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Taylor: Jerry mum; dumb Cowboys close to new coach next season
12:39 AM CDT on Monday, October 11, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Archive | Bio | E-mail
ARLINGTON – Only your Dallas Cowboys could find a way to lose a game with a 400-yard passer, a 100-yard receiver and a 100-yard rusher.
It happened Sunday because these Cowboys play with the consistency of a six-year-old’s flag football team.
Mental mistakes. Physical mistakes. Dumb mistakes.
Hey, these Cowboys make them all.
But the dumbest penalty you'll ever see played a pivotal role in the Cowboys' 34-27 loss to Tennessee at Cowboys Stadium.
Marc Colombo, the 6-8, 320-pound right tackle, received a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration after a chest-bump with Jason Witten knocked him to the turf and he completed a somersault, if you can call it that.
Witten's 18-yard touchdown catch had tied the score, and he gave the ball to Colombo to spike. It was a poor interpretation of the rule by the official, since this wasn't a choreographed celebration.
Tennessee, taking advantage of the penalty, returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards, setting up the winning touchdown with 3:28 left.
Ridiculous.
But that's what bad teams do: They find creative ways to lose.
Then they sit around wondering why they're 1-3 and residing in last place in the NFC East, with no tangible reason to believe this season is going to get any better with road games against Green Bay, Minnesota and Indianapolis looming.
Super Bowl? This raggedy team must play great football over the next 12 weeks just to make the playoffs. For the record, the odds of that happening are remote.
These Cowboys deserve to be 1-3.
What else can you say about a team that plays hard and loses? The problem with the Cowboys isn't effort, it's results.
You can blame Wade Phillips for the Cowboys committing 12 penalties, but the players should be accountable.
Offensive linemen hold because they're losing one-on-one battles. Defensive backs commit pass interference penalties when they're beaten.
This team isn't good enough to overcome the litany of mistakes it makes each week. In 2007, it could. And it did, winning 13 games.
No more.
The formula for winning football games is as old as Methuselah. At no time has the formula included committing three turnovers and 12 penalties and allowing six sacks. As usual, the Cowboys didn't generate any turnovers.
Do those sound like a good team's stats? If you're honest, you know the answer.
So does Jerry Jones, conspicuous by his absence in the locker room after the game.
After virtually every game, Jerry stands in the middle of the locker room to offer his wit and wisdom into victories or losses. We can only surmise he didn't want to make his thoughts public until he gave himself 24 hours to calm down.
Frankly, that was probably the smart move. If Phillips actually raised his voice in the locker room after the game, no telling what the owner might have said.
This much is clear: The prospect of the Cowboys having a new coach next season gets more realistic after every loss.
Jerry didn't spend more than $100 million in salaries and signing and reporting bonuses to miss the playoffs. He spent the entire off-season dreaming about the Cowboys becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium.
Imagine his embarrassment if the Cowboys don't even make the playoffs. After all, he has consistently called these Cowboys the most talented team he's had since the glory days of the early '90s.
Sorry, but Jerry isn't going to fire Phillips during the season, no matter how good it would make you feel. It's not his style, because he doesn't think interim coaches work, and we're not even sure there will be an NFL season in 2011 because of the labor situation.
Besides, who would he promote? Jason Garrett is as much a part of the problem as Phillips.
It's time for many of you to start dealing in reality instead of what you want reality to be. These Cowboys are a mess, and there's no reason to believe it will get better any time soon.
It never does for bad teams.
12:39 AM CDT on Monday, October 11, 2010
Column by JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News | jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
Jean-Jacques Taylor
Archive | Bio | E-mail
ARLINGTON – Only your Dallas Cowboys could find a way to lose a game with a 400-yard passer, a 100-yard receiver and a 100-yard rusher.
It happened Sunday because these Cowboys play with the consistency of a six-year-old’s flag football team.
Mental mistakes. Physical mistakes. Dumb mistakes.
Hey, these Cowboys make them all.
But the dumbest penalty you'll ever see played a pivotal role in the Cowboys' 34-27 loss to Tennessee at Cowboys Stadium.
Marc Colombo, the 6-8, 320-pound right tackle, received a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration after a chest-bump with Jason Witten knocked him to the turf and he completed a somersault, if you can call it that.
Witten's 18-yard touchdown catch had tied the score, and he gave the ball to Colombo to spike. It was a poor interpretation of the rule by the official, since this wasn't a choreographed celebration.
Tennessee, taking advantage of the penalty, returned the ensuing kickoff 73 yards, setting up the winning touchdown with 3:28 left.
Ridiculous.
But that's what bad teams do: They find creative ways to lose.
Then they sit around wondering why they're 1-3 and residing in last place in the NFC East, with no tangible reason to believe this season is going to get any better with road games against Green Bay, Minnesota and Indianapolis looming.
Super Bowl? This raggedy team must play great football over the next 12 weeks just to make the playoffs. For the record, the odds of that happening are remote.
These Cowboys deserve to be 1-3.
What else can you say about a team that plays hard and loses? The problem with the Cowboys isn't effort, it's results.
You can blame Wade Phillips for the Cowboys committing 12 penalties, but the players should be accountable.
Offensive linemen hold because they're losing one-on-one battles. Defensive backs commit pass interference penalties when they're beaten.
This team isn't good enough to overcome the litany of mistakes it makes each week. In 2007, it could. And it did, winning 13 games.
No more.
The formula for winning football games is as old as Methuselah. At no time has the formula included committing three turnovers and 12 penalties and allowing six sacks. As usual, the Cowboys didn't generate any turnovers.
Do those sound like a good team's stats? If you're honest, you know the answer.
So does Jerry Jones, conspicuous by his absence in the locker room after the game.
After virtually every game, Jerry stands in the middle of the locker room to offer his wit and wisdom into victories or losses. We can only surmise he didn't want to make his thoughts public until he gave himself 24 hours to calm down.
Frankly, that was probably the smart move. If Phillips actually raised his voice in the locker room after the game, no telling what the owner might have said.
This much is clear: The prospect of the Cowboys having a new coach next season gets more realistic after every loss.
Jerry didn't spend more than $100 million in salaries and signing and reporting bonuses to miss the playoffs. He spent the entire off-season dreaming about the Cowboys becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium.
Imagine his embarrassment if the Cowboys don't even make the playoffs. After all, he has consistently called these Cowboys the most talented team he's had since the glory days of the early '90s.
Sorry, but Jerry isn't going to fire Phillips during the season, no matter how good it would make you feel. It's not his style, because he doesn't think interim coaches work, and we're not even sure there will be an NFL season in 2011 because of the labor situation.
Besides, who would he promote? Jason Garrett is as much a part of the problem as Phillips.
It's time for many of you to start dealing in reality instead of what you want reality to be. These Cowboys are a mess, and there's no reason to believe it will get better any time soon.
It never does for bad teams.