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Moore: Wade Phillips says he needs to interject more with play calling
01:50 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
Column by DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News | dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – Monday is typically time to pin the tail on the donkey at Valley Ranch.
It works this way. The media identify culprits and assign blame. The difficulty after the Cowboys' 13-7 loss to Washington to open the regular season was narrowing the list.
Tashard Choice's fumble to end the first half and Alex Barron's holding call to end the game vaulted to the top. Head coach Wade Phillips called them "a couple of devastating plays, but I don't think they will devastate our team."
He then grabbed the tail and pinned it on himself.
Choice's fumble, the one returned 32 yards for a touchdown by cornerback DeAngelo Hall to alter the complexion of the game, wasn't the running back's fault. It was Phillips.' He knew the call made by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and did nothing to overrule it.
"We needed to kneel on the football," Phillips said. "That way, we don't get in that situation.
"That's game strategy, and that goes to the head coach."
Four seconds remained in the first half. The Cowboys trailed, 3-0, and had the ball on their own 36-yard line when Garrett called for a deep pass.
The play broke down and quarterback Tony Romo dumped the ball to Choice. Rather than go down, he tried to make something out of nothing and was stripped of the ball. The Redskins converted the turnover into their only touchdown of the evening to take a 10-0 lead.
Garrett should not have taken the risk at that stage of the game. Romo should not have dinked the ball to Choice when nothing was open deep. Choice should have been more concerned with securing the ball than gaining an insignificant yard or two.
But that sequence would not have unraveled the way it did if Phillips had shouted into his headset for Romo to take a knee.
The confusion came on the previous play. Romo's pass to Dez Bryant was incomplete as Barron was called for holding. Washington initially declined the penalty. Phillips told his defensive coaches he couldn't believe Washington had done that when the Redskins changed their mind and accepted the penalty.
The Cowboys were pushed back 10 yards to their own 36-yard line. But the play Garrett called when he thought the ball would be at the 46-yard line was still in place.
"I need to interject more and I didn't do it," Phillips said. "That was the problem."
The perception is that Phillips runs the defense and Garrett the offense. For the most part, that's true.
But the two talk during the week in putting together the offensive game plan. It's vetted by Phillips. The two communicate during the game about what is happening and what needs to be done.
Phillips doesn't call specific plays. But he will tell Garrett that he wants to speed the game up or slow it down. He will tell his offensive coordinator when he wants to run certain personnel groups, go with a no-huddle offense or go for it on fourth down.
That speaks to strategy. That is always Phillips' call. He's in charge, even though some like to paint that he's not.
"I have the right to do anything I want to do," Phillips said. "Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
"The situation before the half, I should have."
Phillips resisted attempts to pry into how much he and Garrett speak during games and how often he overrides what the coordinator calls. Phillips did say the two work together well and that Garrett is as frustrated as he is over what happened.
What this means going forward is hard to say. It's not in Phillips' personality to micromanage the offense. But he could be more assertive in situations like the one that arose Sunday night at FedEx Field.
Now, back to Monday at Valley Ranch. Phillips told the team the call at the end of the half was his fault. He also told the players they had to do better. He called on them to attack the mistakes that were made and rectify them before Sunday's home opener against Chicago.
"We're not going to kill the horse just yet," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "We may be limping a little bit, but you can still come out of the gate and play well."
Horse. Donkey. It's all the same family.Anatomy of a loss
Some of the problems from Sunday's 13-7 loss:
Small plays: In 71 plays against Washington, 31 went for 2 yards or less. The Cowboys lost yardage on five occasions.
Penalties: There were 12 penalties for 91 yards. Eight different players were penalized and three others were hit with penalties that were declined.
Third-down struggles: The Cowboys were 5-of-13. But in the second half, they were only 1-of-5.
David Moore
• • •
01:50 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
COLUMN By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmoore@dallasnews.com
Column by DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News | dmoore@dallasnews.com
David Moore
Archive | E-mail
IRVING – Monday is typically time to pin the tail on the donkey at Valley Ranch.
It works this way. The media identify culprits and assign blame. The difficulty after the Cowboys' 13-7 loss to Washington to open the regular season was narrowing the list.
Tashard Choice's fumble to end the first half and Alex Barron's holding call to end the game vaulted to the top. Head coach Wade Phillips called them "a couple of devastating plays, but I don't think they will devastate our team."
He then grabbed the tail and pinned it on himself.
Choice's fumble, the one returned 32 yards for a touchdown by cornerback DeAngelo Hall to alter the complexion of the game, wasn't the running back's fault. It was Phillips.' He knew the call made by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and did nothing to overrule it.
"We needed to kneel on the football," Phillips said. "That way, we don't get in that situation.
"That's game strategy, and that goes to the head coach."
Four seconds remained in the first half. The Cowboys trailed, 3-0, and had the ball on their own 36-yard line when Garrett called for a deep pass.
The play broke down and quarterback Tony Romo dumped the ball to Choice. Rather than go down, he tried to make something out of nothing and was stripped of the ball. The Redskins converted the turnover into their only touchdown of the evening to take a 10-0 lead.
Garrett should not have taken the risk at that stage of the game. Romo should not have dinked the ball to Choice when nothing was open deep. Choice should have been more concerned with securing the ball than gaining an insignificant yard or two.
But that sequence would not have unraveled the way it did if Phillips had shouted into his headset for Romo to take a knee.
The confusion came on the previous play. Romo's pass to Dez Bryant was incomplete as Barron was called for holding. Washington initially declined the penalty. Phillips told his defensive coaches he couldn't believe Washington had done that when the Redskins changed their mind and accepted the penalty.
The Cowboys were pushed back 10 yards to their own 36-yard line. But the play Garrett called when he thought the ball would be at the 46-yard line was still in place.
"I need to interject more and I didn't do it," Phillips said. "That was the problem."
The perception is that Phillips runs the defense and Garrett the offense. For the most part, that's true.
But the two talk during the week in putting together the offensive game plan. It's vetted by Phillips. The two communicate during the game about what is happening and what needs to be done.
Phillips doesn't call specific plays. But he will tell Garrett that he wants to speed the game up or slow it down. He will tell his offensive coordinator when he wants to run certain personnel groups, go with a no-huddle offense or go for it on fourth down.
That speaks to strategy. That is always Phillips' call. He's in charge, even though some like to paint that he's not.
"I have the right to do anything I want to do," Phillips said. "Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
"The situation before the half, I should have."
Phillips resisted attempts to pry into how much he and Garrett speak during games and how often he overrides what the coordinator calls. Phillips did say the two work together well and that Garrett is as frustrated as he is over what happened.
What this means going forward is hard to say. It's not in Phillips' personality to micromanage the offense. But he could be more assertive in situations like the one that arose Sunday night at FedEx Field.
Now, back to Monday at Valley Ranch. Phillips told the team the call at the end of the half was his fault. He also told the players they had to do better. He called on them to attack the mistakes that were made and rectify them before Sunday's home opener against Chicago.
"We're not going to kill the horse just yet," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "We may be limping a little bit, but you can still come out of the gate and play well."
Horse. Donkey. It's all the same family.Anatomy of a loss
Some of the problems from Sunday's 13-7 loss:
Small plays: In 71 plays against Washington, 31 went for 2 yards or less. The Cowboys lost yardage on five occasions.
Penalties: There were 12 penalties for 91 yards. Eight different players were penalized and three others were hit with penalties that were declined.
Third-down struggles: The Cowboys were 5-of-13. But in the second half, they were only 1-of-5.
David Moore
• • •