ddh33
11-16-2004, 12:12 AM
Well, after a game like tonight, it's easy to find a lot of things that make you feel terrible about your team.
Maybe you feel like blaming your owner and GM, scouting department, and coaches for not getting more talent in the offseason? Maybe you blame the coaches and coordinaters for th decisions made over the course of the game? Maybe you blame a loack of effort or wonder how a team can so quickly self-destruct?
But one of the things that stood out to me tonight was watching Nate Jones get beat on the infamous McNabb scramble that will inevitably be replayed a hundred times tonight and tomorrow. And it didn't even make me that sad that Jones got beat, it was just a combination of things...
First of all, Nathan Jones was a guy that very few of us ever expected to make this team. He was supposed to be nothing more than a special teams kid, if anything. But he scrapped his way on to this team and has made himself a contributer at times. Due to injuries, he was forced into the lineup and has done what he could to help the team, despite his limited ailities. Personally, I have an appreciation for the kid.
So tonight, little Nathan Jones get matched up with a Philly receiver on Monday night. His job, in simplest terms, is to keep his man from getting into the endzone. If you're greedy, you don't even want him to let his man catch the football...
The ball is snapped, and Jones starts to cover his man. 1,2,3,4,5...good coverage. His man can't get open, can't receive the ball. Nathan has done his job. Surely, the play is over...But wait!
6,7,8,9...Jones still has converage, even though Donovan McNabb has now made all of the Cowboys D-Line look foolish. The play continues!
10,11,12,13...still covered, even though this is completely rediculous. This play should have ended 8 seconds ago!
14...the ball leaves McNabb's hands...Jones' man makes the catch. unfortunately, Nathan got beat by a step and couldn't make a play on the ball. 60 yard something gain! Parcells grimaces. The defense moans (and gasps for air), and poor Nate is all alone...
I know this is the life of a professional football player, but I swear the kid looked like he wanted to cry. So, off to the sidelines he goes, and there is Keyshawn Johnson to meet him. Key seems to chew him out a little bit, and I'm left wondering, has it come to this? Do we really need a 7th round draft choice to cover his man for 14 seconds? Because, I'll be honest, if that's what this team demands, this team isn't going very far...Would Keyshawn expect a Corner to cover him for 14 seconds? Is it possible to do?
And it seems like that is a picture of the way this whole season has gone. I've watched some guys who probably shouldn't even be on the field give it their all, and it hasn't been quite enough due to the letdowns of a few. Football is a wonderful sport because it is a team game. Unfortunately, the TEAM is letting a few guys down. That may be the saddest thing to me. What's worse is that the guys letting down the team seem to be different every single week...How do you fix that, as Bill would say?
Maybe you feel like blaming your owner and GM, scouting department, and coaches for not getting more talent in the offseason? Maybe you blame the coaches and coordinaters for th decisions made over the course of the game? Maybe you blame a loack of effort or wonder how a team can so quickly self-destruct?
But one of the things that stood out to me tonight was watching Nate Jones get beat on the infamous McNabb scramble that will inevitably be replayed a hundred times tonight and tomorrow. And it didn't even make me that sad that Jones got beat, it was just a combination of things...
First of all, Nathan Jones was a guy that very few of us ever expected to make this team. He was supposed to be nothing more than a special teams kid, if anything. But he scrapped his way on to this team and has made himself a contributer at times. Due to injuries, he was forced into the lineup and has done what he could to help the team, despite his limited ailities. Personally, I have an appreciation for the kid.
So tonight, little Nathan Jones get matched up with a Philly receiver on Monday night. His job, in simplest terms, is to keep his man from getting into the endzone. If you're greedy, you don't even want him to let his man catch the football...
The ball is snapped, and Jones starts to cover his man. 1,2,3,4,5...good coverage. His man can't get open, can't receive the ball. Nathan has done his job. Surely, the play is over...But wait!
6,7,8,9...Jones still has converage, even though Donovan McNabb has now made all of the Cowboys D-Line look foolish. The play continues!
10,11,12,13...still covered, even though this is completely rediculous. This play should have ended 8 seconds ago!
14...the ball leaves McNabb's hands...Jones' man makes the catch. unfortunately, Nathan got beat by a step and couldn't make a play on the ball. 60 yard something gain! Parcells grimaces. The defense moans (and gasps for air), and poor Nate is all alone...
I know this is the life of a professional football player, but I swear the kid looked like he wanted to cry. So, off to the sidelines he goes, and there is Keyshawn Johnson to meet him. Key seems to chew him out a little bit, and I'm left wondering, has it come to this? Do we really need a 7th round draft choice to cover his man for 14 seconds? Because, I'll be honest, if that's what this team demands, this team isn't going very far...Would Keyshawn expect a Corner to cover him for 14 seconds? Is it possible to do?
And it seems like that is a picture of the way this whole season has gone. I've watched some guys who probably shouldn't even be on the field give it their all, and it hasn't been quite enough due to the letdowns of a few. Football is a wonderful sport because it is a team game. Unfortunately, the TEAM is letting a few guys down. That may be the saddest thing to me. What's worse is that the guys letting down the team seem to be different every single week...How do you fix that, as Bill would say?