DMN: Jimmy Johnson: Turnovers and penalties have plagued Cowboys for years under Wade

[BrAinPaiNt]

Retired coach Jimmy Johnson blasted his former team Monday in a column for Fox Sports.

Johnson said the turnovers and penalties the Cowboys had in Sunday's 27-20 loss to Chicago are the same problems they have been having for the past three or four years under Wade Phillips.

"They got away from this negative stuff some last season. Still, penalties and inopportune turnovers have killed them in the crucial games," he wrote. "Until they cut back on these penalties and turnovers, they are going to have a problem."

LINK to article (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/092110dnspocowjohnson.11288f9c4.html)

[zrinkill]

Ouch ..... with Jimmy going against Wade it gonna get ugly fast.

[slotshot]

As I recall, penalties were a problem under Parcells as well. It sticks in my mind because it was surprising.

[hutch1254]

"It’s almost as if the Cowboys think they are so talented it is not a big deal, all these mistakes," Johnson wrote.

Jimmy nails it. No issues through the preseason, we'll just flip the switch when the real games start. We have more talent than most teams we'll just walk right through. We're back to believing our own hype again on the strength of a division championship and a playoff win minus the TO, Pacman, hardknocks, etc. shenanigans.

Sensenbaugh said the right thing too. Organization needs to be focused on football/winning. We've gotten away from it again because the Big Game is in Jerry's house and who is the face of the franchise? Jerry and the Stadium.

I used to hate it when people referred to our new place as JerryWorld...I really liked being able to say "The Big Yard." But now, JerryWorld is more fitting than ever and that stinks.

[CCBoy]

"It’s almost as if the Cowboys think they are so talented it is not a big deal, all these mistakes," Johnson wrote.

Jimmy nails it. No issues through the preseason, we'll just flip the switch when the real games start. We have more talent than most teams we'll just walk right through. We're back to believing our own hype again on the strength of a division championship and a playoff win minus the TO, Pacman, hardknocks, etc. shenanigans.

Sensenbaugh said the right thing too. Organization needs to be focused on football/winning. We've gotten away from it again because the Big Game is in Jerry's house and who is the face of the franchise? Jerry and the Stadium.

I used to hate it when people referred to our new place as JerryWorld...I really liked being able to say "The Big Yard." But now, JerryWorld is more fitting than ever and that stinks.

Just curious Jimmy Johnson, who's group of players laid the foundation and rational of high levels of penalties brought that perception into the franchise? Who let that cat out of the bag for the team, Jimmy? Maybe about the same time you sought to be GM of another team as YOUR team was coming up to play in the Super Bowl. Such esteemed plateau for comparison. But it does bring in an element of humor, as your brow beat here is a little hypocritical with your own course of actions. By the way, how come the 'ol ball of wax you levied in Miami never met the mark since you had an iron hand on such matters......right?

[CCBoy]

"It’s almost as if the Cowboys think they are so talented it is not a big deal, all these mistakes," Johnson wrote.

Jimmy nails it. No issues through the preseason, we'll just flip the switch when the real games start. We have more talent than most teams we'll just walk right through. We're back to believing our own hype again on the strength of a division championship and a playoff win minus the TO, Pacman, hardknocks, etc. shenanigans.

Sensenbaugh said the right thing too. Organization needs to be focused on football/winning. We've gotten away from it again because the Big Game is in Jerry's house and who is the face of the franchise? Jerry and the Stadium.

I used to hate it when people referred to our new place as JerryWorld...I really liked being able to say "The Big Yard." But now, JerryWorld is more fitting than ever and that stinks.

You laid some good insights, but when emotions start to come out, the causes often aren't upon a leadership aspect as the cause. That misses mark. The secondary is still young and coming together, so there are problems that will surface there. The offensive line is together for the first time in real carpet action. That takes adjustment....but basics of accomplishments have been shown on both sides of the ball. To coach through that, it takes adjustments and a fan observing the transitioning....not looking for a Monday Morning Quarterback's classic excuse, brought out by the loving community of sports media in and around Dallas/Ft Worth.

