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Rick Gosselin: Cowboys' problem isn't Wade Phillips, it's Jerry Jones
Posted at 9:52 PM on Tue., Oct. 12, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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Dallas Morning News Hall of Fame writer Rick Gosselin spoke with The Ticket radio about the NFL on Tuesday. Some highlights:
On whether making a coaching change mid-season is a good idea: No, like only one team went on to win a championship when they made a coaching change mid-season. That was Oilers in '61 with Wally Lemm. But the problem isn't the head coach, the problem is the general manager... I think Jerry is the identity of the team, Wade is not. I think that the message is lost in the locker room, players know that Wade's not in charge. I think if Jerry wanted to do something to help the team this year he would take a step back and become invisible and make it Wade's team. Just let him play his hand out. If it's not good enough, make a change at the end of the year.
On what the Cowboys problems are besides the large amount of penalties they get: I think that the run/pass thing is completely out of balance. I've been writing about that for the past couple of weeks now. You've got to commit to running the football. They've got three good runners, there's no reason you should be throwing the ball two out of every three downs. You look at Tennessee and it was flipped for them, they won the game. It was a close game, Tennessee ran the ball two thirds of the time and Dallas passed the ball two thirds of the time, and who wins? The team running the ball... When you run the ball you protect your quarterback, you protect your defense and you do what your offensive line is built to do. I think that's a big part of the problem, it's out of whack.
On whether offensive coordinators tend to prefer to call passing plays over running plays: Offensive gurus want to put the ball in the air. Fans want the ball in the air, everybody wants the ball in the air. But the teams that win don't put the ball in the air. There have been 26 300-yard passing games this season. The records of those quarterbacks is 7-19... If I'm calling plays, I want to run the ball. That stat alone gives me a better chance of winning if I put the ball on the ground.
(Gosselin said before the season that his main concern was the Cowboys again offensive line) On whether run-blocking or pass-blocking is easier for an aging offensive line: Run block. Offensive linemen, especially guys the size that the Cowboys have are built to move forward, not backward. When you've got that kind of size you want those guys to be aggressive, which they can be when they're run blocking. When you're pass blocking you're defensive, you're counteracting what the defensive player is doing, trying to keep him away from the quarterback. When you're running the ball the offensive line is dictating where it's going and where those defensive players are going.
On what percentage of plays he thinks the Cowboys should call running plays: I'd push for 50/50 but that's not going to happen. Right now I'd be happy for 60/40, and that's not happening. This is a team that should run the football. Historically, when this team runs the ball well this team wins and this team competes for Super Bowls. Everybody's throwing, and not everyone is competing for Super Bowls.
On whether the NFL might possibly take action on the Brett Favre scandal before next weeks game against the Cowboys: No, what I think's going to happen is they're going to drag out the investigation until the end of the season. I think by then he will be retired and it will go away. Nothing will happen, I'd be shocked if anything happened before then.
Posted at 9:52 PM on Tue., Oct. 12, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
SportsDayDFW sports Bio | E-mail | News tips
Dallas Morning News Hall of Fame writer Rick Gosselin spoke with The Ticket radio about the NFL on Tuesday. Some highlights:
On whether making a coaching change mid-season is a good idea: No, like only one team went on to win a championship when they made a coaching change mid-season. That was Oilers in '61 with Wally Lemm. But the problem isn't the head coach, the problem is the general manager... I think Jerry is the identity of the team, Wade is not. I think that the message is lost in the locker room, players know that Wade's not in charge. I think if Jerry wanted to do something to help the team this year he would take a step back and become invisible and make it Wade's team. Just let him play his hand out. If it's not good enough, make a change at the end of the year.
On what the Cowboys problems are besides the large amount of penalties they get: I think that the run/pass thing is completely out of balance. I've been writing about that for the past couple of weeks now. You've got to commit to running the football. They've got three good runners, there's no reason you should be throwing the ball two out of every three downs. You look at Tennessee and it was flipped for them, they won the game. It was a close game, Tennessee ran the ball two thirds of the time and Dallas passed the ball two thirds of the time, and who wins? The team running the ball... When you run the ball you protect your quarterback, you protect your defense and you do what your offensive line is built to do. I think that's a big part of the problem, it's out of whack.
On whether offensive coordinators tend to prefer to call passing plays over running plays: Offensive gurus want to put the ball in the air. Fans want the ball in the air, everybody wants the ball in the air. But the teams that win don't put the ball in the air. There have been 26 300-yard passing games this season. The records of those quarterbacks is 7-19... If I'm calling plays, I want to run the ball. That stat alone gives me a better chance of winning if I put the ball on the ground.
(Gosselin said before the season that his main concern was the Cowboys again offensive line) On whether run-blocking or pass-blocking is easier for an aging offensive line: Run block. Offensive linemen, especially guys the size that the Cowboys have are built to move forward, not backward. When you've got that kind of size you want those guys to be aggressive, which they can be when they're run blocking. When you're pass blocking you're defensive, you're counteracting what the defensive player is doing, trying to keep him away from the quarterback. When you're running the ball the offensive line is dictating where it's going and where those defensive players are going.
On what percentage of plays he thinks the Cowboys should call running plays: I'd push for 50/50 but that's not going to happen. Right now I'd be happy for 60/40, and that's not happening. This is a team that should run the football. Historically, when this team runs the ball well this team wins and this team competes for Super Bowls. Everybody's throwing, and not everyone is competing for Super Bowls.
On whether the NFL might possibly take action on the Brett Favre scandal before next weeks game against the Cowboys: No, what I think's going to happen is they're going to drag out the investigation until the end of the season. I think by then he will be retired and it will go away. Nothing will happen, I'd be shocked if anything happened before then.
