C

Cr122

Guest
Redskins' mistake can't happen, but there's no dysfunction in the way Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett operate

Todd Archer

There's been so much talk about the dynamics between head coach Wade Phillips and assistant head coach Jason Garrett since the meltdown in Washington.

Phillips acknowledged the two work separately in preparing the game plans as the playcallers on defense and offense, but it's been this way since 2007 when Phillips and Garrett were first together and the Cowboys have won a lot of games.

Obviously not when it has mattered most, I understand, but it's not like this hasn't worked to some degree.

A mistake like what happened against the Redskins cannot happen, but for people to believe there is a huge amount of dysfunction between how the Cowboys operate and how other teams operate isn't the case.

Phillips is one of the few head coaches to call defenses on game day. Lovie Smith isn't doing it this year in Chicago, but Rex Ryan is with the Jets.

But do you think Mike Shanahan is telling Jim Haslett what defenses to run in Washington? That Norv Turner is on the headset with Ron Rivera in San Diego? We are accustomed to head coaches with an offensive bent calling their own plays and nobody bats an eye. We don't see as many head coaches with a defensive bent calling defenses, so it's hard to consume.

Phillips said he will interject more but he's not going to be calling specific plays. He will manage the game more, like when to go for it on fourth down, when he'd like to see more runs or when he'd like them to speed things up.
 
Top Bottom