Rams decimate Cowboys: The AuTVopsy....... aka TV autopsy
3:22 AM Mon, Oct 20, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Barry Horn E-mail News tips
I. In the Fox post-game studio, the yakkers were laying blame for the debacle in St. Louis on Wade Phillips. They never mentioned the Cowboys coach by name, but you didn't have to be a football Einstein to decipher the comments.
II. Howie Long came up with an interesting analogy. He likened the Cowboys to the talented pre-Beijing U.S. Olympic men's basketball teams that didn't win gold medals. "There's no question that the teams we sent in prior Olympics had more talent than anyone but they couldn't close the deal and that's the case with the Cowboys. They've got to find a way to focus that football team. It looks disorganized."
III. Maybe Terry Bradshaw is tired of sharing the set with Jimmy Johnson. He thinks the JJ hammer would be the perfect Cowboys elixir. "I'm going to tell you what they need. They need you," TB said, pointing at JJ. "They need a personality like you. They don't need an easy guy. They need a tough disciplinarian. They need someone to get in their faces and get them to play. They don't need an easy guy. They have an easy guy."
IV. JJ, of course, has no interest in returning to coaching. Anywhere. He likes cashing the Fox checks and not having to worry about anything else. He wakes up a winner every Monday. But just to complicate matters, JJ, of all people, defended the Cowboys. "They have problems but they are correctable. If they will discipline...If they will focus in on protecting the ball, work on special teams and work on eliminating some of those penalties -- they are correctable."
V. Quick change of subject: Yes, when the day comes that John Madden, 72, decides he is finished in the Sunday night booth or someone at NBC decides it for him, Cris Collinsworth, 49, will be his replacement.
VI. Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa did admirable jobs of beating up on the hapless Cowboys during the game. From Johnston: "There is so much talent on (the Cowboys) roster but that doesn't mean a thing if it isn't playing together as a team for whatever reason." And: "Roy Williams, my gosh, leaves the ineptitude of Detroit and comes to this today."
VII. But Johnston and Siragusa were out of bounds when they took the Dallas media to task for what they were sure would be a week of grilling the Cowboys. They sounded sorry for players who would have to put up for what Johnston called a "mentally draining" experience. Maybe the ticket-buying public should know "whatever reason(s)" there may be for the team not playing together. Don't hate your FELLOW media types.
VIII. Over at CBS Shannon Sharpe had it right when he chided Titans qb Vince Young for blaming the media for picking on him. "I'm looking on the monitor (at a graphic), I see 22 touchdowns and 32 interceptions - you're kind of defining your legacy."
IX And how's this indictment of DeMarcus Ware by NBC's Jerome Bettis: "He's sack happy. You have to wonder if this individualism starting to creep into the defensive side. We know it's already on the offensive side. Or is it the scheme defensively. If either one of those are the case this spells big trouble in Big D."
X. ESPN's Tom Jackson was critical of Jerry Jones' heavy hand on the Cowboys before Sunday's disaster: "He likes dictating every single thing that they do. You can see now it's rather dysfunctional and not working."
XI. Also pre-game: ESPN's Chris Carter opined that the Cowboys are way too soft: "I think right now Dallas could use some toughness. So if (Tony Romo) was right on that borderline of playing, I'd say play. Because there is something that the Dallas Cowboys don't have. They have the talent. They have all the stars. But do they have the toughness that you need that we know it takes late in the year to be a championship caliber team?"
