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Moore: Excessive celebration? Cowboys have nothing to celebrate
12:46 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 19, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – In some Park Avenue office, it must make sense that two players flashing a Hook 'em Horns sign constitutes excessive celebration while hurdling a player does not.
JOHN F. RHODES/DMN
Miles Austin (19) and Sam Hurd (17) make their way toward Roy Williams after his touchdown catch in the loss Sunday to Minnesota. An excessive-celebration penalty believed to have been on Austin was instead called on Hurd.
Miles Austin has been absolved for his leapfrog moment. But don't allow Monday's revelation that Roy Williams and Sam Hurd were actually at fault obscure the larger issue.
What exactly do the Cowboys have to feel good about?
Austin's celebration and the fallout symbolize much of what has gone wrong for the Cowboys in this 1-4 start. It speaks to a mentality that gets lost in the moment and loses focus. It fuels the perception that this team is snakebit, the word quarterback Tony Romo used to explain his emotions after the loss to Minnesota.
This is the dilemma coach Wade Phillips faces as the Cowboys strive to resurrect their season. This is the fine line the leaders on this team walk as they try to stop their losing ways against the New York Giants.
How much responsibility does each individual assume for a season gone wrong without becoming hopeless? How do you remain optimistic when your next loss equals last season's total?
"If you whine and cry about the past and what's happened, you look back instead of looking forward," Phillips said. "We need to look forward."
The Cowboys can't go into these games waiting for the other shoe – or yellow flag – to drop. They can't wonder who will be the next player to make a mistake at the most inopportune time.
"Yeah, and I'm the reason for that message," Austin said. "It's a terrible, terrible feeling."
Austin refuses to buy into the snakebit theory. He put himself in position to get called for excessive celebration on the team's first touchdown, even though it was Williams and Hurd who were flagged for their coordinated celebration.
"To do anything that would even jeopardize the well-being of the team is crazy and unexplainable and inexcusable," Austin said.
It was Austin who was called for pass interference in the second quarter, nullifying what would have been a 68-yard touchdown strike from Romo.
The Cowboys' 49 penalties this season are spread among 24 players. Five of Romo's seven interceptions have been tipped.
Unlucky?
"The most talented teams ain't won the Super Bowl since I've been in the league," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "It's the ones that play well most of the time and get a few breaks.
"I mean right now we have the worst luck in football. As a human you are saying, 'man, can we get a break?' You know what I'm saying?
"But sometimes you have to create your own luck, man."
The Cowboys can't dig out of this hole if they fear that next turnover or bad break. At the same time, they can't assume their luck will turn.
"No one says, 'oh, just because you lost x amount of games, you're going to win one,' " Austin said. "That doesn't work in anything. Even roulette. I don't care if it's 30 reds. It could be 31 reds.
"We've just got to go in and fight."
Phillips has identified three areas that must be addressed heading into the Monday night game against the Giants: kickoff coverage, penalties and turnover ratio. He spoke of getting the players' attention by any means possible.
"Some of them respond to money," Phillips said when asked if he would institute a fine structure for penalties. "Most of them respond to peer pressure.
"You're hurting the team. That's really where you get to a player more than anything. More than cussing him out, more than fining him.
"Overall, it's really the team itself and bringing it out and being accountable. That's why we always talk about that. Everybody is accountable to each other."
The players must be accountable for their actions without letting those actions drag them down. How do they retain hope?
"If you have pride in what you do and who you are, it's not even an option," defensive end Igor Olshansky said. "Everybody should be a little bit uneasy where we are. It's not like we have many more weeks.
"The margin of error is getting very small for us."
This is no time for a celebration.
• • •
12:46 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 19, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – In some Park Avenue office, it must make sense that two players flashing a Hook 'em Horns sign constitutes excessive celebration while hurdling a player does not.
JOHN F. RHODES/DMN
Miles Austin (19) and Sam Hurd (17) make their way toward Roy Williams after his touchdown catch in the loss Sunday to Minnesota. An excessive-celebration penalty believed to have been on Austin was instead called on Hurd.
Miles Austin has been absolved for his leapfrog moment. But don't allow Monday's revelation that Roy Williams and Sam Hurd were actually at fault obscure the larger issue.
What exactly do the Cowboys have to feel good about?
Austin's celebration and the fallout symbolize much of what has gone wrong for the Cowboys in this 1-4 start. It speaks to a mentality that gets lost in the moment and loses focus. It fuels the perception that this team is snakebit, the word quarterback Tony Romo used to explain his emotions after the loss to Minnesota.
This is the dilemma coach Wade Phillips faces as the Cowboys strive to resurrect their season. This is the fine line the leaders on this team walk as they try to stop their losing ways against the New York Giants.
How much responsibility does each individual assume for a season gone wrong without becoming hopeless? How do you remain optimistic when your next loss equals last season's total?
"If you whine and cry about the past and what's happened, you look back instead of looking forward," Phillips said. "We need to look forward."
The Cowboys can't go into these games waiting for the other shoe – or yellow flag – to drop. They can't wonder who will be the next player to make a mistake at the most inopportune time.
"Yeah, and I'm the reason for that message," Austin said. "It's a terrible, terrible feeling."
Austin refuses to buy into the snakebit theory. He put himself in position to get called for excessive celebration on the team's first touchdown, even though it was Williams and Hurd who were flagged for their coordinated celebration.
"To do anything that would even jeopardize the well-being of the team is crazy and unexplainable and inexcusable," Austin said.
It was Austin who was called for pass interference in the second quarter, nullifying what would have been a 68-yard touchdown strike from Romo.
The Cowboys' 49 penalties this season are spread among 24 players. Five of Romo's seven interceptions have been tipped.
Unlucky?
"The most talented teams ain't won the Super Bowl since I've been in the league," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "It's the ones that play well most of the time and get a few breaks.
"I mean right now we have the worst luck in football. As a human you are saying, 'man, can we get a break?' You know what I'm saying?
"But sometimes you have to create your own luck, man."
The Cowboys can't dig out of this hole if they fear that next turnover or bad break. At the same time, they can't assume their luck will turn.
"No one says, 'oh, just because you lost x amount of games, you're going to win one,' " Austin said. "That doesn't work in anything. Even roulette. I don't care if it's 30 reds. It could be 31 reds.
"We've just got to go in and fight."
Phillips has identified three areas that must be addressed heading into the Monday night game against the Giants: kickoff coverage, penalties and turnover ratio. He spoke of getting the players' attention by any means possible.
"Some of them respond to money," Phillips said when asked if he would institute a fine structure for penalties. "Most of them respond to peer pressure.
"You're hurting the team. That's really where you get to a player more than anything. More than cussing him out, more than fining him.
"Overall, it's really the team itself and bringing it out and being accountable. That's why we always talk about that. Everybody is accountable to each other."
The players must be accountable for their actions without letting those actions drag them down. How do they retain hope?
"If you have pride in what you do and who you are, it's not even an option," defensive end Igor Olshansky said. "Everybody should be a little bit uneasy where we are. It's not like we have many more weeks.
"The margin of error is getting very small for us."
This is no time for a celebration.
• • •
