Grown-up Cowboys not likely to take the bait
By GIL LeBRETON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
A year ago, without question, last week would have been Cheese Week at Valley Ranch.
You remember Cheese Week. The former coach, hired to restore the Cowboys to their former glory, would have had mousetraps hanging from the lockers and weight machines.
His message was clear: Don't eat the cheese.
Translation: Don't swallow the hype. You're not that good. You can't afford to overlook the Buffalo Bills of the world.
The new head coach, on the other hand, is a tad more faithful.
"I tell them, 'You guys are grown men. You should know this by now,'" said Wade Phillips.
'This game is the most important game of the year, and it's got to be important to you.'
"I don't act like a broken record on it. But they've got to be accountable. Everybody's told them this. You hear the words 'trap game,' all those things. But they're grown men."
Phillips, of course, was talking about the Cowboys' next-to-the-next game. The showdown with the undefeated New England Patriots, not tonight's Cheese Bowl against the underdog Buffalo Bills.
There is too much riding on tonight's contest in Buffalo for the Cowboys to sleep through it. There is a national Monday Night Football television audience, eager to see what's all this Cowboys fuss. There is Tony Romo, the Tom Cruise of football.
And there are the Bills, who fired Phillips after the 2000 season because he wasn't Marv Levy.
Of all the sidebars to this game that Phillips didn't want to discuss last week, his dismissal in Buffalo was far and away the one he discussed the most.
Hard to blame him. Phillips went 29-19 during his three seasons there, where he succeeded Hall of Famer Levy.
Yet he was fired by owner Ralph Wilson, allegedly because Phillips wouldn't dismiss his special teams coach, Ronnie Jones. Wilson maintains that Phillips quit. But an arbitrator ruled in Phillips' behalf and Wilson was ordered to pay the remaining year on the head coach's contract.
The infamous Music City Miracle kickoff return in January 2000 by the Tennessee Titans might have also had something to do with it.
"It was a forward lateral," Phillips corrected, unofficially.
"The Music City Mistake."
Phillips said that he even remembers exactly what he was thinking as he watched one of the most famous plays in NFL history unfold.
"I was thinking this is why we have instant replay," Phillips said last week. "I was standing right where the guy was, right where they threw the ball, and I knew it was a forward lateral. So I said, 'They're going to call it back.'"
The officials didn't. And the clock immediately began to tick down on the Wade Phillips Era in Buffalo.
But how sweet the homecoming. Phillips rides back into town like he just ate not only the cheese, but also the $50 steak that went with it.
He's coaching the Cowboys now. That's got to be good for valet parking, if nothing else.
The Bills have a 1-3 record and nine players on injured reserve, including four starters. Rookies will be starting tonight at both quarterback (Trent Edwards) and running back (Marshawn Lynch).
Eat the cheese? The Bills are walking limburger bait.
Somehow, though, with one notable exception, this Cowboys team hasn't seemed like a team that's fatally infatuated with itself yet. Terrell Owens is the exception, but only the media seem to still take him seriously.
Romo, meanwhile, revels in the cheese. He makes the cheese. He dates the cheese.
The more hype that Romo stirs, the better he seems to play.
Some of the Cowboys, including Owens, said that they will try tonight to avenge Wade Phillips' premature Buffalo ouster. Knowing Owens, that could mean just about anything.
Phillips said that he appreciated the support but he'll settle for a small win over the NFL's close-to-worst defense and offense.
He says he's over the firing. Yet, Phillips' recollection of the departure still seems fresh after seven seasons. He never expected to have to leave after finishing 10 games over .500.
"A lot of times it's the atmosphere, the expectations," Phillips said, "expecting the Super Bowl and you go 8-8."
That would never happen here, of course.
If you look at the recent season records, you can't help but conclude that the Buffalo Bills could have used a Wade Phillips.
Instead, Phillips coaches the Cowboys, and he rides into town tonight undefeated.
Expectations are high. Cheese is rampant.
No problem. Not for this Cowboys team.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
A year ago, without question, last week would have been Cheese Week at Valley Ranch.
You remember Cheese Week. The former coach, hired to restore the Cowboys to their former glory, would have had mousetraps hanging from the lockers and weight machines.
His message was clear: Don't eat the cheese.
Translation: Don't swallow the hype. You're not that good. You can't afford to overlook the Buffalo Bills of the world.
The new head coach, on the other hand, is a tad more faithful.
"I tell them, 'You guys are grown men. You should know this by now,'" said Wade Phillips.
'This game is the most important game of the year, and it's got to be important to you.'
"I don't act like a broken record on it. But they've got to be accountable. Everybody's told them this. You hear the words 'trap game,' all those things. But they're grown men."
Phillips, of course, was talking about the Cowboys' next-to-the-next game. The showdown with the undefeated New England Patriots, not tonight's Cheese Bowl against the underdog Buffalo Bills.
There is too much riding on tonight's contest in Buffalo for the Cowboys to sleep through it. There is a national Monday Night Football television audience, eager to see what's all this Cowboys fuss. There is Tony Romo, the Tom Cruise of football.
And there are the Bills, who fired Phillips after the 2000 season because he wasn't Marv Levy.
Of all the sidebars to this game that Phillips didn't want to discuss last week, his dismissal in Buffalo was far and away the one he discussed the most.
Hard to blame him. Phillips went 29-19 during his three seasons there, where he succeeded Hall of Famer Levy.
Yet he was fired by owner Ralph Wilson, allegedly because Phillips wouldn't dismiss his special teams coach, Ronnie Jones. Wilson maintains that Phillips quit. But an arbitrator ruled in Phillips' behalf and Wilson was ordered to pay the remaining year on the head coach's contract.
The infamous Music City Miracle kickoff return in January 2000 by the Tennessee Titans might have also had something to do with it.
"It was a forward lateral," Phillips corrected, unofficially.
"The Music City Mistake."
Phillips said that he even remembers exactly what he was thinking as he watched one of the most famous plays in NFL history unfold.
"I was thinking this is why we have instant replay," Phillips said last week. "I was standing right where the guy was, right where they threw the ball, and I knew it was a forward lateral. So I said, 'They're going to call it back.'"
The officials didn't. And the clock immediately began to tick down on the Wade Phillips Era in Buffalo.
But how sweet the homecoming. Phillips rides back into town like he just ate not only the cheese, but also the $50 steak that went with it.
He's coaching the Cowboys now. That's got to be good for valet parking, if nothing else.
The Bills have a 1-3 record and nine players on injured reserve, including four starters. Rookies will be starting tonight at both quarterback (Trent Edwards) and running back (Marshawn Lynch).
Eat the cheese? The Bills are walking limburger bait.
Somehow, though, with one notable exception, this Cowboys team hasn't seemed like a team that's fatally infatuated with itself yet. Terrell Owens is the exception, but only the media seem to still take him seriously.
Romo, meanwhile, revels in the cheese. He makes the cheese. He dates the cheese.
The more hype that Romo stirs, the better he seems to play.
Some of the Cowboys, including Owens, said that they will try tonight to avenge Wade Phillips' premature Buffalo ouster. Knowing Owens, that could mean just about anything.
Phillips said that he appreciated the support but he'll settle for a small win over the NFL's close-to-worst defense and offense.
He says he's over the firing. Yet, Phillips' recollection of the departure still seems fresh after seven seasons. He never expected to have to leave after finishing 10 games over .500.
"A lot of times it's the atmosphere, the expectations," Phillips said, "expecting the Super Bowl and you go 8-8."
That would never happen here, of course.
If you look at the recent season records, you can't help but conclude that the Buffalo Bills could have used a Wade Phillips.
Instead, Phillips coaches the Cowboys, and he rides into town tonight undefeated.
Expectations are high. Cheese is rampant.
No problem. Not for this Cowboys team.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:14 AM
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