Best/Worst Games: Last 5 Cowboy Coaches

[sacowboysfan513]

Whats up guys, i hardly make threads but I thought I'd share this one.

I have been thinking about how since Landry, we have not had a coach last for more than 5 years here. And each one of those coaches had their ups and downs. More ups for some and more downs for others.

But for the purpose of this thread, we'll talk about the coaches who have not won a Super Bowl: Gailey, Campo, Parcells, Phillips and Garrett. In your mind, what were the best and worst games of each coach's tenure with the Cowboys.

Gailey
Best - Cowboys @ Commanders, opening game of 1999, Aikman to Ismael in OT. What a fun way to start the year, that was exciting!

Worst - Losing to Cardinals in the playoffs. We had beaten them twice that year, we were at home. Horrible...

Campo
Best - Not a long list to choose from but for me, it would have to be every game against the Commanders except the last one. We went 5-1 against them during Campo years as coach and it was nice beating the Commanders even when we sucked.

Worst - TIE between Pickle Juice game (Cowboys vs Eagles opening game in 2000) and Inaugural game for the Houston Texans. Those games made me sick.

Parcells
Best - There are a few i could choose, but the most memorable for me is the very first win for Parcells as a Cowboys coach. @NY Giants, we come from behind, score late, get an onside kick, make a long fg to send it to OT and then QCarter actually plays decent and we win in OT. I was so excited. The demeanor of the time looked completely different from the previous 3 years. In a close 2nd, was the Cowboys @ Eagles game in 2005 where we also came from behind and won the game off a RoyWilliams pick 6. That was awesome!

Worst - Pretty simple, Parcells last game as a coach. That lost to Seattle in the playoffs was pathetic. I don't care that we were on the road, we were the better team (on paper) and we should have been able to eat up their depleted secondary but we weren't able to.

Phillips
Best - I'm gonna have to go with the obvious pick and choose the playoff win against the Eagles in 09. Honorable Mentions: @Chiefs 09 and @Buffalo 07(exciting), Packers 07 (big win)

Worst - Nothing tops the 44-6 buttwhooping we got @the Eagles. That ruined my month practically. Honorable mention: vs Ravens(Last game at Texas Stadium)

Garrett
Best - Well hopefully the best is yet to come but so far I would have to go with the Cowboys/49ers game. We came from behind, Romo with fractured ribs to give the 49ers their only home loss of the season...so far.

Worst - vs Giants 2 weeks ago. I hadn't felt that angry in and affected by a game in a while. Not even the cardinals or lions or jets game. The Giants game pissed me off.

So what are your best and worst from each coaches? Or from one of them.

 

[joseephuss]

I agree with most. I would say Garrett's win at Indy last season was his best.

 

[Risen Star]

I agree with most. I would say Garrett's win at Indy last season was his best.

I'd say it was his win over the Giants last year.

 

[Tricericon]

I don't remember Gailey or Campo's days all that well, so I'm only doing the last three.

Parcells

Best: The Cowboys announced the end of Philly's rule of the NFC East by destroying them behind three first half TDs from Drew Bledsoe.

Worst: Playing at home and favored against the Saints to take control of the second seed, the Cowboys scored a 77 yarder from Julius Jones in the first minute, then disintegrated.

Phillips

Best: Destroyed the Packers the week after Thanksgiving to take control of the conference. The back-back demolitions of Philly were fun too, but this was the best statement game of the Phillips era.

Worst: I still can't figure out how this happened. Those Giants were the most average sports team since Mediocrates played in his last Olympics; to this day I think that if Romo hadn't busted up his thumb a few weeks before we'd have won that Super Bowl.

Garrett

Best: The smashing of the Giants for his first win. Man, was it good to get a win after the fiascoes that ended the Phillips era.

Worst: The collapse against the Lions. I was so sick I had a hard time caring about the Cowboys again for weeks.

 

[links18]

Gailey: Best: 1998--Beating Giants in NY with Garrett at the QB and Emmitt on the bench injured. Worst: 1998--46-36 Defeat to Minnesota on Thanksgiving Day. Randy Moss goes ballistic and we haven't heard the end of it since.

Campo: Best--Beating San Francisco with the amazing Woody Dantzler kick-off return. Worst--Last game and only loss to Commanders with Chad Hutchinson as QB.

Parcells: Best--2005 Come from behind win against KC at home. Worst--35-7 drubbing against the Commanders in 2005.

Wade: Best--Beating undefeated Saints in 2009. Worst--Home playoff loss to Giants 2007 (Too many to name actually: 44-6, 34-3, etc.)

Garrett: Best--Beating the Giants in his first game as head coach. Worst--Cardinals loss this year.

 

[Venger]

I agree with most. I would say Garrett's win at Indy last season was his best.

Agree here, also think Garrett's worst was the Eagles caning we received this year. Honorable mention for worst is the the Arizona game, where he seemed more directly responsible for game sabotage.

 

[sacowboysfan513]

I agree with most. I would say Garrett's win at Indy last season was his best.

Definitely a good game, That was a close 2nd for me, winning on the road against a playoff team was a nice statement. And knowing that they had just barely lost to the saints the previous week, it showed that the Cowboys were actually a decent team to end the year.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Agree with everything except I think the Lions loss was the worst for Garrett and the best imo was the very first game under him when we played spoiler by winning on the road @ the Giants which prevented them from winning the NFC East.

 

[sacowboysfan513]

Parcells
The Cowboys announced the end of Philly's rule of the NFC East by destroying them behind three first half TDs from Drew Bledsoe.

Great game! I can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I became seeing the Eagles blowout the Cowboys everytime earlier this century. This game you mentioned and also the 2003 Cowboys vs Eagles where they tried an onside kick to start the game, but we returned it for a touchdown!

 

[Eskimo]

Agree here, also think Garrett's worst was the Eagles caning we received this year. Honorable mention for worst is the the Arizona game, where he seemed more directly responsible for game sabotage.

Zona is like 6-1 in their last 7 games with the one loss being to SF (they came right back and beat them later). They might just be pretty damn good.

 

[Venger]

Zona is like 6-1 in their last 7 games with the one loss being to SF (they came right back and beat them later). They might just be pretty damn good.

Dude we had 10 days to prepare for that team and it didn't look like 10 minutes, AND Garrett made numerous in game decisions that cost us the win - chicken$^%*ing in the first half, crap time management, sabotaging Bailey...

 

[Eskimo]

Phillips:
- Worst: getting destroyed by Philly at end of 08 season
- best: NO in 2009 to end their undefeated season

Garrett:
- Best: Coming off 2 drubbings, Garrett whips the Giants in NY in his first game as HC (runner up: Indy in 2010, SF 2011)

- Worst: getting whipped by Philly this year (runner up: Lions comeback win 2011)

Parcells:
- Best: Beating the undefeated colts in 2006
- Worst: Whipped by Saints in 2006 that announced to the world how bad his defensive schemes were.

 

[sacowboysfan513]

Phillips:
- Worst: getting destroyed by Philly at end of 08 season
- best: NO in 2009 to end their undefeated season

I had actually forgotten about this game. I remember thinking that we seriously have a super bowl contending team. And after we beat the Eagles in the wildcard round, I knew we had the maturity and talent to go all the way. Thats why the following week against the vikings was that much more disappointing.

 

[Eskimo]

Dude we had 10 days to prepare for that team and it didn't look like 10 minutes, AND Garrett made numerous in game decisions that cost us the win - chicken$^%*ing in the first half, crap time management, sabotaging Bailey...

You can make up stuff all you want (re: icing the kicker). Any kicker that can be iced needs to be shown the door.

We were playing a hot team on the road (6-1 in their last 7 games). They had a player that we just couldn't get blocked and Garrett became too conservative at the end of the game. It was a conscious decision to play for a game winning kick and not clock mismanagement per se.

That was a makeable kick and the FG unit did not execute the play. They didn't execute the same kick a week later at home on an artificial field. The special teams need a major upgrade and Coach D needs to be shown the door for continued underperformance of his units. We have been bad on punt returns, kickoff returns and kickoff coverage since he came here.

For those reasons I don't think that was our worse game. We were beat far more severely by a team with a worse record (Zona 7-7 versus Philly 6-8) within our own division. That was a worse loss than an OT game.

 

[links18]

Any kicker that can be iced needs to be shown the door.

So, you want to cut Bailey or you don't think he was iced (twice)?

 

[dboy214]

Parcells
Best - There are a few i could choose, but the most memorable for me is the very first win for Parcells as a Cowboys coach. @NY Giants, we come from behind, score late, get an onside kick, make a long fg to send it to OT and then QCarter actually plays decent and we win in OT. I was so excited. The demeanor of the time looked completely different from the previous 3 years. In a close 2nd, was the Cowboys @ Eagles game in 2005 where we also came from behind and won the game off a RoyWilliams pick 6. That was awesome!

man does anybody have video or highlights of this game? i've been looking for awhile.

 

[Eskimo]

So, you want to cut Bailey or you don't think he was iced (twice)?

Not really - Bailey wasn't iced.

Coach D's unit did not perform under pressure. In the Zona game there was a poor snap and a very bad hold. In the Giants game the middle of the line allowed too much penetration from JPP. It is hard to say whether Bailey was really at fault in either situation but since he is the kicker he gets credited with a miss.

Coach D needs to be canned. I feel bad for him with his neck injury but we need good ST units and he has let us down too many times.

 

[links18]

Not really - Bailey wasn't iced.

Coach D's unit did not perform under pressure. In the Zona game there was a poor snap and a very bad hold. In the Giants game the middle of the line allowed too much penetration from JPP. It is hard to say whether Bailey was really at fault in either situation but since he is the kicker he gets credited with a miss.

Coach D needs to be canned. I feel bad for him with his neck injury but we need good ST units and he has let us down too many times.

Well, they might not have iced the kicker, but sounds like they sure iced the rest of the FG unit.

 

[Eskimo]

Well, they might not have iced the kicker, but sounds like they sure iced the rest of the FG unit.

Again, that is an execution issue.

The FG unit failed to execute - poor snap, horrific hold.

Next year the job should not be Romo's or McBriar's if he is brought back. Romo is the starter so he has other things to worry about. McBriar just isn't any good at it - as bad as he has been punting lately he may not be back unless that nerve injury recovers or he learns how to kick better with it.

It is usually the job of the punter or the backup QB. I think McGee should do it next year.