defense, ranked fourth in the league just over a month ago, has slipped to 13th after allowing 132 points in the last four games.
But Parcells' and his players' 2007 resolution is to forget about the last month of 2006.
"I'm excited to and anxious to see how our team's going to play this week. I really am," said quarterback Tony Romo, knowing just two weeks ago his team remained in the hunt for a first-round playoff bye.
Parcells has several reasons to stay positive heading into the Cowboys' first playoff game since 2003. One, his team actually has played better away from Texas Stadium, finishing with a 5-3 road record.
Two, the Seahawks (9-7) seemingly have functioned as an unofficial fourth division opponent in recent years. Dallas and Seattle have played two regular-season games in the last three years, both at Qwest Field. They split that regular-season series, 1-1, with two thrillers decided by a total of seven points. And Romo made his first professional start of any kind last August in Seattle, playing the entire game to lead the Cowboys to a preseason win.
Parcells and his coaching staff have game-planned for the Seahawks on multiple occasions, and Seattle's lineup hasn't changed much from last year's NFC Championship team. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander have battled injuries but are finally healthy, and Deion Branch's arrival has help neutralize a rash of injuries at receiver.
Linebacker Julian Peterson has been Seattle's most significant addition on defense, finishing with a team- and career-high 10 sacks.
"He's kind of rangy guy," Parcells said of Peterson. "He's got long arms and he's hard to get away from, and he is capable of blitzing and mismatching some of your personnel on offense if you don't watch it."
Seattle has endured injuries to nine different offensive starters, but uncertainty has recently clouded an injury-bitten secondary. The Seahawks will take the field Saturday night without their top three corners - Marcus Trufant, Kelly Herndon and Jimmy Williams.
Romo still expects a challenge from Seattle's defense, however.
"They don't make many mistakes, so what you're going to get, you're going to have to earn," said Romo, who's also focused on eliminating turnovers after committing three against Detroit. "We might have to be more methodical on drives sometimes, but when your chance comes you've got to hit it."
Parcells also remains hopeful his team will play well simply because he has evidence it can. The Cowboys rode a four-game winning streak to the brink of their first NFC East title since 1998, and Romo earned a Pro Bowl berth with incredible numbers in his first five starts. Despite a rough patch in December, he still finished with the third-best single-season quarterback rating in franchise history (95.1).
The Dallas defense also was one of the league's most productive units until the final five games, when opposing quarterbacks racked up 16 touchdown passes. The loss of Greg Ellis (Achilles') has hurt the pass rush, but the defense did produce five sacks against Detroit using mostly a four-man line. The Cowboys also might be the healthiest team in the playoffs, missing only one starter - Ellis.
Despite the Cowboys' late-season struggles, Parcells has emphasized that they're not the only playoff team with question marks. The players have taken to calling the upcoming tournament "a new season."
"Sometimes in life you don't have an answer for everything," 13-year veteran cornerback Aaron Glenn said. "When things like this happen, at the end of the road there's an opportunity.
"Maybe God put us in this position, for things to happen to us and see how we persevere through this whole thing."
An opportunity is all they can ask for.
posted by The Gryphon at 11:00 AM
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