Excuse #1: Bad coaching - too early in the season for this one. After just two games, the team is only one game out of first.

Excuse #2: Bad play selections - c'mon here. If two turnovers caused by receiver deflections and a fumble cause by arms being pulled back by one defender while another defender strikes the ball, and a missed field goal from a new place kicker creates a whole half of missed opportunity, then that hardly falls back upon poor coaching.

Now those aspects have been revealed, they NOW can be coached up, although.

Excuse #3: Poor quarterback play...and this has just been touched upon as to Tony Romo throwing pooor passes. But, he still has an average of over 300 yards thrown for the first two games. So, maybe there is room for improvements as the offensive line addresses running the ball and full integration of all the starters now. Romo?

But I dare say that none of the prime visited targets of the media and Monday morning QB's haven't been missed at all. Go figure the evaluations flying now. Talk about gullible....

[tyke1doe]

As I recall, penalties were a problem under Parcells as well. It sticks in my mind because it was surprising.

So what's the common denominator?

J-E-R-R-Y.

I wonder if the atmosphere Jerry Jones creates leads to a lack of attention to detail in practice?

[Idgit]

Hard to disagree. Especially since many of us have been saying exactly this for some time. It's the penalties and turnovers that are killing us.

[tyke1doe]

Just curious Jimmy Johnson, who's group of players laid the foundation and rational of high levels of penalties brought that perception into the franchise? Who let that cat out of the bag for the team, Jimmy? Maybe about the same time you sought to be GM of another team as YOUR team was coming up to play in the Super Bowl. Such esteemed plateau for comparison. But it does bring in an element of humor, as your brow beat here is a little hypocritical with your own course of actions. By the way, how come the 'ol ball of wax you levied in Miami never met the mark since you had an iron hand on such matters......right?

Huh? :confused: :huh:

Jimmy Johnson's teams were noted for their lack of penalties and turnovers.

[hutch1254]

CCBoy, thank you, some good thoughts there. Romo didn't have his best stuff Sunday but he did have enough stuff to win. We can argue things like the 3rd and short pass to Choice. Did Romo throw it poorly or did TC run the wrong pattern? Either error is a correctable issue through coaching.

What is it really going to take to get rid of the turnovers and penalties though? We could say get better players or we could say get a better coach to get these players to reach their maximum potential in preventing these errors. Here's a better question. Have Wade and JG reached topped out on their coaching abilities and taken these guys as far as they can reach? Maybe they've reached their own personal coaching limits and it's not good enough. I don't believe that personally, I think the coaching is there, it's more lack of focus on doing things right. Hell we cut penalties in half last game but that went unnoticed due to the loss.

I apologize if my initial post sounded emotional or anything. I was pretty fired up between Sunday night and Monday night. Just coming down today and getting level headed again. As with a lot of folks I had high expectations from the get go and was very excited and that has been rag dolled a bit. We'll get it back.

[DallasGirl50]

Hard to disagree. Especially since many of us have been saying exactly this for some time. It's the penalties and turnovers that are killing us.


True. And for whatever reason our penalities always seem to be drive killers. We lost the Skins game on a penalty. We have a horrible time scoring anyway this year and then we just make it that much harder. It's nuts.

[Idgit]

True. And for whatever reason our penalities always seem to be drive killers. We lost the Skins game on a penalty. We have a horrible time scoring anyway this year and then we just make it that much harder. It's nuts.

We haven't had the big plays for TDs yet, so we've had to sustain drives. Which we don't do well because of the mental mistakes. Even when it's not penalties, it's drive-killing mental errors which amount to the same thing except we get to punt afterwards.

It's got to be fixed. Almost immediately. The good news, though, is that it's entirely fixable. What I hate is seeing the problem treated as an indictment of the entire organization.

[InmanRoshi]

As I recall, penalties were a problem under Parcells as well. It sticks in my mind because it was surprising.

3 out of the 4 years under Parcells we finished Top 10 in fewest penalties.

[noshame]

It’s almost as if the Cowboys think they are so talented it is not a big deal, all these mistakes," Johnson wrote.

Where could they possibly have gotten that idea?:bang2: