How 'bout them Cowboys?
It seems that this morning's column about what a letdown it is to have the Chargers, instead of the Colts, face the Patriots next weekend touched a few nerves. Before making a few final points about last weekend's NFL playoff games, I feel that I should clarify some things from that column in case anything in it was misunderstood:
The Chargers aren't that damn good. They have no chance of beating New England, outside of a severe intestinal flu running through the Patriots' locker room Sunday morning. (See, Kelly Tilghman, that's how you tell a there's-no-way-he-can-lose joke. Stupid.) They have even less of a chance if LT, Gates and Phillip Rivers can't play or aren't at full strength. The Patriots aren't going to look past them, they're not going to get rattled by late scores or backups playing over their heads or adrenaline rushes or anything else. The matchup of Bill Belichick and Norv Turner actually makes me physically ill. Indy should be ashamed to have lost to them. This is depressing. I don't even expect a competitive game. I have visions of that 51-7 game from the early '90s, Buffalo over the Raiders. They might have to put a "TV-MA'' ratings bug in the corner of the screen.
Hope that clears things up a little. Anyway ...
Bill Ordine beat me to the thought, that maybe we heard a little too much about what a genius Jason Garrett was and how he was such a sure thing to be a brilliant young head coach. That leads to a bigger-picture thought about the Cowboys. Granted, they earned the title "America's Team'' long ago, but they've been riding on fumes for a long time, with the whole business of not having won a playoff game in 11 years. They had a great regular season, but long before it was over, hype swallowed them up, and yesterday brought the predictable results. One of these days, we'll all learn that regular-season reps and results are one thing, postseason is another.
There was actually a debate late in the year about whether Bill Parcells should be getting more credit for "building'' the powerhouse we were now viewing, before quitting on it after last season. Anybody want to fight for credit today?
Think about the rewards being flung around: Garrett being moved to the top of virtually every coaching wish list, yet his offense scored all of 17 points at home against a Giants team it had beaten twice already.
Tony Sparano, assistant head coach, line coach and heir-apparent in Miami with Parcells ready to plug him in, even though his line not only couldn't protect the quarterback in the fourth quarter yesterday, it couldn't even snap the ball cleanly to him.
And, of course, Tony Romo himself. Certain bye-week getaways are of absolutely no concern here. What is of concern is the rush to anoint. A Pro Bowl berth last season even though he hadn't even started the entire season. A $67.5-million contract extension last October, even though he had barely reached a full season's worth of starts and had yet to win a playoff game. And now, 0-2 in the playoffs, ending those games with, respectively, a fumbled field-goal snap and an end-zone interception in situations where the Cowboys could have tied or won.
At least Michael Vick had played full seasons and won playoff games before he got his outrageous deal. In fact, if you compare the public perception and actual meaningful productivity of both - this is, of course, before anyone knew about the dogfighting - you'd be confused as to who was who.
In fact, if any of this underachieving were going on someplace besides Dallas, it's very likely none of this would be happening - the overhyping of the QB, the grasping for credit for departed coaches, the gushing over assistants. It's all very Yankee-like. In fact, in hindsight, it's not surprising that ESPN has led its reports since last night not with the loss by the defending Super Bowl champs, but by the Cowboys' defeat. See, it's not just an East Coast thing.
But don't listen to me. Listen to the Dallas Morning News' Jean-Jacque Taylor, who rightly calls this an "abject failure.'' And who calls out Wade Phillips, who also is winless in the postseason in his coaching career. Dallas is entitled to get bent out of shape over this one, but honestly, given all the aforementioned aspects of it, why is the rest of America so caught up in it?
Finally, I don't even want to get into T.O. crying. Except: once he saw T.O. bawling in defense of his quarterback and his team, Donovan McNabb must have busted out in tears, too.
Comments
It clears up the fact that you're yet another annoying sports writer who attempts to force the outcome of a game to fit his pregame analysis, so he doesn't look like a moron. No, giving the Chargers credit isn't acceptable, because you said they'd get crushed. So, you have to call the Colts chokers and then proceed to analyze the next game just as you did the last with no adjustment in your analysis whatsoever based on what actually occured. Makes you a must-avoid from here on out.
Posted by: RH | January 14, 2008 10:42 AM
The score of the 1991 AFC Championship game was Buffalo over the Los Angeles Raiders 51-3, not 51-7.
Posted by: Michael | January 14, 2008 10:57 AM
Who is it that has already annointed Troy Smith as the next coming of Johnny U? Another Steele gem...
Posted by: TahoeRavensFan | January 14, 2008 11:18 AM
Yikes, man. Am thankful not to be a Chargers fan reading that!
Gotta love the ever shrinking half-life of NFL coaching. Guys are dead & buried before they schedule their first head coaching interview anywhere, much less in Baltimore.
You wanna real loose cannon?? Get Garrett's dad. I was a Columbia U. grad living in NYC, when Dad & sons flamed out there ( which is pretty hard to do given the richly anonymous football tradition and high expectations of that program... NOT!).
Posted by: tucker in Sec. 527 | January 14, 2008 11:28 AM
I, for one, probably won't even bother with the Chargers-Patriots game. And Wade Phillips looks like the kind of guy who, while his team was lining up for a 4th-and-1 play at midfield with 1:30 left in a close game, would look up and see himself on the Jumbotron and say, "Hey lookee there, I'm on teevee!"
Posted by: Sammy Maudlin | January 14, 2008 11:45 AM
Yes Mr. stelle I have to agree, Owens definetly seems a little off center mentally..you never quite know what your going to get with him....from how am I supposed to take care of my family with only millons of dollars, to Tony need to leave them girls alone, to leave Tony alone he'a my teammate....he would definetly be the houseguest that would prevent you from sleeping well.
Posted by: Rob | January 14, 2008 12:24 PM
If Tiger has gotten over Kelly Tilghman being stupid, why can't you. Spend too much time listening to Al (I still believe Tawana Brawley) Sharpton. What she said was stupid. She apologized directly to Tiger. He accepted the apology and wrote it off as stupid and then Rev. Al gets into the act and she gets suspended. When will the liberal media give the race card a break. Her miscue was forgiven by the person it effected. That doesn't make her a monster and doesn't mean she should lose her job. Wait till you step up to the stupid podium. See how many of the baltimore constiuency scream for your head.
Posted by: Ed from Park Heights | January 14, 2008 1:04 PM
Michael Vick was the most over-rated QB in the NFL. He was Kyle Boller with legs. Let's give Romo one more year of playing like he has before we tie him to Vick and Boller.
Posted by: Call it like I see it. | January 14, 2008 2:43 PM
One word comes to mind when contemplating the Cowboys and Tony Romo in general and Jason Garrett in particular: OVERRATED!!! Don't comprehend the fascination with Garrett who has had very little coaching experience. As for Romo, the one thing that stood out yesterday was his apparent lack of "feel" for the game and his patent mistakes. I understand that this is really only his second year as a player, but some of the mistakes he made yesterday belie the fact that he's been playing football since he was a kid!
Posted by: The "Armchair" QB | January 14, 2008 3:47 PM